Insulinoma - Page 1

Has anyone any experiance of this in a dog or had a dog diagnosed with it?

Any information greatly received.

Thanks

Not very common; I've only known of a single case in the 30 years I've been involved in veterinary medical care, and that did not end well, as the dog had a very bad time of it post-op and the owners chose to release her from the struggle she was having with acute pancreatitis.  Based on what I've read regarding this type of cancer, that case actually seems to be unusual in how negatively the dog was affected post-surgically, however.   

The effects of the disease can be managed medically for a little while, but surgery is considered best option to give dog a decent quality of life; 90% of these tumors are malignant, and they are most often highly metastatic, the liver being a favorite place for the cancer to recur. 

Important post-surgical side effects are the development of chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic insufficiency.

REALLY need to have a veterinary oncologist on board if treating surgically instead of just managing effects, even if it's just as a long-distance consultant to your own general practice vet.

There is a Yahoo! support group active for owners of dogs diagnosed with the condition; like the EPI support group, it will likely be a valuable research for picking up tips on managing the dog through whichever option is chosen (manage effects only, surgery + manage effects, or surgery, manage effects + chemotherapy).  The group is   Insulinomadogs

Some additional info for you:

http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/student-theses/2010-0104-200136/VerslagMJRooijakkers.pdf

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=3181&S=2

Wishing for a good outcome for whosever dog this question is in reference to, be it yours or someone else's, AmbiGSD.

Thanks for the info Hexe

We are waiting on a definate diagnosis but it's all pointing towards it.

It isn't looking good, we've been battling for almost 3 weeks now since his initial collapse, but finding the balance of sugar is getting more difficult.

He's booked in for an ultrasound tuesday so we'll see what that throws up.