Isreal is part poodle, part doxie, he has the curls of a poodle and the front feet of a doxie....He is the last born in the litter out of 5, so he is the baby and sure does know how to be the "baby"

Izzy is one of these dogs that has never left home.....His Mom, Heidi doodle, died in 2003 from bladder cancer. Izzy was a follower of his mom, but he did pick up the slack and became the greeter for the house.... Izzy was dx with cushings disease a month after his mom passed in 2003. We have been using anipryl and denosyl for his treatment, he has been doing well.  Late November 04, I thought he was needing a increase of his anipryl, because he began needing to go out to void after his bedtime...when we got home, I took a urine specimen in with us to the visit to the vet.  Izzy had a large amount of glucose in his urine, over 1000. He was scheduled for a glucose curve the next week. He was started the next day on Humulin u U-100.  8 units twice a day, then it was increased to 9u twice a day. He eats first and then recieves his injections at 8:15 am/pm  Izzy has had on very short episode of a head twitching and acting funny, right after he had eaten. I gave him honey, he was ok after that.

Izzy weighed 22 pounds when he was first dx with diabetes. We took away his "human meals at supper time" and his snack of dog treats mid norning. It broke our heart, but he venutally didn't come looking for his snacks and food.  I feed him 1/2 science diet adult small bites, with chunks of chicken that I boil myself.  Over a period of time Izzy is maintaining his weight at 15 pounds. I do give him chicken/turkey, smal  pieces for the times that he gets his various and sundry medications,tthat seems to satisfy him

Izzy has been a long time licker of the top of his paws...I bought baby socks to put on his feet.  He may lick the socks, but he is not irritating his paws. This has been a very long on going problem for him.  He recently started breaking out with a hive on his under side, it would eventually dry up and form a scab. this too has been going on for a long time.

Izzy had cataracts already formed prior to being dx as a diabetic. I see that he is cautious in the night time when he  goes to step down on the 3 steps that goes off the porch to the sidewalk.

His hair is thinning at the end of his tail and you can see how thin his fur is when he is wet from his bath.

This winter, it seemed that Izzy was sleeping more than usual...then he seemed to not require as much intake of water and then inturn he was going out to do buisness for longer periods of time. The sleeping long periods and not drinking for long periods has unearthed quite frequently. On the flip side, when he was awake, he ate, and acted ok, barked at the people and dogs going by. 

One of the girls shared that he dog, also up in age, does a lot of sleeping and that she too was very concerned about, helped me to read that. It helped me to RELAX and not be so anxious about Izzy.  Today, I saw the women that has Izzy's brother, Oreo. Oreo was the first born of the litter.  His mom said that Oreo is doing a lot of sleeping now and that sometimes she goes to check on him and make sure he is still breathing.....sounds like a familiar case senerio that I have been doing myself..

My plans are to relax, enjoy Izzy as long as we have him....not to get caught up in the things that could be normal aging process, but to be aware of changes that are critical to his diabetes....

I am glad that I have joined the diabetes e-mail list, I thank each of you for sharing the information that you have learned through your experience with a diabetic canine.

Izzy and his mom