Diagnosed with Insulinoma

[Jerseyjaime]

My 4 year old male boxer, Homer, was just diagnosed with Insulinoma... I have read everything on the internet that is available but still have many more questions. Most importantly, there are never any comments regarding his pain level. We currently have him on a correct diet and Prednisone. We have a meeting with a surgeon tomorrow but I was looking for any information someone would be willing to share regarding the lifestyle of a boxer that had gone through this. I already notice a change in his attitude and energy level.

Any information would be great- It's breaking my heart to see my handsome man go through this.

Thanks,
Jaime

 

[Jerseyjaime]

Homer's story

I feel like I need to tell Homer's story regarding this horrible disease... We adopted him 2 1/2 years ago. He had a few head tremors throughout the years. Our vet said he was epileptic but it didn't seem so severe. We monitored and monitored but nothing ever came of it. Two eekends ago, he had a "drunk" episode- lost his legs, walked into walls, seemed blind, and unresponsive to his name. He had another small episode the next morning. For the next few days, he was fine. We went for our usual walks but near the end I was pulling him opposed to the normal walks which he needs to lead me everywhere. I new something was wrong when he walked by a cat and didn't give it a second glance (we have had some cat issues in the past =)) He had another severe episode Christmas eve. I hugged him and gave him some cheese. Christmas morning came the worse. I took him to the emergency Vet and his sugar was at 30... I seriously thought this was due to the epilepsy- they would give us some medication and he would keep on keeping on. When the vet said he had 3-6 months I couldn't even function. He had an ultrasound but it came up negative. I have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow... I am leaning towards no surgery- The prognosis isn't good either way. I think keeping up the diet and giving him solid months of being spoiled rotten is paying the greatest respect to his short life. My husband is in denial and I am killing myself reading everything possible to get as much information as I can. He is honestly the greatest dog I have evr encountered... I don't want to make the wrong choice. I want him to have the most comfortable life and not be selfish. I want to be strong for him. Thank you for listening =)

 

[boxers4life2001]

I would like to say how sorry I am that your baby was just diagnosed with an Insulinoma. I, unfortunately know first hand what you are going through. My girl Maddie was diagnosed with an insulinoma in August. Here is the link to my original thread. When she was diagnosed, I couldn't find to much info from people who have had to deal with it. Hopefully the link will work, if not do a search on hear for "insulinoma" and you will see it. http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135181&highlight=insulinoma

As you will see in my thread we tried surgery, thought we got tumor, but ended up not getting the tumor, we were unsuccessful. The tumor is still inside her. She has been on a low dose of pred since then, 5mg twice a day. She is VERY sensitive to drugs/meds so we had to decrease it to a lower dose. So far, knock on wood it seems to be working for her. I do check her glucose at home sometimes and it pretty much stays the same for the most part. We also started feeding her smaller meals every 3-4 hours to try to keep her glucose level stable and I believe this has helped a lot. Unfortunately if you saw my latest thread http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139028
she is not doing well right now (not because of the insulinoma but another reason.) I am afraid I am losing her. We had to discontinue the pred last weds after her GI bleed, not sure if we are going to try her back on it now or not, I am scared what might happen if she cannot be put back on it.

I'm just curious, how did you realize something was wrong with Homer? What tests did they do to confirm it was an insulinoma? What diet did they put him on? As far as pain, I really do not think it is painful. Maddie has never shown any signs of being uncomfortable/painful from it. I will be curious as to what the surgeon says to you tomorrow. I don't think this is very common in dogs so I am interested in what others who have/had to deal with it say.

Good Luck tomorrow, I will keep you baby in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us updated. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!!

 

[SweetCody]

I have no experience and no advice for you, but I do believe in the power of prayer and I have seen it work wonders on this site. So I am streaming loads of prayers and positive ((((vibes))))) to you and your sweet boy Homer.

 

[Gruntsmom]

My heart goes out to you and your precious Homer. I have no experience with insulinoma, but completely understand how driven you are to find out what you can do for your boy. I also understand that you do not want to put him through any procedures that may diminish the quality of his life. I hope that you find a treatment that will be kind to him. Loads of healing and positive vibes going out to Homer, and hugs to you both. Please keep us posted.

 

[Murp.mm]

I'm so very sorry to hear about your precious Homer. I know nothing about this horrible disease but will keep Homer in my prayers. Hugs.

 

[Jerseyjaime]

Thank you

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

Carrie-
Two weekends ago, we were in bed and he was trying to wake me up- all of a sudden, he fell off- which never happened. He got up and then keep losing his back legs. Then he walked into walls and appeared to be blind. This lasted aroung 30 minutes. The next morning he had a smaller episode of shaking. Then he was fine. On christmas Eve- he had two more similar episodes but not as large as the first. Then on Christmas, he lost his backlegs, shook, and was unresponsive. But prior to that- he had a few head tremors since we adopted him but they were far and few between. Our Vet said he was epileptic.

Honestly- there were no signs other than these episodes. I did notice he wasn't as aggressive on his walks and was sort of dragging and a few weeks prior, he was devouring his food- he previously was a grazer.

We had a glucoses/insulin blood test, an ultrasound, and chest X-Rays. The ultrasound and X-rays came out clean- they can't find anything. They based the diagnosis off of that one test.
The surgeon said he was a great candidate for surgeory but we are opting against it. Basically, we came to the conclusion that we don't know what the outcome will be after and we will eventually be in the same postion very quickly. We are planning on spoiling the crap out of him, staying home with him as much as possible, and making the rest of his days as comfortable and "normal" as possible.

Right now, we have him on a mixture of dry Pedigree, wet Pedigree, boiled chicken breast, and white rice. Small meals every three hours and many "cookies" (dog jerkey and dog bacon strips) I think I will be moving to Puppy food soon because I have read it has more protein.

I'm so sorry to hear about your Maddie- I have been crying hysterical for the past 5 days and he hasn't really shown any major signs yet. This is the hardest thing my Husband and I have ever faced and I pray and send you our support.

I'm sure your Maddie, like our Homer, is the sunshine of your life. Thank you for answering me back and if you have any suggestions or tried something that worked- let me know. I will be contacting Vet research facilities to see if there is any new medication or trial studies that our Vet isn't aware of. I'll let you know anything I find out.
Jaime and Homer =)

 

[boxers4life2001]

Jaime,

I know there is another drug that they can given when they have an insulinoma, I think it is to help regulate the glucose level. I know the doctor mentioned it when we realized the surgery was unsuccessful with removing the tumor. The doctor said she did not want to start Maddie on it right now because the pred seemed to be working, she wanted to save this drug as our "last resort" once we maxed out our pred dose and it was no longer working. I cannot remember the name of the drug but will ask about it when I go back to work next week. What dose of pred do they have Homer on? I feed Maddie Solid Gold food (regular) but after her diagnosis I added their specific high protein food (Solid Gold Barking at the Moon.) I mix the two together giving slightly less of the high protein food. I am scared to give just high protein alone because sometimes a high protein diet can cause some blood values to become increased. Some of her livers are already increased due to the pred. So far the diet, frequent meals and pred seem to be maintaing her well with the insulinoma for now. She LOVES eating every 3-4 hours!!! As of right now, it's not the insulinoma I fear losing her to, it's whatever else is going on with her currently that we can't seem to figure out. Not sure if you are already doing this but have you considered having an Internal Medicine Specialist (Internist) handle his care as far the insulinoma side of it? They have more experiance with the disease than a regular vet would.

Did they warn you about the possible side effects of the pred? Panting, increased thirst, increased urination, increased appetite. Ever since starting the pred, Maddie starting eating everything, ex. diapers, dish towel, paper towels, etc. so we have to be careful not to leave anything behind.

When she was first diagnosed in August, I honestly didn't think she was going to be here with us for Christmas, but she was (although she was in the hospital, having a blood transfusion, but as you know it was not because of the insulinoma.) I know it's hard, very hard but try to hang in there. Enjoy everyday you have with Homer. There are some cases where I read that some dogs lived for over a year on medicine, maybe Homer will be one of those lucky ones!!! I too searched everywhere and read everything once Maddie was diagnosed with it, I was not familiar with it until it struck us. Boxerworld prayers work wonders, don't give up!!! You and Homer will continue to be in my prayers. Please keep me updated on him. I will let you know about the other drug once I find out the name of it!!

 

[Jerseyjaime]

Carrie-

He is on 20mg a day... I think you are talking about dioxcide or something like that... They said it wouldn't do anything. Our local Vet is really good, being really helpful. The hospital we took him to will only discuss surgeory which I already said I wasn't keen on. They didn't discuss anything else. We are going to take him to the local Vet from now on. He eats like crazy- I think I am always over feeding him which I don't know is good or bad. He's hanging in there- still loves walks although they are now modified.

I hope Maddie is ok. It's so stressful to not know what the next day is going to be like. I feel like I am walking on eggshells because I don't know whats going to happen next. We had a really bad night on Weds. He threw up all night and refused to eat in the morning. He's alright now- don;'t know where that came from- maybe the pred.

He has been drinking insane amounts of water from the medication but hasn't gotten into anything. I'll be on the look out- thanks for the tip =)

Hugs and kisses from Homer to Maddie.

 

[boilerupking]

one of my girls was diagnosed with insulinoma years ago.
after months of taking her to the vet and recieving various diagnoses from heatstroke to a brain tumor, our vets office finally gave up and admitted that they could not give us a definitive diagnosis. they referred us to Purdue University's vet clinic, and we saw the top internists there.
she was diagnosed with a tumor on her pancreas that caused wild fluctuations in her insulin level. unfortunately, the tumor was inoperable.
she was prescribed prednizone, and they gave some great advice on diet and basic steps to maintain a good quality of life for her.
we became vigilant in watching for signs of her epileptic-like episodes which sound very much like the episodes you described in your baby. when an episode seemed to be eminent, we were instructed to give her a tablespoon of karo syrup to boost the sugar level in her blood, and that seemed to prevent a full-blown "seizure"
we also found a product at walgreen's in the diabetic supply section which worked very well. i can't remember the name offhand, but it was the same idea as the karo syrup, a thick gel loaded with sugar for an emergency. it was in a tube, and easier to get into her mouth quickly to help her recover as fast as she could.
you may also want to find another food for her, pedigree was actually exacerbating her condition as it was loaded with fillers and by-products and contained only a fraction of the nutrients she so desperately needed.
ask your vet if he can refer you to a specialist, perhaps they can guide you further, the one we saw was invaluable.
good luck with your baby, my heart goes out to you both.