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BY COPPERBADGER
Hello all,
I've been reading this forum for a couple months now, and just came across this post - I'm about 99% sure that this is the Carlie that I adopted (from Shelter from the Storm) about a month ago. Copperbadger, I know it was hard for you, but I have to say that I'm glad you returned her; despite her health problems, she is just the perfect dog for me. The shelter also told us that she was regulated, but after having a curve done it seems that that isn't the case. Now that we're all settled in with shots, I'm following the advice of the many helpful/wonderful people on this forum by looking into home glucose testing. My vet suggested that urine test strips would be sufficient - has anyone tried these?
Hi all,
I just adopted my first dog, Carlie. She's six and a half and a beagle mix, and really sweet. She was diagnosed as a very young puppy when she first entered the shelter (and was adopted in the interim before her previous owner could no longer care for her and surrendered her back).
Carlie wasn't particularly well-exercised or trained in the shelter, so I have been starting with both. The shelter said to keep her on the regimen she'd been on, do her new routine with me, and then bring her in in a few weeks for a glucose curve, and after that adjust the insulin to her new routine.
But I'm starting to feel really overwhelmed and misled by the shelter. They said she'd been totally regulated, but my vet didn't find any evidence of that in her medical records, and she was definitely unregulated last August--when she's been known to be diabetic since birth. The shelter said there was up to a 2-hour leeway in the insulin/feeding times, which my research now seems to indicate is wrong. They said she had never had any medical problems other than a broken leg and a cataract but her records mention kidney disease.
I live alone except for the cat and now Carlie, and I work full-time away from home. I have a good job and could afford curves a few times a year plus her insulin, which is all the shelter said I'd need, but I can't afford tons of vet bills month after month, let alone treatment for any diseases her possibility long-term unregulated diabetes might have wreaked.
I'm trying to work this out, because I didn't make the decision to adopt a dog or to adopt Carlie lightly. But I have no idea what to do. My vet got impatient with my questions and I don't trust the shelter to give me accurate information instead of whatever they think will get me to keep Carlie. But if she stays with me she has to get obedience training, plus a lot of training to get her to coexist peacefully with my cat. I'm working with a reputable school that uses positive reinforcement, and Carlie sure is food-motivated... but I don't want to make her hyperglycemic. But then, I exercise her more--I told the shelter I wanted a 5K running partner and they said she could work up to that, but now I'm not so sure. Is more walks enough to make up for all that extra kibble? That's what the vet recommended I use to treat her, and I'm afraid to take her training kibble out of her meal ration in case she goes hypoglycemic after her shot.
The good thing: she takes her injection without turning a hair.
So that's where I am. If anyone has any help or advice they'd be willing to share, I can't even describe how much I would appreciate it.
I just adopted my first dog, Carlie. She's six and a half and a beagle mix, and really sweet. She was diagnosed as a very young puppy when she first entered the shelter (and was adopted in the interim before her previous owner could no longer care for her and surrendered her back).
Carlie wasn't particularly well-exercised or trained in the shelter, so I have been starting with both. The shelter said to keep her on the regimen she'd been on, do her new routine with me, and then bring her in in a few weeks for a glucose curve, and after that adjust the insulin to her new routine.
But I'm starting to feel really overwhelmed and misled by the shelter. They said she'd been totally regulated, but my vet didn't find any evidence of that in her medical records, and she was definitely unregulated last August--when she's been known to be diabetic since birth. The shelter said there was up to a 2-hour leeway in the insulin/feeding times, which my research now seems to indicate is wrong. They said she had never had any medical problems other than a broken leg and a cataract but her records mention kidney disease.
I live alone except for the cat and now Carlie, and I work full-time away from home. I have a good job and could afford curves a few times a year plus her insulin, which is all the shelter said I'd need, but I can't afford tons of vet bills month after month, let alone treatment for any diseases her possibility long-term unregulated diabetes might have wreaked.
I'm trying to work this out, because I didn't make the decision to adopt a dog or to adopt Carlie lightly. But I have no idea what to do. My vet got impatient with my questions and I don't trust the shelter to give me accurate information instead of whatever they think will get me to keep Carlie. But if she stays with me she has to get obedience training, plus a lot of training to get her to coexist peacefully with my cat. I'm working with a reputable school that uses positive reinforcement, and Carlie sure is food-motivated... but I don't want to make her hyperglycemic. But then, I exercise her more--I told the shelter I wanted a 5K running partner and they said she could work up to that, but now I'm not so sure. Is more walks enough to make up for all that extra kibble? That's what the vet recommended I use to treat her, and I'm afraid to take her training kibble out of her meal ration in case she goes hypoglycemic after her shot.
The good thing: she takes her injection without turning a hair.
So that's where I am. If anyone has any help or advice they'd be willing to share, I can't even describe how much I would appreciate it.
Hello all,
I've been reading this forum for a couple months now, and just came across this post - I'm about 99% sure that this is the Carlie that I adopted (from Shelter from the Storm) about a month ago. Copperbadger, I know it was hard for you, but I have to say that I'm glad you returned her; despite her health problems, she is just the perfect dog for me. The shelter also told us that she was regulated, but after having a curve done it seems that that isn't the case. Now that we're all settled in with shots, I'm following the advice of the many helpful/wonderful people on this forum by looking into home glucose testing. My vet suggested that urine test strips would be sufficient - has anyone tried these?
Congrats to you and to Carlie. 
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