Insulinoma

[africandreams]

Has anyone had experiences with Insulinoma? I am highly supsective our dog has one, he has had 2 episodes of extreme weakness to the point of collapse (still remained conscious) First time rushed to vet as it was suspected heat stroke. His BG was very low, so an Insulin test was performed which came back normal. This vet (not our normal vet, just the closest at the time) said he would be fine after and nothing to worry about.

I wasn't convinced, took him to my reg vet for a fasting BG a week later, and was only 2.3. Liver panel done and came back all normal.

Requested to reffered to specialist, fasting BG low again (2.8) ACTH stim test done to rule out Addisons, Insulin test done (came back normal)

Abdominal ultraound performed, it is possible there was a small tumour which wasn't able to be seen on US due to gas. However nothing abnormal noted.

He has just had an episode on the weekend, very weak, couldnt walk, shaking. He recovered shortly after, and had honey rubbed on his gums and was given a small meal.

Has anyone had a dog with Insulinoma? How did you manage this?

Edited February 18, 2014 by africandreams

[Guest Ams]

My Shar Pei "Askari" was diagnosed with insulanoma in 2012. I caught it much earlier than a lot of people do, before she started collapsing as I noticed some "not quite right" behaviours. She would appear confused, disoriented or light headed at times or would lose balance and stumble at odd times. She had an ultrasound and nothing was detected. The specialist wanted to do surgery and manually palpate the pancreas as the tiny tumours can apparently be felt like tiny grains of sand, but there was a high risk of her developing pancreatitis. I elected not to have surgery as if something was to go wrong it would given her breed.

She had several tests done at different times of the day (ie just after a meal, an hour after a meal, several hours after a meal) that showed her glucose levels were very low and insulin levels high regardless of whether she had just eaten or if it was an hour or two after a meal. I'm sorry but I haven't kept her test results so I can't share those with you. In the absence of anything else, she was diagnosed with insulanoma.

I didn't really do anything differently. She was supposed to be fed small meals often but she refused to eat them unless they were high value treats. Feeding her these meant she put on a lot of weight. I just let her live as she wanted, didn't expect her to participate in any exercise and let her enjoy her time.

I gave her her wings when she started refusing to come into my room and sleep on my bed as she had done all her life. Her behaviours indicated she was no longer comfortable in the pack anymore and she was showing she was scared of the other ogs. The other dogs had also started to bully her as they could sense she was ill. I did not wait until she was having seizures because in pack if she had seizured and I wasn't home they would more than likely have killed her. She no longer showed enjoyment on outings and withdrew into herself. To look at she still looked completely healthy but she was tired, lethargic and it wasn't hard to see she actually wasn't enjoying life anymore. A few people speculated had she been an only dog I would have been able to keep her with me longer and that probably is true but the decision to euthanise her was not made lightly and was made in her best interests given the factors at play at that time.

I doubt this will give you any help in managing your boy sorry.

[essentialdog]

My Shar Pei "Askari" was diagnosed with insulanoma in 2012. I caught it much earlier than a lot of people do, before she started collapsing as I noticed some "not quite right" behaviours. She would appear confused, disoriented or light headed at times or would lose balance and stumble at odd times. She had an ultrasound and nothing was detected. The specialist wanted to do surgery and manually palpate the pancreas as the tiny tumours can apparently be felt like tiny grains of sand, but there was a high risk of her developing pancreatitis. I elected not to have surgery as if something was to go wrong it would given her breed.

She had several tests done at different times of the day (ie just after a meal, an hour after a meal, several hours after a meal) that showed her glucose levels were very low and insulin levels high regardless of whether she had just eaten or if it was an hour or two after a meal. I'm sorry but I haven't kept her test results so I can't share those with you. In the absence of anything else, she was diagnosed with insulanoma.

I didn't really do anything differently. She was supposed to be fed small meals often but she refused to eat them unless they were high value treats. Feeding her these meant she put on a lot of weight. I just let her live as she wanted, didn't expect her to participate in any exercise and let her enjoy her time.

I gave her her wings when she started refusing to come into my room and sleep on my bed as she had done all her life. Her behaviours indicated she was no longer comfortable in the pack anymore and she was showing she was scared of the other ogs. The other dogs had also started to bully her as they could sense she was ill. I did not wait until she was having seizures because in pack if she had seizured and I wasn't home they would more than likely have killed her. She no longer showed enjoyment on outings and withdrew into herself. To look at she still looked completely healthy but she was tired, lethargic and it wasn't hard to see she actually wasn't enjoying life anymore. A few people speculated had she been an only dog I would have been able to keep her with me longer and that probably is true but the decision to euthanise her was not made lightly and was made in her best interests given the factors at play at that time.

I doubt this will give you any help in managing your boy sorry.

How terribly sad. I don't know what i'd do without my dog. I admire you for doing what was in her best interests.

[Rappie]

I have treated a few dogs with insulinomas. The articles that I've read most recently have suggested that although surgery for a partial pancreatectomy remains the gold standard, the survival time with prednisolone only is longer than previously thought, and more favourable than the other medical treatments that have been used.

Feel free to PM me or ask questions here - if I don't respond though just shoot me a PM to let me know you've posted

[JackieW]

I had a dog with insulinoma, Jamie. I first became worried about him in April 2007 after a couple of episodes of wobbling after light exercise in the garden. My vet had two thoughts initially, insulinoma or gundog exercise intolerance (can't remember what it's called) and Jamie was referred to a specialist and then operated on June 2007. He recovered well from the operation and was OK until April 2008 when he started getting wobbly again. He then went on prednisilone and then diazoxide in January 2009. Unfortunately the pred didn't agree with him and he started having skin problems and his BG just kept dropping. He was pretty miserable and started having problems with his back legs so unfortunately he was pts on 11 June 2009, two months past his 12th birthday and just past the specialist's original prognosis of two years.

During the course of the illness he never lost his appetite or had to change his diet (raw). I just used to feed him three or four meals a day instead of the usual two.

There's an email group on yahoogroups called insulinomadogs if you want to join them. I was on the list for a couple of years and we'd share any info from our vets, or articles or whatever. There's another Aussie on there who joined fairly recently but I'm not on the list myself anymore. I think there's a Facebook page too, or there was.