Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

[Brandy mom]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

You said thinning hair and it got me thinking. Brandy had alpicia(sp) as a puppy. Every February she would get to thin spots on her back. Each side of the rump forward towards the front. The vet told me this is because she is a black dog and doesn't get enough sun in the winter. By May the hair would start to grow back. There was medication for this, but because it didn't effect anything else we didn't treat. The year that Brandy was DX with diabetes I noticed the hair wasn't growing back. I thought with all that was going on with diabetes it could just take longer. All of a sudden Brandy insulin needs changed(she needed more insulin). Then she got very lazy. All she wanted to do was lay around. So the vet suggest to run a T4 test. Sure enough her Thyroid was bad. Now in June it was fine. By August it was bad. Now two years later after some adjustment of the thyroid medication. She hasn't had the bald spots in the winter. I have been follow along with Mickey story, but I can't remember if you had his thyroid check.

Dawn and the girls

[Mickey'sMom]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

No.. no thyroid check.. Ill ask the vet about it..thanks!!

[Mickey'sMom]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Mickey is starting to "tense up" at shot time,,Mickey doesnt have real loose skin to begin with, but when he tenses up its makes it harder to get some skin to inject. In the beginning Mickey was real good with the shots, acting like he couldnt even feel them, Now he keeps turning his head and trying to "move out of my way" We dont give him his shots in the same locations, we move them around all the time, He gets a little treat after the shot, and seems to have forgotten all about it. But the actual shot time is getting a little difficult. any suggestings?

[Debbie & Apollo]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Hi --
certain days giving shots are better than others

I think you are doing fine by
1) rotating the areas.
We 2) turn Apollo to the right (for the AM shot)and left (for the PM shot)
My DH finds giving a shot one side easier than the other - not sure why.

Tonight when I did the shot Apollo cried out!! -- I have only had that happen a few times in over a year -- I don't know why.... I guess we hit a nerve.

3) I massage his neck first.

4) I give a treat after --
5) and lots of love and hugs....
6) maybe alternate the type of treats.
7) Aahh we also try to get everyone that may be around to stand still, and try for no noise. Atlas, our Maltese, has learned to sit quietly.... when Apollo has the shot over he jumps up as if to say 'Yippy!' now a treat!

All in all -- it has to be done --- 8) I have to remember to relax

good luck Debbie and Apollo

[Mickey'sMom]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

You may have a point about the noise..we have dogs,,there is a lot of movement around by the other dogs at shot time. Maybe I should take hin into another quiet room where its just me and him, I talk real sweet to him and rub his neck, but he is still tensing up..I think Ill try bringing him into a quiet room tomorrow.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Shots going any better?

[Mickey'sMom]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Yes Mickeys shots are doing better, seems to be getting more used to it, especially the treat after. he goes back to the vet tomorrow, We were a little alarmed when we tested him the other day and he was at 400 bg.. The vet increased his insulin to 7 units 2x a day instead of six...He was holding in the low 200's then zap! a 400 reading. Mickey was real stressed that day, got into a little posturing fight with one of our other dogs ( they get a little jealous of each other sometimes) He tested at 240 this morning and keytones negative, we still check for keytones daily. I encourage Mickey to run around the back yard with me to exercise him. Still no treatment for the possible Cushings situation, his little pot belly has gone away, his peeing and drinking is down, so the vet sees no reason to treat for cushings, though I still suspect it. (might just be my worrying ways)

[We Hope]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Dori,

In some dogs, cats and people, stress can send one's bg's soaring; for others, it's just the opposite, they can get into low bg's.

It's not uncommon for cats to be diabetes-free, but go to the vet and come up with a "diabetes-zone" reading if blood tests are taken. The stress of the experience sends their bg's up temporarily, which their properly working pancreas will deal with.

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Re...ivity.2FStress

Stress can be applied to many common situations. It can take the form of moving to a different home, even with the same caregivers, the addition of a new family member, human or pet, or other more subtle things we understand the reasons for but are unable to explain to our pets.
Cats--with or without diabetes--are prone to stress hyperglycemia which temporarily raises blood glucose levels.
Persons and pets with diabetes are likely to experience hyperglycemia from experiences deemed stressful to them. There are also those with diabetes who go in the opposite direction--toward hypoglycemia as a response to what they consider stressful.

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Hy..._hyperglycemia

Stress hyperglycemia (the "white coat" syndrome some pets display with visits to the veterinarian) can approach diabetic levels, and can in some instances be high enough to cause glycosuria--glucose in the urine. (Personal experience of one canine caregiver indicates a reading can be 50+ points higher, depending on whether or not the pet liked the doctor or tech doing the blood draw.) Both fructosamine and glycosylated hemoglobin tests can help distinguish stress hyperglycemia from diabetic hyperglycemia when viewed in conjunction with other test results and clinical signs.

The canine caregiver above is me. Lucky was fine with all but one person doing blood draws. I know nothing "bad" ever happened with the person, but for some reason he wasn't fond of her. Depending on who was at which practice at the time we needed to test, there were times when the person would need to do the draw. When we'd fax and phone his results to John, who was at the other practice, we'd need to indicate if this person did the blood draw or not, because he and I would need to factor that into the results.

His buddies could do whatever they needed to do for him, and he was tightly regulated enough to have bg's of 85 between 8-10 hours after breakfast and morning insulin. He just didn't care for the lady and let it show.

Kathy

[k9diabetes]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Could be a 1 unit increase is too much. I adjust Chris' insulin by quarter units as he too uses a small dose.

Since he was already down into the 200s, maybe go 6.5 units instead.

Sometimes it's like there's a threshold and 6 units isn't enough but 7 units is too much. I remember Paul's dog Zip was like this, even though he uses a lot more insulin. A 1 unit increase had a very large effect on blood glucose at that threshold.

You also can adjust food slightly, say giving the 7 units but also more food. You can often fine-tune food in tinier increments than insulin.

Natalie

[Mickey'sMom]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Mickey is back from the vet....Meter BG 150...Blood Test BG 114... potasium/ Normal...kidney function...Normal..Sodium..Normal... Dr is VERY pleased...in two weeks she will be checking Liver enzymes...Peeing and drinking back to normal.. appetite..good... coat still thin but she says that takes time..She is really doubting Cushings now.

PS Also Mickey's muscle mass is coming back and his weight is maintaining at 17 lbs, and he jumps up on chairs again and into our laps...

[We Hope]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Dori,

I know people with diabetes who would LOVE to have the same results as Mickey!

When Lucky was diagnosed, the thing that was "off" on his panel besides the bg's were the liver values. They were slightly off and it really scared me, because we'd lost the little one before him to liver cancer. I was told that they weren't that badly off and once we got his diabetes under control, they'd go back to normal ones, which they did.

School hasn't started yet, but I think Mickey is an Honors Student!

Kathy

[Mickey'sMom]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Mickey back from the vets today...BG at 185...they did some blood work ..a little low on potassium ( she gave him a potassium pill) his orig alk was over 5000...its now under 200!
kidneys normal..adrenals..normal..lymph nodes...normal..Next month she is doing a thyroid check to address his thin coat, because she said at this point with these blood tests she doesnt even suspect cushings anymore, especially since his BG is regulated. He was also a little high on calcium, but not enough she said for any concern. I was so happy with the report, I forgot to ask her for a copy of it..lol..and his chorestrol (sp) is back to normal..

[Shaggydog]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

You must be thrilled with those results! Way to go Mickey!

[We Hope]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Mickey is walkin' the walk and talkin' the talk!

Mickey--You Go, Boy!

Kathy

[k9diabetes]

Re: Mickey Has diabetes possible Cushings too

Dori,

I'm so happy to hear so many good reports about Mickey. I think you're going to find the whole idea of Cushings going away. Could be that with better blood sugar and everything more stable the coat will improve on its own.

Natalie