Pancreatitis is severe inflammation of the pancreas that often occurs due to eating too much rich, fatty food or getting into the garbage. Minature Schnauzers and obese dogs have the highest incidence of this disease. Dogs allowed to sample the feast at holiday celebrations often end up with indigestion and pancreatitis. With repeated episodes of inflammation, the pancreas loses its ability to function properly which can lead to diabetes.

SIGNS of Pancreatitis
* Vomiting.
* Diarrhea.
* Abdominal pain.
* Depression and lethargy.

WHAT YOU AND YOUR VET CAN DO
* Diagnosis is based on history, signs, and blood work if necessary. Treatment is geared to allow the intestinal tract to rest by withholding all food and water for up to 24 hours. Fluids may be given under the skin (subcutaneously), or in cases with vomiting fluids are replaced intravenously. Most dogs and cats respond to treatment and in a few days are gradually put back onto food, starting with a bland diet given in small portions several times daily.
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Pets and Diabetes
Pets and The Sugar Epidemic

The ABC’s of Diabetes Management, Insulin and Your Pet’s Diet

Welcome back to Boomster Live! This Thursday, 1/21 at 5:30 PM EST, Boomster’s in house pet expert, holistic veterinarian, Dr. Carol Osborne, DVM. returns to answer your pet health care questions, this time, regarding the growing problem of pet diabetes.

Unfortunately, diabetes is just as much of a problem for pets as it is for people. Dr. Carol will be providing insider secrets on how to maintain, monitor and feed your diabetic pet. It’s as easy as ABC!

For more information visit Boomster.com

So get Fido and Fluffy and join Dr. Carol and the Boomster Staff this Thursday 1/21 at 5:30PM EST!

Make sure you get to the show a few minutes beforehand so you can make sure your web browser is properly configured, your speakers are working and you have your pet diabetes questions ready to ask Dr. Carol.

The urine sugar Diastix readings are actually very accurate for diabetic pets. In fact, before home blood monitors became available they were used exclusively for owners to monitor sugar levels and insulin dosages.

Today Diabetes is Big Business! The number of pets and people affected with diabetes has sky rocked to epidemic levels. Fortune 500 corporations and pharmaceutical companies including Intervet/Schering-Plough are cashing in and making big bucks by selling all kinds of new diabetes supplies and devices. Relabeling Vetsulin for pets and selling home blood monitors to diabetic pet owners are just two examples of this current trend.

The Diastix urine color readings have to be interpreted and then matched to determined correct insulin dosages for diabetic dogs and cats. Holistic veterinarian, pet expert and author, Dr. Carol Osborne, DVM. is available to work with and teach diabetic pet owners how to monitor and dose insulin for their diabetic pets at home.

If you are not able to locate the Diastix, pick up a bottle of Keto-Diastix, also available at Walgreen’s and you will only be using the glucose side of the strip not the ketone side.

The outside of the Diastix bottle does not have readings that match the values of -2, -1. Trace, +1, +2 as noted on the pet diabetes article I posted yesterday. This article will show diabetic pet owners how to interpret the colors and values on the Diastix bottle so they can evaluate and interpret their pets insulin dosages properly at home by matching the above values.

The outside of the Diastix bottle does have has a series of colors and corresponding percentages. When reading these from left to right, the colors will correspond to the following insulin dosages which you need to make into a chart. Insulin dosages are always calculated from your pet’s previous insulin dosage.

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Regulate your Diabetic Pet at Home & Make a Personal Pet Glucose Curve Yourself!

Switching pets over from Vetsulin to DNA based insulin is not hard and daily regulation using your pets urine along with a product, available at Walgreen’s, called Diastix, will help you regulate your diabetic pet at home as quickly as possible. Most diabetic pets should be regulated within a week of beginning their new stable DNA based insulin.

Learn how to make a glucose curve for your pet at home.

This will prove to be very helpful and will provide you and your vet with valuable information. It will allow you to monitor sugar level trends and follow your pet’s sugar levels accurately and cost effectively. You can also add a box at the end of each day to mark down any important signs you noticed in your pet that day such as appetite, energy levels, attitude, water consumption, frequency of urinating, etc. Whenever you visit your vet bring your chart along and review it with your vet.

Once you make your pet’s sugar curve chart, be sure to post it in a convenient place like your refrigerator door. This way everyone in your family will be on the same page when it comes to your pets insulin dosages.

To Make Your Pets Personal Sugar Curve:

Take a piece of notebook paper and write down the date each day. Place the dates vertically down the left side of the paper. Across the top of the paper, mark down the time of day, the urine sugar reading and the dose of insulin you have given every morning and every evening.

You simply match the color of your pet’s urine to the numeric value on the Diastix strip and adjust the insulin dosage accordingly. This is vital to try to minimize further internal organ damage and preserve what if any vision is left, before cataracts occur.
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In the midst of working with a variety of worried diabetic pet owners, I wanted to share a story with all of you about a dog named Jock.

I got a call from a man who owns a 9 year old, 8 pound toy poodle, named Jock. Jock has diabetes and had been taking Vetsulin for a couple years to regulate his blood sugar, when all of the sudden, about a month ago, Jock started rapidly going down hill. In fact Jock got so bad, he had to get IV fluids and stay at the vets for 3 days.

Eddie was upset. He had just come home from the vet, who handed him Jock’s latest blood work and explained that unfortunately, Jock’s condition had become even worse. Now he had liver in addition to kidney failure and there was nothing else that could be done. The vets final words were “love your dog for his last few days.”

After talking for a while, I told him it was possible that the liver and kidney problems were both related to the Vetsulin. Eddie was unaware of the Vetsulin recall. I explained the Vetsulin issue and told him he would need a prescription from his vet for DNA based insulin. He would need to make a decision quickly if he was going to try to save Jock. He was going to think about it and hung up.
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With all the pet diabetes problems and mis-information going on about Vetsulin and what to do with diabetic pets, our phones have not stopped ringing. I wanted to share this note I received from a pet owner suffering with her diabetic dog who was on Vetsulin.

Dear Dr. Carol,
I was really happy this morning. At 11 units of Humulin insulin given last night, my dog Scruffy’s urine tested (-1), so I decreased the dose 1 unit, on his new insulin. Chuckle, chuckle, YEP I finally understand the information you tried to explain to me on the phone several times regarding monitoring and adjusting his new insulin levels! I know that could change, but that was great news as far as I am concerned.

Thank God I talked with you on the units of insulin to administer. I am so glad I got him off the Vetsulin. Like I said, this information was worth a lot to us for Scruffy. ESPECIALLY, you explaining to me to NEVER INCREASE MORE THAN 2 UNITS! My friend in Ohio, just lost her dog while it was on the Vetsulin insulin. I know she was under the opinion that you could give the dog a lot of units, if the blood sugar levels were not stabilizing. So very sad, between the dog being on the recalled Vetsulin, and giving him a large dose at one time, that I’m sure contributed until his death.
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I wanted to share yet another note I received with my pet loving friends about Pets with Diabetes, taking Vetsulin. The Vetsulin, is not stable and has been recalled. Pets are experiencing blood sugar issues that are potentially life threatening, yet it appears that some veterinarians are still reluctant to replace the Vetsulin. One has to wonder, Why?

Hi Dr. Carol,

I just talked with you about my dog’s Diabetes and the Vetsulin issues. I am not to pleased with what I am getting from my Vets office.

My vet won’t have anything to do with getting a refund on the Vetsulin, and I just bought a new bottle. They claim that they can’t resell the Vetsulin to anyone else since I used it.
DUH, why would you even want to sell it if it has been recalled?

I have an appointment here at 5:30 today my time. Of course, they want to run a whole new blood work-up. Bently just started throwing up again, and is hanging his head over his water bowl, which is not a good thing. His urine sugar level has been high and my vet said not to worry that it is just a “Dog Syndrome.”

I will be in touch, thanks so much for your help.

Debbie B.
Santa Monica, California

Dear Debbie,

Bently does not have a “Dog Syndrome.” He is experiencing high blood sugar which we refer to as hyperglycemia. This is occurring because the Vetsulin is not stable and needs to be replaced with stable DNA based (rather than porcine or pig based) insulin, which is available at most pharmacies, at a lesser cost.

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I wanted to share this note I received with all of my pet loving friends. I just got this letter from a gentleman whose dog was not only sickened from eating tainted dog food involved in the Menu Pet Food recall, but now is faced with the Vetsulin issue.

After eating the tainted Menu dog food, Pierre, a 14 year old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with Diabetes. Now Pierre is suffering with blood sugar problems.

His vet not only refused to write him a prescription for NPH insulin at the pharmacy but also said he was not able to issue him a refund for the tainted Vetsulin. Pierre had a blood sugar curve run 30 days ago, yet his vet said he would need to run another blood sugar curve before he would consider writing him a prescription for NPH insulin. Needless-to-say, he has yet to be reimbursed from Menu foods and now is again forced to shell out even more hard earned dollars to deal with Pierre’s blood sugar and Vetsulin issues.

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The FDA and Intervet/Schering Plough announced the Vetsulin recall alert last week and I have received several inquiries from diabetic pet owners asking what type of insulin to buy at the pharmacy to replace the Vetsulin for their diabetic pets.

Vetsulin, the “special” insulin, labeled for pets, available from veterinarians, is actually Porcine Zinc Insulin, which is referred to as PZI. PZI is insulin derived from pigs, and in the past was used for people that are diabetics. Human diabetics use various types of insulin, for example NPH insulin, available at most pharmacies for less than $20.00 dollars a bottle is a commonly prescribed and used for people.

PZI is no longer commercially available because today, modern technology develops human insulin from DNA, rather than pigs. Since the PZI or pig based insulin is considered to be inferior to DNA based insulin, people don’t use it and Intervet/Schering Plough apparently grabbed the rights and labeled it for dogs and cats.
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November is Pet Diabetes Month

I will be sharing various diabetes tips with all my pet loving friends this month. To begin, I want to share some alarming statistics.

Currently 3.8 million people worldwide die from diabetes and diabetes related illnesses each year. In the last 20 years the number of people with diabetes has skyrocketed from 30 million to 246 million.

The number of pets with diabetes has also exploded. Today over 1.4 million dogs and cats suffer with diabetes. That translates into one out of every 500 dogs and one out of every 200 cats being diagnosed with diabetes. Obesity is a major underlying cause which we will discuss and offer natural pet solutions to remedy.

By 2025 there will be approximately 380 million people living with diabetes, and we can only imagine the number of pets that will be afflicted with this illness.

Developing countries now have the highest number of new diabetes cases in people. India ranks first with the largest number of human diabetics at 40.9 million. Second is China with 39.8 million cases.

Bookmark www.carolonpets.com for the latest pet health news and tips for your dog and cat. Holistic veterinarian, Dr. Carol Osborne, DVM is available for pet health questions and consultations. To make an appointment for your pet, Call Dr. Carol’s office directly toll free at 1-866-372-2665.