Meet Darcy. Darcy is an 11-year-old Dachshund who was diagnosed with diabetes in 2018.
Diabetes is a disorder where either the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, or the body does not respond to insulin produced. This results in high blood glucose levels (or high blood sugar), which impacts other systems in the body.
Once diagnosed, Darcy’s diabetes was quickly treated and controlled. He remained a happy boy for the next couple of years and then, during a routine dental procedure in early 2020, it was discovered that he was developing signs suggesting his diabetes was no longer well controlled and was getting worse.
Darcy was getting frequent skin infections, itchy sore eyes, had increased his water intake and urination, and had a urinary tract infection. These signs can be an indication of other things as well as being side effects of diabetes. Blood testing confirmed that Darcy’s diabetes was not being managed with his current level of insulin. After a poor response to increases of his insulin dose, it was time to look elsewhere for a reason why his insulin was no longer controlling his diabetes.
After a few more tests, we found a mass in his spleen that was slowly bleeding. Not only could this be making Darcy’s diabetes worse, but if the mass was a nasty tumour it could easily spread to other parts of his body.
Darcy’s pet parents made the difficult decision to undergo surgery and remove his spleen.
Darcy was such a brave boy during his surgery and, with the care and love of his mum, dad and brother, made a very quick recovery.
It was found that the splenic mass was a benign tumour, and everyone involved was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
He was so much happier and more energetic on subsequent visits to the clinic and kept getting better and better as the days went by.
After the surgery things kept improving for our little man Darcy. His eyes and skin improved drastically, his energy levels increased, and his urinary tract infection was cleared.
The great news is, now that Darcy’s complications have been resolved, we can gain control of his diabetes.