I have a 13 yr old bichon who has been diabetic for 3.5 yrs - I also had another bichon who was diagnosed as diabetic at 12. Neither dog was ever fed anything but premium dog food - the older one was overweight however the younger one never was. At one time I was giving the older one 30+ units of insulin 2x day. I had to put him down at 14.5 due to a seizure that left him with brain problems, blindness etc. I have been managing my current dog as best as I can - we had to switch from vetsulin (after FDA) shut them down to humulin n - which didnt work very well at all. His cataracts got worse and he is "legally blind". Last Aug my vet attended a conference and found out about good results with humulin 70/30 - 30 being the fast acting and 70 long acting. If anyone is having the same problems as I explained, talk to your vet about the 70/30 insulin, it has really helped.

Oscars cataracts are bad, but he is able to get around in our house fairly well, it is just a problem when we visit outside the house. We have opted not to do the surgery as he is 13 and we are not sure if he would survive the surgery - he also had a calcified pancreas as a result of the diabetes but we have flair ups at time but for the most part he is doing well, we keep him comfortable and enjoy him.

I have read that diabetes runs in the bichon breed, would be intersted in hearing from other dog or bichon owners if they have this disease.