Pippin

[Chris81]

I have a 12 year old Yorkshire terrier called Pippin she has had diabetes since she was 9.
The last year she has gone down hill she had a season and it made the insulin not work, she then started having accidents in the house followed by going blind very quickly, she then lost lots of weight and had diarrhea, we were constantly taking her to the vets. She got a bit better but we found out she had cushings disease too. Then about 4 months ago i noticed her hair was falling out and she had spots, i took her back to the vets and they said the hair was too do with cushings and the spots allergies. I recently noticed her pee smelt sweet and she had two kinda fits? Where she was eating and she collapsed and went floppy and as soon as i gave her insulin she woke up. So i took a urine sample down and they called me back and said she was very ill and needed to come in strait away as she had ketones in her urine, i took her down but the vet didn't seem to know about it and was unsure why i had come down. He told me to increase her insulin by half a unit and keep an eye on her. I decide then that if i wanted results id have to by a blood monitor her blood glucose was 15.5 at the vets at 4.40pm, her reading at 6.30pm was 16.5, her reading at 12.00am was 20.5, her reading at 1am was 16.9, her reading before her first meal of 2 was 19.9, her reading after food but before insulin was 14.4. Well that's all I've done so far I'm not sure when to test to be honest. But i think her readings are very high not sure whether i should give her insulin when they are so high? But i will carry on unless i know different? Please any help will be gratefull

[k9diabetes]

Re: Pippin

The levels you posted are not too bad. Kind of medium high.

4:40pm - 15.5 / 282
6:30pm - 16.5 / 300
12.00am - 20.5 / 373
01:00am - 16.9 / 308

Could you do a full curve?

You would start with a prebreakfast/insulin reading and then take a reading at least every 2 hours for the rest of the day.

Was she spayed after the last problem with her coming into heat?

Is she being treated for Cushing's disease?

Does she get insulin twice a day?

Natalie

[CarolW]

Re: Pippin

Could you also tell us how much Pippin weighs?

Glad you got this far with her. And VERY glad you found this excellent forum - the best one I know on canine diabetes.

Looking forward to your next post, I hope, answering Natalie's questions, and mine, too!

So here's our Big, Fat Welcome to you and Pippin!
Sat, 27 Aug 2011 06:53:34 (PDT)

[Chris81]

Re: Pippin

She gets fed twice a day 12hrs apart and is on 6 units twice a day, she's not being treated for cushings disease and hasn't been diagnosed properly as the vets can't see the point, i would like her to be tested as I've read about it and she has all the signs for it. I think she weighs about 4 to 5 kg? She used to weigh 5.5kg a year ago but she has lost weight since then.

[Chris81]

Re: Pippin

I owned the mother of pippin and she also had diabetes from age 8 to 15 her name was Bonnie, the vets seemed more willing to treat her, with my pip i don't feel I'm getting much help. What worries me most is she has had ketones in her urine and blood for about 5 months now and she's lost a lot of weight but gained it in her tummy probably from the cushings. What I'm wondering is should i still inject her with insulin if her blood glucous high? The vets told me to start increasing it half a unit a week until her blood glucose goes down?

[SandyL]

Re: Pippin

Hi
Yes, you should still give her the insulin..... High is no problem, it's when they run below 100 ( low) that you don't want to give their usual dose

Sandy

[Chris81]

Re: Pippin

Thank you all pip has been spayed and i started today injecting her back instead of her neck. I think when her urine and breath stops smelling so sweet and the levels are more normal i will be less worried i got pips mums level to around 8 to ten i think was a while ago now

[MaryLea]

Re: Pippin

Welcome to the forum. Glad you found us. Sounds like your Pip is about the size of my Izzie (who is not diabetic). 4 to 5 kg puts her about 10 to 12 lbs, I think.

Ruffles did not have Cushings, so I'm not experienced in that area. The answers to your questions may be different with that situation. Please give us as much information as you can; that will help. I know Natalie and the moderators have much experience with both Cushings and diabetes, so they can give you some good advice. There is also a sister site for Cushings. I'll have to look for a post with the link since I've never used it.

We gave a consistent dose of insulin at 12-hour intervals, right after feeding. It takes at least 5-7 days for a change in dose to settle in, so we didn't react to single high readings. However, if you get an extremely low one, you reduce the insulin beginning at the next dose, then begin your 5 to 7 day count again.

The little Yorkie that we rescued is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever had or known. She's high maintenance because of her physical issues, and it sounds like your Pip is, too. She is one lucky pup to have you for a HumanParent!

Watching and wishing you the best with Pip.

Mary

[k9diabetes]

Re: Pippin

I am not overly concerned about Cushing's disease given those readings. She's also not on an abnormally high dose of insulin for her size. So I would set aside worries about Cushing's for now.

I'm more concerned with the ketones. Have you had this checked with a lab analyzer? It's unusual to see ketones with blood sugar in this range.

It looks to me like she is ready for an increase her insulin dose half a unit and see how she does with that.

Natalie

[k9diabetes]

Re: Pippin

Just checking to see how Pippin is doing.

Natalie

[janspack]

Re: Pippin

She gets fed twice a day 12hrs apart and is on 6 units twice a day, she's not being treated for cushings disease and hasn't been diagnosed properly as the vets can't see the point, i would like her to be tested as I've read about it and she has all the signs for it. I think she weighs about 4 to 5 kg? She used to weigh 5.5kg a year ago but she has lost weight since then.

I'm really distressed to read about your vet's attitude. As others have said, her blood sugar is high but not where I'd be really worried. You certainly do want to give her the insulin specially as she has ketones in her urine although it seems her BG isn't as high as it usually is for dogs to get ketones. You can buy a dipstick from a pharmacy and check that for yourself.

To be honest, it's not up to your vet to decide whether you treat any condition or not - this is your call and if you want to do it, then you have to demand the treatment.

It's difficult because it can be hard to accurately diagnose Cushings in a dog with unregulated glucose. This can cause false positives in the ACTH test. Maybe this is why the vet is not keen to treat. However, if she is getting symptoms such as the hair loss etc, it might be worth getting another opinion?

Another thing that is often linked with diabetes is hypo(underactive)thryoid and that too could cause the hair loss. Maybe check with the vet if he has done a thyroid panel?

Where are you in the World? You're using mmol/ltr for her glucose results so I'm presuming you are either in Canada or the UK? I'm from the UK.

So sorry you are having all this worry with Pippin. You've certainly come to the right place for help, advice and support.

[Chris81]

Re: Pippin

Thought I'd give you all an update, i said i bought blood glucose tester last week. It didn't have many strips in the pack and i ran out all bar one after the second day i decided to leave the last one and test her a week later, i spent a lot of money this week on vet bills and also a change in dog food as i found out on the web the dog food i had before is one of the worst you can get. I bought dog food that is good for allergyies as i have 3 dogs and my second dog Dylan is allergic to most dog foods i found out this last week from the vets all 3 are on it and love it. Anyway back to pip, i did the last strip just before her evening meal today and it was 8.4 i think last week it was 16.9? So I'm thinking this is good? I will buy more strips for the test when i get paid next week. I live in the uk

[Chris81]

Re: Pippin

The ketones were in her urine sample last week

[Chris81]

Re: Pippin

Also i forgot to say before that pip has in the past year had a lot of accidents for the past 8 or so months i have put her in nappy's i just cut a hole for a tale- she will even have accidents while asleep, i go through a lot in a week but i must say the past two days i need to change her less and I've noticed her drinking less too

[CraigM]

Re: Pippin

Anyway back to pip, i did the last strip just before her evening meal today and it was 8.4 i think last week it was 16.9? So I'm thinking this is good? I will buy more strips for the test when i get paid next week. I live in the uk

Yes, 8.4 (134 in the U.S.) is a nice number. Please remember it is important that the lowest number of the day remains above about 5. When we take a single test, we don't know if that number is the lowest, highest or somewhere in between.

We do understand the expense of testing and trips to the vet!