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Thread: My Baby Bonnie

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    22

    Default My Baby Bonnie

    Hi, Baby Bonnie is my rescue dog. We found each other at the end of August after my mother passed away (I lived with her & was her caretaker). Bonnie will be ten in March. She is a poodle and shih-tzu mix. She immediately became the light of my life.

    I knew when I adopted her that she was diabetic. Giving her insulin is no problem, as I gave Mom insulin for years. Her eating habits are very picky (we think she was fed junk food). She is a wonderful dog and has a sweet and funny personality. She attached herself to me the first evening I had her, and I don't know what I ever did without her. But from the beginning, we could not get her blood sugar under control. It was almost always over 600 when I took her to the vet, sometimes so high it wouldn't register on the meter. She has bouts of pancreatitis. We increased her insulin (N) from 5 units twice a day to 8 units.

    Finally, the vet decided to test her for Cushing's. It was in the middle of January. I looked up the symptoms and was sure she had it. And yes, she does have pituitary dependent Cushing's. The vet said her cortisol levels were sky-high. He immediately started her on Lysodren, 5 mg. twice daily. After 3 or 4 days, we had to stop the loading because she was not doing well. I've only given her one dose since, and she has had to have the emergency Prednisone several times. She swings between constant ravenous hunger and not eating at all. We have had several scary hypoglycemic incidents. When she does eat, I give her 3 units.

    Bonnie once again had very bloody diarrhea and vomiting over the weekend. I am very thankful for my vet. He talks to me on the phone almost daily. We go there at least once a week. I'm sure he charges me as little as he can get by with. Yet, my finances are almost depleted. Today he gave her a B-12 shot along with something else, but I'm not sure what. If she's not better tomorrow, she will spend the day at the clinic tomorrow. Thank goodness it is very close. We are holding off on insulin and I am giving her Pepcid. She did eat and keep down a little bit of food this afternoon. She is so lethargic I have to carry her out to potty.

    I am very discouraged and scared. I love Bonnie so very much and I don't know how I could handle losing her. She is so precious to me. Every time we think we are making progress, something else happens. My vet is doing his best and worries about her constantly. Does anyone have any suggestions? I appreciate any advice.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    6,593

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    Hi and welcome to you and Baby Bonnie.

    I'm sorry to hear that Bonnie is doing so poorly right now. Can you reconfirm what dose of Lysodren you were giving Bonnie? Lysodren comes in 500mg tablets and you mentioned 5mg. That would be a minute amount of the drug and not enough to do much of anything. Also how much does she weigh? Did your vet do an acth stimulation test after Bonnie became ill? If so, what were the results? Did he also check electrolytes?

    We are always concerned when we hear that a dog is diagnosed with cushing's while diabetes is uncontrolled. High bg's can affect the tests and cause false positive results. Both Poodles and Shih Tzus are breeds that seem to be over represented with respect to cushing's but there is still reason to be concerned about the diagnosis as most symptoms of both diseases overlap. Besides weight loss and excessive drinking and peeing, what other symptoms does or did Bonnie have that are associated with cushing's? Which tests were done to confirm the cushing's diagnosis and can you please post the results? I have included a link below to a blog on Dr. Mark Peterson's site regarding the difficulty in diagnosing cushing's in an uncontrolled diabetic dog. Dr. Peterson is a renown internal medicine specialist who lectures worldwide on diabetes, cushings and many other topics.
    You will note that Dr. Peterson defines insulin resistance as doses greater than 2.2 U/kg/injection to control hyperglycemia. If Bonnie weighs more than 8 pounds, I don't think she can be deemed insulin resistant.
    http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/201...e-in-dogs.html

    We have a sister site, www.k9diabetes.com, and I heartily recommend that you join there so that you will have the best of both worlds. They are amazing in their knowledge and ability to help members through really tough times. You will note on Dr. Peterson's blog that user k9diabetes made a comment on that blog about the number of dogs their forum sees that are tagged with both diseases. That user's name is Natalie and she is the owner of k9diabetes.com. Please, please join there.

    We'll be looking forward to hearing more about your precious girl.

    Glynda

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    22

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    I'm sorry, I was confused on the Lysodren. It was 125 twice daily. Since I have had her, her weight started at 9.5 lbs., then 10, then 10.5, then in one week down to 9.5, then 9.2, yesterday (less than a week) 8.2, today 8.9. The other Cushing's symptoms she shows are a lot of hair loss along her trunk, very pot-bellied, and hind leg weakness. I don't know of any specifics of her testing, but I am asking them to put some copies together for me.

    Today we went back for blood work. She is very anemic and her protein is low, but everything else they checked was in normal range. She is a little dehydrated. We got home and she vomited dark brown. If she does that again, she goes back for the afternoon. They aren't sure what has caused this, but they suspect Hemmorhagic Gastroenteritis. I am more worried than ever. They put her on flagyl and sucralfate.

    I will post results when I receive them. Thank you, Glynda!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    6,593

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    I am very concerned about Bonnie. She's a diabetic off of insulin, showing signs of possible ketoacidosis and/or addison's and now suspected of having HGE. All three of these conditions can be fatal if not addressed so I am completely confused as to why your vet doesn't think Bonnie is in serious trouble and simply sent you home with Flagyl and Sucralfate. Was an acth stimulation test done when Bonnie crashed after Lysodren and did your vet tell you what Bonnie's blood glucose level was today?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    22

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    I was really surprised they did not keep her today. I don't think they did another ACTH test. Her glucose today was around 400. I am surprised she is not more dehydrated than she is, but she does drink water. Then she lies down next to her water dish so she doesn't have to move. My vet is very young and new, but I did overhear him discussing everything with the vet who is the owner. I couldn't really make out the conversation, but I was glad he was getting his input. I do know that I am not taking my eye off this girl for one second, and I will do whatever I possibly can for her. Right now, that seems to be holding her, loving her, and praying over her. I keep checking her skin for dehydration. I can tell it is more sticky than it was, so I may call back soon. I am definitely frightened.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Northern California
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    1,209

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    Glynda asked me to look in on your thread... so sorry to hear that Bonnie is not feeling well. I brought up the post you made at the K9 Diabetes forum back in October.

    I too am very worried about Bonnie. Given the low blood sugar she had, it sounds like she may now be lacking adequate amounts of cortisol, and a dog in an Addisonian (lack of cortisol) crisis is very sick. Low cortisol is a life-threatening condition.

    If her cortisol levels are still quite low, it could be that she can't tolerate any insulin right now since low cortisol causes low blood sugar.

    Can you ask the vet ASAP for the results of all of her tests and post them here immediately?

    What was the suspected cause of the anemia? Bleeding in the GI tract?

    If the vet is really knowledgeable, hospitalization might be best, at least for a day to be able to really sort out what is and isn't going on with her.

    But if there is any question that the vet might be in over his head - which is not a criticism at all in a complicated case like Bonnie's - then even a single consult with a specialist could make a big difference in her ability to recover.

    Natalie

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    22

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    Yes, the suspected cause is GI tract bleeding. She was taking prednisone daily until she became so ill on Sunday. What kind of specialist would it be? I live near Wichita, KS.

    Thank you for your input! I will see if I can get the results today.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
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    Tennessee
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    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    Here is a link to the ACVIM listing of internal medicine specialists in the State of Kansas. There is a one listed in Wichita:

    http://www.acvim.org/PetOwners/Finda...&SORT=LASTNAME

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    22

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    I took Bonnie back to the vet. I called about the dehydration & they said to try gatorade with a syringe, & she couldn't keep it down. So I took her back, & her condition had worsened. They are giving her fluids & anti-nausea medication. I am going to get her before they close because no one is there at night & we don't want her unattended. In the morning I will take her back & they will do another CBC. We are hoping she won't need a blood transfusion. I got copies of test results & will post them in a few minutes.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    22

    Default Re: My Baby Bonnie

    I can't figure out how to post the results. I scanned them to Microsoft Word. Going to pick up my doggie....

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