ELeVan ~ Honaker Farm Journal

[redtailgal]

Hang in there, Em.

Hoping that you get good results tomorrow.

and that your hand, head, backside and the rest of you feels better. (Your hubby is a lucky man, I'd of clocked him).

 

[Roll farms]

 

[redtailgal]

Your at the vet.............hoping all is going well!

 

[autumnprairie]

 

[redtailgal]

Hmm, thought you would have been on by now.

I really hope things went well at the Vets.

 

[elevan]

Sorry it took so long to get on. Boingo's vet is 40 minutes away. We maintained this vet for the dogs when we moved to the country. We also needed to go to the pharmacy.

Boingo showed marked improvement today. The vet noticed right away that he looked a lot better. His fecal was clear. Urine showed high glucose and ketones. Bloodwork showed high glucose still.

We've confirmed Diabetes. The urine is ketonic which would not happen with Fanconi but would with Diabetes. Though the concern is there that he could be a complicated case and we could be dealing with multiple issues including Fanconi. Treatment for diabetes will begin this evening.

The daily plan:

8am - Collect urine and test glucose level
8:15 - Feed 1/3 of daily food requirement
8:30 - Give insulin injection (amount will vary based on glucose levels)
6pm - Feed remaining 2/3 of daily food requirement
6:15 - Give insulin dosage.

In addition he is still to receive Sub-Q fluids as needed. We will be monitoring his hydration based on skin elasticity. While Boingo is drinking a LOT of water he is not staying hydrated and this gives us the continued concern of Fanconi.

Boingo's diet will be restricted to make sure he maintains a high protein/ high fiber / low carb diet.

He will continue to receive a daily dose of Sodium Bicarb. This will help counteract the kenotic state of his urine as well as assist if he's harboring Fanconi too.

We have Vitamin B to give as needed to assist with his eating.

We'll continue his eye ointment through Saturday.

 

[redtailgal]

Well, its not a great diagnosis, but it could have been alot worse.

Once you and he get a routine established, this should be easy peazy.

 

[elevan]

We'll be taking him in for bloodwork every 3 days until his blood glucose is able to stabilize.

Once the blood glucose stabilizes will be better able to determine if the urine glucose is a sign of Fanconi or not. Then there's the weird skin... :/ One step at a time though.

I'm happy with where we're at right now. Not happy with the cost mind you (Humalin is $70 a vial and will last us about a month), but I love Boingo dearly so he's worth it.

Plus I'm able to learn some more from this and my vet has learned a lot too. He's digging in to researching Fanconi now.

It makes me feel good to know that he's getting better daily. The vet assured me that I did the right things prior to bringing him in and that if I hadn't had the knowledge that I had with my goats to do those things that he would have either have been hospitalized or put down. So yay for goats and their problems for teaching me a few things over the years!

 

[elevan]

I just gave Boingo his first dose of insulin. Those teeny weeny needles make it so easy to give, he didn't even flinch. I took the risk of not muzzling him since the needle was so small...thank goodness it paid off. He didn't even seem to know that I stuck him.

Here's hoping that my baby starts feeling better right away!

Oh, and I put together a diabetic log book for dogs to keep track of things for my vet. It was just for my purposes but I made it available to all if anyone else has a diabetic dog then you can get it at the same place as my other books....just view the Author Spotlight.


In other farm news -

I had to wrangle some chickens and guineas tonight who said that there was absolutely no way that they were coming out of the barn to go through that mass of white stuff to get to the coop!!!

We've got snow coming down. They said no accumulation but we've already got a couple of inches - go figure.

As I was wrangling birds out of the main barn I heard a ruckus in the building that Daisy and the kids are in...ruckus as in a bird screaming. I went to the window between the building to see Daisy send Helga (a Salmon Faverolle hen) flying! Daisy head butted her through the air. As soon as she hit the ground Helga ran back to where she had been and hunkered down. This happened 3 times before I could get in there to rescue Helga. Poor girl. She's ok though.

Speaking of Daisy and the twins...they are about 4 weeks old now and Daisy has almost completely weaned them! I can't believe it. She has then eating alfalfa pellets like they're going out of style, eating hay and grass, drinking lots of water. She does let them nurse but she's in weaning mode.

We are going through copious amounts of hay. I know it's because of the steer, but man it's a TON more than I expected. I think I'm gonna see about arranging for some round bales and figure out a way to get them to the field. We don't have a tractor or a bobcat. We've got a friend who has let us use his bobcat before when he's in town, but I don't think he's around right now. I'm probably gonna have to look into a tractor at some point.

 

[elevan]

Bunch of snow on the ground and DH is busy hauling warm water to the barn. So another day that the critters are gonna refuse to leave the barns.

I promised to make pancakes when he comes back in. I feel bad for not being able to help but after that fall and my hand getting tore up...most of the pain is on my right side and I'm right handed. DH asked me to get him a glass of milk the other day and I had it in my hand and then my hand just released it...milk everywhere. :/

Boingo still had a good Sub-Q pocket of fluid this morning from last nights infusion. That means that his hydration level is where it needs to be. Yay! He's still weak and tired but getting more "spunk" slowly. Second dose of insulin this morning. Now I have to watch for a blood glucose drop mid afternoon (it may not happen but we have to be watchful of it).

Well...DH is back in. I'm off to make pancakes.