Angel Gypsy

[maddierogers]

Hi-new to forum and canine diabetes. My dog was well regulated but we are having problems now (several days). Can anyone tell me what Glucose reading would be an emergency? I am using the alphaTrak2. Thank you.

[CraigM]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Welcome to the forum. I think this is a "every dog is different" sort of thing. Annie has had a few readings on the AlphaTrak in the low 50s, and didn't have any problems. Of course we would never aim for readings anywhere near this low! I've seen charts that state below 40 is hypo territory. I think most would agree the lowest reading shouldn't be much below 100. I use 100-225 as my goal, others suggest 150 as the lowest. I've never seen a hypo incident, but understand it can be very scary, and potentially harmful. Whenever Annie shows below around 80ish she gets honey to get her up, followed by a bit of food.

Tell us about your pup. How big is he? What BG numbers do you typically see? What number caused you to ask this question? You know how to raise the BGs (honey, corn syrup, etc.).

I'm sure others will have opinions!

[CraigM]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Just re-read your post and realize you didn't mention if you were worried about low, or high numbers. Are you seeing low (below 100ish), or high (over 500ish)?

Are you testing several times per day as in a "curve", or just single spot checks?

Craig


Oops again! You did say "hyperglycemia" (high readings).

[CraigM]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Guess I've blown my credibility by not reading your post fully

I'll start over. Tell us about your dog. Weight, type of insulin, dosage, food, any other medical conditions / medications? Do you have a "curve", or readings, you can post?

[Patty]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

I think Craig covered the basis of questions, LOL.

I would be concerned about sustained high blood sugar. Testing with Ketostix to be sure there are any ketones present in the urine. Anything more than trace would be considered an emergency.

Infections can raise blood sugar. I would want to check for underlying reasons for changes in blood sugar patterns.

Welcome to you!
Patty

[Shellie]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Welcome to you and your pup! Can't wait to find out more!

I think most of us get alert when it starts to creep under 100 and I know I generally will give something on anything below that. I've had several times with 30 or so but Hank has shown no symptoms. I still went ahead with the karo and a snack. Hypos...if ever...should be unusual events that happen rarely. It's important to keep them above 100 routinely.

[maddierogers]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Welcome to the forum. I think this is a "every dog is different" sort of thing. Annie has had a few readings on the AlphaTrak in the low 50s, and didn't have any problems. Of course we would never aim for readings anywhere near this low! I've seen charts that state below 40 is hypo territory. I think most would agree the lowest reading shouldn't be much below 100. I use 100-225 as my goal, others suggest 150 as the lowest. I've never seen a hypo incident, but understand it can be very scary, and potentially harmful. Whenever Annie shows below around 80ish she gets honey to get her up, followed by a bit of food.

Tell us about your pup. How big is he? What BG numbers do you typically see? What number caused you to ask this question? You know how to raise the BGs (honey, corn syrup, etc.).

I'm sure others will have opinions!

Hi to all and thank you for all the quick replies! Yes, it was HYPERglycemia I was interested in .... but, love all the responses regardless. A little about Gypsy -- she is 9 years old and has a myriad of health problems including diabetes (diagnosed in June). She is deaf from a disease called Primary Secretory Otitis Media, has Mitral Valve Disease (between 4 and 5), has severe food allergies and environmental allergies, dry eye syndrome, a collapsing trachea and chronic bronchitis. Now, that sounds awful ...but, she has incredible vets (dermatologist, GP, Optho, etc.) and has been treated at Ohio State and currently at NC State. If you met her, you would not even know she was deaf or sick at all. She is a lover and a fighter and I have never known a braver, more loving soul. She was a genetic anamoly -- I have her half sister too and she is perfectly healthy ... Anyway, we have been having a hard time over the past week and a half. She has very hard nights lately, is waking up and is dehyrated and has high BGC readings. This is a new thing for us. I just sit there helpless and don't know what to do. she is on 5.5-6 units of NPH. She doesn't have ketones in urine, but is showing high blood sugar readings (between 500 and 1000).
Again, thank you so much for all the help and quick responses. All of you are incredible to offer your time and assistance. I really needed a reconfirmation of the kindness of people today -- you all gave that to me. I am so grateful. I will go into the Vet first thing Monday morning and wasn't convinced until last night that this wasn't going to be a transient thing. Maddie

[Shellie]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Hey Maddie! Glad we can be here to support you! This is tough enough without having to go it alone!

Understood on the hyper vs hypo. I think most folks aim for a 100 to 250 range....I'm happy with anything in the 150 to 300 range.

I wonder if anything has changed for your pup. Could be something like a UTI or a small infection somewhere. Not sneaking extra food? I think a vet visit would be a great idea. I think of dogs like cars sometimes...they need to go in for adjustments now and again! LOL Would be great if we could give them one dose and that would be the same forever but sadly, does not work that way!

Please let us know how the visit goes...we'll try to offer other ideas as well and a shoulder to lean on! Hugs!

[k9diabetes]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Have you checked her blood sugar into the evening to see if this is constant high blood sugar or is perhaps a rebound from a low?

The general list of things to consider when you have a sudden change in blood sugar includes...

- UTI or other infection

- new inflammation or allergy - arthritis, eye inflammation - pretty much any kind of infection, inflammation, or allergy will raise blood sugar.

- bad bottle of insulin if you started a new one recently (especially with the heat wave, the insulin can be damaged sitting on a loading dock, etc.)

- new bottle that is much stronger for some reason, causing lows / rebound

- problems with the injection site getting scarred and not absorbing insulin well

- insulin needs to be adjust up or down - down if she's rebounding, up if she needs more for some reason

- although she's used up most of the available illnesses ( ), something new like hypothyroidism, Cushing's disease, inflammatory arthritis, etc.

Is it happening only at night?

Natalie

[maddierogers]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Hi again!
I am not sure if I am posting correctly. I edited my last post and added more information about Gypsy so I hope it is understandable--here it goes:
Hi to all and thank you for all the quick replies! Yes, it was HYPERglycemia I was interested in .... but, love all the responses regardless. A little about Gypsy -- she is 9 years old, weighs 23-24 lbs and has a myriad of health problems along with diabetes (diagnosed in June). She is deaf from a disease called Primary Secretory Otitis Media, has Mitral Valve Disease (between 4 and 5), has severe food and environmental allergies, dry eye syndrome, a collapsing trachea and chronic bronchitis. Now, that sounds awful ...but, she has incredible vets (dermatologist, GP, Optho, etc.) and has been treated at Ohio State and currently at NC State and she has a very good quality of life and is a happy dog. If you met her, you would not even know she was deaf or had these health problems at all. She is a lover and a fighter and I have never known a braver, more loving soul. I have her half sister too and she is perfectly healthy ... Anyway, we have been having a hard time over the past week and a half. She has very hard nights lately, is waking up and is dehyrated and has high BG readings. This is a new thing for us as she has been pretty well controlled through the month of July. I just sit there helpless and don't know what to do. She is on 5.5-6 units of NPH 2 times daily with her meal. She doesn't have ketones in urine, but is showing high blood sugar readings (between 500 and 1000) on the Keto-Diastix. We did a curve today and the readings began at 6:20 am before her first meal and shot and were as follows (all 2 hours apart):
132 / 155 / 204 / 401 / 298 / 274 (last one was at 4:20). I just tested her and she is at 169 at 10 pm Saturday night. If tonight goes like last night, she may wake up anxious anywhere around 2:30-3:30 am. When I take her readings they are different each time but within a range of 215-365. She is also consistently dehydrated (dry and pale gums). She is on additional medications for her other problems -- cyclosporin (Atopica) for allergies, Enalapril for heart and an eye drop (Falcon neomycin, polymyxin and Dexamethasone. We are going to withold the enalapril and eye drops in the morning to see if that has any positive effect. Her allergies are so difficult that stopping the Atopica would be detrimental to her. We maintain a "to-the-minute" schedule with her insulin dosing and are consistent with her food and exercise. We have studied shot techniques to make sure we do it correctly and also to maximize delivery and we have a fairly new bottle of insulin (opened 7-27 and kept in fridge). We use the AlphaTrak2 and calibrated recently. Her meals and shot are given at 6:30 am and 6:30 pm every day with the 5.5-6 units.

I will go into the Vet first thing Monday morning -- just wanted to know if other folks have seen this and how they handled/worked out getting their BG values down. I am not sure, but is it possible that the insulin is taking too long to hit its Nadir? It almost looks as though it takes 12 hours. And, if your dog wakes up in the night and seems upset and the BG is in the 300's, what do you do?

Again, thank you so much for all the help and quick responses. All of you are incredible to offer your time and assistance. I am so grateful.

[maddierogers]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Hi Natalie and Shellie,

Thank you for your help -- it is so appreciated!

Natalie, yes! -- we need to do a curve through the night like you are suggesting. Thank you! Problem is, this our 3rd month with Gypsy’s diabetes and we didn't realize how fast we would go through the glucose test strips. We had enough to do a mini-curve from 6 am to 4 pm today and now, I only have 1 of the AlphaTrak strips left until a new order comes in from our Vet’s office. So, it may be a few days before I can do a night curve with the AlphaTrak. But, I do have a Breeze 2 I could use tonight or tomorrow night and test to see what is happening (it just will not be as accurate as the AlphaTrak) but it would still show a rebound off the lows, right?) I don't know anything about re-bounding so I will need to read more so I understand it better. Based on all the testing that we have done, though, we don't usually see low readings so it may not be rebounding but we can't rule that out at all and we will get a good night curve as soon as we can. I would say I will get it tonight, but, I am so sleep deprived that I am not sure if I can do it.

It is happening only at night in the way that she seems so very uncomfortable. So much so that she wants me to do something but I am not even sure what it is that she wants. It isn't water or to go potty ... it is either hunger or just plain discomfort I believe. Would BG readings in the 350's cause a dog to be uncomfortable and not be able to sleep?

I did an at-home UTI test on her earlier and it was negative, but it could still be one and the test just isn't sensitive enough. She doesn't go extra potty when she has a UTI, so testing is the only way to know.

Yes, with Gypsy she could have any number of new inflammatory conditions. She is breathing a little bit worse today, so maybe it is allergic bronchitis from seasonal allergies. We have azaleas blooming right now and other late Summer plants coming out.

I will go back and check my notes and see if all this started with the new insulin bottle, too. All of your ideas are great! Can you tell me, do either of your pups act as if they are in discomfort with readings in the 250-300 range? I don't know if that is normal for a diabetic dog or not. In other words, she seems very upset even when her level is 250, for example. I keep reading that there are so many dogs do great on insulin and are back to their old selves, but Gypsy is not anywhere near as good as she was before the diabetes and I see only glimpses now and then of how she was and it is usually when her readings are in the 150 range. Because she has so many chronic illnesses, she slept more than most dogs; but, when she would take a little walk or love on folks, she looked like she felt great. Now, she basically sleeps almost all of the time during the day. With her discomfort at night, it is breaking my heart because I don't know how to make her feel better ...

[maddierogers]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Hi Patty, Thank you so much for the insight and help. Your Ali is precious, btw. OK -- that is good to know about the ketones. So far, we have never had ketones. So, if we are having a bad weekend or late night, for example, and I test and she has ketones, we just go right into the Vet after hours service? Is it time critical too (as in minutes)?

[maddierogers]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Hi Craig,

Thank you so much for the help. Big hug to Annie -- sooo cute!!!

I am so new that I don't even know how to post yet ... but, I tried to answer your questions and I believe they may be tied to responses to Shelly and Natalie. If you are able to see some of the history of my pup Gypsy and have any insight, please let me know or if I can answer any other questions. I cannot thank you enough. This is a wonderful forum -- with people that actually care! Thank you.

[CraigM]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Wondering if your vet has good prices on the AlphaTrak2 test strips? Here is where I've recently bought strips:

http://search.americandiabeteswholes...20test%20strip

Also, do you know about the Walmart ReliOn Humulin-N for $24.99? Syringes at Walmart are 100 for about $12.

[Shellie]

Re: What level is an emergency in hyperglycemia

Hi Patty, Thank you so much for the insight and help. Your Ali is precious, btw. OK -- that is good to know about the ketones. So far, we have never had ketones. So, if we are having a bad weekend or late night, for example, and I test and she has ketones, we just go right into the Vet after hours service? Is it time critical too (as in minutes)?

Anything over a trace on ketones is considered a critical emergency. It's one of the things that can kill a diabetic and sadly, it's not a pleasant way to go. Some dogs have more of a tendency to drop ketones at different blood levels. Most dogs will get them if they remain in the very high ranges...over 400 or so. But again...every dog is different. My Hank ended up in the hospital with ketoacidosis for four days at diagnosis. It's serious so that is why we always try to keep ketodiastix around for those times when we suspect a problem or when their glucose runs high for a bit.

Also had a suggestion....two actually. Strips for a lot of the meters can be gotten on ebay or Amazon for some pretty good prices...it seriously pays to shop around. Other suggestion is to consider getting a secondary meter like the OneTouchUltra which tends to run pretty close to the AlphaTrak. That way you always will have a good backup if you run into a problem.

I have five...Craig has entirely too many! LMAO Of course....he'll tell you they BELONG to Annie! LOL