New Acro diagnosis

Philly loves his smokey

Philly loves his smokey

Member
Hey all. Im new to the site and I just got back from a new vet I am taking my boy to. She believes he has acro. I have been giving him 12 units two times a day with 5 units here and there if he needs it. Poor guy has neuropathy pretty bad in his hind legs. I'm so distraught. She is pretty convinced he has acro, but I havent had any sort of confirmation with any tests? Any strength, experience, or hope on this issue. Thanks....
 
Hi Philly and Smokey, and welcome. Could you tell me a bit more about Smokey? How old is he? How did you find he was diabetic? When was he diagnosed? What insulin is he on? Are you home testing his blood sugars? Sorry for so many questions. Did the vet say why she suspects acromegaly? Over 6 units there is a high likelihood of some high dose condition and acromegaly is the most common. One in four diabetic cats has it, though not all are on high doses.
 
You are in the right place. The only way to know about Acro for sure is the blood test. Your vet has to do it, and send the blood for testing
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-other-high-dose-conditions-what-we-know.375/

Leo had Acro for 4 years (we lost him last week). He also had severe neuropathy early in his diabetes. The key resolution is
- blood glucose regulation
- B12 via Zobaline

Leo's neuropathy was horrible...and we resolved it to 99% normal. I highly recommend searching the forum for this item and others.

12 units is high. You didn't say what kind of insulin. But with those high doses, Acro is a strong probability.
 
I read your other posts here, sounds like you are switching from Novolin N (horrible insulin for cats, doesn’t last long enough), to Prozinc. Just to confuse things more, if you do get a positive diagnosis, I will suggest a switch to Levemir. The longer lasting depot insulins are a better choice.

BTW, that beautiful girl on the wood chair had two high dose conditions, acromegaly and insulin auto antibodies, or IAA. She lived five years with it, most of the time fairly well regulated. Neko never had neuropathy, but did have rather bad case of arthritis. Acromegaly is caused by a benign pituitary tumour that puts out excess growth hormone, which results in the diabetes and bony and soft tissue growth,
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Hi Philly and Smokey, and welcome. Could you tell me a bit more about Smokey? How old is he? How did you find he was diabetic? When was he diagnosed? What insulin is he on? Are you home testing his blood sugars? Sorry for so many questions. Did the vet say why she suspects acromegaly? Over 6 units there is a high likelihood of some high dose condition and acromegaly is the most common. One in four diabetic cats has it, though not all are on high doses.
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Hey, and thanks for the reply. Smokey is 11 yrs young. Neutered Male. Found out he was diabetic when he started drinking lots of water. Knew that was a sign... He also had a bad case of pancreatitis diagnosed simultaneously. This was about 8 months ago. I check his glucose several times a day b4 dosing. He was on Novolin N and today the new vet switched him to prozinc. She suspects acro due to his facial features and his insane insulin resistance.
 
I tried Prozinc for Leo. But as Wendy said, most of us are using Levemir. Leo then was on Levemir the rest of his life.

In summary:
- Prozinc is an "in and out" insulin, there is not significant last effect past 12 hours. It is a good insulin. Maybe a bit challenging for high-dose cats

- Levemir (and Lantus) are depot insulins. They last past 12 hours and smooth out the curve. For higher dose cats, and actually for many regular diabetics, the depot insulins allow us to better regulate blood glucose. Some of the depot lasts into the next 12 hour cycle.
 
JeffJ said:
You are in the right place. The only way to know about Acro for sure is the blood test. Your vet has to do it, and send the blood for testing
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-other-high-dose-conditions-what-we-know.375/

Leo had Acro for 4 years (we lost him last week). He also had severe neuropathy early in his diabetes. The key resolution is
- blood glucose regulation
- B12 via Zobaline

Leo's neuropathy was horrible...and we resolved it to 99% normal. I highly recommend searching the forum for this item and others.

12 units is high. You didn't say what kind of insulin. But with those high doses, Acro is a strong probability.
Click to expand...
Really sorry to hear about ur loss.... Thanks for the link, I will def look into that, and the supplement for neuropathy. I read different info about it helping and some it said it was pretty much irreversible. Idk, but will try anything for my boy.He was on novolin n, now he just got switched today to prozinc, but a super low dose. 2 units twice daily.
 
First step is to figure out what you are dealing with. Jeff gave you the link to the post that describes where to get the tests done. If you are in North America, get the tests done for acromegaly (IGF-1 test) and IAA or insulin auto antibodies. The blood goes to the same lab for both. Once you know what you are dealing with, we can talk about options. There are treatments for acromegaly. Both Leo and Neko had radiation therapy, others options are available now.
 
JeffJ said:
I tried Prozinc for Leo. But as Wendy said, most of us are using Levemir. Leo then was on Levemir the rest of his life.

In summary:
- Prozinc is an "in and out" insulin, there is not significant last effect past 12 hours. It is a good insulin. Maybe a bit challenging for high-dose cats

- Levemir (and Lantus) are depot insulins. They last past 12 hours and smooth out the curve. For higher dose cats, and actually for many regular diabetics, the depot insulins allow us to better regulate blood glucose. Some of the depot lasts into the next 12 hour cycle.
Click to expand...
Oh, ok. I used lantus for his first insulin cuz the vet had a good Sam donate it. It was about the same result. It's just crazy how resistant he is to insulin
 
Wendy&Neko said:
First step is to figure out what you are dealing with. Jeff gave you the link to the post that describes where to get the tests done. If you are in North America, get the tests done for acromegaly (IGF-1 test) and IAA or insulin auto antibodies. The blood goes to the same lab for both. Once you know what you are dealing with, we can talk about options. There are treatments for acromegaly. Both Leo and Neko had radiation therapy, others options are available now.
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I wish I could afford surgery, specialist, radiation, what have you. I'm about to rob a bank to save my guy. Do u know about how much serious treatment would cost?
 
Also my vet told me he could possibly have a random occurrence of normal or sensitivity to insulin out of the blue, and basically go catatonic and die on me.... thanks for freaking me out more dr. Anyone heard of that happening?
 
There is no guarantee to reverse neuropathy. But many do. With Leo were almost at "the decision". We stuck through it and healed his nerves. Really in his last few years he walked pretty normally. So there is hope.
 
I have heard of acros on “good” doses from 1 unit to 100.:eek: Neko maxed out at 8.75 units twice a day. I say “good doses”, because the acro tumour can pulse up and down. It it’s more gradual. Home testing is what keeps them safe. Without home testing, hypos from changing insulin needs are the most common cause of death for acros. Haven’t seen it here on my time here, because we home test.

If you have any interest in getting help with dosing, we like to see your blood test data. The link to instructions to create the spreadsheet are here http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Don’t bother with entering all eight months unless you want to, the last month is a good start.

Solutions range from a daily medication called cabergoline - see threads here for costs, it’s probably the cheapest solution, to pituitary removal surgery called hypophysectomy, to radiation. When Neko was diagnosed, not that many years ago, it was the only option. Surgery is north of five figures, though some people got it done much cheaper as part of a research project.
 
There is a whole range of crud that can happen. But if you stay on top of it, you can give your kitteh a longer and healthy life.

Look thru some of the other threads here. Cabergoline is a drug and is affordable. Like Wendy said, the first step is to get the tests done.
 
We just found out Rocket has acromegaly, after 5 months of unregulated diabetes. This coming Wednesday we have an appointment at a veterinary cancer clinic to discuss possible SRT (radiation therapy to basically kill the tumor). It's the same treatment that Jeff did with Leo. Unfortunately I live in CA, and I hear it's ridiculously expensive here. We'll have a better idea hopefully Wednesday, and I can let you know how it goes. Rocket is currently on 5-ish units of ProZinc twice a day, but we still haven't found the right dose for him. Like others have said, Levemir seems to be the insulin of choice for acro kitties, and can result in smoother numbers. We may look into Cabergoline too, and /or traveling to other places if the SRT is unaffordable here. Anyway best of luck to you. I'll post on Wed or Thurs when I know more - I'll tag you in the post.
 
CSU in Ft. Collins still remains an option for the SRT (radiation) for Rocket and others. Leo and I bonded even more (if that is possible) during the trip.

Smokey's Dad - you can read about Leo's SRT and the (Austin - Ft.Collins) trip in
Leo's SRT thread << link
 
JeffJ said:
CSU in Ft. Collins still remains an option for the SRT (radiation) for Rocket and others. Leo and I bonded even more (if that is possible) during the trip.
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Really? I didn't see anything on their website today so I tried calling, but I had to leave and didn't leave a message. I'm going to call back on Monday. This is good news, thanks :)
 
JeffJ said:
I just clicked some of the CSU links (from Leo's SRT thread). They still do radiation. i would be surprised if they stopped. They have a large lab and multiple rooms setup with it. Their SRT machine was over $5Million, so it has to still be in use.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/leo-leoberry-the-high-doser.163717/#post-1770267
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Wendy&Neko said:
SRT is still listed as an option at CSU. Note that radiation is covered under their cancer care, even though the acro tumour is benign. https://www.csuanimalcancercenter.o...33304-Radiation_Fact_Sheet_Website_9_2017.pdf
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This is fantastic news! Thanks Jeff and Wendy! I looked a bit before I had to leave today, but wasn't looking in the right place. Hopefully the prices are still somewhat reasonable. I'll call Monday. After our appt. Wednesday (here in CA) I'll post a new thread and give an update for anyone who'd like the info.
 
Philly loves his smokey said:
Hey all. Im new to the site and I just got back from a new vet I am taking my boy to. She believes he has acro. I have been giving him 12 units two times a day with 5 units here and there if he needs it. Poor guy has neuropathy pretty bad in his hind legs. I'm so distraught. She is pretty convinced he has acro, but I havent had any sort of confirmation with any tests? Any strength, experience, or hope on this issue. Thanks....
Click to expand...
My acro cat is at about 12 units too. I suspected a year ago she had it but the vet was like no its so rare it's a slim chance. I said I know a few on here who have it...(On here),,, and I don't think it's as rare as you think. Well six months later she says she went to a conference about it and researchers now think it's not as rate as once believed (NO KIDDING) and she would like to test for it. (Face palm). One good thing about having the diagnosis is the vets there no longer look at me like a crazy person who is giving her cat this large doses recklessly. Ha ha I think they finally trust me.
 
Philly loves his smokey said:
Really sorry to hear about ur loss.... Thanks for the link, I will def look into that, and the supplement for neuropathy. I read different info about it helping and some it said it was pretty much irreversible. Idk, but will try anything for my boy.He was on novolin n, now he just got switched today to prozinc, but a super low dose. 2 units twice daily.
Click to expand...
If your cat was at 12 units I don't think 2 is going to do a thing. I wouldn't bother doing less than 9 or 10. My cat is on ProZinc.

Definitly look into zobaline I give it to CC JUST as a preventative.
 
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