Probably one of the greatest bird dogs/pointers to lock up on point; I am fortunate to be the one that feeds him and take care of him.
He is a little tri-colored French-Brittany named Poncho who has always been hell-bent on finding just one more bird. He is a brush buster that is too fearless and only cares for a few things in a simple little all-too-short life.

Anyway, last year he was struck ill and we found out he was Diabetic and came damn close to loosing him. His Pancreatitis number was hitting 220 and he went near comatose for two days 6 days after being put on an IV and flooded with fluids with additional shots all day. He pulled out after I snuck some pheasant feathers into the animal hospital and let him smell them. Guys, his eyes would not even dilate for a day to two days before when light was shined in them. Dr.s told me he had a 5% chance at best and that he should have gone into seizures days previous and flat-lined.
That is when I snuck the feathers in.
Earlier that day, in the morning, I went off on a nurse because she acted like he was a cheaper animal in that he was a hunter. HA! She got an ear full that she never expected and I let her know she was in the company of greatness when she stood next to his little frail body, (he lost over 50% of his weight).
Anyway...little fella got a nose full of the feathers and I whispered in his ear that we would go chase the birdies if he would get up.
Poncho looked at me and his eyes narrowed and he picked his head up. Again, he was almost comatose for near two days prior! Yes sir, I got teary eyed when he did that.
I got a call the next morning and the Dr. who told me he had maybe a 5% chance said he turned a corner and was improving.

Two days later and he walked out on his own, the total bill was embarrassing. I asked them when would be a good time to allow him to get out and chase birds with me. They said six months to a year.
Two weeks later we were bird hunting like nothing happened.
He built his body weight back up and his strength too.

Two shots a day of insulin and a year later and he has gone almost totally blind.
It sucks to see such a great dog go slowly like this.
He is adapting as he always has, but I know it is the slide down.

Just curious if any other members out there have had similar situations with their dogs and how long they lasted after these stages.

Best to all.

Adam

I am betting this stuff is caused by corn/grain based dog foods.

That's an interesting comment. Any idea how to define good dog foods from poor dog foods? Does one find accurate labels on dog food?
I'm in the industrial packaging business and was talking to a sales prospect a year ago on the phone and he told me he doesn't package anything. He has "co-packers" he contracts with who produce his dog food and this is at several plants in various parts of the US and he just markets the product. I'm so leery of sourcing for foods that I'm hesitant to believe most companies claims.

For these reasons (unknown Comm'l dogfood) and because I've rescued 2 Gordons with special needs and expensive Rx diets. I've moved to Raw people grade meat only. See my other posts on this subject. I've seen tremendous improvement in my rescues with this vs rx diets.

Adam
You didn't say how old Poncho is.
Will they be cutting back on the insulin?
Don't know your home situation but I have always had more than one dog. A hard charger like Poncho will wear himself out in a day or two. Has he been bred?
A dog can't live long because they give so much they just wear themselves out. My lab's would kill themselves retrieving if you didn't stop them. A 70 lb. animal with a 65 lb. heart.

lways have fed Poncho what I thought the best food.
Most of his life I fed him wellness brand venison and rice. I also fed him venison I shot and rice and various other ingedients.
I always fealt I was doing him the best I could.

Brad, thanks, I know what you mean by the 65 pund heart. Poncho is the same. I have had dogs all my life and I knew very early in his life this is the dog I would always remember seperate from all others. As silly as it sounds, it is true. He was just too damn much in all ways.
He was hell-on-wheels and unbreakable. He ate the wood furniture, yes a lot of dogs do, but I put tobasco on the chair legs and he freak out and licked his face and then went back to lick off all the remaining tobasco from all the legs!
He then came over and started biting my pants legs. He was only four months old then.

So, Poncho being his name, I got out some Tequila. Yes he did indeed drink that too.

Poncho's Rebel Run is his full name and I could not have ever picked a better name if I knew him for 20 years and of course that name was picked when he was weeks old.

He is now almost 10.

I had him fixed when he was young thinking it would calm down his agression, it did not, and it is my greatest regret concerning him.

I called about his litter mates several times to see if they developed like he did. They were all average to good hunters. None had the desire or the reckless I dont give a shit attitude-I will hunt, that he does/did.

He actually went through a plate glass window when he was younger to get at the bird feeders full of birds. He some how did not get hurts. The window was shattered. God love em!

I have hunted over some greats. Some were friends dogs or a friend of a friend. Some were at hunting lodges.
He is the best I will know and not because he is/was mine, but because of the unbelievable things he did when we hunted.

I'm guessing that all these conditions are due to a problem with the pancreas...would explain the diabetes and then the resultant loss of peripheral circulation (blindness). I'm guessing here but I'm thinking a cancer or growth, abscess affecting the pancreas. Sorry to hear it...

Adam
Went through a plate glass window! I would have paid good money to see that!!!
Don't feel to bad about having him fixed. It sounds like Poncho was one of a kind. Good blood helps, but I've seen litters thrown from the best of dogs turn out to be plugs.
If there is a teaching hospital near by maybe they could help. Not to say anything bad about your Vet, but where I live if the local Vets can't help, LSU is only an hour and a half drive, and where they teach they welcome a challenge.
My Pete and your Poncho would most likely get along. Last year a friend bought a couple of sacks of oysters and we put them on the grill at my shop. After we had our fill one of the guys threw Pete a raw oyster which he ate right up. Some one else said "see if he likes them with Tobasco". Never saw him beg like that before. He ended up eating more oysters with Tobasco than any one of us.
One of my best friends is a pro trainer. I spend a lot of time with him and I see a lot of dogs. The drive you say Poncho has is more rare than you think. Most people never have the chance to get a dog like that. It sounds like you were really blessed.

Please tell me more about the Teaching Hospital.

Adam,

If your state has a veterinary school, they have a "teaching" hospital. Even if they don't, they likely have a referral center in a larger city where you would have several boarded vets. that specialize in things like internal medicine, eyes, surgery, etc. Neither option is cheap, but both give you more options than your local vet. can provide mainly due to having more advanced equipment available. Your local vet. should be able to provide you with the nearest referal center in the area (if not PM me and I can help you locate one.)

As for the concerns about dog food, pick one that meets AAFCO standards at minimum, and preferably one that states it has been fed to actual animals for testing (most of your high end "natural" foods don't advertise either which is why vets. won't recommend them-doesn't mean they're bad, just not made to any standard specs.)

All meat diets are bad for both cats and dogs. They need a balanced diet just like we do which most foods provide (in general you get what you pay for though.) Cats must have meat, dogs can actually be vegetarians, but again balanced diets are best (think of it as what happens when a carnivore eats a wild herbivore-they eat the intestines (full of grain/grass), meat, and bone which makes a balanced diet, and yes dogs in the wild eat grains/grass via what's in their prey's intestine which is what negates the corn/wheat=bad argument people make.)

Issues like pancreatitis and blindnesss can be due to a variety of issues, with dog food generally not being one of them (with pancreatitis it is more likely they have gotten into the trash...)

Regards,

Adam
What bobhanson1 said. It's nice having someone who knows what they are talking about jump in. I am the last one you need to ask for medical advice.
The only thing I might not agree on is taking your dog to LSU (which is local to me in Baton Rouge)is usually not any more expensive than a regular Vet.
Good luck with Poncho and keep us informed.