Sneakers 8-17

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hmjohnston

hmjohnston

Member Since 2011
Her PS numbers have crept up the last two cycles and her food pickiness has gone down... I guess that means the vay-cay is over and her tumor is once more growing :evil: .

Going up to 27u tonight. She had a nice week or two of mainly blues so I hope we can get there again.
 
Gosh. I can't imagine the does you are having to use. But, you are keeping her in good numbers no matter what the dose you are needing is. Are you considering the treatment that Grayson just had at all? (can't remember what it is called).

How is she feeling/acting?
 
Sheila - I think Sneakers is 14 or 16 yrs old. If she were mine, I'd have to think long and hard about putting her through 4 days of anesthesia. Grayson is 7, and although he wasn't much of an experienced traveler, he did okay. Heather posted on the Acro FB that she doesn't travel well, so I'm not sure going for the SRT is even an option for her. It's a shame there aren't more facilities that do the procedure, but then again, if there were, we probably wouldn't have nearly as good a record of how many have had it, and there might be some inferior procedures being done.

Currently one of the Acro kitties is on Day 3 OTJ trial. He was on the highest does of any kitty I've ever seen...
 
Certainly age is a factor. And I didn't realize there was 4 days of anesthesia - yep that's tough on any cat, let alone a "senior" one.

Lu Ann has Grayson's dose dropped at all yet?
 
Doesn't Grayson need to smash the IAA before it would head down?

36U and counting? But way to surf those blues!

Do Sneakers and Grayson have to worry about the working pancreas?

And how does any acro pancreas survive the glucose levels?
 
My understanding is that you do have to worry about the pancreas, because in acros it is actually functioning the whole time. The issue is not a lack of endogenous insulin, but a binding up of the receptor sites for it with the IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) the tumor is producing. But then you throw in there the IAA and you have, what I would all, a very unstable atmosphere.

It's not like a regular FD where things are pretty predictable and if the pancreas is going to wake up, it doesn't happen overnight. I think with acros there could be a sudden (relatively) drop in BGs if the tumor output of IGF-1 drops.
 
I asked the same question about smashing the IAA... Actually, it is a symptom of the Acromegaly, sometimes, but not always present in Acro cats. The irradiation of the tumor - in theory should smash it... in some cases it may break very suddenly. Brent's cat Tigger had a 41 point drop when it finally kicked in... or at least at one point. Thus the importance of frequent testing.

Grayson's pancreas was enlarged, as were his kidneys. Enlarged, but not diseased, per the ultrasound. That's comforting to know. Perry & Cathy's Sooty was on extreme high doses and he's currently on day 5 w/o insulin. Apparently his pancreas didn't miss a beat!

We have not had a drop yet... actually, we're still climbing. The string of blues last week were awesome, and I could tell he felt a LOT better. Appetite was more like a normal cat, as opposed to a ravenous beast! Unfortunately, they were short-lived. He's had more pinks than yellows these past few days, which is why I'm planning an increase tomorrow night. They told us 7-70 weeks before we might hope to see a change (last Thursday was 4 weeks from the completion of SRT), so I'm not sure if the blues were an early reaction to the SRT or if its just getting closer to the dose, or if the resistance is breaking and more insulin is able to be absorbed by the cells. Hoping for more days like Wednesday (I LIKED the 112!)! Tracy's Leo (who was at CSU same time) just had a 4u drop! So maybe it's not too soon to expect something. Unfortunately, we know every cat responds differently, so there's no telling.

Will keep you guys tuned in as to any progress... hoping to see more very soon! Thanks for keeping track of us!

Lu-Ann (& Grayson)
 
Isn't the irradiation of the tumor almost like a cure?

I guess IAA without acro (rare) does get smashed with high doses of Levemir + R.
 
Sorry, weekends don't allow much time for me to get on-line much. Time to play catch-up!

Sneakers is 17 and, no, she doesn't travel well at all. I would be looking at a plane ride to anywhere for SRT and she panics in a 4 minute ride to the vet where she would have bubbles and foam by the time we got there (or to back home). And as for the anesthesia- my vet doesn't want to risk putting her out for a dental much less four days...

I asked on FB if there are any tests I need to get done as she seems to be panting more frequently now. They suggested getting her oxygen/blood saturation done and to get an x-ray/ultrasound done to see if her throat walls are thickening any because of the growth and to check out her heart size- the more usual cause of death for the acro cat.

They mentioned the heat but this last week it has been cooler than normal and she has been sitting on the porch in 70 degree weather. She looks a little panicked sometimes. I don't know how to check a cats respiration- do I need to get a stethoscope?

I'm just lucky that she isn't IAA on top of this like Grayson does.

But she gave me blues on Saturday and half of Sunday.
 
To just check respiration, watch her and count how many per minute. If you want to check for resp sounds like crackles or wheezing, you would need a stethoscope. I picked one up years ago and have used it several times on various cats. It's a good tool to have on hand if you know how to use it. Your vet could probably instruct you on what to listen for and where to place the "scope" part.
 
Okay. Plus, I work at a medical university and i see them in the bookstore. I can check out the price.

And she does wheeze, her purr sometimes sounds like it's gravel, and no meows- just squeaks. Then out of the blue here comes a meow :lol:
 
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