Crissy having more problems

[bgdavis]

I noticed Criss was 'worked up', panting and acting hot on Sunday. There were thunderstorms to the north of us and I assumed that she could detect the pressure changes and that was the cause. Well, Monday morning, she wasn't very interested in her breakfast, but I sat on the floor and encouraged her to eat it all. When I went home at lunch yesterday, there was a puddle on some newspapers in the hall, but I guessed it was from the dog I've been sitting for the last 3 weeks. But Criss refused all of her lunch and I still gave her 2U of insulin (she normally gets 3 at lunchtime) and went back to work.

I had to pick my granddaughter up from preschool and didn't get home until 5:30PM. There were 4 huge puddles in the hallway, one must have been about a quart in size and both water bowls were completely empty (each holds over 1/2 gallon). Criss was drooling and panting like crazy. So I grabbed the meter and her bg's were at 296. I dipped a stick in the puddle on the floor and it immediately turned dark brown, indicating heavy presence of sugar. I threw some food in the bowls for the other 3 dogs and called my vet's 'after-hours emergency' number. He said he'd stay at the office if I got her up there right away.

He ran a full CBC blood workup. Nothing was out of whack except high ALP at 398. White blood count was normal. She had a temperature of 103.6. I got an urine sample and it too was full of sugar and a slight bit of blood. Her bg was 347 by then.

He gave her a shot of Baytril and tablets of it for 10 days. I gave her 12U of insulin. And we went home. By 9PM, I was able to get her to eat her dinner and gave her 5 more units of insulin. She didn't drink excessively last night and she had no 'accidents' in the house. This morning her fasting bg was 240 (still too high), but she ate her breakfast.

I hated to leave her today. She's very weak in the back legs and they went out from under her a couple of times this morning. I used the support to get her outside this morning to do her business. I sure hope this is just a UTI and she can recover. Criss has never had a UTI since she was diagnosed over 4 years ago. When they have them, do most of you see rear leg weakness?

I'm to keep monitoring her and he wants me to take her temperature as well.

Bonnie and Crissy

[Debbie & Apollo]

Hi Bonnie and Crissy

I am fairly new this forum but I thought I might share -
Apollo has had a UTI in the past --- the symptoms of panting and accidents in the house were not what we experienced. Granted we are home with him and he is able to go out to do his business.
We did have lack of appetitie and vomiting. Also, yes there was blood in the urine.
After a few weeks on antibiodics and no improvement we did more testing and found bladder stones. The stones did require surgery.

As for Crissy being weak in the back legs - yes I would have to say that Apollo experinced that also - I never considered that could be a symptom of the UTI -- just his not feeling well, and part of his breed (he is a Yorkie - and they can have bad joints).

I would keep an eye on her and if you do not see improvement consider tesing for stones.

Good luck and I hope Crissy is feeling better soon.

Debbie and Apollo

[k9diabetes]

Hi Bonnie,

With what looks like a jolt of very high blood sugar on Monday, I wonder if it could be pain or infection related and generated a big release of cortisol... bladder stones and/or UTI and/or existing back/leg pain. And that she's now coming down slowly from that cortisol dump.

Is she very sensitive to medium high blood sugar?

Cuz it wasn't all that high when you checked or later at the vet. Not great but not screaming either. But she was panting and drooling heavily. Unless she's very sensitive to blood sugar in the 300s, I'd guess that the panting and drooling were from something else like pain and the high blood sugar was just a side effect of that stress.

Maybe a reaction to both pain and high blood sugar.

She was already having weakness in the back legs and it sure seems like any kind of pain might make her even less willing to put weight on her back legs.

Don't know if you've seen Scott's thread over at the Cushings board. His chocolate lab is suffering severe high leg weakness and he got some boots for her back legs to give her better attraction. I know a couple of dogs that the boots have helped steady and not fall. Just a thought of something that might help Crissy get around.

Isn't it weird (and a big relief) that they can give you a scare like that and be so old and decrepit and yet give you a lovely looking blood panel?

I'm relieved to see that she seems to have recovered a bit. Will look for an update this afternoon.

Natalie

[bgdavis]

Thanks guys,

Criss was at 137 when I went home at lunch. She ate and got her normal 3 units of insulin. I did use her lift to get her outside. No accidents in the house and only about a cup of water missing from the bowls.

I think she has a mild UTI. Dr. Mayfield said that her getting so very stressed during thunderstorms doesn't help her.

I only gave her 250mg. of Lysodren this morning instead of the 500mg. she was scheduled to take, because taking the drug always seems to 'wipe' her out.

She's just never had anything like this experience before. She drank close to a gallon of water between 1PM and 5:30PM yesterday and it just went straight through her. I suspect I'll be seeing some sugar in the urine for a few days. Correct?

Debbie, wonder if she could have passed a stone and that caused pain and then some blood in the urine?

Bonnie and Crissy

[Debbie & Apollo]

Our vet (at the time Apollo had the stones (3 large and some smaller ones)
said it is possible ...they 'pass' a stone. It could also be too large to pass - that creates the irration .... and then you can get blood in the urine.

It really will depend of course on the size and if they have imflimation.
Apollo was not able to pass his -- too large -- He never really complained and when I look back on things I feel bad I missed the signs.
One thing Apollo did was take a looonnng time to empty out. Since his back legs were weak it was hard for him to hold the 'pose' ;) He got where he would squat like a girl :cool:

Since we have moved our new vet has using DiaScreen 7 Urinalysis Strips --- it's much easier to catch problems. I would recommend all parents to have some test strips on hand. Our strips have ph, blood, ketone,glucose, bilirubin, urobilinogen, and protein.

For now Crissy will probably improve with the antibiodics -- I noticed you have them for 10 days. We used the antibiodics for that long and went into a second round... then even with the meds we had a relapse and knew something else was up.... we had xrays done (for a second time) and this time found the stones. (we do not use that vet anymore)

You mentioned she doesn't like thunderstorms -- how about fireworks with the 4th of July coming??
We have to turn up the TV volume - Apollo hates the sound of fireworks!

I'll be watching to see how she is doing. take care - your on the right road.

Debbie & apollo

[bgdavis]

Crissy seems to be improving. Her bg at noon was 143 and she's back to eating without being coaxed. The Diastix showed some improvement, down to the 1/2 color. She still has 9 days of Baytril to take.

Bonnie and Crissy

[k9diabetes]

It's good to know she's feeling better!!

Seems like at this point stuff just happens and you may never know why exactly... things just don't work like they should.

Crissy's one tough old girl.

Natalie

[bgdavis]

Natalie,

She never ceases to amaze me. She 'popped' right up after eating her breakfast this morning and headed for the back door without any assistance from me. Her bg's are back to her normal pattern and the Diastix showed 1/10 this morning. I think she's going to make it!

Bonnie and Crissy

[BestBuddy]

Hi Bonnie,
I hope that Crissy amazes you for a very long time. I know that awful sick feeling when you think "has time run out" but such a relief when things get better.
Jenny & Buddy

[eyelostit]

I'm glad Chrissy is doing better.:)

Niki had high BG alot last week and even today, we are getting hit with one thunderstorm after another, she starts scratching the floor, follows me all around and hides under a table, last week I had to sit on the floor with both her and Chief to get them calmed down.

Well at least I know way in advance when a storm is coming, they must hear it 30 miles away. :rolleyes:

Now its time for the A holes to start with early firecrackers, so geez I guess high BG's till after the 4th or so :(

[k9diabetes]

It does my heart good to hear that Crissy bounced back. It's almost like living with two different dogs sometimes - the really pathetic death's-door dog and the amazingly cheerful what's-your-problem dog - huh? Some days Chris is one and some days he's the other.

[Ricksma]

Bonnie, I was reading your post to Natalie's thread, and I just wanted to tell you that I am going to be thinking of you and Crissy. I didn't know that she was having problems....she is a grand old gal, and very lucky. Ricky and I will send up some prayers for your sweet girl.

Love and hugs, Teresa and Ricky

[Denise]

Bonnie, I know what you are going through, the old dog thing can look pretty bad some days and then when you know there is diabetes and Cushings and meds....well, you aren't ever sure what you are seeing!

I agree with Nat, Crissy is a tough old cookie! Thinking of you and saying prayers that bg stays good and that the Lysodren isn't too hard on her.

I've not treated cushings like you have, is there a chance that with all the other issues that allowing cortisol to run higher might help her feel better at this point? I don't know if this late in the game if people ever switch to Trilo?


Sending HUGS for you and Crissy too!

[eyelostit]

Just hoping Crissy BG is staying stable now.:)

[k9diabetes]

Bonnie,

How is Chris' canine soul mate Crissy doing?

Natalie

[bgdavis]

Crissy's still hanging in. There are some days when she can barely walk down the hall to the door and others when she's 'mouthing off' to the boys. The sedative helps with the thunderstorms, but she's been anxious because of some re-siding work on the house.

I was pleased this morning because she ate her 'Mom's-going-to-work' treat this morning. She's been turning up her nose at it for the last 2 to 3 weeks.

Bonnie and Crissy

[Denise]

Bonnie, have you ever tried Rescue Remedy for the stress thing? We are going to have our roof done soon and I know that will stress Reba out (and me too) so I will use the RR since it works so well for storms with her and Molly.

I forget what she takes for pain (arthritis) too.

I know how seeing Bogie was walking (or lack of) bothered me but a larger dog is even worse since they are further from the ground if they fall.

I'm praying for you and Crissy. Crissy is part of the "old" era too.

[Ricksma]

Bonnie, Let us know if you find something that works for Crissy's anxiety...anytime we have anything done here, Ricky barks and whines the entire time. I guess if I were more of an assertive pack leader, I wouldn't have that problem...lol...but there you go. Hope Crissy has more good days, fewer bad.

Love and hugs, Teresa and Ricky

[k9diabetes]

Just checking in to see how Crissy is doing...

Natalie

[bgdavis]

Crissy saw Dr. Mayfield yesterday for her Adequan shot. She still has some ketones and variable bg readings. One morning she's at 174, fasting, and this morning is was at 353. I was hoping that putting her the latest mega dose of SAMe would help settle things down. He said to raise her insulin dose another 1/2 unit per shot and didn't think it would risk hypos. I've gotten readings over the last couple of weeks as low as 83 on my meter, but gave her an additional 1/2 unit this morning.

Bonnie and Crissy

[k9diabetes]

It is really hard to know what to give with the BG bouncing around! One thing I liked about using Regular was its short duration - it allowed a lot of flexibility.

I'm still not sure that there is such a thing as an insulin depot... I guess someday I should do some serious research on that.

Glad to hear Crissy is sometimes kicking a little furry butt around the house!

Natalie

[eyelostit]

Lately with Niki her BG was bouncing around, for some unknown reason her insulin is kicking in too fast, so i have been taking her fast BG if its say 150 I test again after food 1/2 hr, if her BG is then 180 I wait and inject 45 min after food, this has been working.

also if i get a high fast 250+ I feed 1/2 of her meal give injection then feed the other 1/2 30 min later, and check BG during day.

I think her body is changing now that she is getting older.