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Hello everyone
My adorable cross-breed setter, 13-year old, male dog is not doing well at all. He was diagnosed with diabetes in Nov 2015, and we have had him on canine insulin since then (starting with 8 units; then increased to 12 units; and now 15 units).
He has had two blood curves, and the second indicates that he was not responding at all the insulin.
I blame myself entirely for his diabetes. The reason is this. In May this year, he was fine. We take both our dogs (both rescue dogs, the other dog is an 8-year old greyhound-cross, who does not have diabetes) to our family home in Portugal for 4 months of the summer.
One of the my Portuguese neighbours told me that when they feed their dog they put a liberal portion of olive oil onto the food. I had started doing this with my dog, and I'm sure this is what caused his diabetes. I don't understand how he has lived most of his life without diabetes, and then it just comes out of the blue in his 13th year. I do not give him olive oil any more.
I am extremely worried and upset by his current condition. Some days he seems okay, other days he just isn't himself. He looks sad in the face and hardly makes any barking noises or shows any enthusiasm about anything anymore. He urinates frequently, drinks a lot of water, and we leave the conservatory door open at night-time so he can go into the garden for a wee. His appetite is good, but recently no matter what he eats, he is drastically losing weight.
In Nov, he was 30kg. Now he is 25kg and you can see his ribs and he's starting to feel boney.
After doing extensive research on the internet, I have looked at adding things to his diet - such as cinnamon, kale, garlic - etc which are purported to be natural remedies that help in one way or another with the condition.
The vet thinks that it could be one of many things - Cushing's; Addison's, etc.
His correspondence to me says: " The main abnormalities detected were raised ALT and ALP enzymes as well as severe hyperglycaemia with a moderately raised white cells count. Renal function appears normal ruling out a kidney abnormality, liver function values are normal. Once again, interpretation of the abnormalities favour diabetes with possible Cushings/adrenal gland overfunction as the most likely reason hence the treatment plan on which we started.
The next step is testing for Cushings once we are sure that we have reached the point where insulin therapy is definitively non responsive and we have ruled out simple errors in administration. The first glucose curve performed by XXXX looked reasonable in response, just too high. The second one done recently had virtually no response which tends to show insulin not being administered correctly or not reaching the blood stream in sufficient concentration. We did discuss this in consult so eliminating this simple problem may make a big difference."
Fua has a shot of Metacam (Meloxicam) Oral Suspension each morning. I feed him in the evenings with kibble from the supermarket, and raw beef, some boiled kale, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
He can still go for long dog walks. Recently, myself and both dogs walked for three hours (9 miles) which is what both of them are used to. But he doesn't run around any more like he used to. And he drinks from puddles all the time, or I usually take a bottle of water and a drinking bowl in the car.
I don't really know what to do next. I myself am disabled (not physically, but mentally) and am at home all the time, so I look after both dogs. However, I am finding it very difficult to deal with Fua's ill health, because I suffer from schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder.
I am fearful of these long, dark winter days when Fua's health seems to be declining, and in my mind, I have already reached that dreadful realisation which all dog-owners eventually face - that he may die soon.
We rescued him from a dogs' rescue in Nantes, Northern France and he lived in the South of France with us for a while. He was abused as a puppy by his first owner, but never really had behavioural problems with us. He lives with his brother, Ashley, a grey-hound cross, also a rescue dog, who has behavioural problems around other dogs.
Both myself and my partner have both said we would love nothing more in the world than to have one more long summer with Fua at our holiday home in Portugal, and we would spend every day with him, doing things he enjoys.
We recently purchased an AlphaTrak blood glucose monitor but I have had a lot of problems collecting blood and cannot get it to work - it just displays the 'require more blood' symbol.
If anyone has any ideas on what I can do next, I would be extremely grateful.
thank you very much
My adorable cross-breed setter, 13-year old, male dog is not doing well at all. He was diagnosed with diabetes in Nov 2015, and we have had him on canine insulin since then (starting with 8 units; then increased to 12 units; and now 15 units).
He has had two blood curves, and the second indicates that he was not responding at all the insulin.
I blame myself entirely for his diabetes. The reason is this. In May this year, he was fine. We take both our dogs (both rescue dogs, the other dog is an 8-year old greyhound-cross, who does not have diabetes) to our family home in Portugal for 4 months of the summer.
One of the my Portuguese neighbours told me that when they feed their dog they put a liberal portion of olive oil onto the food. I had started doing this with my dog, and I'm sure this is what caused his diabetes. I don't understand how he has lived most of his life without diabetes, and then it just comes out of the blue in his 13th year. I do not give him olive oil any more.
I am extremely worried and upset by his current condition. Some days he seems okay, other days he just isn't himself. He looks sad in the face and hardly makes any barking noises or shows any enthusiasm about anything anymore. He urinates frequently, drinks a lot of water, and we leave the conservatory door open at night-time so he can go into the garden for a wee. His appetite is good, but recently no matter what he eats, he is drastically losing weight.
In Nov, he was 30kg. Now he is 25kg and you can see his ribs and he's starting to feel boney.
After doing extensive research on the internet, I have looked at adding things to his diet - such as cinnamon, kale, garlic - etc which are purported to be natural remedies that help in one way or another with the condition.
The vet thinks that it could be one of many things - Cushing's; Addison's, etc.
His correspondence to me says: " The main abnormalities detected were raised ALT and ALP enzymes as well as severe hyperglycaemia with a moderately raised white cells count. Renal function appears normal ruling out a kidney abnormality, liver function values are normal. Once again, interpretation of the abnormalities favour diabetes with possible Cushings/adrenal gland overfunction as the most likely reason hence the treatment plan on which we started.
The next step is testing for Cushings once we are sure that we have reached the point where insulin therapy is definitively non responsive and we have ruled out simple errors in administration. The first glucose curve performed by XXXX looked reasonable in response, just too high. The second one done recently had virtually no response which tends to show insulin not being administered correctly or not reaching the blood stream in sufficient concentration. We did discuss this in consult so eliminating this simple problem may make a big difference."
Fua has a shot of Metacam (Meloxicam) Oral Suspension each morning. I feed him in the evenings with kibble from the supermarket, and raw beef, some boiled kale, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
He can still go for long dog walks. Recently, myself and both dogs walked for three hours (9 miles) which is what both of them are used to. But he doesn't run around any more like he used to. And he drinks from puddles all the time, or I usually take a bottle of water and a drinking bowl in the car.
I don't really know what to do next. I myself am disabled (not physically, but mentally) and am at home all the time, so I look after both dogs. However, I am finding it very difficult to deal with Fua's ill health, because I suffer from schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder.
I am fearful of these long, dark winter days when Fua's health seems to be declining, and in my mind, I have already reached that dreadful realisation which all dog-owners eventually face - that he may die soon.
We rescued him from a dogs' rescue in Nantes, Northern France and he lived in the South of France with us for a while. He was abused as a puppy by his first owner, but never really had behavioural problems with us. He lives with his brother, Ashley, a grey-hound cross, also a rescue dog, who has behavioural problems around other dogs.
Both myself and my partner have both said we would love nothing more in the world than to have one more long summer with Fua at our holiday home in Portugal, and we would spend every day with him, doing things he enjoys.
We recently purchased an AlphaTrak blood glucose monitor but I have had a lot of problems collecting blood and cannot get it to work - it just displays the 'require more blood' symbol.If anyone has any ideas on what I can do next, I would be extremely grateful.
thank you very much
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