Sweet Tawni Girl (11 y/o lab) (Lysodren maint, soloxine, adensolyn) Tawni has passed

[deena]

My 11 year old yellow lab has been diagnosed with crushings disease three years ago after a long struggle with a local vet....persistence is a must when it comes to getting a proper diagnostic results. We have gone through all the necessary steps to come to the realization this is serious stuff. I have her on 1000 mgs of Lysodrin every three days now which started out at 500 mgs....we are on soloxine, (thyroid meds)and adensolyn (liver meds)......just this past June she developed diabetes of which requires two shots per day...along with that I am feeding her four times a day. I have given up on dog food all together and cook her meals. The day starts with oatmeal and three meals of Brown rice, carrots, green beans and turkey,chicken, venison, or elk.
My most recent dilemma is that her skin develops infections that i cannot seem to get cleared up....any ideas?

[labblab]

Hi Deena and welcome!

Just wanted to tell you that I've moved your thread about Tawni to our main "Questions and Discussion" forum where I think you'll have higher visibility and receive more feedback to your question.

I'm so glad you've joined us,
Marianne

[marie adams]

Hi Deena,

Welcome! I wanted to let you know I took Maddie off of all grains and beef because I read on a site for Cushings that grains and beef were not good for them. I have her on a raw chicken diet from Northwest Naturals--it comes in various forms of--all frozen. I found a dry food that has no grains also. One of the people at the pet supply I go to said in the wild a dog would not eat grains and that when they make a kill the diet of the small animal would have chewed up their food so mixed in with the chicken are vegetables and fruit.

Maddie has done very well on this diet so far--started early this year. I also give her flax seed oil, fish oil, I even give her yogurt because a neighbor said her vet said to give it to her dog with skin hot spots because those spots were yeast infections. I also read on a site about yeast infections being in the ears--I noticed a thick sticky stuff in Maddie's ears that was never there before so I tried the yogurt and no more brown stuff in the ears.

Maddie had lost a lot and I mean a lot of her fur because of Cushings--it is now back thick as can be but changed in coloring--I think the yogurt and flax seed helped it be softer and her skin wasn't as dried out and flaky.

Well I hope this helps!!! Take care!!

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and your baby!

First, congratulations on treating your baby for three years successfully! This is a testament to your loving care and dedication...and further proof that the "2-year survival" hooey vets tell parents is just that - hooey!

Has your vet given you any diagnosis for the skin issue? That and fish oil would be my first step. The Omegas (3&6) are good for the skin and coat but check with your vet before starting them, of course. Do you add any supplements to the diet?

I'm glad you found us and look forward to learning more of yours and your baby's journey over these last 3 years. From this point forward, you don't have to walk alone, tho. We will be here to help in any way we can.

Hugs,
Leslie and the girls - always

[deena]

Thank-you for your posts....i thought you might want to read about a day in the life with tawni...we start at a wake up call of 5 a.m. that's when i give her the liver med and a dose of soloxine (thyroid med) have myself a cup of coffee while her oatmeal cooks then it's off to the shower. breakfast is at 6 a.m. along with her vitamins c,d,a,e,b12,omega3 and a calcium tab. At 7 a.m. it's time for her insulin....I feed her 4 times a day hoping that it will help with the diabetes.
At dinner time she gets another soloxine tab and like last nite it was 1000 mgs of lysodrin (every three days). I usually feed brown rice with every meal except for breakfast....sometimes on the weekends and other days off I will cook three eggs for her lunch.
I have tried yogurt but so far she hasn't acquired the taste for it but I will try again as I will go the extra distance for her.

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Deena,

Thanks for sharing you day with us. Sounds like you have your hands full 24/7! I cook for both my babies so 3 days a week are devoted to this activity and, man, you oughta see this camper when I'm done! whoa...what a mess! LOL But they are worth every second!

One of Trinket's recipes uses quinoa and we were worried she wouldn't eat it (lots of dogs find the taste or texture unpalatable). She LOVED it! Which is great as that means that recipe requires fewer supplements. She has an egg and salmon recipe she likes, too!

Sat. I got in another order of supplements that I use and my sister-in-law brought it over for me. She wanted to know what I was taking all this stuff for and did she need to start taking some of it. As we talked, I was putting up the new supplies and she saw how many different things I have on hand. Nearly all of it is for the dogs, either added to the feed or given as needed. I got the distinct impression she left more convinced than ever that her husband's sister is a nut case!

Thanks for the update and keep in touch!

Hugs,
Leslie and the girls - always

[deena]

my 12 year old yellow lab has been on insulin now almost a complete year.. lately I can not get her numbers down, no change in intake as far as food or water goes....no change in activity....tried several bottles of insulin...increases her dosage to 40 from 38...still no change...any ideas???

[addy]

Hi Deena,

I think our moderator's will merge this post with your original thread. It is easier for us to keep track of what is happening with each member that way.

I am sorry to hear you are having problems. Have you been to our sister site the K9 Diabetes.com forum? I apologize I did not have time yet to go back over your original postings.

Hang in there, the others will be along soon.

Hugs,
Addy

[littleone1]

Hi,

I don't have any advice for you, as I've never had to use insulin. As Addy mentioned, our sister site might have some input for you.

Terri

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Deena,

If you are not a member at our sister site, k9diabetes.com, please go over there and sign up asap. You will find great support and a wealth of knowledge from folks who live with canine diabetes on a daily basis. Several of our members here are experienced as well, but we like to make sure you know about k9diabetes as they are the experts in this area. The link is:

http://k9diabetes.com/forum

I'm sure folks will be along to give their thoughts soon.

Hang in there!
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

PS. I merged your post with your original thread. This way, all of your info is in one place which makes it easier to keep up with the whole journey.