I have a 10 year old. Fabulous friend and companion. Diagnosed diabetic some 6 months ago. His condition was further complicated by a severe drop in his blood count. However we had experienced this some 8 years earlier, caused by what we believe was a snake bite (adder). This was corrected by drugs and a blood transfusion (provided by his sibling brother). This time however my vets hit him with steroids (4 per day) and has now reduced to 1/4 tablet per day - blood count now well into the 400`s - fine. However the diabetic problem gets no better. The insulin does not appear to be working. 2 injections @ 28mg per day and now we have the added problem of "clouding" of the eyes, and now suspect the onset of blindness. What a mess. My beloved friend has now taken to peeing in the house (only at night) and is drinking lots of water. Sadly my vets continue to experiment with the doses of insulin to rectify but I do not have confidence they actually have the in house experience to understand exactly what to do. Very few specialist diabetic vets available in the UK. I will not let my boy down. Has anyone out there experienced similar problems. I would appreciate your comments/advice ?
Hi @Larry Pitt sorry to hear abour your dog. I had a diabetic Lab. Took quite a bit of time to get the correct dosage. In the end the vet kept her all day for several days taking blood samples frequently. The vet did work out the dosage and when I had to give her the injections. She lived for two years on insulin. Perhaps you might need to consult another vet.
How long does he has to take steroids? They are not helping him with his diabetes. Steroids aggravate the diabetes and is becomes difficult to control his insulin consumption
Can't comment on your vets but diabetes is notoriously difficult for correct dosage. I've known several human diabetics and they have struggled to get the dosage right so I see no reason why our dogs shoukd be any different. Hopefully you'll get the right dosage very soon.
Hi Anne, Thank you for replying. The answer to your question. Ollie has been on steroids for nearly 6 months now. Started at 100mg per day and has slowly been reduced over the months and now takes 2.5mg per day. My vet informs me that the steroids are being used purely to insure an acceptable blood count level which currently stands at 434. Steroids cannot be suddenly withdrawn but slowly reduced over a period of 6 months. We anticipate a further 2 weeks and then he should be clear of steroids. We can only hope.
Ginger, our first lab became diabetic at 12 years. She was pretty easily controlled, and we did our own blood sticks on her and adjusted the insulin as required. Most diabetic dogs get cataracts, but she never did. We had her pretty well controlled within a month, and she was with us for another 4 years. She was quite healthy otherwise, and while the diabetes was a nuisance it really did not affect her quality of life. We did the blood sticks on the inside of her upper lip, and she did not seem to mind or react to much to them. There aren't a lot of nerve endings there. I think it might be difficult with some dogs like Cooper, but Ginger was easy. We did not have to do blood sticks daily, because she was pretty well regulated, and ate the same thing all the time. If your dog is drinking a lot of water, that is typically a sign that she still has high glucose levels. Our vet had a diabetic dog, so she had a good idea what we needed to do. Some vets don't encourage clients to do blood testing and adjusting insulin dosage but ours did not discourage us. We sometimes mixed the fast acting and slower acting insulin to get a more even glucose curve. FWIW, Insulin was a lot cheaper 20 years ago than it is now. Ginger was at about 22 units 2x per day if I recall correctly. Even if your dog gets bad cataracts, she probably can still get around pretty well. Being mostly blind is not as big a deal for dogs as it is for humans.
I would really recommend you look into the ketogenic diet with diabetic dogs. Look at the KetoPet Sanctuary: https://www.ketopetsanctuary.com Have a read about ketosis and the ketogenic diet for humans with type 2 diabetes - and see how many are basically cured through a ketogenic diet. Then, if you decide to apply it to your dog, look at the recipe guidelines on the KetoPet page and there is also a great KetoPet FB group with more help available. Sugar and carbs cause raised blood sugar. Eliminating sugar and carbs from the diet and ensuring the dog gets energy from healthy fats/ketones, will stop diabetes...
It may relate, but dogs are almost always Type I diabetics. They either don't produce insulin at all, or not enough. Type II diabetics produce insulin but don't process it properly. Some type II diabetics can get by with diet changes, but Type I diabetics always need insulin to live a normal life. Humans seldom develop Type I diabetes later in life, but dogs do.
Yes, it may be different if it's type 1 - but there is some research that a keto diet can help even type 1 humans. (I have a friend with type 1 on it, and her doctor is amazed how well she is managing at 42yo, having had it all her life.) So - it still can be useful.
