Do you have a dog with diabetes and/or seizures?

[~*=Phoenix=*~]

My dog is now 14, he has started having seizures amongst other things. I have a savings account set aside for his vet expenses. just want to get a pet owners perspective on expenses (so as to get an idea how much more to save, or save at a typical rate) and care.

He will be getting a Urinalysis determine if it is infection or related to suspected Diabetes. Blood Tests - To test for diabetes. More then likely CT Scan, to determine if seizures are from suspected diabetes or something else like a tumor. Vet said CT would be a good idea, however is concerned with putting my dog under anesthesia to do so.

I got a second opinion and the second vet agreed on blood tests and urinalysis and is more focused on testing for diabetes and not concerned with CT.

Reading somethings online from medical sites and bits from the vet are one thing but personal experience/expenses are another.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

we have 8 boxers, my mother breeds them. we have 1 male that we have had since a puppy he is probablly about 5 or 6 now..he will have seizures, he cant move and he gets lock jaw and trembles until he calms down, we have talked to the vet and he said its very common for the breed, but he comes out of them within a minute or 2 and is completely fine after that, only has one about once every 6 months...the other day one of our females started trembling bad and lost controll of her back legs due to having a seizure, she is also now fine....thats the first time she has ever had one..but they all come out ok once we calm them down and talk them out of it...but i dont know what kinds of seizures they have so ours could be having completely different ones...i wish your doggy the best of luck, and id be very hesitant to uthenise your dog at that age......its one thing i know my mother wouldnt do and she was a vet tech for years...its very dangerous and i wouldnt risk loosing the dog doing it

 

[cmor1031]

My family rescued two abused pomeranians from a lady who rescued them from puppy mills about 10 years ago. They used to get seizures quite often, and we always wrapped them in a towel and just held them until the seizures stopped after a few minutes. We had taken them to the vet but I dont know if they were ever tested for diabetes or anything. I think the vet just recommended that we hold them when they seize to make sure they can't accidentally hurt themselves.
One of the poms (Henri) died about a year ago, but he was at least 12 years old (we have no idea how old they were when we got them or what they were put through at the puppy mill) and the other, Percy, is still alive and doing well, just growing old.
So the seizures did not seem to affect their health that much. I would just recommend wrapping them up in a towel or a blanket when they seize and hold them firm until it stops.
Good luck with your dogs, and hope they are all doing well )

 

[~*=Phoenix=*~]

Just to clarify. He's not getting tested for diabetes due to his seizures. haven't had much sleep lately, so I'm all discomboobalated when it comes to writing.

He has been urinating more, drinking more, mostly sleeping, weight flip-flopping, eyes getting foggy look to them, eyes not producing enough moisture. And just odd other things he does. that make me go "hmmmm"

 

[Chin_Pig]

growing up i had a bichon frise and she was maybe 11 and she had stress induced seizures. if she went on to long of a walk or multiple walks in a day she would seize. the vet put her on phenobarbital and that stopped the seizures (we also cut back on walking her too) she was euthanize at 16 yrs old because of kidney failure and she was vomiting and couldn't keep anything down.

 

[Nervousings]

He has been urinating more, drinking more, mostly sleeping, weight flip-flopping, eyes getting foggy look to them, eyes not producing enough moisture. And just odd other things he does. that make me go "hmmmm"

this sounds alot like my lab... who had cushings disease. it occurs mostly in larger dogs i think... she would do all above symptoms along with breathing very heavily. im not sure if her seizures were to do with the disease but it is definitely something to test for. we lost her last year after she had an ELEVEN POUND tumor removed. poor girl

 

[~*=Phoenix=*~]

Today..... jus ugh......
went to visit someone and left him in the car (it's not hot here) and he had an "accident" all over the passenger seat (where I happen to of left my phone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)..... He did his mumbly "I gotta 'go' momma" thing once (and I immediately got up to go left him out, but he couldn't hold it), but seems to not be having much warning before he really HAS to go and of course he did this when he had an upset tummy (aka runs). :/ I can't be mad at him, and this has been progressing (becoming more common with time) but it was EWWWWW. Thank GOD for nature's miracle and a seat cover! I just cut the cover off and threw it away (cell phone and all).

This brings me to my next question... have you tried an incontinence (sp?) pill for a dog? and did it help or work?

Lately it feels like he needs 50 things at once. But the vet says we are taking extreemly good care of him, he is the oldest boxer that he has seen (which makes me sad!), and that he still has a great quality of life (which makes me happy!).

 

[~*=Phoenix=*~]

He had a seizure on the way to the vets. I had to carry him in because he hadn't regained all his walking function yet when we got there.

Urine test came back normal. His tinkle has been smelling funky off and on. So we're going to have another one done when I know it's smelling funky

Blood tests, they did a CBC, Chem, and T-4. He was hypoglycemic, which is the suspected cause of the seizures. So we're doing 5cc/1 tsp. of Karo Syrup every 6 hours and will check back in next week (sooner if something happens), and possibly do more blood tests and check other things.

So, we'll be investing in a glucometer for dogs :thumbsup:

 

[shetland]

A while back my sweet little 17 year old miniature schnauzer had what looked like a seizure. She was worked up at Penn and it turned out she had heart block and not a seizure disorder.

 

[~*=Phoenix=*~]

BUN, flagged, was 3 units higher then it should be
Glucose, flagged, very low... 33 mg/dL (this is less than have of the "low" - to give you an idea).
T4, flagged, low is up to 0.9, normal is 0.9 to 3.9 (ideal around 1.8)... his was 0.5!
Neutrophil Seg, flagged, low end of high
B/C ratio, flagged. (30.0 - high)