Dog diagnosed with diabetes, advice welcome

[jerryaldini]

Got very tough news at the vet today. My just about to turn 7 year old Visla diagnosed with diabetes, 600 glucose level. She'd suddenly dropped over 10 pounds.

I got the insulin and syringes and will give her the first injection tonight with her food. Will go back next week to spend a day measuring her glucose curve.

Of course when I got home I immediately started researching online, and was surprised to learn, if she survived that long, there's a 75 percent chance she'll be blind with cataracts within 9 months, could form overnight. I've lived with a blind dog, they do well, still wasn't expecting the additional gut punch. Vet didn't mention.

There's a wide range of life expectancy information. I'm all about quality of life, so I'll start preparing myself.

If anyone here has experience please share. Please don't hold
back the hard truths. I want to make the most informed decisions I can for her.

Since I've always been fortunate to work from home, we've been almost inseparable. Goes everywhere with me. Replaced both her ACLs so we could keep doing our hikes. Damn I love this dog. Please no diabetes jokes.

[stumppy]

Sorry to hear it. Been there before. Woke up one day and my beagle, Max was blind. He lived a couple more years and they were good years. Limited at what he could do but still, good years. He was always a happy dog and was up to the day he died.
Only thing I would say is something you probably already know. Make sure you give her the shots on time and has a good diet.

[PatMahomesIsGod]

Wrong place for the CP’s stock solution??

[Iowanian]

Call Governor Noem.

[EPodolak]

I hadn't heard of a Visla before - looks like a hearty breed.

None of my animals have been diagnosed with diabetes, no personal experience with it but I'm sure exercise to manage glucose has to be recommended.

Sorry about the news, hope she lives a long happy life.

[Mecca]

I have a diabetic cat he's been shots for about 4 years and he's good so far.

[Easy 6]

Place a thick piece of leather in your mouth to bite down on, and get ready to pay up for the lil buddy

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

If it was a Pitbull the solution would be extra simple.

[BigCatDaddy]

I have 2 diabetic dogs. One is going on about 5 years or so at age 11, his brother about 1 year. You can also have surgery done to remove the cataract. I think about 3k for 1 eye at KSU, 5k for which cheaper than most privately ran places.

Some weird shit can happen but if you are willing to take them to a good vet most if it is manageable.

[Dunit35]

Had a diabetic husky. She took quite a bit of daily insulin. Took a while to get the right dosage down. Our vet was very good with her. She lived for 3-4 years after. You could tell when her body wasn’t right. She would drink a ton of water constantly. That’s when we’d know it was time for the vet to check her levels. Her back finally gave out which had nothing to do with her diabetes.

We also switched her food to a much more expensive diabetic type dog food. I can’t remember the name but it was much better for a diabetic dog.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by Dunit35

Had a diabetic husky. She took quite a bit of daily insulin. Took a while to get the right dosage down. Our vet was very good with her. She lived for 3-4 years after. You could tell when her body wasn’t right. She would drink a ton of water constantly. That’s when we’d know it was time for the vet to check her levels. Her back finally gave out which had nothing to do with her diabetes.

We also switched her food to a much more expensive diabetic type dog food. I can’t remember the name but it was much better for a diabetic dog.

Probably Science Diet.

[neech]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Place a thick piece of leather in your mouth to bite down on, and get ready to pay up for the lil buddy

No doubt, had to take my cat to the vet a couple times lately it was expensive.

She's 16 years old so it should be expected I suppose.

[wbbonneriii]

If it is a pit bull shoot it in the head; if something else, kindly put it down.

[Indian Chief]

My little guy developed diabetes at 15 years old. Our vet said it was just related to his age. Insulin twice a day on a regular schedule. Took a few weeks to dial in the right dose, but once we did he was much better. We'd occasionally have to adjust slightly up or down. You could tell based on his behavior if he needed an adjustment. We'd test him a couple times using those glucose test strips and a reader and make an appropriate adjustment to his insulin. I was honestly a little freaked out at first, but it's totally manageable and he had no issue with the shots. We were on a 6:30 am/pm schedule and he'd sleep right through his morning shot. I think the whole situation bothered me more than him.

[Lzen]

How the hell does a dog develop diabetes?

What were you feeding this dog?

Not trying to be a jerk but I am truly curious.