dog with diabetes (1 Viewer)

[calion]

My little terrier cross rescue dog, Paddy, has just been diagnosed with diabetes. Since 3rd Feb has cost almost £600 in vets bills. What an awful dilemma, we love him, obviously, but he's a dog. Where do you draw the line, moneywise? If he was our child, we would find it somehow, sell the house, or whatever it took, but a little mongrel, with no breeding, or value other than our love for him - have to ask ourselves if we can afford to carry on? He is only young, so we could potentially be shelling out for another 10 years. Am devastated, as our other little rescue dog got a massive tumour and had to be put to sleep prematurely just 10 months ago. I still miss her everyday.

 

[big bertha]

I feel for you, we had a terrier diagnosed with diabetes at 13 so less of a dilemma as we couldn't afford the the injections then, we made the decision to pts. If it was now, the decision would be different.
What age is your little one and are you thinking of pts or finding a home that can afford to keep up the treatment. As a club I wonder if there is some way we could help you keep your little one, I for one would be willing to help. Sorry if I've spoken out of turn.

 

[IanF]

So sorry to hear of this.I understand your dilemma and empathise with your sadness. We were recently advised that our Jack Terrorist needed to lose weight or he would go the same way as yours has done. Hope you soon come to the right decision both for you and your Paddy.

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[tonyidle]

My little terrier cross rescue dog, Paddy, has just been diagnosed with diabetes. Since 3rd Feb has cost almost £600 in vets bills. What an awful dilemma, we love him, obviously, but he's a dog. Where do you draw the line, moneywise? If he was our child, we would find it somehow, sell the house, or whatever it took, but a little mongrel, with no breeding, or value other than our love for him - have to ask ourselves if we can afford to carry on? He is only young, so we could potentially be shelling out for another 10 years. Am devastated, as our other little rescue dog got a massive tumour and had to be put to sleep prematurely just 10 months ago. I still miss her everyday.

Is the cost mainly drugs or is it for veterinary attention? Our vet advises when drugs can be obtained more cheaply elsewhere and savings can be massive. A few years ago a dog of ours required Metacam. The cost when bought on line was less than 1/3rd that when bought from the vet - same packaging, same company.

 

[calion]

Thank you guys. He's only about 4 yrs. Is in the vets for the whole day again today, so they can do a blood glucose test every 2 hrs to try and get the right dose of insulin. No doubt another large bill when I collect him tonight

 

[pappajohn]

A dilema but could be far worse.

My dog was at the vets for 3 days for tests Inc a scan and various blood tests......then he had to be put down.

We havent received the bill yet but with the vets services, boarding fee, scan and blood tests then cremation fees on top i expect between £800 and £1000.

And we have nothing to show for the expense.

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[calion]

Thanks tonyidle, will have to investigate further.

 

[denisejoe]

We had a mongrel many years ago who was diagnosed with diabetes insipida at the age of 10 months. We couldn't afford the drops he needed on a long term basis and had to make the decision to have him put to sleep as the costs would have increased even more once it became full diabetes.

It was a very difficult decision but we knew we wouldn't be able to afford to keep him. At the time we had 2 young kids and only one wage coming in. I think it was the right decision for us but only you can make the decision in your case and will be a very difficult one to make.

Denise

 

[calion]

So sorry Pappajohn, I read about your recent loss. Feel for you.

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[Bertie Bassett]

#2, 3 and 4 say it all. Pappajohn then highlights the reality. What an awful situation to be in; you have our best wishes and and the hope that you find a way out of your dilemma. Good luck.

 

[hilldweller]

but he's a dog. Where do you draw the line, moneywise?.

Every day the NHS say to people "sorry, we cannot afford to keep you alive". Why should it be different for your dog ?

 

[TheBig1]

if you cannot afford to pay for ongoing treatment for a pet there are a few charities out there that offer help. like the PDSA

if the diabetes can be controlled by drugs, as said there are cheaper sources than most vets

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[calion]

I will ask the vet tonight how much she would charge to write a prescription for him, then I can check insulin prices online. The vet charges £15 per cartridge which lasts under a week. Two new needles per day on top of that.

 

[Dawn B]

Our darling Bandit had problems with her legs, due to arthritis
most of her life. In the 14 years that we had her she cost us over £10k. A lot of money but it's what we signed up for when we adopted her (we knew nothing of her problems when we got her) The drugs were bought more cheaply online but the vet's charges were sometimes hard to justify

 

[TheBig1]

just done a quick check and you can buy canine insulin for £5 a vial online. works out cheaper to buy in bulk though. Based on pig insulin, as its the same chemically

dependant on the size of the dog, they use very little a day. one vial should do a week for a small dog

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[froggy59]

Our cocker spanial is diabetic and has 2 injections per day, the vet told us to use 1 needle per day and the insulin from viovet online works out at£19 a vial that lasts for 3 week. We just put a couple of quid each in a tin and purchase as much as we can. We now have enough insulin and needles to last till September, but it will cost about £130 for the next lot of blood tests.
good luck with whatever decision you make.

 

[TheBig1]

sorry forgot to mention that disposable needles and syringes of the right size are under £5 for 20. again better to buy in bulk

dont forget also that insulin must be kept in date and refrigerated

 

[froggy59]

sorry forgot to mention that disposable needles and syringes of the right size are under £5 for 20. again better to buy in bulk

dont forget also that insulin must be kept in date and refrigerated

Forgot to mention the above advice myself.

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[Bertie Bassett]

just done a quick check and you can buy canine insulin for £5 a vial online. works out cheaper to buy in bulk though. Based on pig insulin, as its the same chemically

dependant on the size of the dog, they use very little a day. one vial should do a week for a small dog

Nice one B1

 

[Cat53]

It's a hard choice. We were paying out over £130 per month for one of our dogs. Gave her another 3 years of happy life, but in the end she decided she had had enough and refused the meds. The vet came out to us and put her to sleep. Would I do it again? For her? Yes. For Max and Phoebe.....will cross that bridge should the time come. Am hoping these two will be fine and healthy for all of their lives. It's a decision to be made only when you have all the facts and figures. Good luck.

 

[John.]

A very hard decision we had the same with our Saphire eventually
She went blind but she still had a good life seeing off the birds in the garden.

The diabetes well it was manageable as was the blindness we just got rid of the roses etc we had 5 more really good years with her.

I would do exactly the same again as her eye sight went her sense of smell improved .

She still loved to swim in the sea we just adapted and used an extender lead

A hard choice I wish you well as the others have said look elsewhere
For what you require.

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[Cardeau]

So sorry to hear of your situation. I hope you find an exonomic solution as you obviously love your dog. However, please bear in mind that Dogs Trust would probably take the dog in for rehoming. They have a scheme that subsidises cost if you adopt a dog with a known illness.

Whatever you do I hope all works out for the best.

 

[sedge]

The NHS pay roughly £30 for a box containing 5 pens or 5 vials, 3ml in each vial and c.£30 for one 10ml vial of insulin. I dunno what they use for dogs now but way back when I was on porcine insulin a chap I worked with's dog was on the same one! I've never had to buy insulin of course so I don't know the 'actual' charge for it.

A 10ml vial lasts me roughly one month. However there is some waste and there is quite a bit of waste with an insulin pen - because you have to do an 'airshot' of 2u every jab - this is to get the air out of the needle - whereas with a syringe you expel the air prior to and during filling from the vial so although the syringes cost (£1.25 for 10, VAT-free for human diabetics) it may work out cheaper than pens - and the dog won't care which it is although humans do of course. So I assume a dog it would last a lot longer as it'd need less insulin ? You can put the orange plastic cap back on a syringe needle or the inner small white cap back on a pen needle to keep it clean. Though I would not recommend this to ANY human being, you can use the same needle a lot longer than one day - but not if where you are injecting doggy has been in contact with dirt - on humans, the skin should be 'socially' clean - however you can get antiseptic wipes quite easily at any dispensing chemist and probably off e-Bay too so I should think the answer is to 'steri-wipe' the site on a dog before every jab.

Once the vets has the dose sorted, the blood tests will only need to be done every 12 months. Meanwhile you can 9if considered necessary) test his pee - Charlie had a bitch so he used to chase her round the back garden every morning with a saucer to catch a sample to test. Humans these days do a fingerprick blood test 5 or 6 times a day which is much more civilised but gogs don't have fingers of course.

Do you have a branch of the PDSA near you? If so, I suggest you talk to them - they can often supply medical treatment and/or advice at a much more realistic cost, but you must be prepared to give them a decent donation otherwise it's not fair on them.

If you do decide to put the dog down please please whatever you do - don't withdraw his insulin before doing so - the suffering would be absolutely horrific for the poor thing and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy (though I have been tempted at times ....)

 

[Minxy]

To the OP ... the first thing I would do is get a long term prognosis and cost for it, that way you have a better idea of what the commitment could be both emotionally and financially. The other thing would be to contact other vets for details of their charges for tests etc - our vets do their own blood tests in house so they are quite a bit cheaper than those who have to send them away to a lab, also how much do they charge for writing prescriptions etc, again this varies enormously.

If you think that emotionally it is hard now, it will not get any easier in the future unfortunately ... below is the story of what happened with our Midge ...

When our little Midge was poorly he cost us a packet. It all started because he kept nibbling his leg for some reason but we didn't know why, no sign of it being damaged/cut etc and he wasn't in pain, but it was an 'annoyance' for him, in the end it got a bit red from all his nibbling but nothing untoward however when we were on holiday in France and about to return in early September he kept nibbling it and made it sore so it scabbed over a bit. When we got back home the vet though he'd just got an itcy patch which he'd got 'annoyed' with and worried hence why it was now sore, so gave him some antibiotics etc to try to get it to go away but to no avail. Midge then started on his feet so they were also being nibbled too although not made sore, which developed into some sort of white 'coating' on them, a bit like a yeast infection but it wasn't. It turned out that his immune system couldn't deal with the usual bacteria that he had (as all dogs do) and so it was able to spread and cause problems. After a lot of testing we found out that he had Cushings disease (he was a cross Westie Jack Russell and Westies are prone to this apparently).

He had a bit of a shaky time for a while especially over Christmas/New Year, and I know others would have thrown in the towel ... not only was the cost high but also the amount of time it took to take care of him was high too ... he got very fussy with food ... prime chicken, fish etc was the order of the day and getting him to eat it was difficult at times even when he felt well his appetite wasn't great, which was the opposite of what he had been previously as he absolutely LOVED food.

On some days it was a case of sitting on the floor next to him, having liquidised the food and put it into a squeezey tomato sauce bottle, and squirting it into his mouth which he'd sometimes spit out but mostly he'd eat it, other days he'd take it off a spoon as he didn't like sticking his sore nose and muzzle in the bowl as the bacterial had caused some problems there too, as well as round his eyes. Daily bathing of his face, feet etc was necessary and he was extremely tolerant of it all and never ever complained.

I think the vets were surprised at how much we were willing to do for him and also spend to keep him going whilst he still had quality of life but it paid off and he gradually improved so that he would go for a potter on the drive and show an interest in things and food again - by this point, around April, we'd made the decision to stop his medication as it just turned him into a zombie and had added to the problems with food etc - no point in him being in that state for a longer time if he could enjoy things more but for a shorter term ... so we knew it was just a case of enjoying him whilst we could and he was well enough to get something out of it all.

We were getting ready to go on holiday again in our MH in June but his on-going stomach issues flaired-up again (being on medication didn't make any difference to this) and we'd been warned that they could turn quite nasty and they would only continue to be more frequent and worse due to the effect of Cushions on his organs ... it was a very hard decision but in the end we had him put down ... 2 days before we went. It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever had to do ... I'm sure he was looking forward to going as he'd occasionally pop into the MH to have a nosey round but whether we'd stayed at home or gone it wouldn't have made a difference to the outcome otherwise I'd have just postponed the holiday.

To cut a VERY long and heartbreaking story short he cost us over £2,500 in 9 months for his treatment, medication, blood tests etc. I'd have kept on paying though if he could have had a longer, enjoyable, life.

I still miss Midge terribly every day ... he was my 'little boy' ... the only male dog I've ever had and such a character. We've had to have others put down usually at a ripe old age, but Midge was only 9 when we had to put him down ... such a shame.

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[Puddleduck]

Every day the NHS say to people "sorry, we cannot afford to keep you alive". Why should it be different for your dog ?

Although I see your point what happens when the owner can afford to pay?

If you can find a solution that is cost effective and are sure the dog will not suffer then see how things work out. I agree with the posts above about the PDSA, buying supplies elsewhere and getting a quote from the vet.

No matter what you do you will feel guilty but the choice you make (no matter which it is) will be the correct one.

 

[angusboy]

Toin avatar over last year has cost 900 in dental bills but worth every pennythe OP ... the first thing I would do is get a long term prognosis and cost for it, that way you have a better idea of what the commitment could be both emotionally and financially. The other thing would be to contact other vets for details of their charges for tests etc - our vets do their own blood tests in house so they are quite a bit cheaper than those who have to send them away to a lab, also how much do they charge for writing prescriptions etc, again this varies enormously.

If you think that emotionally it is hard now, it will not get any easier in the future unfortunately ... below is the story of what happened with our Midge ...

When our little Midge was poorly he cost us a packet. It all started because he kept nibbling his leg for some reason but we didn't know why, no sign of it being damaged/cut etc and he wasn't in pain, but it was an 'annoyance' for him, in the end it got a bit red from all his nibbling but nothing untoward however when we were on holiday in France and about to return in early September he kept nibbling it and made it sore so it scabbed over a bit. When we got back home the vet though he'd just got an itcy patch which he'd got 'annoyed' with and worried hence why it was now sore, so gave him some antibiotics etc to try to get it to go away but to no avail. Midge then started on his feet so they were also being nibbled too although not made sore, which developed into some sort of white 'coating' on them, a bit like a yeast infection but it wasn't. It turned out that his immune system couldn't deal with the usual bacteria that he had (as all dogs do) and so it was able to spread and cause problems. After a lot of testing we found out that he had Cushings disease (he was a cross Westie Jack Russell and Westies are prone to this apparently).

He had a bit of a shaky time for a while especially over Christmas/New Year, and I know others would have thrown in the towel ... not only was the cost high but also the amount of time it took to take care of him was high too ... he got very fussy with food ... prime chicken, fish etc was the order of the day and getting him to eat it was difficult at times even when he felt well his appetite wasn't great, which was the opposite of what he had been previously as he absolutely LOVED food.

On some days it was a case of sitting on the floor next to him, having liquidised the food and put it into a squeezey tomato sauce bottle, and squirting it into his mouth which he'd sometimes spit out but mostly he'd eat it, other days he'd take it off a spoon as he didn't like sticking his sore nose and muzzle in the bowl as the bacterial had caused some problems there too, as well as round his eyes. Daily bathing of his face, feet etc was necessary and he was extremely tolerant of it all and never ever complained.

I think the vets were surprised at how much we were willing to do for him and also spend to keep him going whilst he still had quality of life but it paid off and he gradually improved so that he would go for a potter on the drive and show an interest in things and food again - by this point, around April, we'd made the decision to stop his medication as it just turned him into a zombie and had added to the problems with food etc - no point in him being in that state for a longer time if he could enjoy things more but for a shorter term ... so we knew it was just a case of enjoying him whilst we could and he was well enough to get something out of it all.

We were getting ready to go on holiday again in our MH in June but his on-going stomach issues flaired-up again (being on medication didn't make any difference to this) and we'd been warned that they could turn quite nasty and they would only continue to be more frequent and worse due to the effect of Cushions on his organs ... it was a very hard decision but in the end we had him put down ... 2 days before we went. It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever had to do ... I'm sure he was looking forward to going as he'd occasionally pop into the MH to have a nosey round but whether we'd stayed at home or gone it wouldn't have made a difference to the outcome otherwise I'd have just postponed the holiday.

To cut a VERY long and heartbreaking story short he cost us over £2,500 in 9 months for his treatment, medication, blood tests etc. I'd have kept on paying though if he could have had a longer, enjoyable, life.

I still miss Midge terribly every day ... he was my 'little boy' ... the only male dog I've ever had and such a character. We've had to have others put down usually at a ripe old age, but Midge was only 9 when we had to put him down ... such a shame.

View attachment 54971

Very sad just got back from vets today our angus I

 

[angusboy]

Meant to say had another 300 poun dental bill today but love him to bits

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[calion]

Thank you so much everyone for your kind sentiments, and informative replies. Commiserations to those of you who have suffered similar situations. It really is a wretched position to be in, but we're just at the very beginning of this sad journey and I have no idea how it will all turn out. Rest assured we will keep him going for as long as we can.

 

[Puddleduck]

Thank you so much everyone for your kind sentiments, and informative replies. Commiserations to those of you who have suffered similar situations. It really is a wretched position to be in, but we're just at the very beginning of this sad journey and I have no idea how it will all turn out. Rest assured we will keep him going for as long as we can.

You will keep him going as long as he is not suffering and has a good quality of life.

 

[angusboy]

here here

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