[Kellye P]

Kristen R,
Thank you so much for taking the time to post your comment. It means the world to me to know that all my struggles with Duffy might be helping other dog parents.
You are so right, there is very limited and conflicting information available to us.
I have had multiple requests to write a book, and I really need to get busy. It wouldn’t be only about Duffy, though. My experiences out here on our little Kentucky farm have taught me a lot.
Stick to your guns with Layla. If nothing else, you know that you are not making decisions based on what company is actively marketing you as a client. Just say no. I am 100% certain that you are right on this subject!!
Don’t be afraid to try the Chi Institute supplements if you have a holistic vet in your area. I found them to be very effective.
I know how hard this is. It’s the worst. Not all protocols work for every dog so don’t feel trapped by what “they” say. Duffy was the exception to every single rule. Opinions on how much insulin to give him varied from 20 units a day to 0 units a day. I was supposed to make sense of all the conflicting data and various theories.
All you can do is educate yourself and go with your own gut feeling. Not easy!!!
Good luck!!
(thanks again)

Kellye

[Kellye P]

Linda,
Thank you so much for your kind words. I held the little paw print that came with Duffy’s ashes and cried a bit. 😢

The one thing I did that made the biggest positive impact was finding the Chi Institute herbalist. It’s a real shame that Duffy was so allergic to cinnamon because the formula for diabetics gets rave reviews but it’s full of various forms of cinnamon. However, the Chi Institute vet had other herbal formulas that helped a lot with keeping him content in other ways. Duffy was drug free except for insulin and he never had any problems with stiffness or liver or bladder or anything except the dad-blasted glucose!!!
I highly recommend finding a local Chi Institute herbalist because Kismet can probably handle cinnamon just fine and the formula will help.

http://www.tcvm.com/Resources/FindaTCVMPractitioner.aspx

The Solid Gold food isn’t necessarily for diabetics but since Duffy would eat it, he got it every day and he thrived on it. My vet wanted him to get at least 300 calories a day, which meant over half a can. With any other food, that would have been impossible, but I could get 1/3 cup in Duffy twice a day and then little bonus bits as baked treats. The food is very thick so I could slice it and bake it as crunchy treats as well as feed it straight from the can.
Also, a trick I thought of that seemed to work —
I took Acana duck kibble (“cool” for diabetes), put it in the food processor, and chopped it to a fine powder. I added 1/8 cup of the powder to the canned food for added calories.
It didn’t add much bulk and Duffy didn’t notice the extra food.

He was so hard to keep alive. Even as a puppy, he refused to eat. He never saw food as a reward. He never begged for treats. I always had to force him to eat but it wasn’t a big deal until he became diabetic. That when he HAD to eat twice a day, and had to eat the same amount of food.

What breed is Kismet? Do you use the super short needle syringes? I had my pharmacy special order them. Duffy was like a baby bird so he needed everything very small. I ordered the glucose/ketone test strips from Amazon. They had the two test pads on each strip. I used an electrolyte supplement in his water. It was an unsweetened brand made for dogs. It’s also sold on Amazon.
Let me know how things go for Kismet. Best wishes!!

[Kellye P]

Hi Linda P,
Thank you for asking about Duffy. He ended up making amazing progress. He topped 7 pounds and grew the most glorious coat of dark black curly hair. It was unbelievable! You can see from his photo that he had gone gray. The new hair was jet black. He was doing better than I could have ever hoped, but then he had a crash of hypoglycemia. He stayed in the specialist’s 24 hour hospital for 5 days. They did a glucose curve the entire time and he was all over the chart. He soared up to 600 and then 1 unit of insulin sent him to 30 and he stayed around 50 for many hours. They watched him very closely and he seemed fine so they let everything work itself out. He came home with instructions to get .5 unit once a day. He crashed again a couple months later. Where do you go from there? I had to try to feed him several times a day, which he did not like. He had his first seizure in December 2015. We tried all the drugs and did everything we could but the seizures started to come in waves, one after another, so we had to say goodbye this past February. It absolutely broke our hearts. I fought so hard and never gave up on him, but as soon as I realized the seizures couldn’t be controlled, I ended it very quickly. I didn’t hesitate. No suffering for Duffy. 💜💜💜💜

Good luck with Kismet. Solid Gold canned food Hund-N-Flocken became a favorite and it is the highest calorie that I have found at 580 per can. Duffy loved it. I sliced it and baked it into crunchy treats so he ate it all day.

[Kellye P]

Help!! I need moral support. I * might* have gotten a bit cranky at my vet this morning. Okay… I definitely did. She gave me a couple cans of Royal Canin canned Diabetic formula to try on Duffy. (Picky Eater!). I looked at the ingredients and saw, in order, water sufficient for processing, pork by-products, wheat gluten, something about corn…
That’s when I handed the cans back to her and said no thanks. I said I am suspicious of by-products and Duffy is too picky anyway. She said Royal Canin by-products are the heart, liver, and other nutritious organs. I said some variation of, “Poppycock!” and she seemed to be a bit hurt by my tone. No bad language or raised voice but I was very stubborn.
Is that a decent food???

[Kellye P]

I special order syringes that are 8mm long. Duffy never feels a thing and he is super skinny so it’s tricky to find a new spot for the injection.

The package says BD Insulin Syringes
3/10 ml cc
8 mm
31G

[Kellye P]

My hopelessly difficult poodle child loves this probiotic and it came highly recommended by his Traditional Chinese Medicine holistic vet.

http://www.caniotic.com

[Kellye P]

Ha!! Glad to know there are so many crazy pet parents out there. I must have a bit of hoarder DNA because I get nervous if I don’t have at least one extra of everything medical — eyedrops and pill prescriptions — and lots of extra food and treats.
If we are stuck here for a month, the dogs will be fine. Hubby and I will starve, but the dogs will be fine. 🙂

[Kellye P]

We live in the country so cats find us. We had one named Hissy who could swallow a mouse like a snake. She just swallowed the entire thing. Duffy was the size of a mouse when we got him. I told Hissy that if she even thought about looking at him as a meal, she’d be so, so sorry. She understood and didn’t bother him.
He got to try Holistic canned food tonight. (Duck recipe)
He liked it. I always feel relieved when I know there is another food he will eat. There is so much extra pressure with a super picky dog who has to eat exactly the same amount of food twice a day at approximately the same time. I have a pantry that looks like a pet food store! Sometimes I have to try four different foods before he will decide to eat.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 6 months ago by Kellye P.

[Kellye P]

Jakes Mom, you must be very organized. You have had some very tough medical issues to handle. We had a little dog with heart issues that lasted a year before we had him put to sleep. He was on human meds that I got at CVS. They were $$$$.
Juggling meds is a chore! You had it extra tough with both hypo and hyper conditions. Can’t get them confused! Not to mention the fact that I have very little luck medicating our cats. If a Pill Pocket doesn’t work, I’m out of luck.

[Kellye P]

Thanks! His attitude has kept him going. If he wasn’t so tough, he never would have made it this far.

[Kellye P]

Thanks, Susan! As you can see, I added Duffy in his Doggles. Since he is blind, I worry that he’ll look at the sun or get poked in the eye. His ophthalmologist said I was actually right — about the poked in the eye concern.
This is when he was 8+ pounds.
He’s been 6.1 pounds since last year so his recent weight gain is really amazing. Fingers crossed!!!!!

[Kellye P]

Hi all,

I weighed Duffy again. He went on his walk and did his business so it was an accurate reading. The scale read 6:10.9 — so just a whisker shy of 6 lbs 11 oz!!

How can I put his photo in my profile? I’m on an iPad and it won’t give me a prompt to add a photo. I get “open” or “copy” — that’s it.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 6 months ago by Kellye P.

[Kellye P]

Crazy4cats, I think we are a different breed of human and we have a kinship with animals that other people don’t have and therefore don’t understand. I truly believe it!! 🙂
Thank goodness my husband has never questioned a dime I have spent taking Duffy to specialists. Next week we go to the Traditional Chinese Medicine vet. That is 3 hours of driving — not a problem!
I hope your kitty made a full recovery. You are one of the Good Guys.
I could not live with myself if I didn’t go down fighting with my furry family. You are undoubtedly exactly the same.
We had three tornadoes near us a couple weeks ago. I refused to go to our neighbor’s basement because I had seven dogs and three cats looking to me for comfort. I was going down with the ship!! Luckily, we escaped with no damage.
Thanks. 🙂

• This reply was modified 9 years, 6 months ago by Kellye P.

[Kellye P]

Jakes Mom, thank you so much!! I appreciate it so much when like minded people understand my devotion to Duffy. My husband and I miss out on a lot of fun things since Duffy is on such a strict feeding schedule, then his insulin shot, and then his walk. We have to be home every day at 5:30 p.m. There are no vacations for us.
Thank you for understanding why we do it! 🙂

[Kellye P]

USA Dog Treats,

You are so, so kind to help Duffy and me! I really appreciate the time you put into solving the mystery of my little boy!!!

I buy Keto-Diastix by the thousands. I have a bunch ordered from Amazon right now.
I test first thing in the morning, around noon, and then at 5. He never has ketones and his glucose levels are negative or very light on the color chart.

I cannot get Duffy to test positive for anything!! My vet was so certain it was Cushing’s. I made her promise to never say that word again if he tested normal. She is now forbidden to say it!! We have gone down every road so many times. All dead ends.

However, he is squirming and kicking and playing – and gaining ounces!
If melatonin and flax lignans turn out to be what helps him, I will have my vet publish a paper just in case somebody else is dealing with a mystery dog.
It might also be the Pet Wants Buffalo/Duck recipe. He eats it with great gusto.

Thanks again. You give excellent advice. 🙂

[Kellye P]

It’s been a month since my first post so here’s an update. Duffy had his semi-annual bloodwork done. I don’t have copies of the results yet but my vet said:
Heartworm – negative
Thyroid – normal
Fructosamine – good control
CBC – no abnormal results
She sent his blood to the lab instead of using her own equipment. She wanted to make sure they tested for everything and using the lab allowed her to ask the various specialists questions. She explained that the concern is his weight.
(Sidenote: Duffy is her only underweight client!)
The specialist suggested we test for Cushing’s. I did not want to do that. We have tested him many times before and he always tests normal. However, the specialist said cortisol could play a role in his inability to gain weight. I thought too much cortisol caused weight gain, but I gave in and took him back for the test.
Result: normal
We did a urine culture which was negative. Nothing grew. My vet said that never happens. As I said before, Duffy is the healthiest “deathly ill” dog in the world.

Back when he was at UT Knoxville vet school for an exam, he was put on melatonin and flax lignin. He was not super skinny at that time. I asked my vet if I should go back to giving him those supplements. The idea at the time was to control non-Cushing’s cortisol, even though we could never prove that he had any problems in that area.
I don’t know if it ever worked but he was two pounds heavier.
So we’re back on melatonin and flax lignin.

I have the special enzymes too. I have not used them much since he doesn’t like wet food or kibble soaked in liquid.
Which leads me to my final update — I found a dry food that he loves. It’s made in Ohio so not far from us and it’s delivered fresh to Lexington. The company is called Pet Wants.

Duffy had gained 5 oz in the past ten days. I am beyond thrilled. My goal is 8 lbs and he is now at 6 lbs 7 oz.
Fingers crossed!!!!

[Kellye P]

His name is Duffy.

I bought a baby scale last year and weigh him every week. I have to force myself to not obsess too much. I believe I have failed. 🙂

I have three of his siblings and they are healthy, happy, gorgeous boys. My vet says I am the most determined owner she has ever seen. I refuse to give up.

I already knew the protocol on enzymes but thank you. Believe me, I have spent thousands of hours reading up on every possible condition. I have four friends who are vets so they let me bounce ideas off them too. I will try the 6x. My current enzymes have all the same ingredients but maybe not in the same dosage.

Thank you!!!!!

[Kellye P]

Thank you so much! I am on my iPad so this will be brief. I talked to my vet about EPI about a year ago but she didn’t think it was the culprit because his stools are completely normal. Would it be harmful in any way to use the enzymes without a diagnosis of EPI? I will check his current enzyme blend to see if it has the same ingredients. I get them from Mercola.com — Dr. Karen Becker is connected to the brand.
I would be so happy if this worked! He looks like those “before” photos. It’s horrible.

Thank you so, so much for taking so much time and providing those links. I really appreciate it.

[Kellye P]

USA — I am looking at the fructosamine test from March and it says the reference range is 260-358. I remember my vet saying that he was in the range that might require us to lower his insulin but she didn’t want to do that because he was doing so well. The specialist always tells me to not treat the numbers but to treat the dog. Per the explanation on the results, 260 is just above the range that might mean prolonged hypoglycemia. I am home all day so I observe his behavior. He does not drink a lot or act like he’s unhappy. He is quite content. The specialist says a happy dog is the goal so to stop worrying. (easy to say!!!) Neither vet was the least bit concerned about the 250 glucose reading when he was off insulin. They expected him to be much higher. My vet talked to the Vetsulin people and many other specialists. She calls anybody and everybody to get consultations on this little dog. He goes for his thyroid and fructosamine test in a couple weeks so I will have new numbers and will post them here. As for the thyroid, since he has been on the thyroxine, he has tested normal every time. I really hoped that was the problem but the full panel done last year showed everything was normal. In fact, the most frustrating part of this whole story is that we can’t get my dog to test positive for anything that will give us a new idea for how to treat him. He is the most abnormal “normal” dog in the world.

sue62b – I paid big bucks to two different companies that specialize in vet formulated recipes for dogs. When I saw the final results, I was a bit skeptical. The amount of food they advised was less than what I feed now and it was so amazingly healthy. Yes, that’s a good thing, but maybe not for a skinny dog??? For example, lean chicken breast – broiled, with a tiny bit of chickpeas and a dash of corn oil. It came to about .25 cup. (with a vitamin supplement added but no calories in the supplement) I don’t like corn oil due to GMOs but that’s another story.
Another recipe had lots and lots of broccoli. Does anybody have a very picky dog who would willingly eat broccoli?? And, of course, I researched every single ingredient they told me to feed him and I had a few issues with broccoli. They told me I wasn’t feeding enough to cause harm but why would I feed anything that might be dangerous? There was a study done that showed broccoli could cause problems in dogs but they told me it was not a proven fact and many dogs eat it and there are no problems at all. That’s not good enough for me. 🙂
I did try the Wellness Duck and Oatmeal. Duck is a preferred protein per my Traditional Chinese Medicine vet. Duck is “cool” so it counters the “hot” diabetes. Turkey is also “cool”. Lamb is “warm” but I may try that one too. My boy was not super crazy about the Duck and Oatmeal. It would be great if he’d eat it because there is a store that sells it right by my favorite grocery store. I am keeping Chewy.com in business with my many orders of almost every food they sell! I had good luck with ZiwiPeak canned food but only one type was considered tasty by my boy and that one became unavailable in January. It cost $5 per can, by the way. 🙂
I do use didgestive enzymes, plus coconut oil because my TCM vet said it adds calories and is another “cool” food.
He has always preferred dry kibble and right now he likes the Nulo food but he used to like Fromm and he was heavier at that time so I just ordered more Fromm. (they have a duck recipe)
Thank you for the info on K9Kitchen. I will check it out!!
Good luck with Patch. If you have access to vets who went to the Chi Institute, they have all sorts of herbal supplements that might help you. I used Liver Happy back when my boy had slightly elevated levels. His next test showed a reading of 45, as I recall, which was fantastic. Even the Chi TCM vet was amazed. Unfortunately the Chi blends for diabetes contain cinnamon and my boy will throw up cinnamon every single time. That is really a shame because that herbal remedy gets rave reviews from other parents of diabetic dogs.

Thank you both!!!!

[Kellye P]

Thanks for the response. He gets the Fructosamine test every six months. He is always in the proper range. He is due to get tested again in October so I will have new numbers, but nothing has changed. He does not drink a lot of water or have any other symptoms of high glucose.

Last year I had the complete thyroid panel done – every single test. I thought maybe he was too high. He takes .1 mg of thyroxine twice a day. I was hoping that was the problem but all the tests came back normal. My vet is very particular with the timing so I’m sure she had me in the office 4 hours after he took his pill.

He is so tiny and cannot eat much at one time. I feed him exactly twelve hours apart but give him a little bit of food around noon and he gets a small snack at night. If he eats more than his usual amount, he throws up. His tiny stomach can’t hold more than half a cup.

I exercise him 30 minutes a day. He’s blind but can fetch in the house and will trot behind me on our very long driveway. The TCM vet does chiropractic adjustments and says his muscles are in pretty good shape. We walk uphill and he goes up our stairs.

A specialist in this area also treats him and consults with my vet. He suggested that we stop insulin for three days to reset him and then start up again. During the days he was not getting insulin, his glucose levels were right around 250. However, his urine test showed ketones. The specialist said that did not make sense. My vet said she probably would have taken him off insulin if he stayed at 250 without it. The ketones messed up that plan, though. Nobody has any explanation as to why he had ketones. I think that is the key to the weight problem but I have no idea what it means.

I have taken him to a vet school and many other specialists. He is a medical mystery. The good news is that he is quite content and if he knew how much time I spent trying to figure out why he won’t gain weight, he’d probably think I was crazy!

[Author]

Posts