Sophie has passed...

[sophiemarie]

Hello,

My sweet 11 year old girl Sophie was recently diagnosed with cushings, then diabetes. Last weekend she went into diabetic ketaciodosis. She was in the hospital for 4 days. They said she could go home last Monday. They had me giving her 2 units of insulin. They also told me she will be a difficult case because she has cushings and we have to treat the diabetes first. I was committed to doing all of this. However this week has been rough. She did eat and her excessive drinking did not stop. She kept having accidents and it's just been very tough to watch her go through this. Today she's taken a turn and I think I may have to euthanize. It just doesn't seem like a good quality of life. I know it takes time to regulate but I fear the cushings is causing even more complications.

I love this forum, there is so much support here and I really need some right now. I am struggling with this decision.

Thank you! Sophie's mom.

[jesse girl]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

hi and welcome

well my jesse is one of those dogs that have come back from the brink . the only word i can come up with is brutal and it took some time to get things to a good quality of life

i did become very pro active at an early stage with her care and management . i knew the vets were not going to be able to answer all the questions . so that left me . no medical background and began our quest for getting jesse back

now she did want to stay and she expressed it in her own way . i think she new it was going to be tough but that did not stop her maybe she did it more for me

i began home testing blood sugar the first week and adding a fast acting insulin a couple weeks after that . the key was the home testing that gave me the insight on how to move forward and keep her safe

a cushings dog usually will need more insulin than one without . most dont treat cushings in a diabetic dog unless the symptoms of cushings is prevalent and blood sugar can not lowered from high levels with higher doses of insulin

2 units is not that much insulin but it depends on how much your dog weighs

you may see a completely different dog from now in a month or sooner but you may have to put quite a bit of effort into this

most dogs do recover and go back to living a normal dogs life with some limitations

[sophiemarie]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

That gives me hope, but how did you do this on your own? Sophie was in diabetic ketoacidosis last weekend and I fear she's going into it now. I called the pet emergency hospital that treated her last weekend. They told me to bring her back in 10 days for a glucose curve. Meanwhile it's only been a few days since we left the hospital. So now I am thinking she's giving me a sign she is ready. I would love to save her. I really would. I cannot afford another hospital stay like last time though. What is making the situation worse is it is Sunday and only the er vet is open.

[jesse girl]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

first thing you want to do is get a meter it can be a discount human meter thats what i have used for jesse not perfect but gets the job done

they sell urine strips at the pharmacy so you can test for ketones

how much does your dog weigh ?

[sophiemarie]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Last week she was down to 7lbs. She is a chihuahua. All she is doing is laying down. She has even stopped drinking so I may have to take her to the er vet. Her next insulin dose is in an hour and she hasn't eaten. She's not interested in food.

[Cara Sandler]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Yes, if she isn't drinking I think she will need to go to the emergency vet. I'm sorry. It's a really tough situation to be in. It's reasonable to ask the vet what the chances are that she will recover and have a good quality of life.

[jesse girl]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

usually you can give a quarter of the normal dose without any food consumed

so that would be about a half unit

[sophiemarie]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Hi Cara, thank you for your reply as well. I feel like I have been given conflicting information from the vets at the er. There were 3 treating her during her stay. I really wish they told me to come back within a week rather than 10 days. Because she was still pretty weak.

She did just get up and she drank some water and I even got her to eat a little. So I was able to give her some insulin. Cannot wait to take her to the vet tomorrow.

[sophiemarie]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Thank you Jessies Girl! I am going to take her in to the vet first thing tomorrow am.

[Cara Sandler]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Hi Cara, thank you for your reply as well. I feel like I have been given conflicting information from the vets at the er. There were 3 treating her during her stay. I really wish they told me to come back within a week rather than 5 days. Because she was still pretty weak.

She did just get up and she drank some water and I even got her to eat a little. So I was able to give her some insulin. Cannot wait to take her to the vet tomorrow.

So glad to hear she drank some water and ate a little. Hopefully she is on the way back up!

[Judi]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

My Jenny had both diseases but luckily never had ketaacidosis (however you spell it)

If you can get her through this, you can treat both diseases at once. I will for sure be following your girls story and hope this is not the end.

big big hugs to you. I remember feeling exhausted and worried and terrified.

Judi

[sophiemarie]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

I feel so supported. I remember last weekend and how excited I was that she seemed on the mend. Also I just felt so encouraged when she woke, and drank and ate a little. It is something and I will take it.

Judi, so your pup lived with both diseases? How old was your pup when diagnosed?

[Judi]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Marie: my girl was 11 when she was diagnosed with both. My vet and everyone on both forums told me to see a specialist but since the nearest specialist was 3 1/2 hours away I went with a vet who told me he had lots of experience with both. He did tell me that he could almost guarantee I'd get more than the 2 years I'd kept reading about on the internet.

We did accidentally kill off her cortisol production with Lysodren at which time we went to the specialist. But even during that time we had periods where she felt great and was my happy peppy squirrel hunting poodle.

We had to let her go last November at age 14 1/2. It wasn't diabetes or cushings. It was old age and something going on inside her that I didn't test for. the vet was right though. We got way more than the 2 years I'd read about and she was a happy girl for almost all of it.

So fight through this if she can.

In hindsight, I'd go to a specialist as soon as possible if I were you. Neither diagnosis is a death sentence. You just have to work a little harder with both diseases. Eventually I quit obsessing over striving for great #'s or whatever and just focused on Jenny. If she was happy, I was happy.

I honestly believe that the people on this forum and the cushings forum helped keep my jenny alive. My vets were helpful too but for the last year and a half my vet just let me deal with the diabetes on my own unless I had questions.

We are sending all positive thought to your Sophie.

[sophiemarie]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Thank you Judi. I will take her to my vet tomorrow. I was afraid because she went into DKA last weekend. Right now she is just sleeping comfortably. She just drank a lot more water. That makes me so happy.

I will do my best to fight through this with her.

Thanks to all.

[sophiemarie]

Re: I am afraid the end is near - Sophie's story

Hi all. Unfortunately I had to euthanize my little girl. The vet said she was very sick.

I do feel a sense of relief because she is no longer suffering and at peace.

Thank you for your support.