Clover

[jblatt]

We found Clover 2 1/2 weeks ago as a severely malnourished stray with an open wound on her back. She appears to have been abandoned and on her own for 3-4 weeks. 11 lbs and frighteningly emaciated, she would not have lasted much longer on her own.

Although we have a Golden Retriever, we were not aware of re-feeding syndrome. We found her late Sunday brought her to a hospital Monday morning, got her back and she crashed on Wednesday. 5k later we are told that her glucose levels are indicative of Level 1 Diabetes.

We are injecting insulin twice a day, but I find the diagnosis difficult to understand. If she had diabetes prior to our rescue I don't think she would have made it. Vets say she is about 6 months old. I know juvenile diabetes is quite rare.

Is it plausible that re-feeding could have debilitated her organs so that insulin production is now inhibited, and is this the same as diabetes. What is the mid and long term effect of administering insulin if the case is mis-diagnosed.

Help needed -- thanks.

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Clover

Hi
Hows Clover doing..eating well..energy level.

Clover could have still have been or still is producing insulin..its called honeymooning. Probably why she made it. Tough dog!

You.ll know by doing regular curves and blood tests if theres a msdiagnosis.

Gestational diabetes *- diabetes occurs during pregnancy but usually resolves after the puppies are born. Pregnant dogs with gestational diabetes must be under a vet’s care to survive – you can’t wait it out.

Hyperglycemia - high blood sugar. Hyperglycemia is the cause for many of the signs and symptoms of diabetes in dogs. However, hyperglycemia may not be related to diabetes – it might be a sign of another serious problem, illness, or injury.

Hypoglycemia - when diabetes is mismanaged and there is too much added insulin in the body and not enough food coming in, the dog can suffer from hypoglycemia which can lead to extreme lethargy, unconsciousness, and even death.

Some female dogs dont need insulin after being spade. Something to discuss with your vet.

Re-feeding
The underlying causative factor of refeeding syndrome is the metabolic and hormonal changes caused by rapid refeeding, whether enteral or parenteral. On refeeding, the absorbed glucose leads to increased blood glucose levels, which increase insulin and decrease glucagon secretion. The net result of these changes is the synthesis of glycogen, fat and protein. This anabolic state requires minerals such as phosphate and magnesium and cofactors such as thiamine. Insulin stimulates the absorption of potassium into the cells (via the Na-K ATPase symporter), with both magnesium and phosphate also taken up. Water is drawn in to the intracellular compartment by osmosis. This decreases serum levels of phosphate, potassium and magnesium further, and results in the clinical features of refeeding syndrome.

[jblatt]

Re: Clover

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

Clover is playing energetically with our other dog. I have not seen her back away from food yet. She is a voracious eater, but we have been cautioned not to feed her too much.

I remain very skeptical about the diabetes diagnosis. I did a little research and found that one outcome of diabetes is that wounds are slow to heal. But what was initially a deep scary wound on her back when we found her is now almost healed.

One of the three hospitals she went to gave her steroids which probably was not the best treatment given her severely malnourished state.

Going to the vet tomorrow and I hope they don't want to increase her insulin dosage.

[jesse girl]

Re: Clover

A vet suggested to take Jesse off injected insulin for a week because he believed in a possible miss diagnosis . I went 3 days and her numbers dropped some without insulin but she went back to higher levels with diabetic symptoms .

My Jesse's had emergency surgery which technically was a hysterectomy when she had very high sugar and healed normally . Dogs don't seem to have many of the human diabetics have

Steroids are know to be a cause for diabeties in dogs . It maybe a combination of events . Not sure if your testing blood sugar at home . It is one of the best things for a diabetic dog managing bloodsugar