Discussion
Anyone else have one who can share their experience?
Our little cross bred Terrier has diabetes insipidus (sp)
Diagnosed last year, she now drinks approx 3 litres of water in a 24 hr period. That's a hell of a lot of water for such a small dog!!
Injections or other similar treatments are out of the question. Being very timid (she was a rescue dog found wandering the streets by a charity approx 8 years ago) she would be terrified.
She seems fine in herself, apart from pissing everywhere but, it's not her fault so we are never cross with her
Any idea how long she might have? She is about 10-11 years old now.
Our little cross bred Terrier has diabetes insipidus (sp)
Diagnosed last year, she now drinks approx 3 litres of water in a 24 hr period. That's a hell of a lot of water for such a small dog!!
Injections or other similar treatments are out of the question. Being very timid (she was a rescue dog found wandering the streets by a charity approx 8 years ago) she would be terrified.
She seems fine in herself, apart from pissing everywhere but, it's not her fault so we are never cross with her
Any idea how long she might have? She is about 10-11 years old now.
Edited by gtr-gaz on Thursday 25th September 18:04
Not knowing anything about dog diabetes but familiar with the human Diabetes Insipidus, the basic gist is that due to the failure of Vasopressin- (for a variety of different reasons-) to regulate fluid levels within, the body cannot retain enough fluid and is symptomised by excessive thirst and urination which seems to be consistent with your doggie.
Consuming the necessary large quantity of water may be enough to sustain the body but in some cases a Vasopressin substitute (Desmopressin) is required
Consuming the necessary large quantity of water may be enough to sustain the body but in some cases a Vasopressin substitute (Desmopressin) is required
Edited by maddog993 on Thursday 25th September 18:18
If your dog has diabetes, then you must learn to give insulin. Dogs don't have our hang-ups with needles usually, and the size of insulin needles is tiny, technique is everything, so ask your vet how to try it and probably even better to get their vet nurses to show you how to give injections painlessly, it can be done and should be done. Timid she may be but I bet you can get round it somehow. If you don't you will probably have a number of other health problems creep in and shorten the dog's life, ok she is old enough at 10-11 to not have long but she could easily go on another 3-4 years with diabetes. Do not believe that you cannot give insulin, as you will be able to unless she gets snappy and hurts you.
My first dog's father (Labrador) was diabetic. He lived quite happily with it for many years. Don't recall how his owners dealt with it. I think he may have had suppliments in his diet but it all gets confusing because my own father is diabetic (insulin injection) and my memory mixes things up between them.
Been there and done it - 5 years with a diabetic GSD
There is nothing to the injections!! They are subcontaneous(sp) - just under the skin, its an absolute doddle to do. You gently hold/pinch the scruff of the neck (the loose roll of skin), gently rub between finger and thumb and insert needle - job done - no pain!
Injection and then feed the dog then associates the injection with something good!
Mine had to be done twice a day (every 12hrs) if it was getting to 'the time' in the evening and i was wathching tv, he would come and get me and tell me!! A nudge with his nose, walk to the kitchen and if i didn't follow back he would come and another nudge until I went to the kitchen. He would sit at the frige door until i got the insulin out and he would stand and wait for his injection.
Its mind over matter - you can do it!! and if its going to give your dog another couple of monts, years..................
you have got to do it!
BTW my GSD was a trained working dog, he bit like a crocodile, and was not only trained to protect me but to protect himself, you could say the first few days were interesting
My younger brother used to look after him when I was on holiday etc, his face was an abssolute picture when I told him he had to give him 2 injections a day
until he saw it done. Sorry Gary, obviously I am a twit tonight, as I read D. mellitus for D. insipidus, which is a differnt thing, and doesnt require insulin injections to treat it. The usual treatment is a drug called desmopressin, which is often given to people as a nasal spray, but this would not be very friendly to any dog, so eye drops are a possibility but I will try to find out some more info for you as it is a very rare condition to find in a dog. Sorry for trying to lead you up the garden path. 
Thevet said:
Sorry Gary, obviously I am a twit tonight, as I read D. mellitus for D. insipidus, which is a differnt thing, and doesnt require insulin injections to treat it. The usual treatment is a drug called desmopressin, which is often given to people as a nasal spray, but this would not be very friendly to any dog, so eye drops are a possibility but I will try to find out some more info for you as it is a very rare condition to find in a dog. Sorry for trying to lead you up the garden path.
Ah, thanks for clarifying Tim. I know the vet said it was rare, but other than that we are pretty much in the dark about it.Cheers.
ETA, do you still have your Ultima?
Sold mine at Easter
Edited by gtr-gaz on Thursday 25th September 19:24
Hi Gary, yes still have the GTR, and will be putting it off the road for the winter at the end of this month, so track days only til next year then.
DI is rare and in some ways less threatening to your dog's health as it just means the body is producing weak or dilute urine, rather than losing sugar in the urine in the more common DM. It would suggest to me that if you can get an acceptable form of treatment that your dog has a very good chance of living as full a life as she would without the condition. If eye drops are an option, then with practice and bribery, it should be relatively easy to control the disease. If you find that treatment is just too difficult to carry out every day, then I would hope that occasional treatment will at least give some relief from the XS urine production. Obviously, it is vital that the dog can get to water as much as needed even when on treatment. More info to follow when I get hold of some.
DI is rare and in some ways less threatening to your dog's health as it just means the body is producing weak or dilute urine, rather than losing sugar in the urine in the more common DM. It would suggest to me that if you can get an acceptable form of treatment that your dog has a very good chance of living as full a life as she would without the condition. If eye drops are an option, then with practice and bribery, it should be relatively easy to control the disease. If you find that treatment is just too difficult to carry out every day, then I would hope that occasional treatment will at least give some relief from the XS urine production. Obviously, it is vital that the dog can get to water as much as needed even when on treatment. More info to follow when I get hold of some.
My diabetic lab lived for 4 years on insulin injections. To the ripe old age of 16.
They get used to it in days....give em a treat after and they look forward to it.
In fact mine would sit outside the fridge (where we kept the insulin) and wait if I was running late.
You should be prepared though that it's very probably yer dog will go blind on the insulin.
It tends to cause caterachts.
Although my dog didnt seem to give a monkeys. Just stops you re-arranging the furniture for a few years
They get used to it in days....give em a treat after and they look forward to it.
In fact mine would sit outside the fridge (where we kept the insulin) and wait if I was running late.
You should be prepared though that it's very probably yer dog will go blind on the insulin.
It tends to cause caterachts.
Although my dog didnt seem to give a monkeys. Just stops you re-arranging the furniture for a few years
I switched my dogs to raw feeding after I rescued one with insulinoma - looks like diabetes but it is pretty much it's reverse. I can testify it's pretty effective. It's supposed to be even more useful for dogs with diabetes too.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
Edited by oldbanger on Thursday 25th September 22:16
Hi Gary, DI treatment can be by injection or tablets but seem very expensive, need to ask your own vet about options there. However, most dogs treated by nasal or eye drops. A small dog may only require 1-2 drops twice daily, so giving about 12-24 days treatment from the 2.5ml drops bottle, which could cost from £18-30 depending on what your vet charges, so giving a cost of 75p-£2.50 per day depending on dose and cost. My advice would be to treat to effect, so that you adjust the dose to get the effect you want, which could be only to stop the dog peeing at night, or to control all the XS drinking, depends on how you want to play it, and could reduce the treatment costs much further. If the dog is well, you don't have to treat it at all, it just limits how long between drinks and peeing. Hope this helps, feel free to PM me if there's any other bits I can help on.
Thanks Tim (and all others)
She seems fine in herself and apart from all the drinking, you would not know she had a problem!
She has water bowls all over the house, so always has access to water.
To be honest, All our carpets and other floor coverings are beyond help, so not really bothered about them! The urine is so diluted it hardly smells.
We might just see how it goes without treatment. If it gets any worse we might have to get some.
Tablets would probably be the best bet, though.
As mentioned before, she was a rescue dog. I think her previous owners mistreated her. When we first got her we had to be careful how we moved our feet, else she thought she was in for a kicking and legged it!!
She is a bit better now but, still incredibly nervous and timid! Trying to even look in her ears or eyes is almost impossible, let alone treat them.
Thanks again.
She seems fine in herself and apart from all the drinking, you would not know she had a problem!
She has water bowls all over the house, so always has access to water.
To be honest, All our carpets and other floor coverings are beyond help, so not really bothered about them! The urine is so diluted it hardly smells.
We might just see how it goes without treatment. If it gets any worse we might have to get some.
Tablets would probably be the best bet, though.
As mentioned before, she was a rescue dog. I think her previous owners mistreated her. When we first got her we had to be careful how we moved our feet, else she thought she was in for a kicking and legged it!!
She is a bit better now but, still incredibly nervous and timid! Trying to even look in her ears or eyes is almost impossible, let alone treat them.
Thanks again.
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