Diabetes in dogs...

[Nudibranch]

We have a vet appointment for Thursday morning as pretty sure my 11 yo dachshund has it (as opposed to a uti although it has been fairly sudden). Anyway treatment wise, if he needed insulin and so on what are the implications in terms of both regular testing and drug costs?

 

[bonny]

We have a vet appointment for Thursday morning as pretty sure my 11 yo dachshund has it (as opposed to a uti although it has been fairly sudden). Anyway treatment wise, if he needed insulin and so on what are the implications in terms of both regular testing and drug costs?

I had a collie who became diabetic a few years ago and I decided not to treat her. My vet was fairly anti treatment, he said it was very hit or miss, expensive and at best would just prolong life by months. I kept her until she lost her sight and then had her pts.

 

[AmyMay]

I looked after a poodle who responded well to treatment (injected once a day) and it did improve his quality of life. He lived for a further 9 months. No treatment would have meant pts on the day he was diagnosed as he was struggling. He was checked once a week for a blood test initially, and once he'd stabilised once a month thereafter. I've no idea on costs sorry.

My own view (having seen this dog days post treatment) is that you treat or pts. To not treat and simply allow the dog to decline is immoral and subjects the dog to a slow unhappy death.

 

[Umbongo]

Dogs that are successfully treated with insulin can live a full life. However I am afraid it is impossible to give you an idea of costs.

Veterinary visits can be very frequent (every week/2 weeks during the initial stabilisation period). If the animal is stable then the vet may be happy to see every 1/2/3 months. Some animals may be stable for ages, and for some reason become unstable again and have to go through the whole stabilisation period all over again. They may also need to stay in the vets some days for an all day glucose curve. Also you have the costs of buying the insulin, how much insulin they need per dose, needles, sharps bin, and ideally a veterinary diet suitable for a diabetic animal.

It can be very hard to tell you a rough idea on costs as this will depend on your veterinary practice and how often your dog may need to go if stable/unstable. But diabetes is usually quite a costly condition due to the above. I would ask your vet if they can give you an idea. Some practices may offer cheaper diabetic clinics rather than a full cost veterinary consult for regular check ups? Some vets may be happy to allow you to take blood glucose measurements at home so long as you are capable, the dog is easy for you to do this with, and you have bought the right equipment.

Do you have insurance? Some factors such as dental disease and entire females coming in to season will also affect diabetes so these will also need to be treated so added costs for spaying, dentals, urinary infections etc. Diabetic animals will have a slower rate of healing should they require surgery or become injured and may be prone to infections due to this, so again, added costs to think about. Almost all dogs will develop cataracts and loose their sight. If you decide not to treat diabetes for cost/commitment reasons then I would (and so would your vet) advise to euthanise on diagnosis rather than leave, as they will develop diabetic ketoacidosis.

Some other conditions can also look like diabetes so I would wait until you see your vet before worrying too much. Take a fresh urine sample to your appointment. Good luck!

 

[bonny]

I looked after a poodle who responded well to treatment (injected once a day) and it did improve his quality of life. He lived for a further 9 months. No treatment would have meant pts on the day he was diagnosed as he was struggling. He was checked once a week for a blood test initially, and once he'd stabilised once a month thereafter. I've no idea on costs sorry.

My own view (having seen this dog days post treatment) is that you treat or pts. To not treat and simply allow the dog to decline is immoral and subjects the dog to a slow unhappy death.

Take it you are referring to my post about my collie, everything I did my vet agreed with, he thought I did the right thing so to call me immoral is out of order. Apart from the excessive drinking you wouldn’t have know anything was wrong and I had her pts the day she struggled with sight loss. My vet actually thought all the treatment for diabetes was immoral and faced with the situation again I would do the same thing.

 

[AmyMay]

No Bobby, not at all. My opinion is based on my own experience.