sores and diabetes?

[CarolW]

Re: new diabetes diagnosis - Bammie the Catahoula

I went looking for your earlier thread, to remind myself about Bammie. (Just posted to your newer thread, about sores, on the back of a hind leg, above the paw.)

Bammie was diagnosed back in April, and at that time, was put on a low dose of insulin - 8 units of Humulin-N (I believe), and he weighed 87 pounds at the time.

Is his weight pretty stable?

I was wondering, too, since that was back in April 2011, if your vet had done any more blood glucose curves on Bammie, or whether perhaps you are doing them occasionally?

It would be wonderful if you could update us in general on how Bammie is doing!

I'm trusting the sores can be managed and healed.
Hugs, licks and wags,
Tue, 1 Nov 2011 21:12:03 (PDT)

[Patty]

Re: sores and diabetes?

I merged your thread with Bammie's previous one so the history would be there.

I do agree with Yunhee and Carol, diabetes can slow healing and make the skin more vulnerable to infection, etc. But I would have the sores looked at by the vet to see what the cause is.

Glad to hear an update!
Patty

[CarolW]

Re: sores and diabetes? - Bammie the Catahoula

I had just a bit of trouble finding your merged thread, but finally made it here!

Hope you didn't also have trouble finding it.

How is Bammie doing? Did you find out anything about the sores?

Hugs,
Wed, 2 Nov 2011 18:27:46 (PDT)

[k9diabetes]

Re: sores and diabetes?

One thing I have seen in a handful of diabetic dogs is recurring skin lesions. Chris had one up inside his back paw for a while and then, after some time with none, lesions came up all over his eyelids. In other dogs, it has been in the ears or in the paws.

It's not an acknowledged condition - just something I and others have experienced. These lesions tend to cycle over about three weeks. They break out and usually incite a flurry of activity on our part to heal them up - antibiotics for secondary infections by bacteria, rinses, cleanings... which seem to work but probably only relieves some of the symptoms. Because with or without treatment, they start to heal up after about three weeks. And just when you think they've gone, they break out again.

So far, all the dogs I know of who have had this have had them in skin at the junction of other membranes - eyelids, ears, paws.

My best guess, based on what worked for our dog, is that it's some kind of auto-immune attack. What finally cleared them up for our dog was Tacrolimus ointment, which dampens the immune system response.

We went through multiple rounds with a dermatologist and had another dermatologist with a very good reputation consult and nobody had a name for what our dog was experiencing.

There are a number of other skin disorders, many related to endocrine problems. So having him examined by the vet is definitely the way to go. Hope it's nothing serious!

Natalie

[stapleonv]

Re: sores and diabetes?

they seem to be small sores on his back leg, down by his pads. He is aggravating them by by licking them.The big one seems to be healing the smaller two are still there. I'm using antibiotic cream and that seems to be doing fairly well, I'm also keeping them vet wrapped to keep the licking to a minimum. At this time there's no infection that requires antibiotics, but have them on hand if they start looking worse. I knew that diabetic people have circulation problems that can cause sores and other problems, just wasn't sure whether dogs experianced the same thing. As always thanks for your help, and condlences to those who lost there beloved pets, I'm thankfull every day I get to spend with Bammie, as long as it lasts!

[eileen]

Re: sores and diabetes?

Mildred developed what her vet described as gangrene of the tail, an extremity with poor circulation.

She required 3 tail amputations until with cold laser therapy we were able to stop it and it finally healed.

[HarrysMom]

Re: sores and diabetes?

My dog gets skin infections frequently - the vets say that diabetes and cushing's compromise his immune system.
Have you tried Vetericyn for hot spots? They are safe when ingested. It seems to work. I buy it on Amazon.
http://vetericyn.com/