Sophie's acromegaly srt journey

My cat Sophie is a Queen. She has had an incredibly difficult journey. I became Sophie's mom after my coworker and friend gave her to me after a difficult experience. Sophie had been abandoned, then adopted by a family; then, the family moved away and left Sophie alone in their house. Sophie escaped and ran into my friend's garage when a realtor came to the house. My friend cared for Sophie, but Sophie, while super friendly to humans, did not like the cat already in the house. After Sophie chased the cat to jump off a second level balcony, my friend asked me to take Sophie in.
Sophie and I, and eventually my husband and son, lived together in harmony, until Covid struck. My husband, who (claimed to be, not diagnosed by a dr) was allergic to cats began working from home. I worked outside the home, at a hospital. Sophie began eating and drinking more, and urinating outside the litter box. She was also not grooming herself as before. Sophie is a beautiful long haired cat and would always stop to groom herself. In 2021, Sophie was diagnosed with diabetes, and started with insulin and a freestyle libre cgm, but it was always difficult to control. She was referred to an internal medicine specialist, then diagnosed with acromegaly. She had radiation srt at the beginning of June 2022, and has been struggling since. Her blood glucose levels are pretty much the same since treatment, 3 weeks ago. Since treatment, she is also not eating canned food, which she always loved before, even before her diabetes diagnosis. Sophie had trIed cabergoline for about 6 months before radiation, but no change with her blood sugar levels. Her insulin isn't super high, 8units 2x per day, but same since diagnosed. I feel like I'm putting her through all these treatments, with no resolution. I just feel like she's not getting better, but she's so sweet and everybody loves her so much, i don't know what to do, no one has given me any option but to continue treatment; I'm really struggling.

 

That's quite the story and it's good to hear Sophie is with you and you are on the acromegaly-SRT journey with her. Just to put things in perspective--or to help to do so--SRT often doesn't start to show results until 6-9 months after treatment. I know because I live with two acro-kitties, Eddie and Blue (brothers) who both have had SRT (and surgery, but that's another story). Blue is currently OTJ and Eddie is still contending with a lot of issues related to acromegaly. I've been travelling this road with Blue since 2017 (surgery + radiation 2018, SRT 2021) and Eddie since diagnosis diabetes 2019 , acromegaly 2020 (surgery 2020, SRT2021).
It really, really, really is a journey and I'd just like to say you aren't on it alone. I'm frequently reminded here to "put on your patience pants" and that acromegaly, insulin, SRT isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. So, just keep to it and there's lots of support here. Lots!! Pats to Sophie from me and Eddie (and Blue who I call Mr. 117 (whenever I do a BG test on him, he's always in the zone).

 

Hello and welcome. Thank you for taking sweet Sophie into your family, and getting her treatment for her acromegaly. Can I ask where you had the SRT done? Also, what insulin are you giving? Also, are you home testing her blood sugars? Sorry for the million questions, but there are things we need to know to help you help Sophie. SRT can take up to two months to start taking effect, and when it does, it can be bit of a roller coaster, but if fits and starts. SRT neuters the tumour cells, but it does mean you have to wait for them to die off first.

And last question for now, I promise, what food is she eating and what did she eat before?

My girl had SRT at Colorado State University, twice actually. After several years, her tumour came back. Neko's dose topped out at 8.75 units at first SRT and got up to 7 units the second time, so fairly similar to your girl. But she did eventually get down to tiny doses, less than 1 unit.

 

Thanks for responding so quickly, I didn't have very much information about how the srt was going to affect blood sugar levels, I was hoping I would see a difference within 2 weeks. Sophie was treated at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston, TX, about 3 weeks ago. Her treatment has been excellent so far, but I was hoping for a better outcome. Sophie is taking 8units 2x per day Lantus insulin, which she has been on since her diagnosis, from 2 units to 8, but her blood sugar has been fluctuating, with insulin dose, cabergoline, and so far radiation.

 

Also, Sophie was eating fancy feast pate, until her diabetes diagnosis, then she was eating purina pro plan dm canned food, prescribed by her veterinarian. Since recovering form radiation, she will absolutely not eat canned food, only dry pro plan dm. She is also taking vitamin E and pentoxifylline. I was hoping for a faster recovery with radiation, because Sophie is already 10+ yrs old, but now I will be more patient with her recovery and continue monitoring with freestyle libre, and adjusting insulin doses.

 

I was told it would take at least 2 weeks to start seeing results from SRT, though my girl earned her first reductions on the car ride home. It might also have been her IAA breaking, so hard to tell with multiple conditions. Was Sophie tested for IAA (insulin auto antibodies). A number of acros have both conditions, both with cause insulin resistance.

Have you tried the Fancy Feast pates again? No need for expensive vet food, whatever she'll eat that is low carb and preferably wet or raw food is best. Many cats get tired of the taste of DM, so Sophie is in fine company there. The dry DM is really too high in carbohydrate for a diabetic. Note, the label says "dietetic" not diabetic. They were sued and had to change the label. If she absolutely won't eat even her original food, there are a couple low carb dry options we can suggest.

Are you following a particular dosing method to adjust her insulin? We have a few people here using the Libre. It can be a little wonky in lower numbers, so best to double check those with a hand held meter if you can. Any blood glucose meter will do. The human ones have the cheapest test strips and will test closer to the Libre, which is a human meter.