Hyperglycemic

[b0at]

Please help me understand What happened to our grey. She seemed fine until Thursday night, walking, eating fine etc. but later in the night she cried out and was restless and panting. She remained restless and panting through the night and cried out once in the night. When she did lie down, she took the praying position and seemed unable to lie on her side. On Friday, she tried to get up but her hind legs collapsed. We took her to the vet, where he took blood and administered painkillers.

An hour later, we were told her blood sugar levels were high and she had been given insulin and was more settled. We were told she was probably diabetic and to phone back at the end of the day as she would probably need to be kept overnight for monitoring.

In the evening, we went to the vet to see her only to be told that she had died. We were in complete shock. We went back to the vet on Saturday to talk to him about what had happened. Another vet had performed an ultrasound after the insulin was administered and her diagnosis was probably old age or a tumour on the pancreas. However, we live in an area of France where the vets are not familiar with greyhounds and I can't help wondering...

Was it pancreatitis? Her last meal was raw chicken, which contained fat. On the Monday, she had eaten tinned sardines in oil (mixed with rice and vegetables etc). Was it due to a high fat diet? Her usual kibble is not high in fat but she had occasional 'other' meals. Her glucose levels were through the roof 4.13. Or is this due to hormones in an older female dog? She was 2 months shy of her 12th birthday.

Was it an infection? She always had awful teeth which I cleaned either with coconut oil (fat again?!) or a toothpaste containing chlorhexidine. Her white blood cells were elevated 12.24, if I am reading the blood analysis correctly.

I know many greys don't make it to the age she did but I still feel robbed. She was still running on Thursday morning and appeared to be in good health. I did not notice symptoms of hyperglycemia.

[lurcherlot]

I'm so sorry to read of the loss of your greyhound - it must have been a terrible shock since she was so well until Thursday. I haven't go anything useful to add as I've not had a similar occurrance - hopefully somebody on the forum might be able to help you.

[b0at]

Thanks, she was our first dog and perfect in (almost) all ways so we are having a hard time.

[greybeard]

So sorry you have lost your precious girl-it's difficult when it's unexpected and you try to understand the reasons why.
Yes it could have been pancreatitis - her symptoms sound similar to how our greyhound girl was when she developed pancreatitis.High fat diet could cause it,but there are other causes.In our case following emergency gastric surgery - when told she could resume her normal diet again she developed pancreatitis,recovered,advised trying normal diet again,same thing.She can't tolerate the fat levels in good propriety brands and refuses to eat the very expensive precription diets.So hey-ho,home cooked low fat.
But I'm a bit confused by the hyperglycaemia.Bloods yes-the main thing they're looking for in pancreatitis is raised pancreatic enzyme levels(Amylase and Lipase).And you didn't mention an ultasound which should be done to try and find the cause of acute abdominal pain.Our Jem never had high blood sugar levels.With the human Pancreatitis patients I cared for the majority with insulin problems had severe pancreatic damage that included the specific areas that produce insulin.Could be wrong but usually dogs anatomy and physiology works the same as ours.
Same as us old age can cause diabetes,especially when accompanied by being overweight and inadequate exercise.Pancreatic cancer is horrible as it's one of those that tend to show symptoms like acute pain late on.
I don't know if this helps your questions - think we always go do down the what if route,was it our fault,did we miss something etc.Try to remember that you gave her a long,happy life.Yes you feel robbed -I will too when my elder grey boy goes and he's nearly 14,still enjoying life in his own little way,but I'll still wish he could be here for ever.Thinking of you - Cath.

[b0at]

Are amylase and lipase tested routinely in blood tests as I'm having trouble deciphering the French abbreviations on the blood test results?

Hyperglycemia is commonly seen in dogs with pancreatitis. She had an ultrasound but the vet could not be sure of a diagnosis from it.

She wasn't overweight and was happily taking 2 hour walks less than a week before. Looking at the symptoms, I don't *think* she was diabetic.

If it was pancreatitis due to a high fat diet, would this manifest itself as high levels of fat in the blood and if so, is this routinely shown on blood test results? She was fed 80% of the time on a kibble which had only 10% fat content so I am starting to think it was not the food.

Now, looking at it, she was anaemic... the blood test results show PCV of 38. Argghhhh

Sorry, I have all these questions about the blood work as that's all I have to go on. I feel so privileged to have had her, but also so much guilt, so many regrets, most of all that just before her heart stopped, she heard voices and lifted her head up and I wasn't there.

[greybeard]

They should be on chemical screening.AMYL and LIP.Or SpecCPL = canine pancreas specific lipase.
I probabley disregarded the glucose as Jem's was normal.And I agree that with your girl's symptoms I wouldn't have thought diabetes either.
I'm supposing high blood fat would show up as cholesterol- rises in pancreatitis and diabetes.But it doesn't sound as if she had a high fat diet anyway.Most hound owners we know give their hounds oily fish once or twice a week as a topper cos it's good for their coats.Theres lots of articles that suggest its dogs fed a high fat diet regularly that are more prone to having pancreatitis,or those that suddenly have more high fat treats like at Christmas with all that leftover turkey etc.Oh and food scavenging,especially raiding kitchen bins.Not thinking that your girl did but all our greys have been expert food snafflers given the slighest opportunity.The youngest is still in I've never,ever been fed mode,despite being here for nearly a year.
Jem was anaemic too,in fact she was still slightly anaemic a year later.And yes a PCV of 38 is low for a grey,normal range 55-65.
No need to be sorry - we're good at listening on here.And between us we've all had experiences with assorted canine health problems.And all the what ifs,regrets and guilt - it just shows how much you cared for your girl.I still feel guilty about Jem - a few minutes distraction was all it took for her to find her much hated muzzle that had accidently been dislodged from its out of her reach place and for her to happily start munching it.That resulted in emergency gastrotomy,recurrent pancreatis and has left her with chronic pain.
Take care of yourself and don't beat yourself up too much.The pain does get easier over time and you will remember
all that love and joy you shared.Cath

[Flaperoo]

Really sorry to hear of the loss of your greyhound so suddenly. I lost two over the years very suddenly and as well as the loss you are also left with a sense of bewilderment.

I have no advice to offer re cause of death but hope you start to feel a little better with each passing day.

You loved each other and that never dies

Mary x

[b0at]

I can't glean anything more from the blood test results that I have. From her behaviour, the hyperglycaemia and the anaemia, I believe she developed acute pancreatitis caused by the fat contained in her last meal of raw chicken. I don't think she ought to have been given insulin to correct her blood sugar level as there is a "risk of shock due to an over dosage of insulin when the islet cell function returns and the pancreas begins to make insulin normally". Lesson learnt, no more fat.

Jem's pancreas problems sound awful but I have read of dogs who have successfully returned to their normal diet without another recurrence so there is hope.

Thanks everyone for your kind words, I really don't deserve them, I feel so stupid. It's a good job our galgo is not a fussy eater, kibble forever.
x

[greybeard]

Don't worry about Jem - she's actually a mostly happy little Madame.I was just trying to reassure you about the guilt we all feel.She does have slightly more fat now but can't tolerate kibble anymore.It's just over 2 years now and she's well controlled on her diet.We know how to spot any flare up early if something has upset her - usually 1 tramadol asap and keeping her calm stops it.Touch wood nothing for quite a while.The chronic pain could be due to pancreatic damage or adhesions due to the surgery.We saw a consultant who after discussions regarding quality/quantity of life agreed that quality was best as further investigations,unless life threatening could make things worse.So far she's on the level of pain relief that suits her and is well monitored by her very greyhound aware 2nd vet.Just a pity that they are awkward to get to to be our regular vet.She's ruled this household with a rod of iron ever since she landed and if that doesn't happen something's wrong.For a little dot of a grey she certainly has respect from all of her houndie friends.RUDE behaviour is not tolerated- not vicious but she lets them know its not on.Cath