Hi Everyone,
Just came across this very helpful site and thought that I would share some information about our six year old diabetic English Setter, Lily.
Here's a picture of Lily in 2012, before being diagnosed with diabetes ...
Lily was first diagnosed with diabetes in August 2013 after she suddenly became very lethargic and would not eat. After running some tests, our regular vet determined that she had a bladder infection along with very high blood gloucose levels > 600. The vet gave her antibiotics and told me she was diabetic and needed to be on insulin.
To make a long story short, Lily started out getting 5 units of Novolin N twice a day that gradually increased to 29 units. After several expensive trips to the vet for blood gloucose profiles that always had ranges > 500, the vet finally determined that Lily was somehow resistant to insulin. The vet then had blood work done for hypothyroidism and cushings disease. The results came back negative. It was now late November 2013. The vet switched her insulin to Vetsulin and that did not help.
By now Lily was getting more sluggish, started loosing hair, getting a dull coat getting black skin on her belly and her toenails started getting flaky. All the reading I had done on insulin resistance in dogs pointed to hypothyroidism, but my vet kept insisting that was not it.
So in December 2013, I decided we needed a second opinion and took Lily to a veterinary internal medicine specialist, who immediately saw that she had a thyroid problem, did a full thyroid profile on her which came back positive.
The specialist put her on Soloxine tablets twice a day and the insulin immediately started working. Lily's blood sugar levels are now consistently < 200! Thank God and her specialist! She is now back on Novolin N, 18 units twice a day.
Her coat is now starting to fill out. Unfortunately, she now has developed cataracts and can't see. We now have to deal with that. For now, She is doing well finding her way around the house. Her internalist has recommended a very good eye vet. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks for listening.
Mike
Just came across this very helpful site and thought that I would share some information about our six year old diabetic English Setter, Lily.
Here's a picture of Lily in 2012, before being diagnosed with diabetes ...
Lily was first diagnosed with diabetes in August 2013 after she suddenly became very lethargic and would not eat. After running some tests, our regular vet determined that she had a bladder infection along with very high blood gloucose levels > 600. The vet gave her antibiotics and told me she was diabetic and needed to be on insulin.
To make a long story short, Lily started out getting 5 units of Novolin N twice a day that gradually increased to 29 units. After several expensive trips to the vet for blood gloucose profiles that always had ranges > 500, the vet finally determined that Lily was somehow resistant to insulin. The vet then had blood work done for hypothyroidism and cushings disease. The results came back negative. It was now late November 2013. The vet switched her insulin to Vetsulin and that did not help.
By now Lily was getting more sluggish, started loosing hair, getting a dull coat getting black skin on her belly and her toenails started getting flaky. All the reading I had done on insulin resistance in dogs pointed to hypothyroidism, but my vet kept insisting that was not it.
So in December 2013, I decided we needed a second opinion and took Lily to a veterinary internal medicine specialist, who immediately saw that she had a thyroid problem, did a full thyroid profile on her which came back positive.
The specialist put her on Soloxine tablets twice a day and the insulin immediately started working. Lily's blood sugar levels are now consistently < 200! Thank God and her specialist! She is now back on Novolin N, 18 units twice a day.
Her coat is now starting to fill out. Unfortunately, she now has developed cataracts and can't see. We now have to deal with that. For now, She is doing well finding her way around the house. Her internalist has recommended a very good eye vet. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks for listening.
Mike
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