It's been ages since I've posted! I now foster with a Yorkie Rescue group and have Ruby, a senior Yorkiepoo who became diabetic due to steroid treatments needed after intake. She's had surgery for luaxated patella early on, and more recently for bladder stones. Along the way, she was positive for EPI. So she's become a medically special needs dog and unadoptable. She's sweet but requires much attention. Unbelievably, I've had her for 3 years! No one has applied to adopt her and gone through with it.
She takes thyroid and appetite stimulant every morning but is a poor eater, even with toppers. That's sad because she ate really fast when we got her. She gets enzyme tablets and liver tabs 15 minutes before her meals. Of course, she's supposed to have low fat kibble (Royal Canin gastro) but we are still mixing it with Hills w/d and dribbling plain chicken broth over it. She gets boiled chicken added in when she stops eating the kibble, and we use canned glycobalance (her older Rx) to round out a meal when necessary. Even so, she doesn't always eat full meals now. For an 8 pound EPI dog, we were told to aim for 188 calories per meal. That was sustaining her right at 8 pounds when she ate better. She gets 1/4 carprofen after every meal to help with her back legs.
I test fasting BG every morning and night, and keep a record. Have not done a curve recently since her eating is irregular. But the FBGs are sometimes in the 300s or even 400s. That was not the pattern when she was eating more consistently on glycobalance, but she was having pancreatic episodes. So we began the search for lower fat foods.
I'm at a loss as to what else to try. We've done all the usual from baby food to you-name-it except home cooking; haven't tried that yet. She acts like there is still life in her although she sleeps alot. Other functions besides eating are normal except she pants alot. Does not seem to be in pain. The rescue's vet is about ready to test her for Cushings because of the high BGs, panting, and loss of appetite.
I apologize for the long post. But does any of this raise flags for any of you? She's only the second diabetic dog I've had. The first was Ruffles, who brought me to this site years ago. (I recognize some of your screen names from then!)
Thanks for taking time to read this. I'll be glad to fill in the blanks of her story as we go along.
She takes thyroid and appetite stimulant every morning but is a poor eater, even with toppers. That's sad because she ate really fast when we got her. She gets enzyme tablets and liver tabs 15 minutes before her meals. Of course, she's supposed to have low fat kibble (Royal Canin gastro) but we are still mixing it with Hills w/d and dribbling plain chicken broth over it. She gets boiled chicken added in when she stops eating the kibble, and we use canned glycobalance (her older Rx) to round out a meal when necessary. Even so, she doesn't always eat full meals now. For an 8 pound EPI dog, we were told to aim for 188 calories per meal. That was sustaining her right at 8 pounds when she ate better. She gets 1/4 carprofen after every meal to help with her back legs.
I test fasting BG every morning and night, and keep a record. Have not done a curve recently since her eating is irregular. But the FBGs are sometimes in the 300s or even 400s. That was not the pattern when she was eating more consistently on glycobalance, but she was having pancreatic episodes. So we began the search for lower fat foods.
I'm at a loss as to what else to try. We've done all the usual from baby food to you-name-it except home cooking; haven't tried that yet. She acts like there is still life in her although she sleeps alot. Other functions besides eating are normal except she pants alot. Does not seem to be in pain. The rescue's vet is about ready to test her for Cushings because of the high BGs, panting, and loss of appetite.
I apologize for the long post. But does any of this raise flags for any of you? She's only the second diabetic dog I've had. The first was Ruffles, who brought me to this site years ago. (I recognize some of your screen names from then!)
Thanks for taking time to read this. I'll be glad to fill in the blanks of her story as we go along.
Comment