Canine diabetes

Our older dog, Peanut, has been acting a bit odd lately.  She's been drinking A LOT.  And I mean A LOT.  As peeing a lot... vomiting, shaking, losing weight.  She's always been a chow hound, but lately she's been sleeping by the food & water bowl.  Odd.

We've had her 10 years now.  We don't really know how old she is, she's a rescue dog.  She was a young adult when she came to live with us.

Miss Peanut in 2008

She had an eye infection last week, so we took her to the vet for treatment. Shaw Veterinary Clinic While we were there we made arrangements to get her teeth cleaned this week, on Wednesday.  But on Tuesday she was rather ill.  Drinking, peeing & vomiting.  When we took her in on Wednesday, I told Dr Roger Shaw about her symptoms.  Peanut had to stay & have blood work done so he could solve the mystery of her illness.  Her blood sugar was over 500!  OMG!

Both my parents, my cousin, several family friends, my sister-in-law all have diabetes.  I know this is a difficult disease to manage.  How in the heck do you manage it in dogs??!!

Just like people, when dogs get older & heavier they are more at risk for certain diseases.  Diabetes is one of them.  And Peanut was in the heavier category to be sure.  She's a shorty Jack Russell terrier and she weighed 25 pounds!  She's now down to 18.  A much healthier weight... but it was all lost in the past 6 months.

She's now going to be on insulin twice a day. I did my research on treating dogs with diabetes, and was a bit apprehensive about giving her the injection.  But this morning at her 6 AM dose, she didn't even flinch when I gave her the shot.  She was fixated on the jerky treat I had for her.  I hope this trend will continue.

More info on canine diabetes:

The following symptoms should be investigated as they could be indicators that your dog has diabetes:

• Change in appetite.
• Excessive thirst/increase in water consumption.
• Weight loss.
• Increased urination.
• Unusually sweet-smelling or fruity breath.
• Lethargy.
• Dehydration.
• Urinary tract infections.

More items...

Dog Diabetes Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment - Pet WebMD

pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/dog-diabetes-symptoms-treatment