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Miss Vienna

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  • Miss Vienna

    I wanted to share Vienna's story share because of the stories you all have posted have helped our family so much. I have been reading these forum posts for a few months now.

    Vienna is a ten year-old black lab and she has been my constant since my last year of college. Since that time, she has been by my side for law school, the bar examination, she was there when my husband proposed (he asked if we would both marry him), we have moved 5 times, and adopted a brother for her. She considers him her cute little pet. She stays at the Marriott with us, goes for every Jeep ride possible and goes to work with him husband where she thinks people come to solely visit her. She gets up with me at 4am when I have a busy day and will stay up late and watch movies on the weekends. Her vocab is better than my brother's and I am she understands more than even I know. She is my rock.

    Vienna got sick in March and she was diagnosed with diabetes and she has a few tumors that all appear to be benign. She was so sick we had to carry her outside to go potty, her legs were too weak. She had an infection(s) and lost her will to eat. After a few rough weeks and being new diabetes parents, she rebounded and we have been fighting ever since. I knew she felt better when she was running around playing tennis with me in May.

    This summer she had a bad case of diarrhea after a new bag of the same old food, so we changed her diet. When she was first diagnosed we (vet included) were desperate to get her to eat anything - remember she is strong willed. Once she was eating again (Blue Buffalo the blue bag), we worked on her regulation with insulin alone. But after the diarrhea and increasing her insulin quiet rapidly for several weeks with little change, we changed to a combo of 50% brown rice, green beans, chicken and 50% Taste of the Wild (the red bag). Vienna gets 23 units of Novilin N in the am and pm. She is generally under 300 but not a perfectly regulated. Her play is better than it was 1 or even 2 years ago. She swims and runs, and has that playful puppy attitude again,

    Two weeks ago she had what we called episodes, that the vet called them seizures. Quick seizures where she seemed to act completely normal as soon as we rushed over to her. She acted like nothing had ever happened. Both seizures happed after an extended walk outside. Yes, walks outside in late August, early September in Florida. IT IS HOT! We had the vet run a full set a labs and there was nothing to report- vet said labs look very good. Prior to both seizures she was laying on the tile (trying to cool down) and was panting hard and then made a hacking noise (almost like a hairball). The vet has suggested a chest xray. We don't want to limit her play time and exercise too much but we don't want her panting and having seizures either. When she is on the walk she never gave any signs of fatigue. Tail wags the whole time! Please let me know if you have any advice on this issue

    Excessive thirst has been listed by so many as a red flag with diabetes but Vienna takes in very little water, even when it is hot. She seems to hate drinking out of her bowl. We have changed the bowl type, we have given her bottled water (only the finest for my baby) but she doesn't like to drink. She does like to drink out of mud puddles and swimming pools. Any suggestions here would be appreciated too!

    The other question I have for the group is regarding supplements. Since we have been doing our own version of food for about 6 weeks now and we are getting pretty good numbers for her. We test at home with the Alpha track 2 and go to the vet all the time where we compare. My husband usually runs a 24 hour curve on her about once a week and will test midday readings too. But we are not 100% sure on the food and we are using zero supplements so I would like suggestions. I have heard wonderful things about CELLFOOD from Whole Foods for other k9 ailments and my research shows that has reduced the amount of insulin needed in two legged diabetics but I am looking for any input from others here.

    thanks in advance, Nicole Vinson

  • #2
    Re: Miss Vienna

    Hi Nicole,
    I just saw your story here. I wanted to direct you to the Discussion forum where you will receive more responses here: http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/show...735#post115735
    Love hearing Vienna's story though I'm sorry she's having some episodes.
    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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