Losing a Diabetic Yorkie With Heart Failure and Rising Kidney Values
by Linda
(TUPPER LAKE NY)
On examination, the vet said his heart was fine.
In December, I sent him in for another exam. She said his lungs were filled with fluid. She gave him an IV diuretic and the cough was gone but by the next day he was severely dehydrated and his BUN and creatinine were high. Rehydration was successful but the cough was back. She told me that the fluid was due to an allergic reaction and prescribed medication, but also said I should put him down.
The next day I took him to another vet who diagnosed CHF. She prescribed heart medicine and a diuretic. These medicines were gradually increased. His sugar was up and down and he was vomiting. He was hospitalized and monitored for a glucose curve. Vomiting stopped. His appetite was still off but he came home better. He started eating more but his sugar fluctuated. At the vet he was on a lower diuretic dose. At discharge, I noticed that and the vet told me to go back to the higher dose. Within 2 days, Orson was vomiting again and looked terrible. He refused to eat and drink with blood sugar around 300. I took him in and went to work. Within an hour and a half, the vet called back and said that he could not understand why his sugar was going up and down and the reason for the dehydration. Add to that his CHF and his blindness (he coped well at home), he thought that overall there were different mechanisms at work. Lipase and liver enzymes weren't checked. He postulated pancreatic cancer. He said that I could go to a specialist to get an ultrasound done but that was 2.5 hours away. He did not want to do one himself because he felt it was best done by a specialist. He said that
I left work and when I got to Orson he had been given fluids under the skin and the vet had started an IV. To me he seemed a bit better but still weak. He had refused to eat and drink. I held him in that room for an hour. He seemed to be sleeping and felt safe. He did not shake or vomit but the vet insisted that he was really sick and rehydration was not enough.
What could I do but let him go when I was told that he probably had cancer. I did not want him to suffer just because I did not want to let him go, but I miss him horribly. Also, I feel that I should have given him one more chance to equilibrate
Help.
We're so sorry about Orson. You cared for him through years of diabetes, then heart failure, blindness and kidney trouble, and it's clear how much you loved him.
Please try not to blame yourself. Heart failure, diabetes and kidney strain are very hard to balance together: the medicines that clear fluid from the lungs can dehydrate a dog and raise kidney values, while fluids for the kidneys can put more strain on the heart. When a dog with all of these problems keeps vomiting, won't eat or drink, and his blood sugar swings, vets often suspect another serious illness, such as pancreatic disease or cancer, is also involved. No one can know for sure, but with so many serious problems pulling in different directions, more fluids alone may not have been enough to turn things around.
You chose to spare him more suffering, and you were with him, holding him, at the end. That is a kind and loving decision, even when it doesn't feel that way. Missing him this much is normal, and pet-loss support groups and helplines can help.
See signs of kidney failure in dogs and kidney disease in dogs.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.
