dry eye – Diary of a Diabetic Dachshund

Walking In A Wiener Wonderland

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. First I wanted to wait and give updates on this treatment or that. Then I’d be too frustrated to blog. Here I am getting my first pedicure in 6 months (and yes I feel sorry for this guy too) on a Monday night and thought maybe it’s time…

So our positive is that we started also seeing an Eastern Medicine specialist in early October. Herbals have been a total game changer for us as far as eating goes. I mean my dog eats twice a day most every day now. What??? Even breakfast! Yep it’s still completely shocking to me! Diabetes is as well controlled as it can be on Humalin N. On our last curve 2 weeks ago she ran between 119-228!

Our eyes are a disaster. Bennie’s right eye area continues to swell up huge. She’s having to wear this flower petal cone of shame most days. It’s the only cone that she can easily drink water while wearing. Can’t restrict a diabetic from their water! To make matters worse, she was diagnosed with lipid keratopathy from her steroid eye drops in November. She was changed to an anti inflammatory drop that doesn’t seem to help much with all this inflammation. She’s had to continue the steroid drops along with Benadryl frequently over the last couple of months. It’s extremely frustrating. We are now being sent to a Dermatologist. Apparently Vet Derms also specialize in allergies and immunology. We have an appointment 1/4/20. So hoping for answers that don’t involve much expense. I’m feeling tapped out. Knowing how little I’ve done for myself the last 2 years, I’m starting to resent that no matter how hard I work or how much I spend – it never seems to be enough. Don’t get me wrong, I love that dog (and her sister and brother) more than life itself, but I just so much want to have a stable normal. She actually had to get a steroid shot 2 weeks ago because of the extreme inflammation in her body which caused a ulcerated sore by her eye – I mean I’m not exaggerating, her eye area is a hot mess!

We’ve also had 2 UTI’s in the last 3 months – naturally both after hours requiring trips to the local ER Vet. I definitely recommend keeping pet urinalysis strips at home that make it easy to know when to take your diabetic in for a UTI (or even DKA if ketones are present). Not sure what’s up with the UTI’s since she’s been UTI free for the rest of her time as a diabetic. But we all know Bennie does what it takes to go see her vet friends🤦🏼‍♀️

So pray for no eye swelling, inflammation, good diabetes control, continues good appetite, no more UTI’s and as cheap of a vet derm appt as is possible in 2020. We’re hoping for a lottery win over here!

We hope all of you have the Happiest of Holidays! We are so thankful for everyone in Team Beignet! We’d be lost without you!

Sincerely,

A Tired & Frustrated Devoted Doxie Mom

Eyes Wide Open

Beignet saw her favorite eye doctor, Dr. Warren at Veterinary Eye Institute in Plano. Her eyes are looking great today (unlike the 2 recent episodes in the last couple of weeks). No signs of orbital disease which was a big concern with the recurrence and made it necessary for us to come today instead of waiting for our scheduled appointment in a couple of weeks. So what caused these episodes? Either something dental or it’s due to an unknown allergy. Beignet cracked a molar day 1 of becoming diabetic so the dental one is a definite possibility. Due to all her illnesses, no one has wanted to touch her cracked tooth. Dr. Warren wants to get the opinion from a specialist in Dallas he 100% trusts. I called as soon as we got out of his appointment at 12:45 and Dr. Ruth is able to squeeze us in at 5:00pm today. Will post updates on that in the next few days.

Just remember if your diabetic (or even nondiabetic) dog has snotty eyes – insist on a dry eye test. If your dog does have dry eye, colored mucous means likely means dog’s eyes are reacting to being too dry. This is not “pink eye” and they do not need antibiotic eye drops. If you ever have any concerns about your pet’s eyes and are in this area of the country, definitely come see Dr. Warren and his staff at Veterinary Eye Institute! We’ve never had anything less than a wonderful experience. It’s been worth a 3 hour drive. They have also been incredibly responsive between appointments to every question and concern I’ve had. See Bennie getting dry eye tested below!

Fingers crossed her tooth is okay and if not, that it’s not going to cost me a small fortune. Also, Beignet is still defying the odds since she is still cataract free 20 months post diagnosis!!! The great majority of diabetic dogs get cataracts within 1 year of diabetes diagnosis. Ideally all diabetic pets should be followed by a veterinary ophthalmologist. Please like our Facebook page and subscribe to our page so we can help raise funds for when her day comes by helping us get ad revenue! We also earn money anytime someone purchases a product through links on our posts and if anyone uses our link to purchase the Embark Dog DNA test (which also gives the purchaser $25 off from using our code) – see our post on DNA of a Diabetic Dachshund for more details!

Sincerely,

Devoted Doxie Mom in Dallas

Thankfully a family member had a hotel nearby so we are relaxing in style for the next little bit while we wait to see the dentist.

This girl’s never met a bed she didn’t love!

Seeing But Not Believing

Our day didn’t quite go as planned. No, Bennie didn’t have her first spa day… I actually was about to publish a blog earlier when the doorbell rang. Turned back around and noticed Beignet’s right inner lower lid was bulging/ballooning out. Her eyes had been just fine an hour before when I did midday drops. Pictures were sent to her eye doctor (I won’t post since I know not everyone will want to see). The wonderful, Dr. Tori Torres, was able to squeeze Bennie in since Dr. Brad was out at our regular vet. I was totally freaked out!

Say some prayers this was an allergic reaction and will respond to the antihistamines she got and some extra doses of her steroid eye drops for the next few days. Worst case scenario she has a cyst in her tear duct (which maybe common in dachshunds😬). That will be the suspicion if it doesn’t start to improve. Veterinary Eye Institute said she would need to see Dr. Warren early next week if it doesn’t go down. After a long weekend of call and another doctor already on vacation I really, really don’t want to have to take off work to take her to Dallas. Plus I’m a little nervous about all that would need to be done since she doesn’t tolerate sedation well at all. Wish us luck!

On a side note, only Beignet would actually enjoy wearing the recommended cold compresses! Ironically the cold pack pictured was the smallest I found at either CVS or Walgreens. They totally need child sized cold packs! So came up with a hack for all that Karo syrup diabetic dog parents have via a Google search! Apparently corn syrup freezes and is still very moldable. Our Karo packs seem to be freezing great and will be ready to use in no time!

Hope everyone has a night less eventful than ours!

-Devoted Doxie Mom

Just have to add this pic of Bennie searching for Dr. Brad. She always manages to get to his personal office to look for him when he’s out.

An Eye For An Eye….

Pictured above is our 3rd vet specialist selfie of 2018. Beignet and I just made our first 6 hour round trip visit to see Dr. John Warren at Veterinary Eye Institute in Plano, Texas (http://www.veterinaryeyeinstitute.com/meet-our-doctors/john-r-warren/ ). When Beignet got diagnosed with diabetes, all I could focus on was that she was only 7 years old and could soon be blind due to this diagnosis. Was she going to be able to beat diabetes? Of course I just assumed as a physician she would be the best controlled diabetic my vet has ever seen (and yes Bennie decided that wasn’t going to be the case…). Was her perfect control going to be soon enough to prevent diabetic cataracts? I sure hoped so.

The doctor in me immediately thought I needed to do all the preventative precautions for a diabetic. However we had a few obstacles. First there are very few vet specialists in our area. Secondly, Beignet threw me a major ball when she became extremely ill just weeks after her diagnosis. Worries over her eyes after a 6 week struggle for her life were just a distant memory.

Dr. Warren said it is always best to see a vet ophtho as soon as possible after a diabetes diagnosis. They can guide you through what to expect. Work with you on preventative care options. And also diagnose cataracts and other eye conditions that may already be present. Depending on the source, 50-70% of dogs diagnosed with diabetes develop cataracts during the first year after their diagnosis. Beignet has 4 more months until her 1 year anniversary so we hope that we beat those odds. However all diabetics will eventually get cataracts. My almost 12yo nondiabetic has early lenticular cataracts from old age now. My understanding is that diabetic cataracts respond better to surgery than nondiabetic cataracts, so at least there’s that if I can afford surgery when our time comes.

What I didn’t realize with my focus on cataracts was the next most common eye disorder in diabetics, Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca (aka dry eye). After a bout with corneal ulcers, Beignet received this new diagnosis weeks ago. Having the same diagnosis, I have some idea of what she’s been going through. However my dry eye doesn’t involved nasty snot pouring from my eyes all the time (thankfully). Beignet can at times not open her eyes. She blinks repetitively. I’m constantly having to clean her eyes and apply drops. If your diabetic dog has mucus discharge of any color from his/her eyes, please have your dog tested for dry eyes or better yet, see a vet eye doctor if you haven’t already. When Beignet saw Dr. Warren, she still had ZERO tear production in either eye. She has to do a month of once daily steroid drops along with a compounded 3 time a day immmunosuppressant drop that will hopefully stimulate tear production. If dogs fail therapy they can transplant a saliva gland from the mouth to the eye which causes nonstop tearing. We hope we don’t have to resort to this….

We will be traveling back to see Dr. Warren in a month. Please pray that her eyes are responding to treatment. We are feeling a little defeated at the moment. I keep thinking – what next?? Before 2018, we had minimal issues. So far, it’s been diabetes followed by chronic pancreatitis followed by suspected jejunal inflammatory bowel disease followed by a new heart murmur and now this. You can see with all that, why we aren’t the perfectly controlled diabetic I initially thought she would be (although is there even such a thing???). Her eye issues require more time than anything else. And for the record her heart issue was insignificant. Despite it all except for the 6 weeks in February/March and this past month this sweet baby has been nothing but happy no matter what she had to deal with. I’m hoping we get back to that fun loving, tummy rub obsessed, tail wagging, loves everyone happy girl again!

To end, my advice is even if you have to drive, get your dogs eyes checked! Even if you can’t afford cataract surgery, getting established might improve you dog’s long term outcomes. And what if your dog has treatable dry eye, like Bennie or another easily treatable condition? Not treating can lead to vision loss. I definitely don’t think a $125 visit was at all unreasonable especially in that it was the nicest vet office I’ve ever visited. Just wish he was a little closer!!!

~Devoted Doxie Mom

Addendum : A lot of diabetic dog owners go ahead and start lubricant eye drops when their dog is diagnosed to hopefully prevent their dog from getting dry and becoming more susceptible to corneal ulcers. Here is the type many use pictured above. Click on the pic to purchase.

Although it was recommended that Beignet not use just drops. Instead, Dr. Warren insisted she use the GenTeal Tears Severe Gel (not to be confused with the version for nighttime that’s a step up from this which we were told not to use). You can purchase the gel by clicking on the pic ABOVE

There is no set brand of eye wash you have to use. It’s best to use a dog version of an eye rinse though or sterile water whereas the GenTeal brand of dry eye products are actually made for humans but okay to use on pets. I’ve posted a link to our favorite sterile eye wash below. Click on the pic to purchase.