Feline HAC?

Re: Feline HAC?

shanley barber — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 22:15:02 GMT

Hi again, abdominal ultrasound confirms a mass in the area of the adrenals, owner keen for surgery, but I'm wondering how long I should be treating this cat with Vetoryl before surgery. Assuming the normal adrenal gland is suppressed and atrophied, how long before it will be able to function after removal of the neoplastic adrenal gland? Any thoughts? Thanks, Shanley

Re: Feline HAC?

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 11:17:47 GMT

I had one many years ago. I could palpate and see a mass on X-ray which turned out to be a unilateral adrenal gland tumour, This was dealt with surgically and the cat lived happily ever after.

Re: Feline HAC?

Andrew Kent — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:22:42 GMT

[quote user="shanley barber"]Hi Andy, I don't have a picture, but the cat had a very poor hair coat, with a lot of scurf and the hair is dry and brittle. He is also quite pot-bellied. It really looks like a diabetic cat, which I assume it will soon become if it isn't treated! I will try to remember to take pics when he is next in. Which test would differentiate between pituitary and adrenal HAC? Endogenous ACTH?

[/quote]

abdominal (adrenal) ultrasound would be my first choice. Endogenous ACTH can be used but the normal range in cats is not very well known so may only help if very high.

Re: Feline HAC?

shanley barber — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:08:04 GMT

Hi Andy, I don't have a picture, but the cat had a very poor hair coat, with a lot of scurf and the hair is dry and brittle. He is also quite pot-bellied. It really looks like a diabetic cat, which I assume it will soon become if it isn't treated! I will try to remember to take pics when he is next in. Which test would differentiate between pituitary and adrenal HAC? Endogenous ACTH?

Re: Feline HAC?

Andrew Kent — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:08:01 GMT

Hi Shanley,

The results are certainly supportive of HAC. Do you have any photos of the cat? (This is more for interest as you don't see nearly as many HAC cats!).

I would definitely try to differentiate pituitary from adrenal disease as the management of these would be quite different. An abdominal ultrasound would be a good starting point for this but you may need to consider other tests as well.

In terms of treatment, the response to trilostane can be quite variable in cats and so the owner needs to be prepared that this can be quite a bad disease, depending on the aetiology and how proactive they want to be with investigations and treatment.

Do keep us updated!

Andy

Re: Feline HAC?

shanley barber — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 14:59:15 GMT

Rest of results: Cortisol 3 hours post des (post ACTH) - 459 (100-275) Would you start this cat on Vetoryl? Abdo scan first? Thanks, Shanley