Mork came to us from the spca in the fall of 91, he was about a year
maybe
two when we got him and so that would make him 13 or 14 at most, he
weighs
in now at 17 lbs but was 19.5 lbs before he was dx. Once he lost the
weight
even though he was never fat he never gained it back. I think a lot
of the
weight loss was actually muscle loss and wasting. At the lowest he
was14 lbs.
Mork was dx in the fall of 98 and had been having problems with wetting
in
the house which is what clued me in to the fact that something was
wrong. It
was right around a time change so I assumed he was having trouble adjusting
and when longer walks and being let out at a later time didn't help
I became
very suspicious. A couple of years earlier he had a similar episode
and I
had taken him in for blood work then and nothing came of it, he stopped
wetting in the house after the blood work and seemed fine.
I'm a groomer and had just put Mork on my table to give him his
clip and just
about fell over, he was a bone rack! I couldn't believe it, the weight
had fallen off so
fast. I'm fortunate in that I get to work with animals every day, and
even
though I am aware that diabetes happens in our pets I couldn't believe
that
it was happening to mine. Another clue was he had started having difficulty
getting up the stairs and you could see that it took a Herculean effort
for
him to do that small task. I felt awful and even though I had all the
clues
in front of me it still took me a few weeks to get him help.
The vet started us with Humulin NPH at a low dose and we worked our
way
slowly up, the first curve we attempted at the vets was a miserable
failure
because Mork whined and cried and barked unrelentlessly all day, paced
and
scratched to get out of his kennel and wouldn't eat for them. I knew
then I
would have to face my fears and start testing at home. It took many
tries and
two people in the beginning but now it's like second nature and Mork
just
rolls over and hands me his paw. That made so much difference as now
I had
the tool that could tell me how to help my dog, he was never stressed
around
me (discounting fireworks and lightening) but still his numbers were
not the
greatest. We tried several different types of insulin and did curves
every
weekend for months. We finally settled on Humilin Lente at 9 units
bid and
he's been on that for the last couple of years.
At first I took Mork to work with me every day, actually the first
couple of
years with the exception of summer as it's way too hot for him at work
and
the kids were home to feed him then, at that time he was being fed
4 times a
day to try and keep him on an even keel. He was always a hard one to
regulate and I find that it is very elusive to keep perfect numbers
even now
and go more by how he's feeling than the numbers.
Mork has had numerous problems with pancreatic attacks and was hospitalized
once because of this. I tell you I have never seen a dog get so sick
so
fast. What's really weird is Mork had never been sick a day in
his life
before dx, never even had a steroid. After dx he was being continually
put
on antibiotics for these flare ups. At one point he stopped eating
and I was
thinking he had given up, I tried cooking for him then and am so glad
I did,
it has made such a difference in how he feels, no more sick stomach
and no
more pancreatic flare ups. His schedule has changed now in that he's
a house
dog again, gets to stay home with his buddy Django.
He eats twice a day with his shots
and gets his cookies before bed, he is completely blind now and I have
to be
his seeing person more now than ever before.
Another complication that came from having diabetes was a problem with
his
teeth and it was also a part of him not wanting to eat at one point.
At two
different times about six months apart one of back molars broke off
in his
mouth. They were hanging by a thread but my trying to dislodge them
wasn't
working. Both times it happened on a Sunday and he had to have emergency
surgery the next day.
Giving him shots and cooking for him and seeing that his needs are
met have
become second nature for me and I'm not sure what I'd do with out him,
this
diabetes thing had definitely gotten much easier to deal with as time
has
progressed and I find I don't freak out like I used too. Mork hasn't
had to
see the vet for months now, which is very unusual and I just hope this
long
spell of good health continues.
Mork's recipe for good health
6 large boneless skinless chicken breast
8 cups of water
3 cups of brown rice
1 cup barley
1 cup oat bran a bit of regular oatmeal as a thickener if needed.
2 packages frozen chopped spinach
1 large can pumpkin
assorted veggies, celery for broth flavor, broccoli, carrots,
green beans,
any kind of squash will help the fibre content too
In a 4 quart saucepan I start by boiling the chicken breast lightly
in the 8 cups of water, enough to cook them but not boiled to death. Skim
the fat, there shouldn't be much, I use a paper towel or if I use boned
chicken will put it in the fridge overnight and pick off the cold fat.
I was using an organic broth to flavor but found it had onions in it so
am now making my own broth by adding celery, grated carotts and a smidge
of salt for flavor. Add the rice and barley and cook till soft, usually
30 to 45 minutes, while this is cooking I'll be chopping th chicken into
small peices and any veges that I'm going to use, you can try different
ones and use different things,
I've found Mork really likes change and gets bored with eating the
same thing all the time. After the rice and barley are soft and well cooked
add the oat bran and cook for five minutes, you'll need to keep a close
eye at this point as it will burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. The
mix
should be nice and thick enough to form into balls, very sticky when
warm and easier to handle once cooled off. If it's not thick enough add
some oatmeal to thicken, the oatmeal only takes a couple of minutes to
cook in. Mork is 17 lbs and I form into ¾ cup balls and freeze,
he gets one of these twice a day with a couple of teaspoons of cottage
mixed in. He also gets 500 mg of Milk Thistle, 100 iu vitimin e,200 mcg
chromium, 250 mcg vitimin b-12 , half a visorbits and Can-Addese which
is a powder to help digestion. He gets all this twice a day with his meals.
He also gets ¼ cup of dry food if his bg's are low, he's almost
always high in the morning and low at night. |
Date: Sat, 07 Sep 2002
Mork has changed insulins beings he went through a major change
this spring and the Lente stopped working so we switched him over to
caninsulin.
He was on 25units bid but he's been pulling some crazy low #'s
the last couple of days so has been reduced to 20 twice a day.
Deb and Mork
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