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9 Yr Old Silly Lab

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  • 9 Yr Old Silly Lab

    Scoobs was diagnosed in about two months ago with diabetes as a result of acute pancreatitis. No matter what we tried, childrens locks, bread boxes, gates, Scoobs always cracked the code and stuffed his belly with bread or bread based foods. He's an addict, but unfortunately there is no support group for that issue. His last bout of pancreatitis put him over the edge. Now he's a diabetic. We are struggling to get his BG's down. He started at 8 units if insulin and is now up to 17. The vets put him on w/d food, but he is progressively losing weight. He started at 85lbs and is down to 66. It's heartbreaking. I worry that since they can't get his levels regulated that not only will he soon become blind, but that my worst fear will happen It's heartbreaking. I only want to do what's best for him, but what we're trying isn't working. He basically just poops out the food since his levels are so high. So 60 bucks a bag is just getting displayed around the yard. I really do not like the ingredients in the w/d food. Corn??? Really? I've heard nothing good about giving dogs corn based food. Maybe it works for other pups, but its certainly not working for mine. I'd be more that welcoming of any feedback or suggestions anyone might have...new diet, feeding regimen...anything. I am so concerned that he is wasting away. Thank you all for listening and for this amazing forum. Good luck with all your pups

  • #2
    Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

    Hi and welcome to you and Scoobs!

    How much of the w/d is he getting right now?

    What was he eating (other than bread ) before diagnosis?

    How often is your vet doing curves on Scoobs? Do you have the results of a recent one you could post?

    Have you considered home testing? We have some great links to different areas you can try testing. http://www.k9diabetes.com/bgtestvideos.html For a dog Scoobs' size I like the OneTouch Ultra2 meter. If he has an elbow callous that can be a great place to test on a lab as well as the lip stick.

    I read in the diet thread he's on Humulin N...this is twice a day? 12 hours apart?

    Again, Welcome to you!!
    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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    • #3
      Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

      Welcome to you and scoobs, your story is Eddie's and mine, pancreatitis lead to his diagnosis of diabetes september 2010
      At first he lost more than he was eating which was an indicator, it was scary, and he did not have much of an appetitite
      So I know your fears. this is great place to get the support you need, keep asking the questions and you will get the answers you need.

      Hang in there Eddie and I are pulling for you and scoobs.
      Jj
      Eddie is a 14yr old Rat Terrier Who is very well loved.

      Love, Released and All promises kept. My Heart, My Heart, My Heart

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      • #4
        Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

        Thank you both so much for your support and words of encouragement. It truly means a lot.

        Scoobs was just at the vet today, and as I suspected, his BG was off the charts. They did a curve last week and 2 out of 3 readings were off the charts. One was around 400. They upped his insulin from 15 to 17 units, and as of today, bumped it up to 19. Still twice a day.

        He is going back in tomorrow for a urinealysis and an iv drip, since he's a little dehydrated.

        He eats 4 small meals a day, since he he so malnurished. It's the w/d, which I'm not impressed with, and some potatoes (sometimes I add some cooked lean protein).

        It's truly heartbreaking, because the poor guy is constantly starving. I want to switch his food asap, but the vets have no recommendations. They love that expensive prescription food.

        So, we'll see if 19 units makes a dent or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The goofy skinny pup is aching to get into trouble.

        I hope both your journeys are going more smoothly than mine.

        Again, Scoobs and I thank you and your pups

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        • #5
          Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

          Are his 4 meals consistently at the same time? Consistency will definitley help with regulation.

          How much of the w/d is he getting? Certainly high bgs (blood glucose levels) contribute to weight loss as the food isn't able to be used by the cells for nutrition. But Natalie has also said her dog Chris required quite a bit of it to put weight on.

          What was Scoobs eating before the w/d?

          Hope the insulin increase helps!
          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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          • #6
            Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

            There are a few dogs here that have had pancreatitis that successfully switched from w/d to Blue buffalo. Their longevity forumula is a good choice if scoobs likes canned food. Very mild but nutritious. My dog lost 10 pounds after being diagnosed and quickly gained it back on blue buffalo. I also regulated him nicely with it. You can buy it at petsmart.
            Forbin, miss you every day. See you at the bridge Buddy.

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            • #7
              Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

              I see other forum members are giving you great ideas and thoughts, and at the moment, I don't have anything else to add, so this is just a welcome message to you and Scoobs!

              As others said, do hang in there; you'll get the most WONDERFUL help here! The point about consistency was really important. The more consistent you can be in daily routines - times of feeding, of anything else involving Scoobs - the more easily he wlil adapt, and become at least a little easier to regulate.

              Do read the articles on the main site, and I also suggest dipping into other threads, on other dogs, because we can learn so much that way, too. Do keep in mind that every dog is different, but we can still learn from reading other threads.

              So, a big, fat welcome to you and Scoobs!

              Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:22:51 (PST)
              http://www.coherentdog.org/
              CarolW

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              • #8
                Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

                Has he always had this really voracious appetite - "breaking and entering" to gorge on food? Or is this something that has only been happening in the last year to two?

                Alison

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                • #9
                  Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

                  Again a big thank you to all of you for taking the time to respond to my post

                  Prior to Scoobs diabetes he was on i/d, due to possible liver issues. They thought he had Cushings, which after numerous tests, he does not. Before that it was another kind of prescription food with initials, for having crystals in his urine... so basically he's been on some form of Royal Canin or Hills for over 2 yrs. Before that it was Blue Buffalo adult large breed. My mutt Marley is on Blue Buffalo and I really like the brand and it's ingredients.

                  Currently Scoobs is eating 2 cups of the w/d at 8:30 am (he gets his shot at 9) then eats the same amount again at 12:30, 4:30 and again at 8:30 (shot again at 9pm). The problem is he's starving again by midnight, so I'm wondering if I should space the food out even more so he'd have 1 less daytime feeding and one around midnight? Or can he have a small serving of food late night instead of a meal? The goofball yelps until someone gets out of bed to give him some food. I'm starting to think he believes he's a celebrity with all this special attention.

                  I gave him his 19 units tonight so hopefully it will start to work it's magic.

                  He's supposed to get a urinealysis tomorrow, because the vet thinks that if he has some sort of infection, then that may be the reason the insulin isn't working. Maybe it will answer some questions???
                  Last edited by psmitty; 12-16-2010, 07:38 AM.

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                  • #10
                    Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

                    He has always been a sneak eater when bread was involved. Over the years he's stolen a loaf of italian bread, broke into the bread drawer, snatched sandwiches off the counter when you turn around to put the mayo back in the fridge. So needless to say the little fella has always had a hunkering for bread related products. Other foods he could care less about.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

                      What a handsome boy!

                      And I'm sorry to laugh cuz I know right now nothing seems very funny but... a bread addict!! I suppose there are worse things a labrador could be fixated on!

                      At 19 units, it's still not a huge dose of insulin for his size so there is plenty of room for his dose to increase and you may not see much effect until it gets a bit higher. Perhaps, since there has been suspicions of Cushing's, he might be a little Cushinoid and therefore need a greater than average amount of insulin per dose.

                      In terms of his diabetes, the problem with four meals a day is you give insulin for four meals in the daytime but not at night, which can make it difficult to dose the insulin.

                      If you're a brave soul, what you could do is feed four meals a day 6 hours apart. Our dog was on insulin for times a day so he got a meal and an injection every 6 hours. It's a grind, no question, but we did it for three and a half years thanks to the fact that I'm very good at going back to sleep in the morning. That way, his day time and night time rituals and food distribution would be the same. We did 4am, 10am, 4pm, and 10pm, which generally allowed us to still have a life.

                      I suspect Labrador suffer more than most from a restrictive food regimen...

                      How are his other issues that have been dicating the diets he's been on?

                      Perhaps he could go back to Blue Buffalo.

                      Natalie

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                      • #12
                        Re: 9 yr old silly lab

                        I would like to suggest you try to see a specialist. My boy Blue is diabetic with pancreatitis and gastro intestinal disease. He is now stable but he is emaciated and his diabetes is still not under control despite being under the care of a specialist. These conditions interfere with each other. If it hadn't been for the specialist Blue would have starved to death

                        He is now on Royal Canine Hypo Allergenic. Hills I/D didn't suit him, he pood out more than went in. He is still emaciated but he's been on RC he'd gained 3kg and come out of the danger zone.

                        Good luck and Merry Chrsitmas.
                        Proud owner of Blue - 8 Year old Weimaraner diagnosed in Jan 2010. Unstable diabetes but we are fighting for him.

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                        • #13
                          Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

                          My little man Buddy was on hypoallergenic when he was diagnosed with diabetes. He went from 22 pounds down to 14.

                          Then he got pancreatitis and was switched to the gastro formula.

                          Then an ultra sound uncovered stones in his bladder and sludge in his bile ducts and he was switched again to Hill something.

                          Then he had another test which was negative for pancreas problems and that's when I got tired of the crappy food and switched him to grain free Horizon Legacy. That didn't make my vet happy but it sure solved a few problems for Buddy and me.

                          Then he was diagnosed with proteinuria and I transitioned him to Taste of the Wild (still grain free but lower in protein).

                          When on the prescription foods, he too left most of it in the yard and was always starving and regulating him was extremely difficult.

                          In 10+ years, Buddy never never stole food, he only started that with the diabetes. We still have to make sure that there is no food on the coffee table or within reach but at least he looks more satisfied with his food now. Also I always fed him as if he was 22 pounds. During the day, I give him strictly vegetables as treats (zucchini, green peppers, turnips, squash, etc, etc). I also learned that giving him those extra kibbles during the day (cause he was so hungry) played havoc on his numbers.

                          Sometimes I wonder if those prescription food are pushed on our dogs for financial reasons because you can only get it at the vet's office. After all, if your furry friend cannot enjoy his meals and his walks, what's left.

                          Do what you feel is right by your boy and what makes him happy and comfortable has now become my mantra

                          Good luck
                          Louise

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                          • #14
                            Re: 9 Yr Old Silly Lab - REPOSTED HERE

                            I can not get over how helpful and encouraging you all are I am so very thankful.

                            The latest on the bread a-holic Scoobs is that his urinealysis came back negative for any infections.

                            As some of you suspected his dose was off. I slowly switched his food from w/d to Blue Buffalo Longevity Mature and he's doing soooo much better. Between that and the dosage being upped to 22 units twice a day, he's definitely more active. The vets couldn't get over his improvement! I told them I switched his food to BB and they agreed that it's working. It just didn't make sense to me that he was starving to death on the current food and yet they had no other recommendations. I realize they get schooled on the prescription brands, but I really had hoped they would expand their knowledge to 'over the counter' brands. I know they mean well, but I still schooled them on my findings.

                            He was finally able to complete a full bg curve last week!!! It was the first time ever his numbers weren't off the charts.

                            I know it will be a continued struggle, but the crazy licker is definitely worth it.

                            I am definitely going to try to space out his meals as well to see if that helps even more.

                            Thank you all so much!

                            Good luck with your journeys as well!
                            Happy Holidays -Patricia and Scoobs

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                            • #15
                              Latest news

                              Hi Patricia,

                              That's great news about you and Bread-Boy!

                              The prescription food rule has been relaxing very very slowly over the years, which I am happy to see.

                              It's not always easy to know, either, which foods will work well generally and which won't. DCO, one of the prescription foods for diabetics, for example, just hasn't worked out all that well in practice for most dogs I have seen use it while WD has. Maybe it's how the food is processed and so how digestible it is.

                              For whatever reason, here Blue Buffalo has a good track record so far with diabetic dogs and I try to mention it whenever I can, such as at the private pet food store.

                              Hope you and Scoobs had a nice holiday - I'm betting you did with a great report on Scoobs.

                              Natalie

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