Diabetes

Hi Amy yes we had a dog that had to have injections everyday and unfortunately think we might be faced with another elderly dog with diabetes. I can't remember what medicine the dog had...
 
Insulin injections generally twice a day always at the same time daily....
Strict food and exercise schedule to match in with the injections timeframe....
routine and consistency is needed in everything.....
its not easy to manage a diabetic dog tbh....

Especially sadly as the vast majority of cases are caused by obesity in the first place so the owner's often aren't used to being strict on the dog esp when it comes to food and treats.

Almost all will go blind even in regulated cases so that needs to be considered..

It is very expensive!
Between insulin,Needles for injections and constant check ups as the dose is adjusted while trying to find the ideal dose it all adds up quickly...
They also do ocassionally have other underlying issues like pancreatitis cushings etc that need checking for and management as well.

Its a condition that needs to be thought about before you take on treatment as its a serious commitment to take on that level of routine for the rest of the animals life..

Very few make it 2 years past diagnosis.

An absolutely horrible disease!
 
Aru said:
Insulin injections generally twice a day always at the same time daily....
Strict food and exercise schedule to match in with the injections timeframe....
routine and consistency is needed in everything.....
its not easy to manage a diabetic dog tbh....

Especially sadly as the vast majority of cases are caused by obesity in the first place so the owner's often aren't used to being strict on the dog esp when it comes to food and treats.

Almost all will go blind even in regulated cases so that needs to be considered..

It is very expensive!
Between insulin,Needles for injections and constant check ups as the dose is adjusted while trying to find the ideal dose it all adds up quickly...
They also do ocassionally have other underlying issues like pancreatitis cushings etc that need checking for and management as well.

Its a condition that needs to be thought about before you take on treatment as its a serious commitment to take on that level of routine for the rest of the animals life..

Very few make it 2 years past diagnosis.

An absolutely horrible disease!
Click to expand...

All of the above, stress can affect levels too so lots of owners find they can't use kennels or dog sitters as the dog stresses and it results in vet visits- so for many holiday are out, the strict routine needed with regards to everything for the dog combined with poor prognosis would mean I would pts at diagnosis for a dog, cats are much easier to manage.
I have heard but not researched that diabetes is very rare if not unheard of in raw raised and fed dogs and cats.
 
Just to add a slightly different perspective - one of our dogs has now had diabetes for more than 4 years. Like most dogs he is the equivalent of human Type 1 diabetes ie it is due to a defective pancreas and not obesity or diet related.
He is now 12 and a half and still very much enjoying life. We are very happy to have him still with us.
It does take a level of commitment to keep them going, but perhaps that is not so hard to accommodate if you are used to managing horses and dogs or other animals in your life already.
Food times need to be regular (but not set in stone) and he needs an insulin injection with each meal. There are extra costs of insulin, syringes and blood testing strips if you test their blood sugar yourselves. But those costs again are perhaps not huge in the context of the sort of medical bills that you can get for other animals generally for other conditions. For example our dog (weighing 30kg) needs £35 worth of insulin per month (from Animed not the vet) and his syringes cost around £12 per month.
Our dog has not actually visited the vet for diabetes reasons for several years. We just manage him ourselves, testing his blood sugar ourselves (just like human diabetics do) and he trundles happily along.
Given our other animals whenever we go away we need animal sitters anyway, and we have never had a problem finding sitters prepared to deal with the injections.
There is an excellent online website called K9diabetes which has a huge amount of support and information on it.
 
Thanks Spangle, great to hear. Dog in question is a 15 year old very bright little poodle who has been recently diagnosed. We do home boarding and he's coming to stay with us for two weeks.

The owner and I attended a diabetes clinic yesterday and I'll be taking him for four follow up appts whilst he's staying with us. So plenty of back up.

I'll check out the website, cheers.
 
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