01/30-Freckles/Judy PMPS 257, 256@+2 Acro and IAA test tomorrow - 6 hr fast ok?

Judy and Freckles

Judy and Freckles

Member Since 2019
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Freckles is schedule to get blood drawn tomorrow (Friday) to get tested for acro and IAA. The vet is on board with switching to Levemir but would like to wait until the test results are back. Any reason I should push to switch to Levemir earlier? (Freckles hasn't been flinching lately with the injection of Lantus) If it looks like I will run out of Lantus then I will ask for a script for Levemir even if the test results aren't back yet.

Looks like we are slated for another increase tonight to 7.5 u? We had some high blues yesterday morning but back in yellows last night and again this morning so far.
 
Yes on the increase as Bobbi said. I think it's reasonable to wait for results are back. if the b/w gets to MSU by early next week, you should see results earliest on Friday, maybe as late as Monday. Depends on whether your vet checks their email and works that weekend. The reason I say reasonable to wait is that sometimes (ECID), a cat with IAA will have a rather dramatic response to an insulin switch. As an example, check out Jack's SS, end of May 2016.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Yes on the increase as Bobbi said. I think it's reasonable to wait for results are back. if the b/w gets to MSU by early next week, you should see results earliest on Friday, maybe as late as Monday. Depends on whether your vet checks their email and works that weekend. The reason I say reasonable to wait is that sometimes (ECID), a cat with IAA will have a rather dramatic response to an insulin switch. As an example, check out Jack's SS, end of May 2016.
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Thanks @Wendy&Neko. Yes, I was told anywhere from 5-10 days for results. Now, I'm in a little bit of a predicament because I phoned MSU to ask about fasting or anything special I had to do for the IAA or acro test and they recommended 10-12 hours fast to avoid "fatty blood". If I feed Freckles her normal breakfast at her normal time and with hold snacks until after the test, she will have a 6 hour fast. Is 6 hours enough? I don't want us to go through this just to find out the test is inconclusive because Freckles ate!
 
Judy and Freckles said:
I phoned MSU to ask about fasting or anything special I had to do for the IAA or acro test and they recommended 10-12 hours fast to avoid "fatty blood". If I feed Freckles her normal breakfast at her normal time and with hold snacks until after the test, she will have a 6 hour fast. Is 6 hours enough? I don't want us to go through this just to find out the test is inconclusive because Freckles ate!
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Oh you beat me to it! I was going to call MSU about fatty blood as well. Did they say it was very important it isn't fatty?

When your vet/tech draws blood, they should be able to see if it's fatty or not. Just make sure they know to look for that before sending it off. The worst case, if you don't send the blood to MSU yet, is you'll need to fast longer and go another time to draw another sample.
 
I never fasted for Neko's test. I think she might have had something like 6 hours without food as well. It's only a concern for the IAA test.
 
Crista & Ming said:
Did they say it was very important it isn't fatty?
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If it's fatty the IAA test will be inconclusive.
Thanks Crista. I will ask the vet/tech to check if it's fatty or not and if so then I will reschedule. Is this something they can see with the naked eye?

Tests are costing $400.00 so I want to make sure they are done properly.
Wendy&Neko said:
I never fasted for Neko's test
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Thanks Wendy.

BTW, when does one start increasing by 1u? When they reach 10u?
 
Judy and Freckles said:
Thanks @Wendy&Neko. Yes, I was told anywhere from 5-10 days for results. Now, I'm in a little bit of a predicament because I phoned MSU to ask about fasting or anything special I had to do for the IAA or acro test and they recommended 10-12 hours fast to avoid "fatty blood". If I feed Freckles her normal breakfast at her normal time and with hold snacks until after the test, she will have a 6 hour fast. Is 6 hours enough? I don't want us to go through this just to find out the test is inconclusive because Freckles ate!
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I too never fasted BK for any of the 3 IAA tests done for him.
I called the MSU veterinary diagnostic laboratory earlier today and spoke with an endocrinologist there about fatty blood. He said fasting is not a requirement for the IAA test however if the sample has so much fat looks like a milkshake it will mess up the test.
 
I relayed the information about not sending the blood if it was fatty to the vet and technician and they agreed. However, the vet/technician were not able to get blood from my little black and white 'tiger' so they had to keep her and give her a mild sedative. I will pick her up after work. Freckles can be quite determined at times! lol:cat:
 
Judy and Freckles said:
Why 3 IAA tests?
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Before BK, no other FDMB kitty had ever tested for IAA. We were in completely uncharted territory. In our quest to find out why BK was such a big gulper, we had him tested for acro. Everyone was certain that was why, in spite of some 45u (Lantus and a fast acting insulin combined) daily, he was still swimming in a relentless sea of mostly pink.
The Acro test results were negative. Next was a test for Cushings- also negative.

One of the Lantus gurus back then (2008) had heard of a rare condition called IAA so we had him tested. Bingo 84%.... extreme insulin resistance.

A few months later, after the removal of a benign fatty lump the vet took the opportunity to have a good look inside his mouth while he was still sedated. The vet saw the rotten remains of a back molar and plucked it out. I stopped using the fast acting insulin, reducing his overall insulin needs by nearly 1/2.

After such a dramatic reduction in insulin needs I figured a follow up IAA test would reflect a reduction in insulin resistance. it also would have been psychologically beneficial to me to see a better result but instead found out that’s not how it works. He still was at 84%.

Test number 3 was well after he was off the juice and out of curiosity. Alll traces of IAA had disappeared.:cool:
 
Well, that's quite the story of Black Kitty! And after all of that to go OTJ, that's incredible and admirable. He sounds like quite the character! :cat:
 
Judy and Freckles said:
Is this something they can see with the naked eye?
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Sorry to respond so late. I'm assuming your vet was able to get a sample and it was a good one?

When they're pulling blood, lipemic blood will look pink and thick. Almost like a strawberry colour. (I've seen Ming's blood look SUPER pink and thick. In my opinion, his last blood sample looked better than that one time). Once they spin and separate the blood sample into plasma, white blood cells, and red blood cells, the plasma is normally clear and yellow, but in a lipemic sample, it can be opaque and white.
 
Crista & Ming said:
I'm assuming your vet was able to get a sample and it was a good one?
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Yes, after they got the sample it was packaged up and sent away. The tech said if it was no good, they would not do the test at MSU but I reiterated my concern of the cost of sending the sample down there and she wanted to argue that the test itself was what was so pricey and that the shipping and drawing the blood was the cheap part. So, unless I'm reading the 'price' chart wrong that MSU has on the website, I think she is mistaken. So at the end of the day, I hope the sample was a good one.

Crista & Ming said:
When they're pulling blood, lipemic blood will look pink and thick.
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I had a chance to look it up after your post and there was reference to it looking like a milkshake as Sandy and Black Kitty referred to. So do your blood droplets for Ming's regular glucose tests look different too?

Thanks for your explanation of the process Crista. I have a better picture in my head as to what goes on now. Thanks!
 
Yes, his blood drops can look pink. In the early days, when I first started testing him, it was super pink (most likely because he had pancreatitis brewing in his body). But now it looks pretty red.

My vet wanted to see if pink blood = pancreatitis. So when I saw pink blood again, I did a spec fpl and it was normal. Another time, he had active pancreatitis and zero systems. I think his blood is just lipemic from all the chronic inflammation and steroid use (and maybe Ming is just super weird, who knows haha!)

I hope the sample is a good one too. On IDEXX, the IAA test is $78 CAD. I don't remember how much the Acro test is. But remember, the vet will add on other fees like sample collection fee, shipping, and maybe just up the price of the test itself to make a profit.

Edit: Oh wow, I just went on the MSU site and the IAA test is $20?? Interesting!
 
Crista & Ming said:
Yes, his blood drops can look pink.
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Wow. That's really interesting. That Ming, he's quite the boy!

Crista & Ming said:
ut remember, the vet will add on other fees like sample collection fee, shipping, and maybe just up the price of the test itself to make a profit.

Edit: Oh wow, I just went on the MSU site and the IAA test is $20?? Interesting!
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There's definitely an increase in price somewhere because the blood collection and courier/packing and processing was only $52.00 CA and the lab tests fee was $343.50 - so quite the difference between the MSU listed price of $20 for IAA and I think it was $60 for the acro tests. The tech was under the impression that the tests at MSU were the big expense.

Regardless, I think it's important to know what's going on with Ms.Freckles so I look at as an investment in my mental health! :rolleyes:
 
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