R.D. was diagnosed with DM in Feb. 2014. He was obese at the time, with a thin hair coat, and a history of bladder stones, recurrent otitis, and a soft tissue sarcoma (removed at WCVM), and I don't have a record of what that was. He has been on urinary dry food for past 3-4 years.
When I took over his care, I started him on Lantus insulin and changed him to a commercial raw diet (she does cook it a little). He was doing quite well, lost weight, lots of energy, consistent control of BG. We removed bladder stones again in April, but they had been diagnosed at the time of the diabetes. We just waited to get it under some control before surgery.
In May, his drinking seemed normal, but skin was dry and flaky, coat was thin, and he had comedones over L-S area. His tongue was purplish, pulse was thin and wiry, superficial. About a month later I saw him for preputial discharge – the tip of his penis tends to hang out a little since the cystotomy, and the owner said that happened after the first cystotomy as well. So I tried him on Four Marvels, as his history and medical issues leading up to the DM made me think of Damp Heat, and the coat I thought potentially was from long term heat. Antibiotics would clear up the discharge somewhat, and improve the BG values as well. He vomited at some point during the herbs, but he was also on antibiotics periodically, so I blamed them, but owner stopped the herbs. The BG values were quite consistent while he was on the formula.
We cleaned his teeth in September, as the BG values were going into the high teens and 20s, which was abnormally high for him. On his blood work, he had mild hyperglycemia, high cholesterol (12.6) and ALP (227) , low Na/K ratio (26) - Na low normal, Cl slightly low, K high normal. I could not check TAGs as I forgot to have her fast the dog. He was also quite hungry, still losing weight, increasingly thinning hair coat, and drinking a bit more.
So, I tried her on ZBDHW thinking he now needed some Yin nourishment, scientifically the formula seemed appropriate as well - lowering lipids and BG, promoting insulin sensitivity. He has been on this for a month with no improvement, and I am just wondering if you would try something else.
I was just at a talk Dr. Lea Stogdale gave last night on canine diabetes, and I think I will switch him to Levemir insulin to see if we get better control with less insulin. I saw him today – he had a small superficial skin lesion on his abdomen – circular, slightly red, like a collarette – superficial skin infection. His skin is warm, dryish, hair coat is thinner again than what it was a month ago. He is licking the owner a lot, still good appetite, energy decreased but BG are in the 20s often. The owner said after we cleaned his teeth he felt better than he had in years for about a week, and his BG was good, then they started to increase again. His submandibular lymph nodes are still enlarged and firm, but all others are normal. His tongue is pink on top, reddish underside, pulse seems a bit thin, superficial and slippery.