Question:

Saw your post and many of the responses were valid. I have a 14 year old dog with diabeties and in addition to the insuln shots we give her a a number of vitamins & herbal supplements that have helped reduce her insuln level and have held off the blindness that comes with this disease. The products we use can be found at Nature’s Pet Marketplace on the Web http://naturespet.com I would suggest the care tabs, dream coat and the chewable anti-oxidents. Check it out and let me know.

Response:

I have a 9 year old mixed breed that has just been diagnosed with diabetis.  Although the vet told me how to treat him with his insulin, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to; things to look out for…things to avoid giving him…and other such pitfalls.  He also has a progressive heart disease and has been on lasix (actually, apo-furosemide) but is presently off of them till I go back for the next checkup. Joe,    There is quite a bit of research that indicates a high fiber diet can be extremely helpful. In many cases it can reduce the amount of insulin used. Ask your veterinarian about using a diet called Prescription Diet r/d.

I would like to add a little comment regarding diabetic dogs.  We have cared for our little Brussels Griffon for four years with diabetes. We have found consistancy in the timing and amount of excercise, diet and medication (insulin) is the key to maintaining her blood sugar at an acceptable  level.  At the time of her diagnosis, her veterinarian put her on Prescription Diet r/d and we have used this ever since. We have not had any problems at all in the management of this disease so far.   We were really upset when she was first diagnosed and wondered how we were going to manage to inject the poor little thing every day.  But she actually jumps into our arms when it is time for her needle.  I don’t know if it makes her feel better but I suspect it is the fact that she gets fed immediately after her shot.

Response:

I have a 9 year old mixed breed that has just been diagnosed with diabetis.  Although the vet told me how to treat him with his insulin, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to; things to look out for…things to avoid giving him…and other such pitfalls.  He also has a progressive heart disease and has been on lasix (actually, apo-furosemide) but is presently off of them till I go back for the next checkup.

Joe,         There is quite a bit of research that indicates a high fiber diet can be extremely helpful. In many cases it can reduce the amount of insulin used. Ask your veterinarian about using a diet called Prescription Diet r/d.

Response:

My 9 year old Lab was also just recently diagnosed with Diabetes. Luckily she is making it very easy for me to give the twice daily injections. The hardest part with my busy lifestyle is making sure she gets all her injections on time, testing her urine regularly, and taking her in every week for a glucose curve while we’re still trying to regulate her. She really gets stressed out at the Vets and her blood pressure shoots way up. So for now she is on blood pressure medication too. But at least this is a disease that can be treated. My other dog has cancer and unfortunately we can’t do anything except make him as comfortable as we can for as long as we can. Good luck to you and please wish me luck too. Sharon Sargent — SLTG

Response:

breed that has just been diagnosed with diabetis.  Although the : vet told me how to treat him with his insulin, I was wondering if anyone has any : suggestions as to; things to look out for…things to avoid giving him…and other such : pitfalls.  He also has a progressive heart disease and has been on lasix (actually, : apo-furosemide) but is presently off of them till I go back for the next checkup. Diabetes seems to be more common in cats than dogs, and there’s lots of discussion of it in rec.pets.cats, but I don’t know how the two species compare. I have a diabetic cat, diagnosed about 1 1/2 months ago. He improved some on one dose daily of insulin but when we went to two daily shots he got dramatically better. As far as food, stick rigidly to whatever schedule the vet suggests, and avoid unprescribed treats of any kind. Ask about keeping honey or karo syrup around in case of insulin shock, how to recognise it, and what to do if it happens. Wiping syrup on the gums is the quickest way to get sugar into him. All this is intentionally vague as it’s based on cats and I don’t know how dogs may be different, but it gives you some ideas what to ask your vet about.

Response:

I have a 9 year old mixed breed that has just been diagnosed with diabetis.  Although the vet told me how to treat him with his insulin, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to; things to look out for…things to avoid giving him…and other such pitfalls.  He also has a progressive heart disease and has been on lasix (actually, apo-furosemide) but is presently off of them till I go back for the next checkup. — === joe

Response:

Successfully managing diabetes in your dog will hinge on sticking to a restricted diet, fed on a schedule that is adhered to without any deviation.  The dog’s food intake needs to be restricted to only the foods the veterinarian okays; any bisquits, treats, etc. need to be cleared with your vet, and they need to be given at the same time every day.  Meals must also be kept on schedule, since the insulin injections are usually given immediately after the dog has eaten it’s morning meal.  If you can adhere to the feeding schedule requirements, and can effectively police the household so that the dog doesn’t get any scraps or tidbits that might fall on the floor (do you have small children?) then you should be able to keep the dog’s glucose level where it should be once he’s gotten regulated. The intial regulation process can take up to a few months, so it is important to get the dog back to the vet for bloodtests according to your vet’s recommendations, and to monitor the glucose in the morning urine by the use of glucose test strips.   Also, you should be prepared to throw away a lot of unused insulin–the vial typically contains more insulin than you’ll use in one month, but the product degrades fairly quickly once the vial has been opened.  With my parent’s dog, we found that we needed to replace the insulin every fourth week; if we went even one day beyond that, the difference in the effectiveness of the injection was immediately noticable.  The dog would become sluggish, have increased thirst and his urine output would increase.  Testing of that urine would show an elevated level of glucose being spilled out in the urine. You’ll also need to keep some Karo (corn) syrup on hand, or a sugar-based paste-form nutritional supplement such as Nutrical, in case of emergency.  If the dog should eat something not on his food regimen or out of schedule, it can throw his blood levels out of kilter, and he can become hypoglycemic and become "shocky".  A small amount of Karo syrup or nutritional paste on his gums will help to bring the glucose levels back up while you arrange to have your vet see him. Diabetic dogs frequently develop cataracts, and subsequently will lose their sight. The cataracts can be removed surgically, but be aware that the retinas are usually very fragile as a result of the diabetes, and the dog may lose its sight even if the cataracts are gone.  These dogs are also more prone to developing impairment of the liver and kidney functions.   How well the dog handles the disease will basically depend on how well you can manage the required routine.  My parents’ dog lived to be 14 years old, and for 7 of those years was being managed for diabetes, pancreatitis and reduced kidney function…and when he went to the Bridge, it was basically because his little body was worn out. Hope this is of some help, and good luck to you both. Regards, phyllis rayca (A vet technician, not a veterinarian)

Response: