Anyone have experiance with a Dog that has Diabetes

[wheelgun28]

Well one of my dog has been drinking to much and needing to go out to much as of late. We thought it was a urinary tract infection brought her to the vet. Vet looks her over and her history, collects a urine sample sends us home with antibiotics. After a few days the dog seems a bit better but not 100% still seems to be drinking more than normal but not as much as before the meds. Anyhow the vet and I finally talk, the shows high sugar in the urine and should have a blood test as it might have Diabetes. Its not confirmed as of yet but what else would make the sugar level be high?

Well happy happy joy joy, this isnt going to be fun. I have read what I can and its kinda like when a person has it. Two shots a day, low carb diet, try to monitor the blood.

She is going to be 11 in few months, an we will do whats needed until she suffers. As of know she seems pretty normal so we will try this.

Anyone been down this path?

 

[mamasfatty]

a few years back our toy poodle was diagnosed with diabetes,,we had to give him 2 shots a day,at or around the same time every day. we picked 7am and 7pm. the insulin kept his sugar levels normal. giving the shots was easy to do once you got used to doing it(very small needles) .he lasted 2 more years with us,,,,,no regrets about doing it for him.....

 

[straightshooter1]

Our first dog, a Lhasa Apso, was diagnosed with diabetes. Probably our fault as we spoiled her rotten with treats and table scraps.

She lasted about two years after that and we gave her the insulin injections twice a day. She got to the point she could not walk and we had to have her put down at about 11 1/2 years old.

We learned from her and now are very careful about what our dogs eat.

Still lost two from cancer in the last few months.

Have another little 10 lb. Lhasa puppy and she has never had a treat. She has a favorite dry dog food that we use for treats. Six months old and still loves her Bil-Jaks as treats.

Bob

 

[lawandorder]

Good luck to all of you.

A few years ago we adopted two white Schnauzers. The two brothers were about 4 when we got them. They instantly stole our hearts and made life more enjoyable every day. After about 18 months Diabetes cropped in one of the boys. We gave him two shots a day and got to be blessed by his presence for another year or so before we lost him.

His brother developed the same disease about a year later and the same treatment and lasted about the same amount of time.

It was very tough but I am sure they would have done the same for us.

After a time we felt like trying again and are now doing our best to spoil two more little white Schnauzers.

 

[McBear]

I have one cat with diabetes and we shoot her twice a day. It is a real simple shot, subcutaneous which means just pull up a little meaty part and give her the shot. We buy the needles from American Diabetes Wholesale and the insulin from the local vet. Diabetic Supplies Online | Diabetes Testing Supplies & Products | American Diabetes Wholesale

 

[Fishslayer]

Anyone been down this path?

Yup. Fostered a girl Cattle Dog that wound up on CL when diagnosed. This is her story.
Rick and Lucy, our rescued cattle dog - Diabetes in Dogs: The k9diabetes.com Forum

Diabetes on it's own isn't hard to manage. This website will help you. I know they saved Lucy's life. They took me from knowing zero to home testing in days. The lady that runs the website has the most up to date info on the disease and has studied it extensively.

Diabetes in Dogs: The k9diabetes.com Forum - Powered by vBulletin

1. Home testing is king. It's not hard to do and a human meter can be used. The biggest expense will be test strips for the meter, but still cheaper and more accurate than having the vet do it all the time. Most dogs stress when at the vet and that can affect BG (Blood Glucose). If you're handy at traing/motivating dogs that will be a big plus. Home testing is covered very thoroughly on the website. If your vet is adamently against home testing find a new vet. They either don't understand the disease, don't trust that you can effectively test the dog, or are seeing dollar signs at the prospect of frequent visits for a BG curve.

2. Find a good vet that understands diabetes and doesn't view the diabetic dog as a long term cash cow. Many do. And not many vets are up to date on management. Some are still trying to manage diabetes with once daily injections. If your own vet seems up to speed and views you as an important member of your friend's management team you already have a good start.

It sounds like you caught it early, but there is still a chance the dog will develope diabetic cataracts. Don't panic. Dogs adjust to blindness better than their humans usually do. If $$$ is no object the cataracts can sometimes be removed. Lucy was adopted by a wonderful family who restored her sight.

The greatest immediate danger is ketones buildup in the blood. If you can find some Ketodiastix you can test for it. That's covered on the website as well.

Barring complications like Cushings Disease or pancreatitus management of diabetes can be fairly routine. Very important to remember to breathe. Once you're into the routine it really doesn't take up a lot of time. You will find yourself incredibly attuned to the dogs feelings and, at least in my case, the bonding was unreal.

There are ways to keep expenses down. Lucy wound up on Walmart Relion insulin that was about 2.5 x cheaper per dose than the stuff we got from the vet. Relion syringes, etc. The human insulin actually managed her better than the animal insulin.

 

[Fishslayer]

Our first dog, a Lhasa Apso, was diagnosed with diabetes. Probably our fault as we spoiled her rotten with treats and table scraps.
Bob

To my knowlege there is no real known "cause" for the onset of diabetes. It just happens. Not your fault.

 

[2152hq]

We had a Wire Fox Terrier that developed it.
Once you understand what it is, what the dog needs and adjust to a schedule of feeding and the shot (twice a day for us), it's simple.
The change in diet was good for both the dogs. They both got the same food.
Shots are snap to give. Insulin came from the Pharmacy that supplys people stuff,,so did the spikes.

It put him right back in fine shape and he remained in good health till old age took him at age 15. His diabetes started at around age 11.

 

[Doug M.]

I've seen some discussions of it on rr-folk but not paid a lot of attention. I suspect that much like with humans, testing and monitoring are important. Diet will have to be watched, and regular exercise is vital. Exercise both uses sugar, and improves insulin uptake at the cellular level. (When I took the education class, I laughed at what they considered "exercise" - our dogs get longer walks than that, then it's PT time. Sheesh.)

 

[JcMack]

I had a Chihuahua that was diabetic. Developed it at 9. Insulin twice a day until she died at 10. This dog had many congenital problems that killed her at an early age. Really pissed me off. A victim of poor breeding.

 

[wheelgun28]

Thank you to all!!

This will be a bit of a challenge for us but I guess we will figure it out.

The big problem is that the dog does not like to be handled, she like to be pet but on her terms.

Shes an 11 year old Beagle/Terrier mix (as best we can figure out). She came from a shelter as a pup, shes a good dog loves to hunt, chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits. I've had dogs most of my like but never a hunter before, she taught us many things. Our other dog doesnt care one bit about small animals, it will chase the deer off but thats it. It wants to sniff the other animals then walks away like ho humm,

This was the first night that we got a full nights sleep in a week, no going out. We will try to get to the Vet for the blood test and see what develops.

Thanks again!!

 

[retarmyaviator]

I have a male cat that developed diabetes when he was about four, he has been doing well for the past twelve years. Receives insulin twice a day, managed diet.

While it is a shock at first for pet owners to learn they animal has this disease be glad it is something that can be treated it could be a lot worse.

If you have a veterinary college in your area they can be a great help with the blood work and treatment. The folks at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University have been great and I credit them for my cat's doing so well for so long.

 

[427mach1]

I had a Kerry Blue Terrier that was diagnosed with diabetes when she was about 9 years old. We kept her going for another year by following her around with a pan to collect urine to determine sugar levels, giving her daily shots, etc. She lost a lot of weight and we finally had her put to sleep.

 

[11B Lifer]

We have a furry diabetic child

Rescued pets seem to have health issues-shots for our dog no problem-then again I rescued a cat then transported him 125 miles to our house. They all family-my kids, and grandkids are kind to animals. In turn they treat others with kindness.

 

[BigBill]

My blacklab had diabete's. Two shots a day by my wide and he was good to go. After many years of my wifes care he went blind but knew his way around my property pretty well anyway. When he lost control completely he had to be put down. We still miss him.

I been finding abandon kittens in the woods when fishing too plus i take in ever dog i have too. I try to save what i can. Bill

 

[wheelgun28]

Well, I just got off the phone with the vet, the blood test shows her sugar at 489 should be like 125
Her blood also shows high alkaline phosphatase so now we need to test for Cushings.

 

[Fishslayer]

Well, I just got off the phone with the vet, the blood test shows her sugar at 489 should be like 125
Her blood also shows high alkaline phosphatase so now we need to test for Cushings.

I'm sorry to hear that. There is a website for Cushings disease that is a sister to Diabetes in Dogs: The k9diabetes.com Forum - Powered by vBulletin

Many dogs have both diseases.

CanineCushings.net

 

[captorquewrench]

I have had to help people and animals help control their blood sugar by diet.

Like when humans are trying to reduce sugar and work the glycemic index and help control diabetes--reducing grains/carbs can help a lot.
Make sure that when you talk about medical treatment with the vet like pills or insulin that you inquire about a no or low grain diet possibly helping control your dog's blood sugar. Dogs and cats are carnivores and sadly a lot of commercial pet is mostly corn--GMO corn at that. it just doesn't metabolize right for them.

Hope and pray pooch is better soon.

 

[wheelgun28]

Well to follow up with this thread. We weren't thrilled with the treatment we were getting from out regular vet. It turns out they were 100% correct in everything they said but they didnt give us that felling of confidence. So we went to a new vet at Cornell Animal Hospital. The vet we have is a internal medicine vet with an expertise in Diabetes and Cushings.

Cornell University Veterinary Specialists | Emergency Pet Hospital

Wow what a place...

So she has VERY high sugar in the low 500 range.

She does have the indicators for Cushings, and more than likely has it to some degree. The vet said shes not very symptomatic and its not a big deal right now. Lets get the sugar under control then we might look at the Cushings later on or if it gets worse.

So she got her first insulin shot this am and will get her second soon.

Vet does not want us the check her blood level yet. We starting out at a lower dosage and after two weeks we will bring her in for another Fructosamine (?) test.

Thanks to everyone who replied. The K9 web sites made for several days of reading. It also made us change vets to a specialist. So thank you for the link.

Its been a tough few weeks being upset, learning, acceptance and now dealing with it.

Here's Abbey, her leg looks funny for some reason, its not like that.

 

[retarmyaviator]

Glad you got some great help with this. Cornell has a well respected program for animal diabetes treatment.

I wish you the best with this, it sounds like you are well on your way to controlling the diabetes.