I first want to mention how grateful I am to have found this community. I've been a lurker for weeks, but decided to come out of the shadows for some advice.
Luna is a 9 year old chi mix. She was an active and anxious dog until 7. We started to see little things that made us believe she was losing her eyesight.
We took her to the vet and they thought she might have a brain tumor. We live in an isolated community with two vet clinics. We decided to take Luna to the big city, four hours away to the University vet hospital. After lots of tests it was determined that Luna had PRA, progressive retinal atrophy. A hereditary disease that would leave her completely blind. They determined she had 80% sight loss during the exam.
We brought her home, sad from the news, but happy to hear she didn't have a tumor. With the help of some supplements we were able to prolong her sight until about 6 months ago when she went blind.
About 14 months ago she was having blood work before a dental cleaning when we found out her liver numbers were through the roof. Vet 2 (we had switched clinics after the PRA diagnosis) thought cancer again. She had lots of tests, including an ultrasound and concluded that she she had liver disease and possible Cushings. Since she didn't have any symptoms of Cushings we decided to tackle the liver disease and she was put on prescription liver diet and supplements (Denamarin). Her numbers went down significantly and we were told to keep her on the diet.
About a month ago she started to have accidents. I took her in and they determined she had diabetes. (this is Vet 3 because Vet 2 moved away) We were given the option of putting her down or treatment. ? We started on Novalin, 3 units, twice a day. Level was 758.
This was on a Friday.
Week 1- Monday 462, increased to 5 units, twice a day
Friday 399, increased to 6 units, twice a day
Week 2- Monday 376, increased to 7 units, twice a day
Thursday 366, increased to 8 units, twice a day
I received a promotion that required me to have evening training. I trained my husband to give the evening injections for the following week.
Week 3 Tuesday, 477, 8 units, twice a day
(explained to the vet that husband thought he might not have injected correctly, was told to stay on the same dose)
Friday 404
Friday the vet calls us and says she believes Luna is insulin resistant. She wants to redo all the previous tests since they were administered by the previous vet and are over 14 months old. She thinks she has Cushings and wants to start treatment. (again given the option just to put her down)
Vet upped dose to 10 units, twice a day
I ask if I could meet with her to discuss Luna's treatment next week. Going in today. Yesterday, while rolling the insulin bottle I noticed a crack and a hole at the bottom of the vial. My hand started to fill with insulin. I had to rush to Walmart for a replacement. Her dose was late. I felt horrible. I now have a spare bottle in the cupboard.
From what I've researched, we need to concentrate on the Diabetes number first. I do not want to burn any bridges since I am running out of vets. My husband wants us to go to the Vet University, but this isn't really practical in the long term.
I have brought up the home testing route and haven't received any response.
Luna hides her issues so well. We were surprised by the liver disease diagnosis. She is pretty much symptom free...happy.
I'm worried about straining my relationship with the vet. I am not against more testing, but I don't think we have given the diabetes treatment enough time.
Am I on the right track?
Luna is a 9 year old chi mix. She was an active and anxious dog until 7. We started to see little things that made us believe she was losing her eyesight.
We took her to the vet and they thought she might have a brain tumor. We live in an isolated community with two vet clinics. We decided to take Luna to the big city, four hours away to the University vet hospital. After lots of tests it was determined that Luna had PRA, progressive retinal atrophy. A hereditary disease that would leave her completely blind. They determined she had 80% sight loss during the exam.
We brought her home, sad from the news, but happy to hear she didn't have a tumor. With the help of some supplements we were able to prolong her sight until about 6 months ago when she went blind.
About 14 months ago she was having blood work before a dental cleaning when we found out her liver numbers were through the roof. Vet 2 (we had switched clinics after the PRA diagnosis) thought cancer again. She had lots of tests, including an ultrasound and concluded that she she had liver disease and possible Cushings. Since she didn't have any symptoms of Cushings we decided to tackle the liver disease and she was put on prescription liver diet and supplements (Denamarin). Her numbers went down significantly and we were told to keep her on the diet.
About a month ago she started to have accidents. I took her in and they determined she had diabetes. (this is Vet 3 because Vet 2 moved away) We were given the option of putting her down or treatment. ? We started on Novalin, 3 units, twice a day. Level was 758.
This was on a Friday.
Week 1- Monday 462, increased to 5 units, twice a day
Friday 399, increased to 6 units, twice a day
Week 2- Monday 376, increased to 7 units, twice a day
Thursday 366, increased to 8 units, twice a day
I received a promotion that required me to have evening training. I trained my husband to give the evening injections for the following week.
Week 3 Tuesday, 477, 8 units, twice a day
(explained to the vet that husband thought he might not have injected correctly, was told to stay on the same dose)
Friday 404
Friday the vet calls us and says she believes Luna is insulin resistant. She wants to redo all the previous tests since they were administered by the previous vet and are over 14 months old. She thinks she has Cushings and wants to start treatment. (again given the option just to put her down)
Vet upped dose to 10 units, twice a day
I ask if I could meet with her to discuss Luna's treatment next week. Going in today. Yesterday, while rolling the insulin bottle I noticed a crack and a hole at the bottom of the vial. My hand started to fill with insulin. I had to rush to Walmart for a replacement. Her dose was late. I felt horrible. I now have a spare bottle in the cupboard.
From what I've researched, we need to concentrate on the Diabetes number first. I do not want to burn any bridges since I am running out of vets. My husband wants us to go to the Vet University, but this isn't really practical in the long term.
I have brought up the home testing route and haven't received any response.
Luna hides her issues so well. We were surprised by the liver disease diagnosis. She is pretty much symptom free...happy.
I'm worried about straining my relationship with the vet. I am not against more testing, but I don't think we have given the diabetes treatment enough time.
Am I on the right track?
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