Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

[BichonMom]

My bichon will be 16 years old in October and was diagnosed with diabetes about 3 months ago. He is on Novolin N and his blood sugar is so irregular. I home test and have switched him to several different foods. The vets I take him to insist there is something else going on that is causing his irregular blood sugars. So, I had an abd ultrasound done which was negative. No tumors or any other abnormalities on any of his major organs.

Now, he suddenly went blind overnight. He did not have cataracts before and developed diabetic cataracts and is now blind. He is running into everything at home and acting weird. I took him to the vet immediately and he has been there all day. They are now saying he has a murmur which he needs a chest xray for and possibly to see a cardiologist. (however they said in their notes they mentioned a murmur back in April but I was never informed) They also said he may have a brain tumor. And are now saying he needs his teeth cleaned as that could be part of the reason his diabetes isn't under control. I am very nervous about putting him under anesthesia because of his age and uncontrolled diabetes. Does anyone have any recommendations?? They also said the only thing I can do for eyesight is cataract surgery. I feel like this is too much for his age.

I am stuck... I feel like they are telling me all these different possibilities and I do not have alot of money. He is my baby and I would do anything for him but I don't know where to start. I have already spent over $3000 in the last 2 months on him with no improvement in anything .. he is actually getting worse.

Has anyone else had their dog go blind overnight? Did they adapt well? He just walks in cirlces and sits down because he can't figure out where he is. It is like he is a completely different dog now


What do y'all recommend I do?! Help please!!!

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

gee, I can only tell you my dog went blind and after he adapted to his surroundings he didnt bump into walls etc just lightly brushed up against them with his face. blind dogs adapt very well its us at first that have a hard time adjusting.

thinking of you

mo

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Natalie posted this a few months back, which I think is a great solution for blind dogs, for those that are not adapting well.

http://www.halosforpaws.com/

At the age of 16 that would be a very tough solution to go through with surgery. I have often thought that with Abby approaching to 14, I'm not sure I would.

Dogs do adapt well, and you may want to give him some time to see if he can adjust. Some things you may want to do, to help him, is to place some carpets, so he knows that he is in a safe place when he is on a carpet runner. You may want to wear some bells on your ankles so he knows where you are... things like this to help him become more comfortable.

Regarding teeth cleaning. If there are infections, this certainly can give some irregularities in BG, but you may want to try Tropical Clean... I have and and noticed an improvement in my Abby's teeth, without getting them cleaned. I also have noticed that it does not affect her Blood sugar.

Hang in there, it does take a while for some dogs to get regulated. Perserverence, taking good notes and keeping alog, and testing at home can help.

Barb

[Judi]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Hi: My Jenny was diagnosed with diabetes when we took her in for a dental cleaning. While it is true that infections can make blood sugar run high, my vet was very leery of using anesthesia on her until she was regulated.

She didn't get her teeth cleaned for about 16 months after our initial attempt.

Jenny's blindness came on pretty quick and the first month was the toughest. She had to find her way around and bonk into things. She definitely feels more secure outside where her nose can guide her.

After the first month, she became more of her peppy normal self again. But the first month was probably harder on me than it was on her.

I clap a lot so she knows where I am. I tell her I am picking her up. I try to remind her not to run into trees, branches or walls when we are walking.

I say "up" for a step and "stop" for those trees!

hang in there. Have they given any antibiotics for infection? Judi

[charansuri]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Cooper went blind in couple of weeks after being diagnosed with diabetes. It was very heart breaking to see our over-active dog feel so lost. But, it will get better for you and the dog eventually. We took him to eye specialist and they quoted some humongous amount for cataract surgery. I am not sure if that is the standard. We decided not to operate. He gets 3 eye drops every day so his contract does not get worse or he doesn't develop Glaucoma. The specialist told that unlike cataract, Glaucoma is painful. I don't want Cooper to ever get to that point.

He has adapted pretty well. He follows his 2 buddies when he feels lost.
We take him on lot of walks without leash so he learns how to get around. He knows "watch out" means he needs to stop and investigate his next move. While on walks, we also call his name often so he knows we are around. I always call his name when I get close or I give him treat so he is not startled. We bang on the bed so he knows where to jump. One key thing vet told us was not to pamper the dog (like carry him everywhere) and let him learn to be independent. In all, he is doing pretty well. It will definitely be little confusing initially, but you can help the dog train with some commands.

Vet asked us to clean cooper's teeth. We want to regulate his sugar first (its been a year) before doing anything else. Good luck with your dog. In all, try to be normal, be positive and happy around the dog. Take the dog outdoors, let the dog run around on grass... try to do happy stuff together.

[amydunn19]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Maggie went blind pretty much overnight and she had cataract surgery - she was 7 at the time though. She will be 13 very soon and I probably would not do it at her present age.

As far as teeth, they used a mask last time so they didn't put her fully under and it was much easier. I would ask about that as an option.

[Eddie]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

I am sorry to hear about your dog. It must be very shocking to have that happen overnight.
Eddie lost most or all of his sight a few years ago (aged about 7) for reasons unconnected to diabetes. There was nothing like surgery that we could do about it.
It made us very sad but I think he just adapted to it in a very pragmatic way.
You have had some good tips from others about how to make things a bit easier for him.
I wear tiny cat bells on my shoes so he knows where I am. I talk to him a lot and make sure if we are outside that he doesn't "lose" us and the other dogs. We use bubble wrap to wrap up things like table legs that he is liable to bump into and we have mats outside the back door and near gates so that he can feel a surface change so he can find the door / gate.
He has learnt that "bump" means stop at once and he uses his nose to find his way a lot (though that is harder after heavy rain I think as it damps down the smells). If he is struggling to find his way I offer to put him on the lead. Mostly he doesn't want it but occasionally usually if it is wet he does.

Most of the time he potters around outside on his own quite happily. He also plays with balls and will run alongside my husband with a ball, trusting that he will look out for any obstacles.
The hardest thing for us to accept was that he just will sometimes bump into things despite our best efforts. You can only do your best to protect him.
There is a very helpful book called "Living with Blind Dogs" that has a lot of good advice.
There are protective vizors that you can get (better than they sound) to protect their eyes and heads, but Eddie never took to his. http://www.optivizor.co.uk/

Antonia

[momofdecker]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Welcome to you and your pup. My boy developed cataracts too but we noticed them slowly forming over about six months. It does seem that dogs who have lost their vision rather suddenly do take a bit more time to adjust.

He had strong herding instincts and I was worried his loss of vision would be upsetting to him. Turned out that we were much more upset by it. He just trudged on and learned to rely on his hearing and sense of smell and was still able to herd. He seemed to have a great sense of spacial awareness when indoors and there were times we questioned whether or not he had some partial sight and/or limited shadow vision. But outside, in more open space, he would run head on into things without warning.

We often played games with him to encourage him to use his nose and ears - in hopes of keeping things fun and encouraging him to use his other senses. We too developed commands to help keep him safe. We used words like 'sniff' or 'find' or 'listen' when playing. I talked to him a lot and he also relied on our other dog outside to help him out.

I wonder if the circling you are seeing was present prior to your pup losing vision? We had no prior experience with a blind dog and noted that Decker started walking like a drunk dog around the same time he lost his vision - most notable on turns. It took us a few weeks to realize it was a gait issue and not a blindness issue.

All I can say is hang in there. The whole diabetes diagnosis can be very overwhelming in the beginning. Adding loss of sight and the need for dental work can only add to that feeling.

Folks on here are great. Don't hesitate to ask lots of questions and look around.

Here is a video we took of him trying to find toy in the yard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESxOe4o82io

[pgcor]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

I remember a woman on the board with a blind dog that had a vest her dog wore with a plastic ring in front of it. He was a little dog as I remember, but she was very happy with it and he didn't mind wearing the vest.

My dog just went under anesthesia for a biopsy. His diabetes is now unregulated but he did make it through. He's 12 and will be 13 in October.

At 16 though I would wonder what he would gain? The cataract surgery isn't all that easy for them and the eye drops are steroidal, which will likely mess with his blood glucose.

I agree that walking in circles may not be tied to blindness but could be neurological.

I would be so happy if my dog had been diagnosed at 15 rather than 7 - so on the happier side - he has a very long and healthy life!

[MaryND]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Sorry to hear about the blindness. When Jack went blind about 6 month after dx, it was harder on me than him. Yes, he bumped his head a bit, yes, he started to be more fearful of stairs, tripped over the curb on walks and stepped on the cat, but in time, he adjusted. I thought he needed a crash helmet. Hang in there - learn to use words as cues (like STOP!) and your sweetie will learn!

[BichonMom]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Thank you all soo much for the encouraging words!!! This is such a hard time and I'm so glad I found this. I felt like no one knew what I was having to deal with or my what my baby was having to deal with! I am definitely trying some of the tips y'all have left for me like putting rugs in certain places. He is also pretty much completely deaf so it's even harder because he can't hear his name or any words to help him get accustomed. He still is acting completely lost in our house and can't even find his way outside to use the bathroom where he went to his same spot everytime before. I'm hoping he will get used to it... And yes, I am thinking it is something neurologically related because he has some twitching as well which he has had for quite some time and the vet never really ever addressed it just stated it was probably related to the unregulated sugars. He had been falling a lot prior because his back legs would give out and the vet just said it was old age and loss of muscle. Now I'm wondering if it was neurological related all along.


I do have a question. Do most of you check your own dogs blood glucose?? I am a nurse so of course I thought it was pertinent to check each time before giving insulin as thats what we do with our patients but the vet said that is not the norm. She had asked me to do it for a while to see how he was doing but I feel like it was a lot on him doing it twice daily. I do my own glucose curves, but didn't know if I should check his sugars daily. Anyone do this?



Thanks again for being so supportive!!!!

[CraigM]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

I do have a question. Do most of you check your own dogs blood glucose?? I am a nurse so of course I thought it was pertinent to check each time before giving insulin as thats what we do with our patients but the vet said that is not the norm. She had asked me to do it for a while to see how he was doing but I feel like it was a lot on him doing it twice daily. I do my own glucose curves, but didn't know if I should check his sugars daily. Anyone do this?

Nearly all of us check blood glucose, or are trying to! I typically test Annie prior to meals, and at the suspected nadir (daytime, too lazy to check in the wee hours of the morning)

Craig

[jesse girl]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

i check jesses sugar before her 3 shots and sometime her low point in the day

shes a funny girl and gives me a kiss after every test i guess she understands its for her own good

your pup still has the sense of smell maybe you could use sent in some way to accomplish some of your goals

[amydunn19]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

I usually test Maggie three times a day- both feeding times and at her halfway point. If she is below 100 at her pm feeding, I check her 4 hours later(can't stay up til midnight)

[BichonMom]

Re: Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog and Now Blind overnight

Oh ok, good to know! My vet said that I was the "exception" but usually nobody checks their dogs sugars or even does glucose curves so I didn't know if checking daily before meals was a little much since we do not adjust the dosage based on his numbers.


Yes, that is a good idea, I will try to think of a way to use scent to help my little guy out. I know they say not to pick them up and help them because they get confused where they are but he will just walk and bump into everything until he gets discouraged and just lay down With all the tips on here something is bound to help him