Our miniature fox terrier Bella was recently diagnosed with an insulinoma. It started with what appeared to be random muscle spasms but only in the evening. After a consult at our regular vets it was decided we would try her on a joint supplement and go from there. We had decided to book her in for a dental surgery not long after.
The day after her surgery she had a seizure so we rushed her up to Seaside Vets. They ran some blood tests and found that Bella had extremely low blood glucose. They told us of their suspicions of an insulinoma which is a mass on the pancreas that produces insulin. They then referred us to SASH Adelaide.
We realised the other clues like her not quite being balanced late in the afternoon but being fine after dinner. We managed her condition in the meantime feeding her every 6 hours to avoid anymore seizures.
We had our appointment at SASH a couple of weeks later (we live in the country and it is a 2hr drive) the Dr advised us that a CT scan would be the best way to determine a diagnosis along with some blood tests. He went over absolutely everything explaining that he suspected an insulinoma and even different stages and plans of attack for each potential outcome. We decided to go ahead with the scan and a couple of days later we had a diagnosis. It was confirmed Bella had an insulinoma.
We booked her in for surgery as the best course of treatment in her case was removal of the mass. She had her surgery and stayed a couple of nights with the SASH Adelaide team. They removed the mass and her glucose level only spiked once during her stay. It was the best outcome we could have hoped for. We will still keep an eye on her glucose levels going forward but so far she is going very well she’s back to her normal pre seizure diet and is back to being a super energetic little dog.
