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08-16-2008, 12:09 PM | #1 |
YT Addict Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 280
| 7 yo Yorkie with low blood sugar and other weird symptoms Last week, my little guy, Vinnie, woke up in the middle of the night and vomited repeatedly. He threw up bile all night long (foamy white/yellow substance, never any food). The next day, he would not eat all day long and was quiet, but alert and still would bark at people and do some of his usual stuff. He had a normal poopy. Despite not eating ALL DAY, he walked around and looked relatively ok, although I could tell he didn't feel well. The next couple of days were filled with intermittently wanting to eat, some more vomiting of foamy white bile, and one severe episode at the end of diarrhea that was the consistency and color of strawberry jelly followed by some really bad gas. My vet ran a fecal test (came back negative for any parasites), a complete blood panel, and a series of abdominal x-rays. The x-rays showed that everything was ok, but the blood work was abnormal. His white cell count was elevated (neutrophils) and his blood sugar was low (61). The vet did another blood glucose test today and it came back at 63 (still low). Vinnie ate last night and this morning, a few hours before the second glucose test was done. He has been acting just like his normal self again, no vomiting and no diarrhea, resting comfortably in between all of this. He is alert, wants to go for walks, responds when I call him, and seems like himself. The vet, however, is concerned that the low blood glucose levels are indicative of something else, either an insulinoma or Addison's disease (which would explain some of the tummy trouble). My gut tells me that there is nothing wrong with Vinnie, except maybe a small infection somewhere. The vet has prescribed a course of de-wormer (he said that the fecal tests are not 100 percent accurate and often come back negative when a dog really has a parasite) and a course of antibiotics (Flagyl) just in case there is an intestinal infection. I have not yet proceeded with the other series of blood work that would identify if he has an insulinoma or Addison's disease. I have a feeling that Vinnie has always had low blood sugar; in the past, when I was just feeding him once a day, he would have periods of acting sort of spacey and not right, symptoms that would resolve as soon as he ate something. He has never had a seizure, nor has he ever become unconscious. Also, twice during the tummy trouble this past week he went an ENTIRE DAY without eating and not once did he lose consciousness, have a seizure, or do anything that would make me believe that there was something terribly wrong with him. I feel that if he did in fact have an insulinoma, he would not be able to tolerate fasting for an entire day. Is it possible that he has some insulinoma? Wouldn't the symptoms be more severe? I am terribly worried about him, but at the same time, I see him acting normally and really just don't think that there is anything wrong with him. I spend A LOT of time with him and know his personality very well. My gut tells me this was just an intolerance to the food he had been eating. I had been feeding him Nature's Variety raw food (medallions and kibble) but when this episode started I took him off the food, just in case that was a source of trouble. He is now eating ground turkey or boiled chicken with rice or pasta, pumpkin, and a little hardboiled egg. He is eating normally and eagerly, just like he always does. I would appreciate any thoughts or comments.
__________________ Andrea, Mom to Vinnie, Alex, and Guru |
Welcome Guest! | |
08-16-2008, 12:39 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 30K Club Member | Sounds like he may have had a tummy infection and by not eating his suagr was low. If you feel in your gut that he is ok then maybe you want to wait awhile and observe him. My 11 year old Pom has Ciushing's Disease which is the opposite of Addison's and I know it was so expensive and hard on her to have all the testing then the medicine made her liver fail and I had to stop treating it. They started treating her liver failure and that medicine made her sick all the time. SoI stopped it and she was so much better. I just knew she was miserable on the medicine and now over a year and a half later she is still with me and doing ok. Sometimes Mom knows best. I hope your baby has no further problems.
__________________ Cali Pixie Roxie : RIP Nikki; RIP Maya;RIP my sweet Dixie girl 1/17/08 http://callipuppyscastle.bravehost.com/index.html |
08-16-2008, 01:05 PM | #3 |
YT Addict Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 280
| Thanks, it's not even so much the cost of the tests as it is just putting him through everything when I don't really think there is a problem. The vet agreed too that I should wait a bit and see how Vinnie does on the antibiotics and de-wormer. He said that I should bring him back in at some point in the next few weeks, once he's eating normally, and have his blood sugar retested. If it is still low, then we can consider looking at other tests. But again, he is acting so normal that I just can't believe there is something wrong. He was just playing with me and ate dinner with his usual vigor. One thing I wanted to know - is hypoglycemia normal in adult yorkies? I know puppies can get it, but what about adult dogs? Or is it normal to get a glucose reading in the low 60s even when the dog is acting normal and not having any symptoms? Just curious....I trust (and really like) my vet, but I know that, just like human docs, they don't know everything. Thanks!
__________________ Andrea, Mom to Vinnie, Alex, and Guru |
08-16-2008, 06:12 PM | #4 |
Wee Winston Wiggles Donating Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Kewanee, Illinois
Posts: 9,666
| Winston is 4 years old...has had hypoglycemia/seizures for a couple years now. He is not one to miss a meal, as a matter of fact he now eats 4 times a day...with snacks in between to keep his sugar level up. There was talk from my vet that he may have an insulinoma, so I took him to an internist...she felt it was not an insulinoma...she said wrong breed...wrong age. But his glucose levels were dangerously low...in the 20's and 30's, why? I still have no idea. I was told to feed frequent small meals throughout the day...poke his little ear to check his blood sugar at the very first sign of a seizure...I have not yet been able to make myself do this, as all I am worried about is getting NutriCal in him...and stopping the seizure. I do confine him to the kitchen when he is home alone...to conserve energy/sugar. Otherwise he would be running around the house constantly looking out the windows and getting no rest. I am terrified that something will happen to him when we are not home to prevent it. He does, still on occasion have an episode, maybe once a month or so...but not nearly as frequent as he use to. I sure hope your baby is okay...but you may never really know what causes it. Just make sure to feed frequent small meals and try your best to conserve his energy to keep his glucose level up. Let me know what you do find out about your little guy. How much does he weigh? Mine is not tiny and never really was...he's about 7.5 pounds now, but he is on a special prescription food with more carbohydrates, less fat and protein. He was getting kind of chunky, up to 9 pounds because he was eating so often, I was worried about other health problems associated with being over weight. Hopefully we have now found a happy medium and he seems content. Good luck, hope he feels 100% better in no time and that there really is nothing seriously wrong with him.
__________________ As Ever, Kathy Intruducing Bentley Winston and Spencer: RIP My Sweet Angels |
08-17-2008, 07:00 AM | #5 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Hmmm, I can see why this is all so confusing for you. Was blood work ever done on him before in his life and what were his glucose levels? Was the NV food something new you had just started? Does he spend time in the yard alone? I guess if the food wasn't new and he spends time in the yard alone - to me this almost sounds like "an event" - like he got into something awful. Especially because now the symptoms have suddenly resolved just as soon as they appeared. But, it does appear that insulinoma can be episodic - so...it's really tough to say. I guess if it were me - bc of the prognosis and how scared I'd be, I'd have to get it ruled out. I found this: "The single most reliable test for the diagnosis of insulinoma is the finding of an inappropriately high serum insulin concentration in an animal with hypoglycemia. The animal may be fasted until blood glucose concentration decreases to below 70 milligrams per deciliter of blood. At that time, a blood sample is sent to the laboratory for measurement of serum insulin concentration." Here is a good article. Please keep us upated, I hope you can get this figured out - it's scary not knowing what's happening with these little guys.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
08-17-2008, 08:26 AM | #6 |
YT Addict Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 280
| Thanks, unfortunately, he has never had his glucose level checked before, so I have no way of knowing if this is something that is just typical for him, or something new. Several years ago, I noticed he was lethargic when only eating once a day. There weren't any seizures, but he just seemed hungry and would sometimes vomit bile. I immediately started feeding him twice a day and he was totally fine. Today, he is definitely back to his old self. I am finishing up a course of dewormer and a course of antibiotics; the vet really thought that this was all just due to an infection somewhere or a parasite. He is so much back to his old self, that I have to agree with the vet. The vet did recommend, though, that we return in a couple of weeks for them to test his blood sugar again once he is really back to normal. If it is still low, they will do the test that can tell if it is an insulinoma. However, even if that's what it is, if he is not symptomatic, I would probably opt to just keep him on frequent feeds. From what I've been reading, the surgery is not always successful and can be filled with complications. I also have strong reservations about putting him through something so traumatic. I am just very glad right now that he is doing so much better and is back to his usual, ornery (and somewhat misbehaving) self
__________________ Andrea, Mom to Vinnie, Alex, and Guru |
08-17-2008, 09:15 AM | #7 |
Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Canada
Posts: 2,999
| Even if you trust your gut . You won't be able to tell what he really have . |
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