Hi! And Welcome :)

[Carolyn and Leo]

Dear New Member,
Many of the posts on this site are older, so it may appear that this site is not in use. We apologize for this, and would like to let you know that we have cleaned up this site recently and will be monitoring for new posts. There are many of us, so do not feel alone. We are here to help and we'd love to meet you and your kitty! Please post a little bit of history about your cat, your diagnosis, or lack thereof. This site is open to all high dose undiagnosed or diagnosed cats, low and high dose cats with acromegaly, insulin auto-antibody and Cushings diseases. In other words, feel free to post regardless of what's going on with the diabetes in your cat!

Lots of hugs for you, and chin scritches for your babies

[Tricia & Girlfriend]

Thank you for the warm welcome! My 12 year old cat, Girlfriend, was just diagnosed with Acromegaly yesterday. She was diagnosed with Pancreatitis in April and subsequently became diabetic. She has survived ketoacidosis and has been insulin-resistant. I now give her high doses of Levemir and Humulin R, twice a day, depending on her BG's and a sliding scale. I've been researching Acromegaly, but still have many questions and would love to hear from members. What is her life expectancy? I've read a bit about radiotherapy. Any idea of the cost and what it entails? Girlfriend has been through so much and is so happy to be home. I just want her to have as high quality of a life as possible. I would love to hear about ya'lls experiences with radiotherapy and if you recommend putting your cat through the process. Also, my cat is RAVENOUS! For those who have experienced this, how much do you feed your cat? I really want her to be happy and feed her as much as I can, but I don't want her to go in to ketoacidosis again! HELP! I just started her on primarily wet food (Merrick - Cowboy Cookout) 1/4 of a 5.5oz.can 2x/day and dry food (Purina DM) 1/8 Cup 4x/day. My awesome vet did the calculations to allow her to eat as many times a day as possible. She is STILL STARVING! HELP!

[sneakers]

Sorry, I thought I had a link to this site and try to get to it every few days but have been quite lax these last few weeks. I've 'talked' to you on FMBD- which I do go to every day.

As an unregulated diabetic she is litteraly starving- so let her eat all she wants. I know Sneakers was up to 18-20 oz per day and there are some who went above that- 24-28oz per day. And if GF also has acro the tumor could be spiking her hunger as it is sending out the "GROW" message- think like a teenager- always eating

I thought that a cat with Acro would live only a short time unless you were able to do gamma knife radiation but recently found out that Cody has been an acro cat for over 6 years so I have hope for my girl. There is no way I could do that to Sneakers as she panics on the way to the vet so a 2+ day trip would absolutely terrifying for her, plus the week of anesthesia needed for the SRT- at 17 she's a little too old for all that. GF is only 12 so it would be easier for her.

Cost- varies, but around $4000-$5000- depending on if you get some tests done at your home vet rather than at the hospital where the SRT is done. Lu did that for Grayson I do believe. Then you need to add travel for you both and hotel. This, too, I have to be honest in that I cannot afford to do it.

I would get rid of the dry food and replace the 'candy' with actual canned food that is higher in protein and nutrients. Once that is done you will have a better look at her levels. I say this b/c Sneakers would shoot up with the least little bit of kibble and GF is getting 1/8 a day. If that is all day rather than at one time (like on top of her food to get her to eat it )

As for DKA- the 3 main things to look for is 1- not eating (doesn't look like that is a problem if she is hungry all the time); 2- lack of insulin (you are on lev and humulin R at high doses so that might not be a problem at this time); and 3- infection. Get some ketosticks to check for ketones to help keep an eye on this.

[sneakers]

Sorry, I thought I had a link to this site and try to get to it every few days but have been quite lax these last few weeks. I've 'talked' to you on FMBD- which I do go to every day.

As an unregulated diabetic she is litteraly starving- so let her eat all she wants. I know Sneakers was up to 18-20 oz per day and there are some who went above that- 24-28oz per day. And if GF also has acro the tumor could be spiking her hunger as it is sending out the "GROW" message- think like a teenager- always eating

I thought that a cat with Acro would live only a short time unless you were able to do gamma knife radiation but recently found out that Cody has been an acro cat for over 6 years so I have hope for my girl. There is no way I could do that to Sneakers as she panics on the way to the vet so a 2+ day trip would absolutely terrifying for her, plus the week of anesthesia needed for the SRT- at 17 she's a little too old for all that. GF is only 12 so it would be easier for her.

Cost- varies, but around $4000-$5000- depending on if you get some tests done at your home vet rather than at the hospital where the SRT is done. Lu did that for Grayson I do believe. Then you need to add travel for you both and hotel. This, too, I have to be honest in that I cannot afford to do it.

I would get rid of the dry food and replace the 'candy' with actual canned food that is higher in protein and nutrients. Once that is done you will have a better look at her levels. I say this b/c Sneakers would shoot up with the least little bit of kibble and GF is getting 1/8 a day. If that is all day rather than at one time (like on top of her food to get her to eat it )

As for DKA- the 3 main things to look for is 1- not eating (doesn't look like that is a problem if she is hungry all the time); 2- lack of insulin (you are on lev and humulin R at high doses so that might not be a problem at this time); and 3- infection. Get some ketosticks to check for ketones to help keep an eye on this.