Oreo's Vet Visit: Great News!

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oreosmom

oreosmom

Member Since 2012
Hello All, flip_cat

Yesterday was the big day ... we met with Oreo's oncologist for a follow up. Oreo was diagnosed with GI lymphoma in April. This hit us like a bucket of ice water! We thought we would loose Oreo . He was treated with Prednisolone and Luekeran which is a chemo drug. His vomiting stopped. But then by May he became diabetic ( the downside of the pred and his beefy weight).

Yesterday, we got some great news: Oreo's fructosomine levels were normal, CBC...normal, RBC...normal!!! The cancer might be in remission. Thank God!

We explained to the vet that we are doing frequent testing and felt it was the most responsible way to treat Oreo. We presented the spreadsheet and study reports ( thanks to
Julia and Bandit! ) (And by the way, he knew the vet that wrote it and said it was well known.) He was in complete amazement of the record keeping and testing!! He wondered how we did this: the answer was simple :FDMB !!!! We explained what we have been learning from all of you. I am sending him the FDMB link for him to study this site.

We explained that we needed to lower the dosage slowly as Oreo's BG numbers started decreasing. But the GP (general practice) vet was against this. She insisted that we keep Oreo on 2 units regularly and just look for outward signs of "hypo". We also mentioned that she was against frequent testing.

He said you have to titrate the dose to the BG numbers. Well, you can't do that unless you test! AND...he actually called the GP vet last night to discuss this philosopical difference with her ...and she said she wasn't against frequent testing! ( I bet her opinion has now changed!)

It looks as if Oreo's diabetes may be regulating. We were told not to drop his numbers lower that 100, due to his medication. If it drops, we just need to back off the insulin and see what happens.

I can't tell you how much my husband and I are grateful to FDMB and the wonderful people who have been helping us day to day.

God Bless,

Carol ...Oreo's Mom
 
What a great vet report!

I'm a little perplexed. It sounded like the vet was familiar with the Roomp & Rand Tight Regulation protocol. With that protocol, the goal is to keep the cat in normal numbers (50 - 120). Pred doesn't drop numbers lower. Rather, it may inflate BG numbers. How is the vet putting all of this information together when he says that Oreo's BG shouldn't drop below 100?

FWIW, most vets aren't used to having clients who home test the way we do. Nor are they used to having clients who know how to steer the BG curve. They will usually tell people to use a different "no shoot" number than we do.
 
Hi Sienne,

That is a good question. And I hope I got the details right. Pred will certainly elevate BG. I think ...of what he explained, he did not feel that Oreo would ever be able to "go off the juice" due to the medications. He also said that too much time has past and it would be unlikely it would be in total remission. But more important, he said that we would be shooting very low numbers and asked us how tightly we can control it? We would have to be here 24-7 and we both have jobs. I asked him if having low grade diabetes would lessen his life span and he felt that it was not going to be a deterent to a "normal" life. Frankly, the cancer might be the bigger worry. The other thing we might do is lower the pred. dose. so the the diabetes might resolve.....but then the cancer can take over again.

I appreciate your input...since I might not have all the facts. By the way, Last night, Oreo's BG was down to 72. I'm still pretty new to this.

Warm wishes,

Carol
 
Hi Carol, That is great news about Oreo! :-D You may want to ask your vet if he is thinking BG 100 on a vet meter or a human meter. Even though they know many of us use human meters, they can still be thinking vet meter numbers. Our vet expected the human meter reads higher than his until we took our meter in and did side by side comparision. As we expected the vet meter read higher than our Relion confirm. When he saw that for himself, he became comfortable that lower numbers on the human meter are still safe if actively managed, now he even "reminds" us that the human meter reads lower. Side by side test of blood samples taken at the same time might help you and your vet reach to a common understanding of safe numbers.
 
Leslie makes a very good point. A meter, like the AlphaTrack, or a serum chemistry analyzer are calibrated for animal blood. As a result, they run about 30 points higher than a human meter. The vet suggesting that Oreo not drop below 100 on his meter would mean about a 70 on your meter. That could easily explain his suggestion.

Regardless of the goal of OTJ or tight regulation, keeping Oreo below renal threshold should be the overall goal. Renal threshold varies on the cat but it's around 200. If you're able to keep Oreo's numbers around 100 with or without that pred, that would be great. Personally, if it means that you're comfortable having Oreo in the "teal" (blue + green) range and keeping the pred in a range that keeps the cancer under control, that's a wonderful compromise. Insulin dose can always be worked around other medications. FWIW, Oreo's numbers don't seem to be overly effected by the pred.
 
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