New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

[AmyMiller24]

Good morning! My ten year old, overly pampered Jack Russell Terrier, Maggie May Miller, was diagnosed with diabetes on October 17 after a terrible pancreatic attack. Once she returned home, our vet prescibed 6 units twice a day. Routines and consistency are a strength in our household, so everything has been going very well since October 21.

Last Wednesday night, Maggie May had profuse diarrhea throughout the house. She ate her normal morning meal and received her insulin. I took her to the vet first thing that morning. Her BG was 184. The "relief" vet sent me home with pancreatic enzymes, antibiotics, and Endosorb. She ate her evening meal and received her 6 units. At 1:30 am Thursday, Maggie May began vomiting. She vomited about once an hour. I called the vet. I was advised that it may be a return of pancreatitis, though her diet had been specifically regulated. They kept Maggie May for the day, giving her IV fluids and antibiotics. All went well Friday. About an hour after her Saturday morning feeding and shot, she began vomiting again. She retained most of her food. I swapped over some borrowed cans of i/d diet. She has improved a lot. However, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours after the meal and shot, she gets pukey. She is a house dog, so I am constantly monitoring her. However, she usually laps the small amount up before I can get to her. At exactly 2 hours after the meal and shot, the "pukiness" is over.

We are heading back to the vet today. However, upon reading through your posts, it is obvious that there are many champions of canine diabetes that may be able to provide insight to a paranoid parent. I have overcompensated my inability to have children by personifying Maggie May. This unfortunate diagnosis has brought heartache into our household. However, it seems that this is diagnosis is survival with proper management. Any ideas on what is occurring 1-2 hours after EACH meal and shot?

[Patty]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Hi and welcome to you!

I know we have people here who have more experience with pancreatitis, so I'll let them chime in.

I do wonder what was Maggie eating prior to diagnosis?

Does she have a history of allergies at all?

Some antibiotics can make them feel quite naseous so that may or may not be helping the situation. Have you noticed a difference since starting the enzymes (gotten any worse)?

Did she used to eat all of her meals at once before diagnosis? I wonder if it's just too much food all at once and needs to be split up a bit. This would require lowering her insulin dose though.

Again, welcome to you!
Patty

[k9diabetes]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Texas A&M has a GI lab that offers a number of tests of bowel and exocrine ability - perhaps they could help narrow things down if those tests have not been done already.

http://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/service/assays

Patty has raised lots of good questions - let us know more about her history re food, allergies, etc.

Natalie

[AmyMiller24]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Thank you both for your response. Maggie did NOT eat all of her meals at once before the diagnosis. She has also always had allergy issues. My vet suspects that she has acid reflux. I am now adding an antacid to the plethora of pre and post eating pills. I am not testing her blood glucose level myself at this time. My vet is slowly breaking me in. Everything has been going surprisingly well until the diarrhea and vomiting episodes.

However, it has now been over an hour and a half and she has NOT vomited.

I truly appreciate all of the information shared on this forum. I am obviously a novice in regards to canine diabetes. It is comforting to know that there are many others out their coping, controlling, and succeeding.

[Patty]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Amy,
MaryLea is having to split Ruffles meals up a bit so she keeps them down. She feeding 1/2 of the meal then waiting a bit and feeding the other half within the hour then injecting. I don't know if this is enough time in between to make a difference for Maggie or not but something to consider.

What was she eating prior to diagnosis? And what was she eating prior to the recent switch to I/D?

Take care,
Patty

[CarolW]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Overly pampered?

I couldn't agree with that; after all, a dog who is truly a proper companion-dog is a member of the family. Any and all care and comfort, too, we can offer them, seems to me, is only their due!

Camellia agrees with me. (Hehe).

Sorry I don't have any assistance I can offer, but quite a few members of this forum surely have some ideas and suggestions for investigations that could assist you and Maggie May. And I see they have already begun. I'm so happy to see that!

So, all I can do is offer you a big, fat welcome, from Kwali and Kumbi at the Bridge, and Camellia and me here on Earth. And here it is: Welcome to you and Maggie May!

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:54:00 (PST)

[AmyMiller24]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Thanks again for your responses. I have changed Maggie May's food almost once a year. Over a year ago, she was eating Blue-Lamb and Rice. Because it was a dry food, she was not very motivated and grazed during the day. I then switched to Pedigree Chopped Chicken (I realize now that was not a great choice). When diabetes was diagnosed, I asked my vet if I should change foods. He told me to stick with what I have for now. She was eating 1/2 a can at each feeding (6:30 am & 6:30 pm). She did not eat it straight out of the bowl. I had to hand feed her twice a day to get her to eat most of the meal. I was trying to be consistent. My vet told me that once the gastrointestinal irritation is over, I can go back to her original food. However, I plan on swapping to an all natural food such as those recommended here. I do try to drag out the feeding (about 30 minutes) so that she is not just packing it in. The antacid seems to be working this evening. We have only had one small blurp of water and food pieces. I have been told by others that my constant mothering, staring, touching, and panicking is causing my dog to have a nervous stomach. My stomach has certainly been in knots since all of this. Perhaps, like twins separated at birth, we have phantom symptoms of each other's ailments. Ironically, because of all of this, I have discovered that diabetes has been in my "human" family for three generations. Weird, huh?

[CarolW]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

People will say just about anything, which has just about any significance you want to give it. Ha!

Surely it IS tricky to mother constantly - and well - without putting some emotional load on the dog! Staring at ain't so great; glancing at is better, or, at times, having a close look, perhaps with some cheerful crooning to go with it! Well, I expect you have a good feeling for how far to go.

The trick is, for us, to remember to breathe. When we start holding our breaths, dogs NOTICE that, and tense up. It can be quite an art to don a magic cloak that fakes relaxed un-concern - when we are, in fact, deeply concerned. It's an art I tried to practice with Kumbi; Kwali also, though she wasn't diabetic.

I think since you're so very much both attentive and aware, you'll find ways to continue your wonderful mothering, without adding undue stress.

I did find I had to relax my attempts at times, and give Kumbi some relief from stress of really constant attention. And my vets suggested I do that.

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:27:28 (PST)

[pgcor]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

I felt compelled to post here. . . Carol you are so right about what "signfiicance" we want to give to the comments we hear. Since Pip has been diagnosed, I've heard everything! And I mean that. From both sides of the coin and at the extreme ends....

1. My boss says I do way too much for my dog and that if I polled the office it would be hard to find someone who feels like I do.
2. My husband says I worry far too much about the dog and that I need to relax.
3. My sister thinks I've taken years off my life with worry.

Then, I come on the board and read and see that I don't know the half of it!

All I can say is I'm so sorry Amy. I'm sorry for eveyone who goes through this. I hope that you come to an understanding of what you can do to help Maggie May without driving yourself to distraction. I hope you come to this balance far quicker than I did.

The support here will help you as will the knowledge. Natalie and Patty have helped me so much.

I've been at this for 3 years and when I get particularly frustrated and sad I remember what Natalie told me several years ago..... "so be it"

Natalie - those three words have been a life saver for me more than once! Listen to Carol and "breathe". The fact that you came here means you can do this.

Good luck to you Amy and to your precious Maggie May!

[Patty]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Good morning! I just saw the comment below about blood sugar levels fluctuating after flea/worm medicine. Everything with Maggie May had been going swimmingly until last week. On Monday, November 15, I gave her her montly Heartguard Plus medicine. Over night Wednesday, we awoke to severe diarrhea in 3 carpeted rooms. Could the dewormer and diarrhea be related? Or did Maggie May just get a hold of something in the yard. We have an isolated farm house, constantly visited by deer.

Either is possible, but I'd guess with her sensitive stomach the Heartguard Plus may have been the culprit. Are you using the flavor chew?

You might consider talking to your vet about using Interceptor instead. It's more of a chewable tablet without the added flavor ingredients in the Heartguard beef-type chew.

[debbie]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Amy,
I would love to be one to give you advice but I am not one to talk. I am going thru this with Buster (if you read my posts). His started I would say at the end of october with vomiting. For years he had these episodes of vomiting and my previous vet put him on steriods to stop it and he was on them so much that he developed diabetes. When he was diagnosed with diabetes it was horrible. I didnt know what was going on, he was vomiting, not even drinking and i thought he was going to die. I took him to a new vet and he had diabetes, pancreatis and needs thyroid pills. At that time she changed busters food and the throwing up stopped and we got the diabetes in control. He was on W/d. Started on i/d first when he was first diagnosed. Anyway, it turns out he has ibd. The change in food was what he needed to stop the throwing up. He was on nutro lamb and rice. Well now a year and half later he is having an episode again. I am a mess. I spent 945.00 on tests and she said that it was his ibd. I was giving him his i/d again, anti acid pill and another one to coat his stomach. He was doing good. Then I introduced the w/d back and wham he started throwing up all over again. I was leaving work early, staying up with him all nite, I was and still am a mess. If it wasnt for Natalie and everyone else I would be a gonner. I love my dog very much and I do not care what anyone else says. Some people think I am nuts but I dont care. Anyway, I just went in for surgery, buster was throwing up and I cant even tell you what I was like. I came out of being put under telling my husband we have to get back for buster. After talking with everyone and natalie it occurred to me now that it might be the w/d. He developed an allergy to it and it needs to be changed. So my husband(because I am on pain med and can hardly walk) research a more natural food. One with a protein buster has not had. Anyway on sunday morning he threw up 5 times. I was losing my mind. Gave him an anti nausea pill and he stopped throwing up but I knew he was still nausuas. Natalie told me to rest his tummy which I did. Yesterday my husband took him to the vet for me because I felt he was dehydrated and he was a little. She gave him fluid and more anti nausea pills. We havent had to give them to him but I ran out of them. My husband talked about different food. She said it is quite possible. She kinda left it up to us to find a better one for him. Anyway with natalies help I got him through no food and a tiny bit insulin on sunday nite. I gave his belly a rest. Just insulin yesterday and a tiny bit of food last nite. He held that down. This morning he has had his food and so far so good. This is where i am at. All day sunday and yesterday I cried, iced my knee, took tylneols and I am a physical and mental mess. Anyway, my husband bought him blue mountain limited ingredients to give him. I will not start that till everyone thinks it is a good idea. I tried changing my thread but I dont know how. I wanted to change it to buster with diabetes and ibd. I would love to hear from people about it. Also what they are feeding their dogs. What they do about it and etc. I soak in everything people tell me. I need it. Anyway, I pray this food will work and be good but right now I dont know. I really would be lost with everyone. Anyway, I guess I am just writing to tell you I am going through a similar situation with buster and I know how you feel.

[AmyMiller24]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Debbie,

I have been reading your posts. I have been reading almost ALL of the posts. I am a vet's worst nightmare...a pet owner with a quick Internet connection and time on her hand's! The responses have eased a lot of my concerns. My husband is a little less supportive than yours. His family raises and trains bird dogs-dogs with a purpose (his term).

Maggie's stomach issues are very similar to Buster's. She has always been a pukey dog. So far, the i/d is working, but she has puked watery food at least three times this morning. However, she wants to eat more, play outside, and throw her toys around the house. So, basically, I am coming to terms that she is the same dog as before...a pukey, high allergy, separation anxiety disorder, active, ten year old JRT. Reminding myself of who she was before the diabetes is comforting. Hearing that the issues related to diabetes are NORMAL or common is also comforting.

I certainly understand the amount of time and/or obsession that having a sick dog requires. Most costs from the pancreatitis, diabetic check ups, IV fluids, prescriptions, etc. is nearing $3,000 (and we have only been doing this for a month). Merry Christmas to me!

The most comforting has been having someone to "talk" to. The time with my vet is limited to 10-20 minutes, though he is very patient and responsive. My husband is a cowboy (cattleman), so he believes that animals have purpose. He will listen to my concerns, but can only attend for so long. No one else in my circle obsesses as much as I do about their pet.

Like pgcor, I have been advised to get a little perspective or prioritize. I know that she is a dog. I have lost a brother, and my father has a rare, aggressive form of prostate cancer, so I see the "big picture."

We all just want those around us, both animal and human, to be healthy and without pain. But, most of all, we want someone to hear us and to validate our concerns. I feel that I have been heard and my concerns, fears, and time spent has been validated. Thank you...

[debbie]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Did your vet give you something like Cerenia so Maggie wont throw up for 25 hours

[pgcor]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Hi Amy - I just wanted to say one more thing in case I be misunderstood. I lost a brother at 40 and a father at 52, I can't have children either, and now my mom is gone. I certainly did not mean to say that perspective should come down to some sort of hierarchy in species. I just want you to breathe and relax at bit. Loss is horrible and maybe that's why we appreciate life so much - human or canine.

Maggie May is important to you as my Pip and Newman are to me. I have heard people say that I personify them as well. Okay, SO BE IT!

Who cares what others think? You will take care of Maggie May as you see fit! And it looks to me like you are a good companion!

Pam

[SeattleCraig]

Re: New Member: 10 yr old JRT Maggie May

Hi Amy. I'm new, too, but I understand the angst that you're going through. I've been feeding Bob by hand for 12 days now, and giving him 4-6 subcutaneous fluid injections per day, and his pills, and glucose testing, and insulin. He looks at me sometimes like, "now what?", and if he's feeling good, he high-tails it under the bed.

We do it because we love them, and we want to do our best by them. It's not unlike the decision we have to make at the end, which I hope is a long time away, for both my Bob and your girl.

People can say what they will, but I think we're "pack animals", much like our canine friends. Bob is as much a part of my "pack" as anyone. I certainly spend more time with him than I do with any single other person. We are family, in that sense.

My best to you, and to your Maggie May. She's a looker, that one. =)