So it's looking like my boy is insulin resistant...

katy and mo (GA)

katy and mo (GA)

Active Member
Hi there,

Mo was diagnosed on the 21st of September 2020 with a fructosamine level of 690. He started off on 2 units BID of Lantus and we've gradually been increasing since then. He is now at 8 units and his fructosamine level is unchanged. We have done a full blood screening to rule out chronic pancreatitis (he had a brief bout of it in early November), kidney/liver problems, etc but everything came back relatively normal. We have been referred to a feline specialist who will hopefully be able to guide us on what to do next. I brought up switching to Levemir with the vet today but she had never heard of it. I'm going to keep pushing for the switch to see if he responds to that at all.

I guess my question is, if he is diagnosed with Acro/IAA, what non-invasive treatments are available? I just want to get myself mentally prepared. I understand IAA would require another type of insulin to bring the glucose levels down. I want to avoid surgery as my boy just wouldn't be happy with that and his happiness is my priority :)

Thanks in advance for your help :bighug:
 
Some people just treat their cat with insulin, as much as they need to try to keep them under renal threshold most of the time. IAA does not require another type of insulin - it is self limiting over time, around a year. Another option for you if Mo has acromegaly, is a medication call cabergoline that is given daily. Here is a post on it. People get it compounded as liquid or pills. Most cats on it have their insulin doses go down, we've had three cats go completely off of insulin. The remaining types of treatments for acromegaly are radiation therapy or surgery. Both require travel, unless you are one of the lucky few to have the options available near you and are costly. There are also other medications that are costly enough that no one here has tried them.
 
Thank you so much for this Wendy. It gives me hope that there are still options to give Mo a good quality of life. Hopefully we can get to the specialist soon to discuss testing. I have another vet appointment on Wednesday with our current vet. I will push switching insulin type then. Levemir or get out basically :P
 
If a kitty has IAA, they can have a strong initial reaction to a change in insulin, so we get people to start at a reduced dose at the beginning of the switch over, just in case. But for Mo, the big difference will be getting rid of the Lantus sting. I couldn't believe it the first time I heard purring during the Lev injections. It wasn't the last time either. :)
 
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