Hero - Juvenile diabetic now thriving at 2 years old

[k9diabetes]

Re: Hero - Juvenile diabetic now thriving at 2 years old

Hey Lisa,

What is the status with his liver issues?

I have seen an interesting approach done recently with Lantus and the same could be done with Levemir where the main insulin given is NPH but a small amount of Lantus is given at the same time to extend the duration of the injection to last a full 12 hours. This might be something worth considering in the future for Hero. Levemir is another long-acting insulin and might fill in the time during which NPH doesn't provide for him. No guarantees it will work that way but would be worth trying. The other is the 10 - 10 - 4 schedule I described earlier in this thread.

I don't see any problem with having to give him more insulin. Even now he's on a smallish dose. It would be quite normal for him to need a larger amount. And with all of the stuff he's dealing with in terms of antibiotics and inflammation from his injuries, he could need quite a bit more.

So I would expect that he might be a bit unstable right now and perhaps some correcting R insulin can improve the situation until he's healed up. I would only be seriously worried if, after healing up and coming off antibiotics, etc. that he stayed unstable, at which point he might need some adjustments to his diet or insulin regimen.

Natalie

I noticed a rather large and distended abdomen today, that I have only previously noticed in pregnant bitches. Obviously Hero is male, and not pregnant so off we went packing to the vet. She was concerned about the fluid like feel and possible enlarged liver and took radiographs. She then proclaimed Hero's liver to be the size of Texas. A bunch of liver related bloodwork was run. His liver enzymes were low and she was worried about loss of liver function. So a bile acid test was performed. Hero had to be force fed the small meal required for the second blood draw of the bile acid test. The first reading fasted was less than 5, the second gave a reading of 6. Both proclaimed his liver to be normal functioning. So the puzzlement of why it is so large and possibly inflamed. She feels this is likely cause contributing to his loss of appetite. The instructions were to give him Vitamin B12, Baytril and metronidazole for 7 days. He was a little anemic but she didn't feel that needed to be addressed. She also instructed me to get him to eat whatever he wanted. I plan to try a raw packaged diet next. I have already exhausted every canned variety, several dry options. He likes my cooked hamburg or cooked chicken, but I never can give him the right insulin injection off those foods. I have read and investigated a food called Primal. It seems pretty similar to the canned diet I have been using in terms of proteins, fats and carbs. The next steps in the process here would be ultrasound and liver biopsy. Interestingly to point out that Hero's initial bile acid test done at 8 weeks old revealed a normal functioning liver, but with much worse values than he has now, but without the disended abdomen. Go figure. Any thoughts on this? Much appreciated.
Lisa & Hero

[Lieder2]

Re: Hero - Juvenile diabetic now thriving at 2 years old

I wanted to thank you for sharing your journey with Hero. There is so little out there on Juvenile Diabetes. We adopted a 2 1/2 month old puppy we named Pepper, 6 weeks ago and after having her home for two weeks we discovered she was diabetic. She is the first at our vet clinic with this diagnosis and we are all learning together how to best care for her. Anyway, it is encouraging to hear that what we are going through is not new and that Pepper is experiencing what others have gone through with their puppies. Today Pepper's blood sugar was 591 and we are back to figuring what the next plan of attack will be. Again, thank you!!!

[k9diabetes]

Re: Hero - Juvenile diabetic now thriving at 2 years old

Glad you found this post - Lisa was very helpful to several people dealing with juvenile canine diabetes. I really should check in with her and see how she and Hero are doing.

Natalie