Crash with vomiting

[nickf829]

Molly(4yo lab, 75lbs, diagnosed 7/12, "regulated" to the point where we can predict low 100s at nadir and low/mid 300s at peak; still tuning with diet changes) had a scary night tonight. She's been doing so good the last few months. She was a hair low tonight due to being so active today so we lessened her injection by 1 unit and kept her on the same amount of food. Looking back, we should have either lessened the injection more, or added more food.

After 1.5 hr, she started shaking(her bg was 62 right before the trembling began). Once the trembling began, we immediately gave her Karo syrup to the gums, but then she started vomiting. All of her dinner came up at the worst time, her typical PM nadir time. She vomited every 5-10 minutes for about 45min. She would not eat(who would when they feel sick), and we had to force syrup into her gums every time she vomited. We managed to test her at one point and she was 42.

About 45 min after this all began, she was on the rise again and her appetite was back. We gave her 1 cup of Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken and 1 can of w/d. Within the hour she was back up to 224.

My question is - if this vomiting episode were to happen again, what should we have on hand? It's bad enough if she gets the shakes(3x since diagnosed), but a decent glob of karo syrup to the gums always brought her out of it immediately and lasted until we could get a cup of dry food in her. I think that since she vomited this time, she didnt have an appetite and it made it worse. Whats is the quickest way I could get her to 1)stop vomiting and 2) get food in her ASAP?

[k9diabetes]

Re: Crash with vomiting

Since you don't know when she might be able to keep something down, I would probably stick with the syrup for a while and just keeping giving her syrup periodically... maybe every 15 or 30 minutes for an hour or two, long enough to be sure her stomach had settled.

Meat baby food might be bland enough that she could tolerate that somewhat sooner than regular food.

So you could try giving her small amounts of that along with the syrup after an hour or so. It's handy to have around and keeps for years unopened.

I'm not certain the vomiting was related to the blood sugar... wondered if she might have ingested something she shouldn't have on her walk?

Perhaps others have given something for vomiting... I know there are anti-nausea meds but I haven't ever done that as it's something we never really had to deal with much. And if she got into something, vomiting is probably a good thing.

The syrup doesn't have to be digested, so it's a good way to get sugar into her without having to run it through the stomach and digestive process. Just have to give it often as it won't last long.

When I have a dog or cat vomiting, I generally try to withhold food for 12 hours at least. And if you withhold food for a while, you can typically give 1/4 of the usual insulin dose with no food at all. So you could rest the stomach at the next meal by skipping it and giving a small injection of insulin.

Glad you were quick with the syrup and got her through it. I'm sure that was pretty scary.

Did she seem to feel fine once she was done vomiting?

Natalie

[Eddie]

Re: Crash with vomiting

I don't know about this from a diabetes perspective but our dog has digestive problems (EPI) and it is clear that, even with added enzymes, he has trouble digesting hard dry kibble. Once it is soaked, the enzymes help and he can digest it.

Applying that to your situation I would suggest that maybe if you can offer food that has been soaked, your dog might be able to start digesting it a bit faster than dry, and so get her sugar up a bit faster. (To soak quickly I pour boiling water on it and let it cool - though I think he quite likes it still warm on cold days!).

[nickf829]

Re: Crash with vomiting

We were wondering if the vomiting was because of the crash, or just a coincidence that didn't help things... When she vomited, what came up was definitely her food in addition to what looked and smelled like poop. We have a dog door on the kitchen and she went out for a bit after dinner, so we were wondering if she got into something she shouldn't have and that is what upset her stomach.

After the last time she vomited, she acted fine and was hungry again and acting normal.

Thanks for the quick replies!

[farrwf]

Re: Crash with vomiting

When she vomited, what came up was definitely her food in addition to what looked and smelled like poop. We were wondering if she got into something she shouldn't have and that is what upset her stomach.

After the last time she vomited, she acted fine and was hungry again and acting normal.

Looks like you have your answer.