All this week, Phoenix has remained in the low to high 200 range. This is good because before this he was bouncing a lot. I usually increase his doseage on Sundays so I am asking in advance. Should I increase his dose by .25? Your opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
If nothing happens between now and then, yes, it would be time to go up. Since he's already at 6.5, you could go up to 7
When cats get to 6.0 units and above, we suggest getting them tested for a couple secondary conditions that can mean higher doses are needed. The two conditions are called acromegaly and IAA or insulin auto antibodies. My girl had both those conditions. One in four diabetic cats has acromegaly, a condition caused by a benign tumour on the pituitary that sends out excess growth hormone. IAA is somewhat like an allergy to injected insulin - I'm simplifying it. For testing those conditions, your vet does a blood draw and has it send to Michigan State University.
I have a conference with Phoenix's vet next Friday so I will mention this to him. I am not taking Phoenix with me as he gets very stressed by vet visits and I don't want to upset his glucose readings. Phoenix weighs 38 pounds and is very hard to handle at the vet. He is strong especially when he is upset. They can vaccinate him without a problem but he will not hold still to draw blood. The vet has to sedate him to do this. Phoenix had an attack of pancreatitis in March and lost a lot of weight. He was very ill and also developed pneumonia. He regained most of his weight and is doing excellent so I hesitate to upset him for a blood test. I will mention it to the vet and see if we should have this test done. I really appreciate your concern.
He’s a big Texas boy! Acromegaly, at least in humans, is often associated with large people. It’s the excess growth hormone. Things you can do to try calming him down for vet visits are spraying the inside of the carrier with Feliway, giving him some Rescue Remedy for Pets a couple hours before, or maybe the vet would prescribe some gabapentin to give before hand. Neko wasn’t fond of blood draws with her regular vet either. Though she was fine when I was there if her acupuncture vet did the draw and I heard she was OK with her internal medicine vet. I was using Feliway and Rescue Remedy by that point.
