Tiki’s Story.. Living With Canine Diabetes

While visiting my favourite blogs this morning I stopped by Friday Night Fish Fry. Deana has a beautiful old dog who just recently has lost her vision. Reading her words brought back a flood of memories of my own sweet Tiki. I wrote Tiki’s Story shortly after she died. I miss her still.. as much today as that January, three years ago.

This is her story:

The years had flown by and Tiki, my fourteen-year-old Lhasa Apso, was now considered to be a senior citizen. Although she had been a healthy and active dog all of her life, in January 2003, she was diagnosed with Canine Diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin and therefore is unable to regulate blood sugar. Without insulin, the cells of the body cannot properly utilize glucose as an energy source. To compensate, the body uses its fat and protein reserves to supply the cells with energy. A diabetic animal often eats extra food because it is trying to supply its body with additional energy. But the food is not used efficiently, so even though the animal is eating a lot, it is still losing weight.

The body eliminates excess blood glucose through the kidneys. Water must be used to flush this excess glucose out of the body. This results in excessive urination. Because so much water is being used to flush the excess glucose out of the body, the animal is thirsty and drinks a lot.

The classic signs of diabetes are:
- excessive urination
- excessive thirst
- excessive appetite or eating
- weight loss
- lethargy

Tiki’s diagnosis was devastating at first. To say that I was shocked would be putting it mildly. What were we to do? She was 14 years old! I had no idea how to treat a dog with diabetes. I was on a strict budget and cost was another concern. But the alternative was not an option so we dug in and did what we had to do.

Tiki and I were very fortunate to be under the care of a wonderful, supportive vet. She explained how the treatment would consist of two daily injections of insulin, a controlled diet and blood sugar monitoring. I was terrified but determined to deal with this new challenge.

We learned how to give injections (which was much easier than I thought ), learned what symptoms to watch for, and carried on as best we could. After two days of treatment the improvement was already noticeable. Tiki was drinking less water, no longer had accidents indoors, and was more active. I was amazed at the improvement in her and filled with renewed hope.

The first month was the most difficult. It does take a little time to regulate the blood sugars and determine just how much insulin is required. Tiki was often lethargic and was noticeably loosing weight. Many times I pondered as to whether or not I was being fair to subject her to this treatment. But we carried on.

The initial care included frequent trips to the vets for glucose monitoring. This was quite stressful for Tiki, so, with the support of my vet, I decided to do home blood glucose testing. We acquired our own glucomator and supplies and learned to do our own curves and spot checks. This was a little scary at first, but we persevered and it soon was accomplished easily and quickly with very little stress to Tiki or myself. I found this to be a wonderful tool for close monitoring of her sugars as well as being cost efficient.

Then in March we suffered another significant blow. One day Tiki seemed quite disorientated and fell down a couple of stairs. I rushed to her side and noticed that her eyes looked very cloudy. I held her close and started to cry. A trip to the vet confirmed my fears. My sweet girl was blind. Her blindness was a result of cataracts, a complication of diabetes.

We were informed that blindness is not all that uncommon in dogs and that most dogs adjusted well. For a dog, the primary sense is smell, followed by hearing. Vision is a dog’s third most important sense.

I was, once more, very concerned about her quality of life. The vet suggested that I give her a few weeks to adjust and see how she managed. Three weeks later you would not have known that Tiki was blind. It amazed me how well she adapted. It was apparent that this whole issue was much harder on me than her.

In May Tiki went for her yearly checkup. Our vet was so impressed. Tiki was doing great! Her blindness was no longer an issue. She managed very well and once more was performing her duties as our little yard sentinel… although she often barked facing the wrong direction. At that time, Tiki was receiving Humulin N Insulin injections twice a day. On occasion, her blood sugars were still a little high, so we started her on a prescription dog food especially formulated for diabetic dogs. With this we were able to fine tune Tiki’s blood sugar levels.

Tips we learned:

1) Tiki always had a good appetite. I was usually confident that she would eat her meal; therefore I gave her injections while she was eating. Most of the time she did not even realize she had gotten an injection. If I was concerned that she would not eat, or only partially eat her meal, I would not give the injection until after she had eaten.

2) If Tiki was not interested in her food, a spoonful of chicken broth over the food helped entice her. Tuna water also seemed to work.

3) Tiki always enjoyed her cookies but with the onset of diabetes we had to change her eating habits. Frozen broccoli florets and frozen green beans were now her favourite treat. I was amazed, but she actually seemed to enjoy them. She was always such a ‘chow hound’ :-).

4) With Tiki we used Humulin N Insulin. We were taught to always roll the insulin vial in our hands to mix the contents (not to shake it). Storing the vial on its side in the fridge also helps to mix the contents. I kept Tiki’s in a little box in the fridge and always placed it on its side.

5)Tiki’s meals and injections where given on a regular schedule…. every twelve hours. The exact amount of food was measured and I kept a weekly record of her weight.

Tiki did well through out the summer. Her blood sugars were regulated and she was happy and active. A stranger would never have guessed that she was blind. She patrolled and enjoyed her large yard and happily greeted any visitors. She slept a little more than she used to.. but hey… those were the lazy, hazy days of summer :-). She continued to do well into the fall and early winter.

In January 2004 Tiki’s health deteriorated. She became increasingly lethargic and was refusing to eat… something that we had never had problems with before. Her tail was carried low … a sign to me that she was not happy. My heart was slowly starting to break. One evening, after I had opened four different tins of “people food” trying to entice her appetite unsuccessfully, I knew I had to make a decision that I did not want to make.

On January 19, 2004, while being held in my arms and close to my heart, Tiki made the final journey to ‘Rainbow Bridge’. I know it had to be, but my soul still aches with the loss. I am so very grateful for the last year we had together. Diabetes only strengthened the bond we already shared. Her sweet gentle spirit lives on.

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Web Resources

Pets With Diabetes … Providing educational information, internet resources, personal experiences, and support for owners of diabetic pets. This is a truly wonderful and supportive website. I highly recommend it.

Pets With Diabetes Message Board … I can not say enough about this message board. The support and information I received here is invaluable.

Owners of Blind Dogs … providing support and information … home site for both the Blind Dog email list and also the Blind Dog Message Board

The Senior Dogs Project … Looking Out for Older Dogs