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K9Diabetes in Australia

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  • #1

    K9Diabetes in Australia

    Hi I have been reading some of the posts in the last few days and I have to admit I am so overwhelmed with all the information. Unfortunately this are done a little different here, my boy Cosmo is 13 yrs old and was diagnosed about 8/9 weeks ago.
    We have had a lot of problems getting his blood glucose to an acceptable level, and not quite there yet.
    10 days ago he started to bump into things and find his treats and of course he has cataracts, they are not covering his eyes completely yet.
    We have decided not to have them removed surgically, because Cosmo has many health issues and even though he is 13 im sure his body is feeling much older.
    We know he has liver and kidney damage from medication he has to take for Epilepsy, he was 18 months when diagnosed,and it's more than likely he has Cushing's Disease.
    At this time we are just trying to regulate him and see what happens from there, so I would love to hear from anyone, but if there is anyone from Australia willing to comment...I would be grateful
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

    Welcome to the best place on the planet for doggy diabetes information and support.

    Could you provide some information about Cosmo?
    • type of insulin used
    • insulin dosage
    • Cosmo's weight
    • any curve or blood glucose testing results
    • type of food he's getting

    There are several members from Australia and New Zealand. I'm sure your thread title will get their attention.
    Otis Farrell dx'd 12/10, best friend to his dad, Bill, for over 14 years. Left this world while in his dad’s loving arms 10/04/13. Sonny Farrell dx'd 1/14, adopted 5/15/14. Left this world while in his dad's loving arms 9/06/16. Run pain free, you Pug guys, til we're together again.

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    • #3
      Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

      Welcome! I also have a 13 yr old with diabetes, megaesophagus and EPI. I can tell you my experience is that the unregulated diabetes can take a huge toll on the dog as well as mimic Cushings. Now that we are seeing better days over here people don't guess that Ruby has so much going on.

      On this site there are some foundational principles that aren't often taught or even practiced in a lot of vets offices. I would recommend home testing for anyone, but especially for someone struggling with regulation. All you need is a human blood glucose meter to get you started.

      Once you start applying the basic principles I think the way will become clearer.

      Ruby is also blind and we have found the book "Living with Blind Dogs" very valuable. It would help Cosmo if you could put some of those tips in place now while he still has some vision left. My house has the traffic areas marked with runners and I wear an ankle bracelet with bells on it. You want to be sure to put a barrier up at the stairs and a rug to mark the beginning and end of the stairs helps too.
      Tara in honor of Ruby.
      She was a courageous Boston Terrier who marched right on through diabetes, megaesophagus, and EPI until 14.
      Lucky for both of us we found each other. I'd do it all again girly.

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      • #4
        Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

        Welcome! I'm not from Australia, but I know an Australian. Does that count? .

        Unfortunately, I appear to only have a straight up diabetic who is currently licking her foot off. So I don't have experience with Cushings or other issues. But i wonder if the order of things in your post is a bit backwards? Doesn't Cushings make controlling diabetes difficult? So wouldn't you want to try to confirm Cushings and get it under control first?

        Take a look at Decker's thread. Also, there is a K9 Cushings forum just like this one, and there may be some good info there.

        In the meantime, the info about weight, insulin, dose, etc will be helpful.
        Zoe: 12 yr old Black Lab/shepherd mix. Diagnosed 6/1/11. Currently on 15 units Novolin NPH 2x day, and hopefully as close to regulated as possible. Feeding merrick Grain Free Salmon and Sweet Potato. Weight 63lbs.

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        • #5
          Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

          Cosmo is 8.3 kgs, he is on 0.07 protaphane, at the moment he is taking wd dry and wet food and sometimes, homecooked vegetables, minced meat ( turkey,veal) and cottage cheese, and occassionally sardines. knowing an Australian does count, we are a different breed by all accounts
          Last edited by rustyangel; 06-08-2012, 05:45 AM.

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          • #6
            Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

            he spent day at vet clinic yesterday, his blood glucose in low 20's, he s on Protaphane insulin at moment

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            • #7
              Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

              So I don't have experience with Cushings or other issues. But i wonder if the order of things in your post is a bit backwards? Doesn't Cushings make controlling diabetes difficult? So wouldn't you want to try to confirm Cushings and get it under control first?
              Welcome to you and Cosmo!
              I only have a minute right now but wanted to say that it can actually be difficult to diagnose Cushings in the presence of diabetes, so working on the diabetes first is the right step. Cushings is a slowly progressing disease and the medications are not to be taken lightly. I'd see if you can regulate first as you are doing.

              Glad you're starting on protaphane.

              Patty
              Patty and Ali 13.5yrs 47lbs diagnosed May '08 Ali earned her wings October 27, 2012, 4 months after diagnosis of a meningioma ~ Time is precious ~

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              • #8
                Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                my jesse has epilepsy also had it all her life maybe a seizure once a month

                we decided not to treat and live with it

                jesses epilepsy can affect her numbers quite dramatically

                with other challenges regulation can be a bit more difficult but not impossible jesse does fairly well considering her challenges this could not have been done without home testing do to her challenges

                so the biggest thing you can do for your pup is start testing blood sugar at home this will keep him safe and help with getting control over the diabetes that is acceptable it may not be perfect but dogs can tolerate blood sugar at a higher level

                welcome to both of you it does take some time to find the wright combination and balance
                Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
                Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

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                • #9
                  Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                  Hello and welcome to you!

                  Yes, my Decker is what would be considered a brittle diabetic dog. Over eight months we've been unable to regulate him. His bg runs 400-600 most times. While most folks on here cringe when they see 300 range numbers, I'm jumping for joy to see numbers under 400.

                  Have to call our vets today to schedule an appt. for him next week. Getting ready to spend some of our roof fund on a bunch of testing to see if there is an underlying condition that has prohibited him from obtaining regulation range numbers. Full blood panel. Fasting triglycerides test (he has documented high cholesterol). Urine test. Pancreatitis test. Looking into sending out a thyroid test to Dr. Dodds for evaluation. One test we will NOT be doing is the cushings test. We will run a UCCR test to try to rule OUT cushings. If it does not rule out cushings we'll wait to see what the other test results determine and go from there. My understanding is that cushings testing is very expensive and difficult to obtain an accurate diagnosis on. Not sure we will ever go down that road.

                  My best advice is to make sure your vet focuses on the whole dog - not just the diabetes. If you are struggling to regulate there are many things that could be causing the struggle.

                  Simple answers may be you have not hit the right insulin dose. Food/insulin are not well balanced. There is an infection such as a UTI present that may be causing blood glucose (bg) to remain raised. Antibiotics or other meds may also cause a raise in bg. Stess is another factor that can raise bg. Seems to be a mixed philosophy on exercise. For many dogs exercise can lower bg. For those with elevated bg, at times exercise may further complicate the issue.

                  Concurrent medical conditions can be the more complicated answer.

                  Below is a link that I find very helpful.
                  http://diabetesindogs.wikia.com/wiki...n_difficulties


                  Best of luck to you on this new journey!
                  Holli
                  Last edited by momofdecker; 06-08-2012, 06:45 AM.
                  Holli & Decker // diagnosed November 5th, 2011 // Journeyed to the bridge January 26th, 2013, surrounded by his family at home // 9 years old // Levemir insulin // Hypothyroid // C1-C5 cervical spinal lesion // weight 87 lbs // Run with the wind my sweet boy. Run pain free. Holding you close in my heart till we meet again!

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                  • #10
                    Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                    Originally posted by rustyangel View Post
                    Cosmo is 8.3 kgs, he is on 0.07 protaphane, at the moment he is taking wd dry and wet food and sometimes, homecooked vegetables, minced meat ( turkey,veal) and cottage cheese, and occassionally sardines. knowing an Australian does count, we are a different breed by all accounts
                    That's slightly under Kumbi's weight. (Kumbi died - but of cancer,not diabetes). Protaphane sounds as though it may be an NPH insulin.

                    My understanding is that focusing on the DIABETES, rather than Cushings, first, works best in principle. Oh, well; I see Patty has mentioned this!

                    Glad you're here!

                    Fri, 8 Jun 2012 06:41:38 (PDT)
                    http://www.coherentdog.org/
                    CarolW

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                    • #11
                      Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                      Welcome! My Jenny started out with Cushings and Diabetes. We overdid her cushings meds so now she has the opposite problem, low cortisol and has to take prednisone.

                      If your dog has cushings, he may need more insulin to get regulated but it is very very difficult to get a real cushings diagnosis while their diabetes is running rampant.

                      Cushings is a very very slow moving disease and all the medication does is alleviate the symptoms. So, if he isn't incontinent, ravenously hungry, looking for a cool place to lie down and/or have really bad skin and hair, I'd hold off on any cushings testing also.

                      Jenny originally used the W/D food and it worked really well to get her regulated. hang in there and welcome again!
                      Jenny: 6/6/2000 - 11/10/2014 She lived with diabetes and cushings for 3 1/2 years. She was one of a kind and we miss her.

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                      • #12
                        Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                        Originally posted by Patty View Post
                        Welcome to you and Cosmo!
                        I only have a minute right now but wanted to say that it can actually be difficult to diagnose Cushings in the presence of diabetes, so working on the diabetes first is the right step. Cushings is a slowly progressing disease and the medications are not to be taken lightly. I'd see if you can regulate first as you are doing.

                        Glad you're starting on protaphane.

                        Patty
                        Thanks for correcting me on this Patty! Don't know enough about it to comment, and I'm glad you do!
                        Zoe: 12 yr old Black Lab/shepherd mix. Diagnosed 6/1/11. Currently on 15 units Novolin NPH 2x day, and hopefully as close to regulated as possible. Feeding merrick Grain Free Salmon and Sweet Potato. Weight 63lbs.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                          Hi and Welcome!

                          We have a few Aussies here

                          Are you testing Cosmo's blood sugar at home?

                          What are his levels like?

                          Has he had a full blood glucose curve done recently?

                          Although it sounds like an eternity when you're in the middle of this process, 8-9 weeks is not an unusual amount of time to still be fine tuning regulaiton. Some dogs luck out and the right dose is found faster, but not all that often.

                          The cataracts probably got started before he was diagnosed. Dogs generally handle blindness incredibly well and adjust quickly to the change, especially if the cataracts come on gradually as it seems his have. Our dog was not a good candidate for cataract surgery and he was blind four of his five years as a diabetic. Most people who saw him out wading at the edge of the river, walking on trails, etc. did not realize he was blind.

                          Natalie

                          Originally posted by rustyangel View Post
                          Hi I have been reading some of the posts in the last few days and I have to admit I am so overwhelmed with all the information. Unfortunately this are done a little different here, my boy Cosmo is 13 yrs old and was diagnosed about 8/9 weeks ago.
                          We have had a lot of problems getting his blood glucose to an acceptable level, and not quite there yet.
                          10 days ago he started to bump into things and find his treats and of course he has cataracts, they are not covering his eyes completely yet.
                          We have decided not to have them removed surgically, because Cosmo has many health issues and even though he is 13 im sure his body is feeling much older.
                          We know he has liver and kidney damage from medication he has to take for Epilepsy, he was 18 months when diagnosed,and it's more than likely he has Cushing's Disease.
                          At this time we are just trying to regulate him and see what happens from there, so I would love to hear from anyone, but if there is anyone from Australia willing to comment...I would be grateful

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                            Did someone call for an Aussie?

                            Hi,

                            My Buddy has been gone for several years now but he lived with diabetes for over 6 years and was 16yo when he passed away. He was about 4kg and was on 4iu of NPH insulin. We had a few moves during this time and each of our vets did things differently. Most of them never encouraged or even suggested we home test BG levels but when we finally did it on our own it was a revelation. We had so much more knowledge and control.

                            Buddy also has cushings the last few years and that was another journey, he also went blind. Up until his last day he had a dog worthy life and enjoyed his life.

                            You are at the beginning of a journey and I hope it goes smoothly. There are a few hints I can give about where you get your insulin and needles etc. if you would like when you get over this shock stage.

                            Jenny

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                            • #15
                              Re: K9Diabetes in Australia

                              Originally posted by rustyangel View Post
                              Cosmo is 8.3 kgs, he is on 0.07 protaphane, at the moment he is taking wd dry and wet food and sometimes, homecooked vegetables, minced meat ( turkey,veal) and cottage cheese, and occassionally sardines. knowing an Australian does count, we are a different breed by all accounts
                              One thing that can go a long way in the regulation process is weighing the food, even the individual amounts of each thing, as each ingredients will affect the bg numbers differently.

                              If your dog isn't a finicky eater I would try to make it easy and pick one combination and stick with it until regulated.
                              Tara in honor of Ruby.
                              She was a courageous Boston Terrier who marched right on through diabetes, megaesophagus, and EPI until 14.
                              Lucky for both of us we found each other. I'd do it all again girly.

                              Comment

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