Suspected Acromegaly - Canada Question

[binxlaveaupuca]

Good evening!
Does anyone have an idea as to how much the IGF-1 test would be in Ontario, Canada?

My vet wants to put Binx on the Royal Canin Glycoadvanced wet and dry food despite the fact that I’ve already switched him to Fancy Feast pates and the SquarePet Powercat dry food which is actually lower in carbs than the vet food and has more animal protein than the prescription stuff. His numbers haven’t improved despite the diet change and it’s been 12 weeks on the new food.
He’s currently on 4 units of Lantus twice daily.
His nadir seems to hover around 18 mmol/l consistently.

At this point and the fact that he hasn’t improved with the diet change, I’m thinking we should just do the test instead of switching the food again to the prescription stuff.

 

[Dyana]

I sent these two links to my vet in March and that's what she charged me. He was getting regular blood work that day anyway, so the appointment and blood draw were already included and this was just an add on for the day. It was the shipping that was close to $160 to be overnighted from New Jersey to MSU.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

The only place that does the IGF-1 test in North America is Michigan State University. As part of that, it is worth getting the IAA (insulin auto bodies) test done at the same time. Also only at MSU, and a cheap add on. Some cats have one condition or the other, or both. Cost to get this all done is the cost of the blood draw and prep, plus the cost of the tests at MSU. plus shipping costs. I had to get the blood send from BC and it was many years ago so not a good example. @Briana + Binx did get the testing done recently, and is back east so might have a better estimate. The vet needs to have an account at MSU to send the blood there. Some vets send it through Idexx, but they take quite a bit extra $$ to do so. Neko's internal medicine vet did have an account at MSU. Her local practice vet did now so we went through a different intermediary, for extra cost.

Are you home testing his blood sugars? If so, we can help you get to an insulin dose that gets him into better numbers. Take a look at this post: New? How You Can Help Us Help You! It tells you how to put together a spreadsheet to share blood sugar data, and some information to put in your signature for us to help you faster.

Say no thanks to the Glycobalance. Low carb is best, which Glycobalance is not. It doesn't do anything special for diabetics. If he would eat only wet, that would be ideal.

 

[Briana + Binx]

Thanks for the tag, @Wendy&Neko!

What are the chances, another Binx in Canada!

I got the IGF-1 test for my Binx in March this year and it was $560 (Positive for Acro). However, it was the only thing we drew blood for and I’m not sure if my vet went through IDEXX like Wendy had mentioned would add cost. I didn’t get IAA tested at the time but agreed that it’s worth asking for the estimate at least and then going for it.

Lots of resources here for BG and insulin dosing, like mentioned above. My Binx was on the fancy feast for a while too and we recently switched only due to CKD and allergies/potential IBD/SCL.

A specialist we saw also always jumped to a diet change, but sometimes they just need more insulin and that’s okay too. Although, it took me some time to come to terms with that because I often felt like I failed when he just kept needing more insulin. Eventually we hit a dose that worked and it’s fluctuated ever since.

Good luck with your Binx You’ve come to the right place!