Ginny (F) -- Diabetes

Addisons · Cushings · Diabetes
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Tracis

Post   » Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:57 pm


Name: Ginny
Sex: female, intact
Age at onset: about 15 months of age

Age at death: about 4 years

General history: Ginny was purchased from Petco at a young age, in February, 2006. Her exact age is unknown. She was frequently ill during the first year of her life (two UTIs and two URIs) and treated with a course of Baytril for the first three illnesses, and Bactrim for the last UTI. She began showing signs of possible diabetes in February, 2007.

Signs of illness:
- visible cataract in left eye (early onset)
- frequent URIs and UTIs
- weight loss
- anorexia
Note: Ginny always drank a lot of water, and urinated frequently as well, so these were not obvious symptoms at the time.

Veterinary tests:
- bloodwork
- urinalysis
- x-ray (to rule out other possibilities)

Bloodtest results:
- Glucose reading: 519
- AST level: 384
* See link at bottom, for Physiologic Norms page

Veterinary diagnosis: Diabetes

Treatment: Controlled by strict diet

Ginny's New Diet:
- unlimited timothy hay
- unlimited bluegrass hay
- 1/8 cup Timothy Choice Pellets, KMsHayloft
- 1/2 cup mixed red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce, twice daily (total 1 cup per day)
- 2 small 1-inch squares of red or orange bell pepper, twice daily as a treat (total 4 small 1-inch squares per day)
- 1/2 grape tomato, as a treat
- occasional Oxbow Critter Berry, as a treat
Note: Ginny seems to be very sensitive to the quantity of vegetables, as well as the type of vegetable. Feeding her too many vegetables (or the kind that she cannot tolerate) will cause her to become lethargic and irritable.

Other conditions:
- Hepatic Lipidosis (fatty liver disease)


Conclusion:
February 12, 2010

During an exam in February 2010, the veterinarian discovered that Ginny had a heart murmur. She very was lightly sedated for x-rays to examine the size of her heart. She did not recover well from the sedation and died later the same day.

X-rays showed an enlarged heart and a large growth in her abdomen that was most likely an ovarian cyst. Her liver did not appear to be enlarged, and the vet mentioned that it had repaired itself since the original fatty liver diagnosis (hepatic lipidosis).

Her abdomen was full of fluid, and there was also fluid around the heart and lung area. The vet had planned to start her on heart medications.

She had a blood test prior to her death. Her glucose level was 198, and her AST level was 116. Although a necropsy was not performed, it does not appear that her death was related to diabetes.



See also:

Ginny's Medical Thread at Guinea Lynx

The Diabetes Link at Guinea Lynx

Guinea Lynx Medical Reference: Physiologic Norms

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