Pages

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Update on Jasmine

dog diabetesWell it has been hectic the past week. Monday (10/18) we took Jasmine in to the vet because she had been drinking somewhere around 8 bowls of water a day. Which is quite a bit. We figured it was a liver problem that we were told about at the last vet visit, so we wanted to get the perscription from the vet. Sunday night I had noticed Jasmine hardly touched her food, which she usually inhales like a vacuum. That monday morning as I woke up for work there was still just as much food int he bowl which had me worried because she never skips a meal. She might be a dog but she's a little piggie! Later in the day I sent a text to my girlfriend to see if she had eaten her food yet and still nothing. Luckily I have a girlfriend that loves animals as much as I do and she called the vet and made the appointment for that day.

We get to the vet tell her about the amount of water she's been drinking and how the last couple days she's been eating less and less food. Put her on the scale and she went from 91lbs at her last visit to 80lbs this visit. There was no change in exercise or amount I was feeding her. They wanted to keep her overnight for testing. Jasmine was at the vet from Monday evening to Thursday evening, she was diagnosed with diabetes. She had a blood glucose level of 400 when we brought her in! You never would have guessed by looking at her that she wasn't doing well. I came home from work that monday before the vet visit and there she is with her favorite ball chewing it and throwing it at me and being quite playful. Hard to believe what we heard when the vet told us what the issue was.

Those few days without Jasmine around the house; not there wagging her tail when I got home from work, and not there crunching on her food while I was laying in bed got me pretty depressed. There are no words to describe the void that is filled by having her back. She is the sweetest most loving dog in the world. I mean, look at the face, how could you not love that?

She has to be givin insulin twice a day, once in the morning and once and night, right after a meal which is a special diet given to us by the vet. She seems to really like it. I thought giving her the insulin would be a pain in the butt and that she wouldn't like it at all, I was wrong. She sits right there nice and calm, lets you grab the scruff of her neck and give her the insulin. Such a well behaved dog, even the vets were amazed by how well behaved she is, and how easy it is to give her the injections. I don't think the vets wanted to give her back to me. Not that I can blame them.

So as of now she's back home, and happy, and acting more like her self. It's just great having the happy dog back. Here are some pictures I took with my phone since she's gotten back. Yeah I've gone a bit picture crazy with her. Click pictures for full sized images if the thumbnails aren't cute enough.





Enhanced by Zemanta

8 comments:

Anji said...

The water consumption had me thinking diabeties straight away. How old is Jasmine?

Glad you got it sorted so quickly and that she's so co-operative. She is cute, give her a hug from me.

Michael Rector said...

Hi Anji, unfortunately I didn't know much about diabetes before last week, so the water consumption didn't ring "diabetes" to me, unfortunately.
Jasmine is 11. I'll be sure to give her a hug for you.

Don said...

Glad to hear you got it worked out! Sorry to hear the puppy has diabetes though.. That I don't like, but that she is doing better with the new diet and insulin is a good sign! Animals, especially dogs, but all animals, are the best!!

Michael Rector said...

Don, thank you for the comment.
She had to go back to the vet to help us get her more regulated, which seems to be quite the process to do. We are doing everything we can to keep her healthy and happy.
And you're right, animals are the best!

Jon Konrath said...

Glad to hear everything is good - I'm a new reader but I had a dog that looked like Jasmine as a kid, and I'm over-involved in the health of dogs because my wife works in pet food, so when I started to read, I was expecting a real horror story. Glad to hear she has taken to the shots. And diet can make a world of difference, so stick with it!

Karen Fayeth said...

Precious pup. Glad all is well, or as well as it can be.

Jackie said...

Glad you found out what was wrong with Jasmin and now with insulin can now get back to being her normal happy, healthy self.

Always amazes me when dogs get diabetes as we all think sugar when it happens and yet it obviously something else in their diet that causes it.

Michael Rector said...

Jon - Yeah she is exceptionally good with her shots, I was expecting it to be hell as soon as the vet told me what the problem was. Then almost immediately after the vet told me how well she does with it and I was quite relieved.

Karen - Yes, me to!!

Jackie - The insulin has definitely been a bit harder than I had thought. There still is no set amount to give her. It started at 27, dropped down to 24, then to 19, back up to 21, and we're still keeping in touch with the vet to help us try to regulate it. It is quite amazing that it wasn't the sugar. I haven't fed her table scraps in at least 4 years, and even more strict about it the past 2 years. She used to get the occasional crust at the end of a sandwich or a slice of pizza, but hasn't had anything for 2 years.