Zeke, my Maltese, was diagnosed with diabetes in Oct 1998.
The disease didn't scare me that much because I didn't understand what
diabetes
was all about. I was just happy that Zeke was alive. Even today the
hardest part is
giving Zeke his shots, I'm not very good at it. My husband still laughs
at me,
so I don't let him watch while I'm giving shots.
Zeke started on Humilin L, the vets never explained to me about diabetes,
highs
and lows, urine testing and what I should do in case of emergencies.
Thank God,
he is still here with me today; I must have been doing something right.
Looking back
at every thing, Zeke has been very lucky. I feel stupid for not being
more informed.
March 2001, the vet changed Zeke insulin to Humilin U. (BIG MISTAKE).
I believe he was very unregulated when he was on Humilin U.
I don't remember why we changed. I looked up Zeke's records, Zeke weight
20.6 lbs.,
in 2 months Zeke lost 2 lbs. (18 lbs.). He maintain that weight
until Nov 2001,
he started losing weight about ½ LB every 4-6 weeks. In March
2002, Zeke
became very sick, anorexia and vomiting. We had done a liver sonogram
and
biopsy done. Also ran an ACTH stim test, my vet said he has Cushing's
disease.
I was not convinced because he showed no symptoms of Cushings.
In this year, Zeke had totally lost his eyesight and hearing as well.
That is when I started looking for answers, I bought a lot of books,
found The Pet Diabetes Website,
Cushings site,
what was really in commercial pet food
and all about vaccinations.
I started testing the urine, On the U, Zeke's urine test; told me he
was very
unregulated. High for days and lows for days, very weird. On the L,
I see a daily curve.
Higher in the morning, lower in the afternoon, and then it goes higher
in the evening.
I know this is not accurate but it is all I have until I try to get
blood again
(not much luck in this department).
Without going into detail about my vet, I went to see a specialist and
changed vets
for all of my other dogs. The specialist did another sonogram of the
liver and biopsy.
From the vets experience she believes Zeke has liver cancer, but couldn't
tell for sure
unless surgery to get a larger sample of the liver. Zeke has too many
masses on his
liver and is inoperable. He also was not showing any ketones. She changed
him
back to Humilin L, says she never uses Humilin U.
He now is maintaining his weight at 15 lbs., for 3 months now.
Zeke is now starting to show signs of Cushings, hair loss and thinning
of the skin.
But still doesn't have the appetite or drinking excess water, that
goes along with
Cushings. With his liver problem, he is not a good candidate for Lysodren,
so we started on Anipryl.
Too early to see if this helps or not.
It took along time to get Zeke back to feeling good (about 6 months).
He is now on a
homemade diet, no vaccinations, lots of supplements and vitamins. We
are not
through the woods yet, may never be. Zeke's still happy and can
find me anywhere
in the house with his nose. Zeke is 13 ½ years old,
I know we are on borrowed time now and I cherish every day
with him.
Martha
Dallas, Texas
Zeke's Photo Album
Missy
Vidal
Abby
Zeke, Martha, Casper
Zeke's Mom & Dad
Dave & Martha
Please check out the beautiful stained glass
and have a portrait of your pet done by Dave & Martha
http://www.davidloguestainedglass.com/
Check out the stained glass dogs that David has designed!
http://www.davidloguestainedglass.com/photogallery-dogs-1.html
Zeke's Memorial
Page
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