delta
06-02-2012, 04:26 PM
Our 12yo boxer/dalmatian mix was diagnosed with diabetes in March and I'm not convinced its diabetes...and I'll explain why.
She had all the usual symptoms of diabetes/cushings ie. panting a lot, drinking and urinating a lot.
She was diagnosed and in a very short time got hospitalized due to a hypo on the 2nd night and almost didn't make it.
For the past 2 months we've been nursing her back to health and with the help of home cooked meals + regular vet checkups + phosphate binders + regular blood-glucose monitoring (every 2 hours for the past 2 months) he blood results are almost back to normal only the urea and creatinine were slightly elevated on last check but I expect them to be within the normal range in a week or 2.
Anyway, when she was hospitalized she was overweight (about 85-90lb) and now weighs about 68-70lb (about 3-5lb underweight) as she lost a lot of weight during her 10 day hospital ordeal.
The reason I believe it may not be "just" diabetes is because she's currently on 3.5-4units morning and 5.5-6units of insulin at night. This keeps her in the 'good range' for most of the day. However as you probably guessed it, this is an extremely small dose for a dog her size. Her insulin requirements have not increased in 2 months.
The vet did an ultrasound back 2 months ago during her hospitalization and said that one of her adrenal glands had a growth on it and the other was adrenal gland was smaller than it should be.
She is still not regulated and needs constant adjustments in insulin on an almost daily basis - very minute adjustments can make a huge difference eg. morning dose between 3.5 and 4 and evening dose between 5.5 and 6.
Even so we often have to do emergency honey/karo gum rubs when on some days even these types of small doses send her BG too low (<100) at the wrong time of day ie. when we expect them to drop further..
Now the vet seems convinced it's not cushing's because a) she's not drinking a lot (only a glass that we mix in with her food) and b) she's not losing hair on her belly and c) her blood pressure is normal (there may be other reasons I can't recall at the moment).
But isn't the fact that she HAS a confirmed growth on her adrenal gland (a tumor of some sort most likely) proof it's cushings? To us it seems like the adrenal gland is excreting excess cortisol which is what leads to the extra insulin requirement and which led to the (mis)diagnosis of diabetes ..
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She had all the usual symptoms of diabetes/cushings ie. panting a lot, drinking and urinating a lot.
She was diagnosed and in a very short time got hospitalized due to a hypo on the 2nd night and almost didn't make it.
For the past 2 months we've been nursing her back to health and with the help of home cooked meals + regular vet checkups + phosphate binders + regular blood-glucose monitoring (every 2 hours for the past 2 months) he blood results are almost back to normal only the urea and creatinine were slightly elevated on last check but I expect them to be within the normal range in a week or 2.
Anyway, when she was hospitalized she was overweight (about 85-90lb) and now weighs about 68-70lb (about 3-5lb underweight) as she lost a lot of weight during her 10 day hospital ordeal.
The reason I believe it may not be "just" diabetes is because she's currently on 3.5-4units morning and 5.5-6units of insulin at night. This keeps her in the 'good range' for most of the day. However as you probably guessed it, this is an extremely small dose for a dog her size. Her insulin requirements have not increased in 2 months.
The vet did an ultrasound back 2 months ago during her hospitalization and said that one of her adrenal glands had a growth on it and the other was adrenal gland was smaller than it should be.
She is still not regulated and needs constant adjustments in insulin on an almost daily basis - very minute adjustments can make a huge difference eg. morning dose between 3.5 and 4 and evening dose between 5.5 and 6.
Even so we often have to do emergency honey/karo gum rubs when on some days even these types of small doses send her BG too low (<100) at the wrong time of day ie. when we expect them to drop further..
Now the vet seems convinced it's not cushing's because a) she's not drinking a lot (only a glass that we mix in with her food) and b) she's not losing hair on her belly and c) her blood pressure is normal (there may be other reasons I can't recall at the moment).
But isn't the fact that she HAS a confirmed growth on her adrenal gland (a tumor of some sort most likely) proof it's cushings? To us it seems like the adrenal gland is excreting excess cortisol which is what leads to the extra insulin requirement and which led to the (mis)diagnosis of diabetes ..
(MODERATOR NOTE: I have approved your post so that members can start responding. Please check you email for a message from k9cushings which you need to reply to in order that your future posts are immediately on the board for discussion. Thanks and welcome to K9Cushings!