Doggie Diabetes

[Amina516]

Hello all!

Long time, no see.

We just got blood results back for my dog and found out that she has diabetes. We will be changing her food and starting her on insulin. Shes lost alot of weight recently, which is what led me to believe that she could possibly be diabetic. So weight loss is not the goal, but she needs to reach and maintain a healthy weight. She is a mixed breed and was 60 lbs at her heaviest. She is now an almost skeletal 40 lbs. she is heart breaking to look at. Ive been crying for days and lost my shit at the vet's office. I gave myself a time out and stood in the corner for a few minutes to calm down when they took her from the room for bloodwork.

Anyone have experience with canine diabetes? Or any food brands you would recommend or why? The vet's office was unfortunately, not very helpful with these questions, for some reason. The woman i talked to just told me to go to walmart, pick up the insulin and start giving her injections. :/ Thankfully, I have knowledge with people diabetes and I give people injections all the time. I found a good website on dog injections, so Im comfortable with that aspect.

She will need 2 injections a day, and from what i can tell one bottle should last her 5.5 days. Walmart is the cheapest @ $25 a bottle, Ill also have to buy needles but I have several family members that I think I can bum needles off of if I run out.This is not an expense I was counting on, but I will keep my baby with me for as long as possible. Also, of note, I just notcied she seems to be developing a cataract in her right eye, which is associated with the diabetes. I'm not ready for my baby to go. Shes only 7.

Anywho, looking for any advice or any stories people want to share of their diabetic dogs or cats.

Thanks for any insight.

[Kittish]

So sorry to hear your baby is having medical issues. I haven't had to deal with diabetes in a dog or cat (thank gods, I can't cope with hypodermic needles, they make me faint).

Our little Jack Russel terrier, Jackie, was allergic to everything under the sun including beef and corn. We had to keep her on a lamb and rice based dog food as well as giving her steroids twice a day to keep her allergies in check. It was the liver failure (kidney? one of them, don't remember for sure now) caused by the steroids that finally caused her to pass away a couple of years ago. But she was a happy girl right up to the last, so that's the important part.

As far as food goes, I'd start with putting your dog on a high quality food if you don't already feed her one. We still get the Diamond brand Lamb and Rice formula for the dog we still have. It's more expensive up front than the cheap stuff Wal-Mart carries, but you only need to feed about half as much so a bag lasts almost twice as long. Stay away from soft foods, they're loaded with corn syrup. Check nutrition info on canned if you feed canned food. I don't know if or how much in the way of sugars canned dog food tends to have.

[Aislin]

Please call around and find a vet with experience treating dogs with diabetes. My vet is amazing and kept my baby alive and healthy for 5 years. We used kiosis strips to test his urine and did discounted bloodwork weekly. My prior vet asked me when I wanted to put him to sleep when we got the diabetes diagnosis then overdosed him with insulin when we said we wanted to treat rather than put him to sleep. Luckily the emergancy vet was able to bring him out of the diabetic coma and refered us to our current vet who is wonderful.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Shots aren't hard to give; we gave them to our last dog. She lasted maybe 6 months after the diagnosis, but we're pretty sure she had cancer at that time as well.

Maybe start thinking about what changes you'll make to your house and your routines if the dog goes blind; that's what happened with ours.

For food, I think we fed her something other than what she had been eating, mixed with a bit of canned food for flavor.

[LillFilly]

I had a pug that lived until 10+ with diabetes; he was diabetic and blind for about half his life. I fed him breakfast and dinner, and while he was distracted eating gave him the shots by getting a fold of skin at the shoulders and giving it there; he never really noticed. I bought the smallest needles at Kinnys I think it was; you shouldn't have a problem buying just needles if you explain it's for a dog at the pharmacy; maybe bring your prescription.

Good foods? Ours were on Iams, but there are much better brands. My current mutt eats 4Health dog food; it's mid-price range, medium-sized bites, and she's staying at a healthy weight on the Salmon and Sweet Potato formula.

The first sign Gizmo was diabetic was he had gone blind; the corneas had crystalized. I think because you caught the diabetes early you could be better off, she may keep partial sight. But Gizmo adapted amazingly, he could even go outside by himself, could follow my voice, find his way around the house, etc. I made him a vest so he would bounce against objects instead of hitting his nose; They're sold online as names such as a 'blind dog halo' (http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/10/a...gs-get-around/) but instead of buying one, I modified an existing harness with a coat hanger wire inside a small flexible tube; it worked amazingly! But, you don't want to change the layout of furniture if she does go completely blind; Gizmo learned to navigate and would get lost if you pulled the lazy boy out, but when you called a few times, he found his way around it.

You want to watch your dog closely. Watch for excess thirst, and she might need to go to the bathroom more often. Watch for signs of hypo or hyper glycemia. When Gizmo's blood sugar dropped he started stumbling and acting confused; a swipe of Karo Syrup on his tongue (what the vet told us to do) and he was fine a few minutes later.

Activity, heat, a longer than usual walk all affected his insulin levels, but month to month his numbers stayed pretty constant. He had to go to the vet about twice a month to get insulin levels done; I don't know if today you can do it at home yourself, or if you can go longer between visits. The longer the numbers stayed level, the longer he could go between visits.

Once diagnosed and getting his shots his weight stayed constant; he had lost weight before being diagnosed, so hopefully yours will bounce back.

You can still give treats; sometimes I cooked chicken, rice and vegetables to mix with the food; it didn't affect insulin levels much. You'll want to watch out for sweetened cookies, or buttery table scraps, etc.

Good luck! Once your dog adapts I'm sure she'll be her old self again, as long as you're there to support her and make sure she knows she's safe.

[Amina516]

So, pup had been doing well. (I call her pup but shes 7. )

Her appetite came back, her energy level increased and she was dealing with her injections rather well.

And then the other day she went blind. :/

Her R eye developed a cataract almost immediately after the diagnosis. I had hope that the L eye would hold on...and it did for a bit. Little by little the cloudiness came and now shes blind. It really hit me 2 days ago when i went to give her her special post shot treat and she didnt reach for it as normal. She waited. I brought it closer to her nose and then she reached for it.

I guess i should add i had a crying fit when i realized she could not see. I had another today when she got excited and tried to jump up on hubby after he got home from work. Only she hadnt seen he had walked away and she ended up jumping up with her paws landing on the back of a chair.

I know she will adapt, but I am heartbroken by it. She's never been much of a snuggler, but for the last several days since her eyesight has gone, shes been trying to stay close by. As if to ensure she's not alone.

We got a night light for her area where her food and water area, i dont know if if helps at all, but im thinking she can see some shadows. Her glucose curve test is coming up. We transitioned her to a better food and she seems to be doing ok with that.

The issue with the vet was spoken about and resolved. He wasn't happy about the lack of info that was given to us. I'm hoping this is a good sign, but I will change the vet if I have to in the future.

I know im a mess about a dog, but shes MY dog. My friend and practically my kid. When she goes, its going to be hard. I didn't think her being ill would affect me like this but it has whopped my ass way more than I thought it would.

Thanks for the advice guys. I didnt respond but I did read and take into consideration. Also, LillFilly thank you for that Halo link. Im going to see if I can rig one up with the harness she has now.

[Cia]

My late pommie Roadie was a diabetic for about 2 years. He went blind not long after his diagnosis but since he didn't run into the furniture much, unless I rearranged it, he could probably see light and dark and maybe shadows. He did get lost in the backyard a couple of times but would home in to our voices.

He started out on Vetsulin and we used the hypodermics from the Vet until we found that the local drugstore pharmacy carried the really thin needled hypos.

He did have to go to the emergency vet a couple of times for hypoglycemia, the Vet was astounded that Roadie could still walk w/ his sugar levels being so low. We did our best to keep his sugar levels stable but his body was an ornery cuss. His levels would be good for a few months and then thpppt.

I gave him whatever food the Vet said to. The last six months of his life the Vet had us try a homemade food that was low in protein and high in carbs. Roadie didn't think much of it and would pick out the burger meat and leave everything else behind.

The end came when Vetsulin was forced off the market by the FDA. The Vet tried so hard trying to find the right level of human insulin for him but his little body couldn't take human insulin and the final bought of hypoglycemia was his last. He spent three days at the Vet, picked him up at 3pm and he died at 10pm at home on his blanket. He got to pee outside, bark at the cat and be cuddled before his body shut down.

I'm gonna go cry now.

[Barracuda]

You might want to consider giving your furchild cinnamon. It mimics the effect of insulin and lowers blood sugar levels, and also has been shown to decrease insulin resistance in the cells. The recommended dosage for humans is 1/2 a teaspoon a day, so you would probably want to do like 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon depending on how big your dog is. http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Heal...tic%20pets.htm

[Amina516]

You might want to consider giving your furchild cinnamon. It mimics the effect of insulin and lowers blood sugar levels, and also has been shown to decrease insulin resistance in the cells. The recommended dosage for humans is 1/2 a teaspoon a day, so you would probably want to do like 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon depending on how big your dog is. http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Heal...tic%20pets.htm

I also read that for dogs, cinnamon essential oil is good to be rubbed in the paws. I was aware of its benefits for humans and I'm glad you mentioned it. I told my husband about cinnamon and he was very disbelieving. Lol I'm considering it. I want to see what her avg blood sugars have been after the next vet visit.

The end came when Vetsulin was forced off the market by the FDA. The Vet tried so hard trying to find the right level of human insulin for him but his little body couldn't take human insulin and the final bought of hypoglycemia was his last. He spent three days at the Vet, picked him up at 3pm and he died at 10pm at home on his blanket. He got to pee outside, bark at the cat and be cuddled before his body shut down.

I'm gonna go cry now.

We started on human insulin, so I'm glad these that. Less of a chance to get that taken off the market.

It's ok to cry. No judging. I'm upset every time she runs into something. I feel it in my heart.