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  • #61
    A uneventful update which is what you want to see . I think the most important part iis your pup is in good spirits

    Try to make it as easy as you can for the mom . Maybe less testing can be worked into the schedule since your in a stable place . Hope you and your partner have a uneventful birth of your child .
    Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
    Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

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    • #62
      Hi all,

      It's been a busy 4.5 months. My daughter was born happy and healthy, but was a bit colicky the first couple months. As for Jude, he's still with us and we were never able to fully regulate him. What we did find is his thyroid was running too high, we had to pull back his meds. That helped a bit, less swings in insulin needs and BG levels. However, he's slowed down quite a bit since doing that. Maybe it's the baby finally coming home, but his age is really showing. He'll be 17 years old, so I know we are in the final stretch. He's now dealing with arthritis in the hind legs, galliprant anti anti-inflammatory are helping with that. He's vision is slipping, he has trouble with dark objects and rooms, but navigates fine otherwise. Immature cataracts somewhat progressed, I guess 10+ years of diabeties will do that. My big issue, one that I never thought i would deal with since he's a ravenous eater. He will follow his normal habit of whining for food, he'll get excited, then half way into his meal he's not interested. He will hound us for food, poke my leg, whine for more but doesn't want what's in his bowl. I noticed he will not touch wet or moist pieces, I have to keep microwaving the food to keep him going to finish the food. After he's done he wants more, it's very very odd. Vet checked teeth and looked him over, he had full blood work done 4 months ago with nothing standing out (vet didn't feel running them again made sense). No other new symptom or issue to speak of. The vet prescribed entyce appetite enhancer, it did nothing but spike his glucose levels. His IBD makes food changes challenging. I'm tempted to try adding some canned form of current food into the mix. Not sure if it will help. I can't tell if I'm just dealing with a picky eater, cognitive or neurological issues? He's been on the same food for years. The thought his sense of smell is going crossed my mind, not sure. I tried adding beef broth to the food, as well as cooking turkey bacon and leaving it in a bag with the food to transfer the scent with no success.

      This is really a challenge, I'm losing it a bit now, it's something new every couple months. The thought oh no, we are at the end crosses my mind, I feel panicked although I know I've been doing my best for many years with him.

      Adding another thought that came to mind, and I know jesse girl you had your girl with dementia. Over the past year Jude started exhibiting a slight head bob, we original thought it to be hypo events but never was. It was a one in a blue thing for many months, it would happen for a second or two, I could pet him and it would stop immediately. It's more frequent now, maybe once every day or two and only when he's excited or worked up (but not every time). I start to wonder if neurological issues are at play.
      Last edited by jaycapz; 01-01-2025, 07:54 PM.
      Jude: Rat Terrier, Doxie, Chihuahua Mix // Born ~4/2009 // Diagnosed at 6 yrs with diabetes // 23.5lbs // Ocu-Glo 1x's Daily // Hypothyroid diagnosed at 7 years, 0.2 mg Levothyroxine 2X's Daily. Diagnosed with IBD at 15 years old, attempting to re-regulate on Purina Hydrolyzed Vegetarian Dry Food (2 Tablespoons Canned Pumpkin for Stool Issues).

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      • #63
        I know not many are on here often, but i'll keep the updates coming. I'm not sure where else to go with what we are going through.

        So Jude has continued to only eat about 1/2-3/4 of his meals which has made insulin dosing a challenge, its actually been horrific to see his numbers swing like this. He will not eat his food if its all placed in the bowl at once, he will only eat if its ground up and water added to make a paste, plus adding a little boiled chicken. This got him to eat slightly more but not enough. $1500 in vet bills, multiple rounds of blood testing and an ultra sound they could only identify early stage 2 CKD from bloodwork. His ultra sound of kidneys were normal, one of his adrenal glands were slightly enlarged. There were not major findings. They tested for cushings, addissons and a few other diseases without any major findings. Even though his kidney values were not too badly elevated, they believe he could more sensitive than most. They prescribed multiple anti-nausea drugs, and did a round of SubQ fluids with no change. They prescribed martazapine appetite enhancer 2 days ago, it has helped a little but hes still not consistent enough. He acts like hes starving, but refuses whats in his bowl. When he gets to about 3/4's of the way through his meal, its like a switch goes off and he doesnt want whats in his bowl, he'll beg and moan that he wants more food but not whats in front of him.

        I'm not sure how anyone can manage insulin dosing like this, we try going with a percentage based system. If he eats 50% of meal, he gets 50% of insulin, well that doesn't work all too well. Also, seems like theres some residual effect depending on how much he eats in the prior meal.

        My old boy is really slowing down, its heartbreaking to watch. I pray when its time he goes peacefully, we've been through so much over the years.
        Jude: Rat Terrier, Doxie, Chihuahua Mix // Born ~4/2009 // Diagnosed at 6 yrs with diabetes // 23.5lbs // Ocu-Glo 1x's Daily // Hypothyroid diagnosed at 7 years, 0.2 mg Levothyroxine 2X's Daily. Diagnosed with IBD at 15 years old, attempting to re-regulate on Purina Hydrolyzed Vegetarian Dry Food (2 Tablespoons Canned Pumpkin for Stool Issues).

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        • #64
          I'm back with more updates jesse girl

          Jude was started on Martazapine for appetite, it started working really well for about a week. Unfortunately, a week ago he took a leap to his spot on the couch and somehow hurt himself. Hes been in extreme pain, his back leg has been bothering him pretty badly. The Vet took xrays, he saw no breaks, its assumed to be a sprain/tear of some sort. Due to his elevated liver levels, CKD and GI issues we are very limited on treatments. We started on galliprant which is a mild NSAID, that has not worked. We are now trying gabapentin, day 3 and I would estimate a 20% improvement but its really not enough. During the day he can get comfortable, but early morning getting up and afternoons are a nightmare. Hes whining at night, he shakes, he doesnt go to sleep without some time spent petting and repositioning him. Hes constantly looking to go out, I believe hes peeing more due to anxiety, but we are forced to carry him out at all hours. I am sure we are averaging 3 hours of sleep a night. The vet states gabapentin takes a few days to build in the system. We contacted him with concerns about quality of life, he mentioned getting an MRI done. I stated hes 16 years old, diabetic, half deaf and blind, high anxiety, bad arthritis in his rear, IBD and more recently CKD. If the MRI finds something, I feel in my gut its surgery, and I don't see how I can put him through that at this stage. The rehab and recovery will be months, he may not outlive the healing process (if all goes well). The vet agreed its probably not a wise option, even if hes a candidate for surgery. I feel like a terrible person for saying all that, but our quality of life is terrible, his is not much better. Anyway, we were told to stop the martazapine because it interacts with gabapentin, so as of last night he stopped eating again. This morning was a struggle to get him to eat 1/4 of his meal. To make matters worse, i think his anxiety is driving up his numbers.

          I would have never thought we'd be in this position, I would not have thought we would be considering putting him down over a leg injury. Hes always so active, he jumps like a rabbit and never had trouble - even with his arthritis, he always pushed through. I thought it might be a syncope event, like one hes had several times over the years that may take him. Basically, in these events he chokes and faints, the last event a few months ago we thought he was gone as the light left his eyes. I feel as though he missed his exit. Its breaking our hearts every day to watch him cry or whine, we said we would never let him suffer. The vet wants us to give it a few days, and we will give him a fighting chance to improve. He still has life in him, but hes not the same dog. Mentally hes been "off", his personality is "blah" at best on most days unless his heads on a swivel like a mongoose thanks to his anxiety, we are just managing a dog who has a strong will and too stubborn to go. He's a shell of the dog I raised, and i'm just torn over all of this. His protector for 16 years, and I feel as though I'm failing him now.

          Anyway, just sharing more of Judes story. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but we are day to day with making a tough decision. We don't want to say goodbye, but we can't stand see him suffer. So, hopefully he shows us something positive soon.

          I feel like a terrible person, even though we are beyond exhausted with a baby, preparing to move and all other life events weighing heavily on us.
          Last edited by jaycapz; 01-24-2025, 08:21 AM.
          Jude: Rat Terrier, Doxie, Chihuahua Mix // Born ~4/2009 // Diagnosed at 6 yrs with diabetes // 23.5lbs // Ocu-Glo 1x's Daily // Hypothyroid diagnosed at 7 years, 0.2 mg Levothyroxine 2X's Daily. Diagnosed with IBD at 15 years old, attempting to re-regulate on Purina Hydrolyzed Vegetarian Dry Food (2 Tablespoons Canned Pumpkin for Stool Issues).

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          • #65
            My heart is breaking for you as I had to go thru this with my best friend about 6 months ago and it certainly isn’t an easy choice to make, but I’ve always felt like it’s the kindest, most selfless thing we can do for our dear family members… It sounds like this is your first dog and if that’s true, it is the hardest. You beg for them to die naturally, but after 60 years of being a custodian of dogs, it has never happened to me, and has only ever happened once before to a good dog friend of mine. It’s not the norm, for sure… some very sound advice that’s been given to me is to take note of things they loved before, that they no longer like and may even be fearful of now. Someone else told me to take daily videos of them so you can see their decline and how fast it progresses…
            If you choose to send him on his way, you can have a vet come to the house, so he is surrounded by his family with less fear and anxiety. This is what we did for Max and it was very peaceful for him, although tore our hearts out to have to do it…
            Ultimately, the choice has to be yours and yours alone. Don’t feel like a failure to him, you’ve done an amazing job keeping him happy and healthy for as long as you have! You are his hero! Your choices are based on love and love alone… There is no failure in true love.

            Donna and Max, who walks here on silent paws, but I will always carry a piece of him in my heart…

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            • #66
              It's a very difficult time . We have all been their and there isn't much to make them comfortable. That was the problem for me . I figured out the diabetes but I could not do anything for her dementia . Actually I went quite awhile as she was not in physical pain . Maybe to long or not long enough . Now other factors the suffering goes both ways so that's something to consider .
              Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
              Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

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              • #67
                keep updating Jason hang in there! your Judes best advoacate.

                keep well and to all of you and to your young baby
                mo
                Riliey . aka Ralphy, Alice, Big Boy
                20 lb male. 5 1/2 nph insulin. 1/2 cup fromms. black cockapoo, dx Apr 2012 . 5 1\2 yrs diabetic. 2000 to 2017

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                • #68
                  I'm sorry to learn that Jude is struggling. As dogs get older and their conditions... pile up... everything is more complicated, every decision more complicated. At 16, that's a lot of things piling up. There can be a time when their life is so limited, so painful, that it's not worth continuing and the kind and loving thing is to let them go.

                  So the important thing is to keep Jude's comfort and quality of life at the top of the list of important things. There are some guidelines for how to think about quality of life that I will provide below that may help you sort this out.

                  https://www.aplb.org/wp-content/uplo...Assessment.pdf

                  This comes from a site dedicated to the problems you are facing, https://www.aplb.org. I haven't relied so much on scoring as on the list of things to think about. Difficulty breathing for example is extremely uncomfortable for humans and dogs and it's not something I necessarily would have considered.

                  Not sure if they currently list it, but one consideration is "Are there more good days than bad days?' and "Can anything be done to relieve the bad days?"

                  Listen to what Jude's eyes and actions or lack of actions are telling you about how he feels, whether there's quality in his life.

                  I know how hard it is. We lost our boy Jack three years ago because of a tumor that paralyzed him from the rib cage back. His health was good, his mental state was good. But paralysis robbed him of any quality of life and the tumor was only going to get worse.

                  When he was first diagnosed with a benign but very large tumor, we opted for treatment rather than just letting his health fade away. But the treatment was hard on him and then he wound up with another tumor just a few months later that was deadly.

                  If I face this choice in the future, I don't know that I will choose treatment. Radiation causes new problems and I now think he might have lived just as long and better without treatment. He was 14 so certainly a senior. I don't think either choice was wrong. We just have to make the best assessment we could at the time of his chances and I think the veterinarians should have been more vigilant about problems other than the benign tumor and more open about the potential side effects of the treatment.

                  All you can do is make the decision with love and with Jude's well-being as your most important concern. When you do that, there's no wrong decision.

                  Sending love and hugs,

                  Natalie

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