Is licking associated with diabetes?

[Rosie's Mama]

Do you all think licking is associated with canine diabetes? My dog licks MUCH more than she did before she got sick.

[Judi]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

my vet said yes. That they may be leaking more because they are drinking more and are also more prone to UTI's

[Rosie's Mama]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

She started out licking the front of her shoulders. I didn't see her but the hair would be a little crusty from being wet. Now she licks the hairless inside of her back legs - next to her tummy. I first thought she either had a bad taste in her mouth or her tongue itched. Now she's licking where there's no hair & the spots are darker where she licks so much...and she doesn't mind if I see her now.

[Judi]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

I don't know about that one. My non-diabetic dog has been obsessively licking lately. But he's a little crazy. My vet was just talking about them licking their privates.

[stylynjm]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

Sissy licks her feet and legs.don't know about diabetes, but definitely environmental or food allergies..

[CraigM]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

Has Rosie had her food changed since being DX with diabetes? I've found Annie is allergic to some dog foods.

Can you tell us more about Rosie? How long diabetic, insulin used / dosage, weight (looks like a cute little girl), food fed, home testing blood glucose, any thing more you want to share?

Craig

[Linda1]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

The first month Jake was diagnosed, I found him licking his underside day and night. He had areas of very dark skin that wasn't that color before. Took him to vet and they said he had a staph infection. I was surprised, because I couldn't see any red inflamed areas, but the vet found some in his thick fur. After treatment the dark areas have slowly faded.

[Rosie's Mama]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

Rosie is a 11 yr old min pin with an undiagnosed neurological problem that has kept her on 2.5 mg of prednisone every other day for about 9 mo now. Prednisone almost surely caused the diabetes, which was dx right after Thanksgiving, 2012. She currently takes 7u ReliOn Novolin N at 6am & 6pm, right after meals of ID dry & canned mixed together. She's been eating ID since 2011. I don't know exactly how much, but it is not much at all. She is back up to 9 lbs which is about usual for her.

She is not regulated and her last reading was 516 at 5:45pm on 1/28/13. My vet has discouraged home testing so far, but I have asked and will continue to. He says studies show that dogs who are home tested, and insulin adjusted constantly, do no better in the long run since it takes a wk for them to adjust to the new dose. We'll see. She feels great even when her bg is that high.

She has been sick off and on since June 2011 but I know she wasn't diabetic then because bloodwork showed bg at 120 way back then. The vet suspects she has a brain tumor or spinal leasion that causes trouble without Prednisone to keep the swelling down. We know she doesn't have 10 yrs left to live, but we're going to do what we can to keep her comfortable for as long as possible, without brain surgery and/or chemo and radiation.

I first noticed her licking her shoulders in 2011 whenever she was about to get sick again. She'd throw up (yellow foam), lick her shoulders, stretch excessively (front down, butt up, like her tummy hurt) refuse to eat, and get constipated. Her back legs would be VERY weak DURING an episode, but fine after. She has been a very hungry dog her whole life so refusing food is a BIG deal, especially when you only weigh 9 lbs to start with. I could tell when an episode was coming on by the licking & streching and eventual food refusal. She wouldn't lick in front of me but the hair on her shoulders would be crusty from being wet. She only licked when she was getting sick until she was dx with diabetes. Now, she never licks her shoulders any more but licks the inside of her back legs even when I tell her not to. She knows better but does it anyway now. I used to think either she had a bad taste in her mouth or her tongue itched, but now she's licking where it's smooth. She doesn't get constipated much anymore either but she still vomits and stretches sometimes.

This has been a long road and I just noticed several folks mentioning licking and wondered if it goes along with diabetes, since that was one of the very first symptoms I noticed, but WAY before she developed diabetes. Any thoughts on the subject are welcome!

[Rosie's Mama]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

Rosie DOES have dark areas where she licks so I'll ask about staph when we go back for her next bg reading on 2/7. She definately doesn't have red inflamed areas and has no thick fur to hide any.

[jesse girl]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

well most that home test dont adjust the dose its there for keeping there pups safe from low blood sugar

this disease is just so dog individualistic and its very difficult to be generalized for the masses to have pretty good success as you can see a dog can tolerate elevated blood sugar and may show very few symptoms

your pup has additional challenges and may need adjustments in dose because things can change quite quickly

without monitoring my jesse at home she would probably not have made it and i knew that so we started testing her in the first week of dx

testing at home is a personal choice dont need permission

[momofdecker]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

Welcome to you and your pup!

I wonder if your pup is on any pain meds in addition to the prednisone for the neurological concerns? My Decker licked his front paws a lot and shortly there after started showing signs of weakness and knuckling in them. We stared with cosequin and that curbed it a bit. Also gave him vitamin B12 Methylcobalamin - not sure that ever helped but it didn't seem to hurt so we continued with it. Eventually he ended up on gabapentin and tramadol, in addition to prednisone, for a C1-C5 cervical spinal lesion. Seems his licking was more related to neurological problems and side effects of the prednisone rather than the diabetes. He'd had diabetes for nearly a year when the lesion was discovered and over a year when he started the prednisone. Holli

[Rosie's Mama]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

Rosie takes 1/4 of a Duralactin every morning.

[dgrote]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

My dog licks like crazy her paws and found out she has allergies. Now i have 2 dpgs with allergies. try giving him/her 1/2 a tablet of allergy relief pill with cetirzine, 10 mg in it. walmart makes a generic brand that cost 88cents in a green box. I knew my dog had allergies and has a script of prednisone and gave her benadryl. that dont work. it has to be like compared to zyrtec. the walmart brand says that on the top left corner of box. It works great and no more licking and my other dog itched so bad she had bald spots on each cheeck and now its all grown back. Its cheap and works. This is if they lick there paws or themselves. I have one that licks the floor constantly and i think thats just a habit she formed for whatever reason. she will lick the same spot for hours. So those are the two top things i think it coud be.

[amydunn19]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

My dog, Maggie has allergies to all kinds of environmental triggers so she licks a lot and I always attributed it to the allergies.

Regarding the home testing, my vet was not thrilled that I was home testing(I switched to him after I left a really terrible vet) but I told him that it was not negotiable. I assured him I would not be changing anything without his approval. He saw the benefits of me testing at home and he now encourages his patients to test. We handle a lot of problems over the phone and he constantly tells me that he trusts my judgement. I can see where a vet might be a little nervous that people would make big changes in insulin without fully understanding how insulin works. I would encourage you to home test and hopefully your vet will get on board. After all, the readings aren't really telling your vet anything - it is a single reading he is taking in the stress of a clinic visit. If you could take him a week's worth of readings taken at the same time each day three times a day(like morning, noon and pretty-meal evening), you would be giving him enough info to make a better decision. I went a year and a half without testing and my dog was going downhill and constantly at the vet and emergency clinic. Since I changed vets and began home-testing, she has been in great health and she was diagnosed five years ago.

[Mpollww]

Re: Is licking associated with diabetes?

I have a min pin too and she suffers from pancreatitis and irritable bowel. She licks like that when she gets nauseaus. The vet told me by doing that she can fill her tummy with air which is then painful so she stretches and does the same thing with putting her head down and her butt up. She is on Pepcid AC twice a day to help, we have to really watch her diet and she gets a small snack of chicken in the middle of the day because when she gets too hungry it can trigger an episode. She is usually a good eater but when the pancreatitis starts to act up she won't eat.

Good luck and welcome! This forum has been a huge help to us.