a diabetic setback...

Buzz is in the animal hospital. Or the doggie prison if you'd ask him. Pancreatitis: the return of the vomiting. Sometimes I feel like my life would make a great movie.

In his mind, he's done his time. 36 long, hard hours. I will (hopefully) get to pick him up tonight, but that could change if he starts throwing up again. I visited him last night and the poor guy couldn't stop throwing up long enough to cuddle with me. But the only thing that seemed to be on his mind was the door and getting through it to go home. It broke my heart to leave him there.

Please don't leave me.

Before the pancreatitis set in, Buzz had his first hypoglycemic event at home. He started shaking and acting really strange and he even threw up, so I checked his sugar. 30! As in, T-H-I-R-T-Y (the normal low is about 80). He (of course) had no interest in eating, but I was SO FREAKING LUCKY that we had karo syrup. I dipped my finger in it and spread it over his gums (as I had read to do in other blogs and websites). Buzz was not happy about that, he really hated the taste - but I can't blame him. Everything returned to normal within an hour.

Then it happened again in the middle of the night. The vomiting, shaking, and totally weird behavior had me absolutely freaked out. I got him to the emergency vet, which is also the same place as our diabetic/internal specialist vet, and he's been there since.

I think the pancreatitis caused the hypoglycemia - everything just got so messed up. Having an autoimmune dog sucks.


Does anyone else have any experience with pancreatitis and diabetes?

wordless wednesday

Our favorite little diabetic...

...is sick once again. Will he ever get healthy?

Hopefully, we caught it early enough and he won't require any hospitalization. He's going back on antibiotics and we are going to keep a very close eye on him these next few days. The antibiotics should clear anything/everything up before we get started on that slope that always seems to progress to a vet visit. :\


But I do have some good news... drum roll please... Buzz's diabetes is back on track! I did a glucose curve this weekend and his numbers were excellent. So, yay for that! We gotta celebrate our victories when we can, right?

Happy birthday Buzz!!!!

This post is a few days late...

but HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. BUZZSAW! We love you so very much.

Buzz has officially been with us for 2 years now (as of March 6) and we think he turned 6 years old right around this time of year as well!

Update!

Buzz went for his annual check-up last weekend, and here is what I have to report:

• He weighs 19.2 lbs! That's awesome.... like, really, really awesome.
• He still has PLE (protein-losing enteropathy). His albumin levels are still low. Higher than the last test - but lower than normal.
• Instead of doing his annual vaccines (minus the rabies), we did a blood test to see what his antibodies are for those vaccines.
• Since he's now considered an 'anti-immune dog' (meaning he has issues with his immune system attacking himself), all of our vets agreed we should check to see if he even needed vaccines. Vaccines activate the immune system - so if we don't have to activate it, we reduce the risk of him getting sick. And good news - no need to vaccinate! All his vaccine titers were within normal range for a vaccinated dog.
• Overall, he's in a good place right now. His diabetes is still wonky (will it ever get regulated, sheesh?), but his overall health is listed as 'good'. Yay! We have no further plans for vet visits unless 1) he gets sick again (quick, knock on wood) or 2) we continue having trouble regulating his diabetes.

it's been a rough few months for Buzz

Buzz is tired of being sick.

Buzz was back at the emergency vet last Saturday (Feb 11). He ended up staying the night there because he couldn't stop vomiting.

We found out that he had low albumin via a blood chem panel. Albumin is a protein that keeps blood in the vessels, so when it's low, there can be swelling. His face was swollen and he was a bright shade of red, so that seemed to fit the symptoms pretty well. They started him on cerenia and metronidazole (as always) and gave fluids through IV (though he wasn't too dehydrated thank goodness, as that seems to be the trigger for really going downhill). He improved on Sunday, but was still swollen and red. On Sunday night's blood test, his albumin was higher, but still too low. We took him home because there wasn't much else that could be done.

On Monday morning, I woke up to Buzz being incredibly red and swollen - so back to our normal vet he went. He stayed there all day (no fluids), and they rechecked his albumin Monday evening - which was higher than Sunday night, but still lower than normal. His swelling had gone down, but the redness was still very much there.

With all of this (plus his vet visit a mere 2 weeks ago), he was diagnosed with PLE - protein-losing enteropathy. PLE occurs when the dog loses albumin, probably via Buzz's intestines, which leads us to the 2nd diagnosis:

Buzz was unofficially diagnosed with IBD - irritable bowel disease. I say unofficial, because to officially diagnose IBD, an endoscopy is done with a biopsy taken from the intestines to confirm. We opted against this for several reasons. First, Buzz is a diabetic and anesthesia is definitely going to mess with his system (plus, right now, he's an unregulated diabetic, the worst kind). Second, he was recovering. A biopsy is usually going to show abnormal pathology when the bowel is inflammed, and it's likely that at that point in time, the inflammation was decreasing. Third, the only course of treatment is steroids - which Buzz cannot have - and a switch to hypoallergenic food, which we have made. Steroids can be used on Buzz in only extreme circumstances, like if his life is in danger, as they make diabetes worse.

So now Buzz is on a new food (Hills Prescription z/d) and he's recovering. He's off antibiotics and the cerenia, but is still getting sucralfate for a few more days (to coat and protect his stomach).

We're back on the path to getting his diabetes regulated (again!) and he seems happier and happier every day.

Diabetes Update

With Buzz getting so sick last week, his diabetes has been all over the place. The final diagnosis was 'ketotic with mild pancreatitis.' We think the dehydration is really what did him in, but his glucose has been high for far too long, and we were just too lax in getting it controlled better.

So let's back up a minute and talk about the diabetes.

Early December we took him to the diabetes vet for a fructosamine test - which came back high. We began adjusting his insulin levels, and by last week, we had increased both AM and PM doses by 2 units.

When he started vomiting Tuesday morning, we gave him half his normal dose of insulin (when a diabetic dog doesn't eat, the normal protocol is to give that dog 1/2 the amount of their regular insulin dose). Tuesday night came, and he was still vomiting and had diarrhea, so we skipped his insulin - and took him to the vet.

Wednesday morning, his sugar was about 200 (higher than normal, but not too bad), but we took him back to the vet because he was still sick - and they gave him some insulin there, although I'm not sure how much. While the vet was busy trying to figure out what was wrong with Buzz, the vet techs were keeping a close eye on his glucose, which seemed to yo-yo - probably from the meds, lack of food, vomiting, etc.


Wednesday night our normal diabetes vet was busy with other dogs, so a different vet decided to give Buzz 5 units (way more than half of what his normal dose would be) on an empty stomach (still vomiting) - and surprise, he responded very well. His sugar did go a little too low (down to 60), but came back up with no karo syrup needed.


I got a call from our vet Thursday morning that since Buzz responded so well to this high dose of insulin, he wanted to increase Buzz's insulin at home to between 8 and 9 units (since the 5 units took the glucose a little too low, and 5u on an empty stomach is equivalent to 10u on a full stomach) with food and that should (hopefully) help him get regulated again.


Buzz was cleared to come home Thursday evening (!) because he had stopped vomiting and having diarrhea. When my hubby and I arrived to pick him up, you should've seen his face. It was pure love and excitement. I picked him up, and he couldn't stop licking me, thumping his tail, and trying to get me to go to the door (he hates the diabetic vet's office - every time he's there, he's really sick so you can't blame the guy). I was just really happy that he had responded so well, and not only that, but we got some insight on how to better control his diabetes. We never would've increased his insulin that much if it hadn't have been for the other vet giving him so much insulin Wednesday night. It could've been bad - but since he was at the vets all night, they would've had the ability to bring his sugar back to a normal level. But thank goodness that didn't happen.

I'll finish this post another time - I've got to get back to work!

Buzz Update

Buzz started vomiting early Tuesday morning and had diarrhea start later that day. He wasn't interested in any food or water, so we took him to the emergency vet clinic Tuesday night. They pumped him full of fluids and gave some anti-nausea meds to help with the vomiting and we brought him home.

Wednesday morning, Buzz vomited bloody water, so back to the vet he went. Our internal specialist vet did blood work, an ultrasound on his pancreas, and numerous other tests and concluded that he couldn't conclude what was wrong with Buzz. Ultimately, he decided to treat for pancreatitis and an upper urinary tract infection.

I visited Buzz Wednesday evening and he was looking a little better, but still pretty weak (he hadn't eated for almost 48 hours at this point). The vet tech informed me that Buzz was now known as the 'explosive diarrhea-er' since whoever took him out could hear it from 10 yards away. Ha. Poor guy. He stayed overnight to keep his IV fluids and antibiotics going.

The Buzz update as of this morning was that he hadn't vomited or had diarrhea all morning. And they fed him and he gobbled it all down in 5 seconds flat.

I just talked to our diabetes vet, and he said that Buzz is doing a lot better and we can take him home tonight. He wants to keep him on fluids for a few more hours but otherwise, Buzz is stable enough for home. He wants to increase his insulin (almost forgot about the diabetes, didn't you? I didn't mention it previously because his glucose was so messed up these past few days, I wouldn't even know where to begin) by a few units in both the morning and at night, which is a lot for a dog Buzz's size.

In conclusion, Buzz got sick. Really sick. 3 days later and we still don't really know what caused it, but we are going with pancreatitis and an upper urinary tract infection. His diabetes is all messed up, but once we get him home and back on a routine, it will be easier to deal with. Obviously the diabetes played a role in him getting sick (he's got a sucky immune system that likes to attack itself), but wasn't the major problem this time.


PS. I find it rather curious that Buzz always seems to get sick right before February, which is National Pet Dental Health month and our regular vet offers 20% off expensive dental services. Buzz has nasty periodontal disease (from years as a stray and throw-away dog) and desperately needs extensive work done, but our diabetes vet won't approve of him going under anesthesia when he's sick and unregulated. Hmm... maybe he's much smarter than we take him for? :)

Little surprises in life...

The hubs and I woke up this morning and found a pile of throw up at the end of the bed, under our blankets. Neither dog would own up to it... so we had to put our detective hats on (figuratively of course, although it would be pretty cool if we had real detective hats exactly for this purpose).

Buzz's diabetes has been pretty unregulated, but he's doing better - and even better than that, he's gaining weight. Not sure if it was him. He normally doesn't like to burrow under the blankets, but it was storming last night and he was scared - so he burrowed.

Bella is known around town as pukey-mcpukerson. She throws up a lot, mostly due to nerves (she's a super anxious dog) or excess bile production (though both dogs are on a medicine to help curb this, but puking still happens). She's also a notorious burrower. She loves to be under the blankets and between my legs (weird, I know)...

The 'mess' was near my legs, which led us to the pukey-dog (Bella), as that's her spot, and she would probably have freaked out if Buzz had burrowed down to that spot.

So our conclusion is that the culprit is Bella. She's been acting fine all morning, so we are assuming it was a fluke caused by the storm and her nerves. At least she's not diabetic, so the loss of food in her stomach won't cause any severe side effects.

Buzz was so over Christmas.

However, Bella was not.

A picture is worth a thousand words..

 

One Year Diabetic Anniversary

Does this day need to be celebrated? Or does it need to be forgotten? It's been one year to the day since Buzz was diagnosed with diabetes.

One year ago, I was afraid Buzz was going to die. I was afraid he was going to leave our family. I was afraid we caused it. By not taking him to the vet when he first got sick. By feeding him too much. By not adopting him when I first saw his picture on petfinder (it took ~6 months to convince my husband we needed a 2nd dog).

But one year has passed. And Buzz didn't die. He didn't leave our family. We didn't cause it.

I've learned a lot in the past year. But nothing that I've done/learned can compare to what Buzz has gone through. He has bounced back from his death-bed. Who can say that? Not many.

He's courageous. He's brave. He's much more than I could ever describe. To me, Buzz isn't just a dog. He's a member of my family. He's my rock.

Buzz's diabetes is a work-in-progress. Just last night, we took him to get blood drawn for a fructosamine test. Fructosamine is a break-down product of glucose, or sugar, and stays in the blood for weeks. By testing for this molecule, we can learn what his average glucose levels have been the last few weeks since we haven't been testing his glucose everyday.

While at the vet, we learned that he's lost weight. He's 17 lbs and we were hoping he was more like 20. What can we do to make him gain weight? He's already eating 4 cups of high-protein food a day. Plus a treat every now and then. We'll get the results from the blood test tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be able to talk with our vet about his weight.

But compared to a year ago, Buzz is strong. He's resilient. He's... Buzz. A dog. He plays. He eats. He sleeps. He's not inhibited by the diabetes AT ALL. Sure, he gets insulin injections twice a day. But have you ever heard of Pavlov's dogs? If not, go read about it. We give Buzz a treat after every single injection. So now, he looks forward to his injections. It's easy for us, but more importantly, it's easy for Buzz.

If you would've asked me a year ago how I thought Buzz's diabetes diagnosis would turn out, this is not what I would've pictured. But I cannot tell you how happy I am that this is where we are. And I think it's safe to assume that Buzz is just as happy as me.

And don't forget to check out our Christmas pictures in the post below! :)

Christmas Pictures!!

I finally got around to taking Christmas pictures of the pups! It went a little something like this:

The final version! Buzz and Bella, Christmas 2011

...and now compare that picture to last year's Christmas picture, taken right around the time Buzz was diagnosed with diabetes.

Buzz and Bella, Christmas 2010

Buzz Update

I hope everyone is enjoying fall (my favorite season!) and are getting to enjoy all things pumpkin (my favorite flavor!).

Buzz is doing really well lately, health wise. He's gaining weight, I think he's almost back to his pre-diabetes weight! (Sidenote: he's going to be so mad when we do have to decrease the amount of food we give him. He knows exactly how much he should be getting at each meal - it's insane). He's still playful, energetic, loves his walks, loves protecting his house, and loves laying in the sun in the backyard.

With that said, I did a day-time glucose curve last Saturday, and the numbers weren't exactly great. I tested his sugar every 2 hours, starting before he ate breakfast and ending after he ate dinner. His sugar during the day never got below 300 (normal range for a dog is 80-120).

I have a hunch as to why his numbers were that high  - we adjusted his morning insulin dose in August, which was right around the time we started giving him a 1/2 cup more food (since he wasn't gaining weight) - and I'm thinking the adjustment wasn't enough to cover the sugar increase from that extra food. The thing is, the food he is on isn't supposed to make his sugar spike or anything like that.

So I'm left increasing his insulin again (by 0.5 unit) and hoping that it's enough to bring his sugar down during the day. I'll do another curve in about 2 weeks to see what effect the new dose is having - and hopefully it will be good news! :)

This is one reason why it's awesome to be able to test your dog's glucose levels with an at-home glucometer (we use Abbott Labs alpha trak), because this curve would've cost over $100 at the vet. I spent $1/test strip - for a total of about $7. How awesome is that?

Wordless Wednesday

what to do?

Buzz humped Bella last night. Not the I am the boss! type of hump that Buzz is accustomed to getting from Bella, either. No, this was a I want to hump you type of hump.

I had a male dog growing up, neutered of course. He used to hump people, but there were never really any dogs around for me to see him behave with.

And Bella has humped Buzz, of course, but that is a more dominating type of hump.

But this, this was something entirely different. At least, I think it was. My hubby is freaked out that Buzz is 'attracted' to Bella, his (adopted) sister... but I tried to calm him down and tell him that Buzz is neutered (he was neutered before we got him and unfortunately got his, ahem, balls snipped right off) and Bella is spayed, so surely that is not the case. There are none of those hormones in these dogs!

We got him off her and then he tried again. And again. And again. He was determined. He wasn't playing and he wasn't even scared when Bella thought he was playing and started trying (play) bite him. His... member... was fully, um, out...

My husband thinks I'm going to embarrass Buzz with this story. But I just want some reaffirmation that it was/is nothing serious. Right... Right?

Buzz Unedited

I love this dog...

The cost of having a diabetic dog...

A fellow diabetic dog blogger recently posted about the true costs of having a diabetic dog. I thought I'd add my two cents to this conversation.

Having a diabetic dog isn't cheap. But neither is having a dog. If you are willing and able to adopt a dog, you must be willing and able to support that dog. Whether it's diabetes, cancer, or some other issue, having a dog is a responsibility and one that must be taken seriously. I've had people make remarks such as "...but it's just a dog!", but that's insane. Your car is just a car! Your kids are just kids! See how well they respond to those comments, and my guess is going to be, not very well.

So, to get to the costs..

Insulin - $25, lasts ~3 months. $8.33/month
Syringes - $13 for 100, lasts 50 days. $7.80/month
Test strips - $1 each. Depending on how well he's doing, $10-60/month
Special Food - $55 for a 30lb bag, lasts 1.5 months. $41.25/month
Treats - $8, lasts 2 weeks. $16/month

That averages out to about $110/month.

However, this cost does not include random trips to the vet for medical issues caused by the diabetes (ketoacidosis, etc)... but that's becoming more rare the longer Buzz has diabetes. Because he's well-regulated now, the cost of testing strips has gone WAY done (from $60/month to $10/month), so that's a huge plus.

And really, the cost to keep Buzz healthy is less than the amount I pay for my cell phone. Think about it.

(almost but not really) Wordless Wednesday

Just wanted to quickly update everyone: Buzz has been doing great. We are still in our routine and have not had any major problems (knock on wood). The diabetes is well-managed - he's acting great, eating great, playing great, etc. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome, we are so happy that he's back to a healthy, excited pup.

I will keep updating this blog every time I get a chance (which isn't often nowadays since I've been consumed with grad school life). I will definitely update as we stumble along the way and as we jump over new hurdles in Buzz's life.

The purpose of this blog was to keep loved ones up-to-date with the latest Buzz news (as it seemed something was changing every 5 minutes only 9 short months ago) and to document what we were going through to perhaps help someone going through a recent diagnosis of diabetes in their pet. I think I've succeeded in what I set out to do, but I will not give up on this blog. I apologize if I go through long periods of not updating, but just know that Buzz is one healthy, happy pup - and that no news is good news. :)

c'est la vie.

They're all bark....

Since D has been out of town, Buzz and Bella have been FREAKING OUT at every. single. sound.

A car pulled out of a garage 3 roads over? BARK! You are not pulling it into MY garage! BARK!

Anyways, I ran the dishwasher before I went to bed last night and it must have turned over about an hour later.

Well, Buzz and Bella were fast asleep by that time - and this woke them up and must've scared the living daylights right out of them because they went CRAZY.

Howling, yelling, screaming, screeching, barking, etc.

I went to open the bedroom door to show them that there wasn't anything to be scared of...

...and they BOTH STOOD BEHIND ME, as if to say, 'go check it out, mom! and let us know if someone is here to kill us!'

Ohmygoodness. It was so funny.

I walked in and out of every single room so they could see no one was in there (Buzz was convinced there was a goblin in the office) and they never once got in front of me to protect me.

What babies.

At least my dogs don't wet the bed, though (right Meagan?)... :)

Hatteras Vacation

Hi all. We just returned from the Outer Banks - Buxton, to be exact - and are sad to be back to reality. But, here are a few adorable pics of the pups on the beach.

Bella loved everything about it, the sand, the water, the people. Buzz hated the water (and the sunscreen being sprayed on his nose) but loved everything else. And I discovered that they are actually dogs, not babies inhabiting dog bodies - instincts and all. They can swim (doggie paddle, of course) and Buzz even dug a huge hole in the sand (while Bella laid on her dad's lap whining about something).

First beach experience

Sound asleep

Enjoying the breeze

Adorable