Feline Diabetes Remission Clinic at the RVC

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Hi there, fellow cat friends,

Does anyone have a cat, or known anyone who does, who is participating in the feline diabetes remission study at the Royal Veterinary College at Potters Bar? Our boy, Edgar, has been on the study since November last year, and it would be useful to chat to someone else who is involved.

Thanks

Sarah

[Crewella]

Sorry Sarah, no knowledge here. I will ask the ladies at the rescue.

[Kay]

I see the clinic has a Facebook page, so that might be a good place to look for other participants in the study

https://www.facebook.com/RVC.Diabetic.Remission.Clinic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Yes, my boy's picture is on that page. That's my Edgar sitting on the tip of the highest cupboard in the room! You're right, I could trace folk through the Fb page and see if they were prepared to chat privately, off the clinic's page.

[Eliz+Cats]

Hi Sarah,

I may be able to help you.

There have been several folks on the Feline Diabetes Message Board who've been on the RVC's Trial.
A couple of those cats went into remission and their caregivers aren't posting on FDMB at the moment. (One of those is a lady called Cassandra Croft (cat's name, Angel) who is on FB and who you may be able to find via the RVC's facebook page.)

But there is one I can think of who is currently on the trial; it's a lovely lady called Mue and her cat is Pedro. Her FDMB user name is 'Kleinemue', I think. If you do a search on the forum for her name (or her cat's name!) then her posts should come up, and you can start a conversation with her via PM (I'm pretty sure you'll need to join the forum but it's pretty painless).

The link to the FDMB is here:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Edited to add: Here's a link to one of Mue's recent posts (and I think the post immediately before this one is one of mine (my user name is 'Elizabeth and Bertie').
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thre ... st-1370458" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"]
If you click on Kleinemue's avatar pic then you should get the option to 'start a conversation' with her. And that will enable you to exchange phone numbers etc.

If you get stuck, please do let me know, and I'll get a message to her for you.

Elizabeth

[Eliz+Cats]

Oh, gosh, Sarah - sorry, I forgot to ask how Edgar is doing?

And what insulin is he on?

Eliz

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Thank you so much Elizabeth. I will get on this site later. Edgar is doing well having just gone down to 2 units of glargine twice a day from 4. But it is taking a while and we have taken Edgar off the prescription food which he didn't really like and it caused a set back with his gingivitis. So now he 's back on Lily's and Bozita and it has not had a negative effect on him. Quite the contrary. It took a while to persuade our vet that prescription food wasn't vital and Ruth at the RVC only reluctantly admitted that Lily 's and Bozita were fine even though I'd read that they were. Edgar may have acromegaly which leads to a resistance to insulin but the latest results are better. His curves at our vet have been awful but over two days this week at RVC they were normal. Go figure! He has till November on the study so hopefully he will do even better next time he 's there.

[Eliz+Cats]

Hi Sarah,

I'm sorry to hear that Edgar may have Acromegaly. Did the vets say why they suspect this? (The insulin dose is usually much higher than this before Acro is suspected). Have they suggested that Edgar has an IGF-1 test to confirm?

Have you noticed any physical changes in him?
There's a list of possible changes to look out for on this page (but it's an old page and some links within it are broken, sorry about that):
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thre ... -know.375/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have the RVC shown you how to test Edgar's blood glucose at home? (Oh, gosh; I'm asking a lot of questions. Sorry!)

And I'm wondering if Edgar's blood glucose levels were better at the RVC because you changed his foods to lower carb ones. Would that fit with the timing? (Oh, that's another question! )

Eliz

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Hi Elizabeth

The RVC rested for Acromegaly at his first visit because he 'd had such poor curves at our vet and he has an overbite which is an indicator. The rest was inconclusive. They have tested again this time. The main mystery is why he has such poor curves at our vet. We have the home testing unit but we 'rd useless at using it

[Eliz+Cats]

...The main mystery is why he has such poor curves at our vet. (

Perhaps he finds your vet's clinic to be a particularly stressful environment. Could that be possible? Some cats have really high blood glucose at the vet but much lower levels at home.
(Might there be dogs housed close by at the same time he's there...?)

And I think the RVC do go out of their way to help the cats feel more relaxed.

The most 'real' results you'd get would be the from any tests you do at home. And it sounds like you have tried that. But don't give up just because it didn't go well at first.

I thought my Bertie would be impossible to test, but I realised I could do it while he's munching on a few crumbled cat treats, and he barely notices! Some cats are OK being restrained for tests, but for others 'distraction' can work better.
If the cat is always rewarded with a treat or a cuddle it can actually become a positive experience for them. That probably sounds hard to believe at the moment...

If you're ever near where I live (on Cobham/Effingham border just a couple of miles off Junction 10 of the M25) I'll gladly show you how I test Bertie.
Edited to add: And you'd be most welcome to pop round for a cup of tea! (Though biscuits may be in short supply......because I eat them.... )

Eliz

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Ah, thank you Eliz! We struggle to get enough blood out of Edgar's ear and then the blooming machine usually plays up, but I know we need to persevere. They are likely dogs at our vet, and it is always incredibly busy there. They are nice but all quite manic.xx

[Herrybraun]

I am also not able to give you any reference at that time. When I got a reliable then surely suggest you.