7/17 Moe: amps=328, inc to 7.5 u

Yesterday: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...161-1-182-pmps-411-5-303.232339/#post-2597932

cabergoline day 35

Morning. So much pink and red the last few days, I just don’t understand what’s happening with Moe. He gets a partial day of blue, maybe even a toe in the greens, then bounces way up again. I wonder if it’s the tumor that makes it so hard to get any kind of control?

Anyway, I decided to increase his dose to 7.5 units this morning, since I’ve got three days off to keep an eye on things.

Have a good day, everyone!

 

Yes, those darn pituitary tumors have control of everything...check in with @Olive & Paula - she deals with that all the time and has a lot of experience. There are others here who are dealing with the same issues...

I hope you have a good day in spite of those numbers.

 

Good luck with Moe's increase, Erin. Have a great day!

 

Good luck with the new dose. I hope it brings better numbers.

 

Erin,

I'm not on much right now because of my dad's condition and connection his room is spotty at best. So glad I checked in this morning.

I definitely deal with that stubborn tumor. Does Moe have any obvious or audible symptoms? How are they now?

Ollie has been on cabergoline for 2 yrs and 285 days now. Her symptoms are gone (she had just about everyone of them). Her insulin dose is down. Her BS are all over the place. She will have a few days of really nice numbers then just go wacky for a few days. I think a lot of that is because of feeding. Husband feeds her if she just looks at him. She gets 8 different kinds of food. She will not stick to only one. The carbs run from 0-6% and she is carb sensitive. And any of her other issues will spike her BS. The most important thing though, is that the symptoms are gone and she is comfortable.

The tumor pulses as Wendy states. And as long as it's there, I imagine it will always happen. The tumor runs the show, we are participants trying to curb it.

@Wendy&Neko is the person with all the tumor info you could want. She does not have experience with cabergoline as it was not available at the time, Neko had SRT. @Pamela & Amethyst , they have used cabergoline a little longer than us. Amethyst's dose continues to go up but she has steady BS (I would love her numbers for Ollie).

Maybe Moe will be the one who, symptoms resolve, becomes regulated and achieves remission. You just don't know. Ollie seems to have hit major strives when we reached the 1 year mark on cabergoline.

 

Hi Paula, thanks for your response. Moe has the pot belly (all this time I just he was fat) and he’s wheezy. He’s had neuropathy in his front paws since diagnosis last September and he’s getting some in his back legs now. A little wobbly on uneven surfaces (in the litter box especially). He can still jump onto a chair but that’s his limit right now. At last vet visit, heart and lungs were good.

I guess I was hoping for a miracle response to the cabergoline (like Marvin), but I just have to patient I think.

He’s also very good sensitive. Friskies makes his sugar jump, fancy feast seems to keep him steady.

 

Are sure it's neuropathy of front paw? Ollie use to be very cautious when walking. She acted like she was walking on eggs or thin ice and tested each step to make sure it was safe. That's fine now. She is confident in walking, will jump on chairs. I do not let her jump down on hard surfaces of I can help it. Acro creates (don't know if that's the right word to use) soft tissue and bone overgrowth (Ollie has the club feet of acro) which could affect walking. The wheezing, make sure it's not asthma, could be tissue overgrowth of esophagus and trachea, making it difficult for breathing and swallowing. Ollie had this extremely loud grunting, snorting and you could hear her trying to suck air in and trying to push it out. It was non stop 24/7.

When I found out she was acro, my whole mind set changed. I'm like screw the amount of insulin she is getting, don't fixate on BS, I need to get her the help she needs to be comfortable. Everything else will fall into place. The tumor is causing the diabetes, treat the tumor will help the diabetes, not necessarily stop the diabetes.

Soooo really think about what you want for Moe. Remission-cabergoline probably not the way to go. To control or slow down the symptoms, be more comfortable but still need insulin, pretty good chance with cabergoline at least for us it works.

 

Hi Amethyst needs alot of insulin to get her where she is right now. Our vet is very pro Cabergoline and feels that it has help her in the long run GOOD LUCK!!!

 

Close, the pituitary tumour sends out excess growth hormone, and in turn that causes excess IGF-1 to be circulalated. Between them they are the building blocks for bone and soft tissue growth. And muscles. Acroarthritis from bony growth is common. Neko had it on her spine (spondilosis) as well as her front knees. Once she even had a bony growth on her jaw bone! Her arthritis was quite bad - arthritis is a common symptom. Pain relief (gabapentin and/or buprenorphine) is commonly needed for it at some point. If you aren't treating arthritis now, I would talk to the vet about the possibility and maybe Adequan to start.

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry, it’s been a long busy day. @Olive & Paula Moe walks on his wrists, not his front toes; it was one of the first signs that made my vet suspect diabetes last August. When he went into remission last year it had disappeared in one foot and was nearly unnoticeable in the other. It’s now very noticeable in both again. And he’s walking lower in the back. Not fully on the flats of his back feet, yet, but def not on his toes.
@Wendy&Neko I've been suspecting arthritis in his shoulder for about a year. He has a slight limp on the front right side. Will have to get that investigated at our next vet visit.

And speaking of that... should he be seeing the vet in a regular basis to examine for things like arthritis or nose/throat issues, or other acro symptoms? We typically consult by phone or email these days. Previously I took him in every six months or so to do bloodwork for his very early stage CKD.

 

As a regular practice, I took Neko into the vet and for bloodwork every 6 months. There was enough happening that I wanted to catch things early if possible.