Angel Bailey June 9, 2014

[Bailey's_Mom]

Hello, Bailey was the picture of health a month ago, aside from being overweight... Now she is on Humilin 10 units twice a day, on the Hill's Science diet W/D and not happy at all. She used to get treats and people food, which she cries for now. The Vet said not to give chicken except every once in a while, is there something that i can add to her food to make it more appealing? He wants her to lose weight, I do too, but I also want her to be happy while we both adjust to this new lifestyle.

[Rubytuesday]

Re: New diabetic mom

Hi there, A lot of vets switch them to a diabetic food right away, but it would be nice to see if she could be maintained with her regular food. Initially though it is better not to treat.

Can you us more about Bailey? What type of insulin and how much she weighs. Are you planning on home testing.

Tara

[Monsters Momma]

Re: New diabetic mom

Hello, Bailey was the picture of health a month ago, aside from being overweight... Now she is on Humilin 10 units twice a day, on the Hill's Science diet W/D and not happy at all. She used to get treats and people food, which she cries for now. The Vet said not to give chicken except every once in a while, is there something that i can add to her food to make it more appealing? He wants her to lose weight, I do too, but I also want her to be happy while we both adjust to this new lifestyle.

First off, welcome! I just wanted to quickly tell you that a lot of knowledge resides here! The more you can tell us the more we can help you!

I have been adding green beans to Vinny's food. Primarily because he was so hungry all the time. The vet and several people here thought the fiber would help stretch the food. It has. I've also included pumpkin which both my dogs love!

There are treats you can give, but others will come along and tell you more! I've got to run...but tell us more about Bailey!
Mel

[Bailey's_Mom]

Re: New diabetic mom

Still a little overwhelmed... She is an 87 pound treeing walker coon hound couch potato. She had a blood glucose of 110 on July 27th for her biannual comprehensive exam, but last week she started drinking ALOT. Monday night I filled the water bowl which she emptied, I refilled it and she nearly emptied it again then got sick and went back for more water. Tuesday, we went to the Vet and her glucose was 530. He said switch her immediately to the diet food and we could see if that regulated it, but it could cause ketoacidosis if we didn't regulated it or catch further symptoms. There were no ketones in her urine so he says we caught it early. Not wanting to cause my dog further damage, we started her on 10 units of Humalin twice a day. She doesn't mind the shots at all. What she does mind is the sudden absence of all people food from her life, the lack of treats when she goes outside etc.

She also free feeds (eat a little all day long from her food sitting out) if there's nothing added to it, which wouldn't be a bad thing but for example, this morning, I gave her her insulin and instead of eating, she went back to bed.

[sherryandfred]

Re: New diabetic mom

Still a little overwhelmed... She is an 87 pound treeing walker coon hound couch potato. She had a blood glucose of 110 on July 27th for her biannual comprehensive exam, but last week she started drinking ALOT. Monday night I filled the water bowl which she emptied, I refilled it and she nearly emptied it again then got sick and went back for more water. Tuesday, we went to the Vet and her glucose was 530. He said switch her immediately to the diet food and we could see if that regulated it, but it could cause ketoacidosis if we didn't regulated it or catch further symptoms. There were no ketones in her urine so he says we caught it early. Not wanting to cause my dog further damage, we started her on 10 units of Humalin twice a day. She doesn't mind the shots at all. What she does mind is the sudden absence of all people food from her life, the lack of treats when she goes outside etc.

She also free feeds (eat a little all day long from her food sitting out) if there's nothing added to it, which wouldn't be a bad thing but for example, this morning, I gave her her insulin and instead of eating, she went back to bed.

welcome!! i feed my dog all people food and it has made his sugar so much better and easier for me to get him to eat all at one sitting..if they eat all day it will keep changing his sugar levels so its best he eats two times a day..you can also find good snacks for them.when i do his shot he gets a small piece of cheese as a reward..but i wouldnt recommend giving him his shot with out him eating he will drop way to low and could go into shock..so he must eat if you give him a shot..and if not then less insulin with no food..when fred became picky i started putting a topper on his food..and he loves it and eats all his food..there is so much info on this site you will be able to get alot of information..good luck!

[Abby's Mom]

Re: New diabetic mom

The hunger will abate, once the blood sugar becomes in line.... but I sympathize with you, habits can be hard to break, but eventually a routine will establish.

My Abby was a treat-aholic. (If there was a group, I would have sent her for help). It took some time, with some 'trick's' she has developed a nice routine. She still gets her snacks, but I have found it does not matter on the quantity. So a small nibble is just as good as a larger amount. I provide a very small piece of boiled chicken. Sort of like a pea size, or smaller.

Fiber does help them feel fuller, so if your Bailey is feeling hungry, a higher fiber will help, and will also make Bailey lose weight. More than likely the food that your vet prescibed is high in fiber.

Does Bailey eat all her food? Just curious, because THAT is the one most important thing. If you do a little research on this forum, you will see in our tag lines, that some us feed all types of foods, and not necessarily prescription foods. It is most important that they eat a consistent meal so the insulin can match with the process of food. We typically adhere to a 2x a day schedule. Feed/Inject at the same time. Some people delay, but that comes later with the tweaking.

Welcome...
Barb

[momofdecker]

Re: New diabetic mom

Welcome to you and your pup. Only have a quick moment but wanted to say that food & insulin go hand in hand. If you give insulin without food, it could put your pup in danger of going too low before she decides to eat and the food kicks in to support the insulin.

At 87 pounds and being on 10u of insulin she is probably ok, but as you move forward it may be worth only offering her food twice a day, at 12 hour intervals. If she does not eat, pull the food so she can't get to it until the next feeding time. Then reduce her insulin. Rule of thumb is 1/4 of the normal dose with no food or only 1/4 of food is eaten. 1/2 for half food. 3/4 for 3/4 food, etc...

Best of luck to you in this new journey of yours.

[Bailey's_Mom]

Re: New diabetic mom

Typically she won't eat it all unless there is something added, even a small spoonful... She refused to eat this morning so I gave her a spoon of peanut butter with the shot. Would it hurt to add homemade broth to her food? I saw mention of green beans, any other veggies? Can I add a scrambled egg?

[Abby's Mom]

Re: New diabetic mom

Egg is a good source of protein, and I have added Egg to Abby's food at one time with no impact to BG levels.

Some people do add toppers, and you may want to try to some of the low glycemic foods that Merrick makes to entice her to eat. Follow Holly's post if she doesn't eat all of her food.

Barb

[ceruleanblue]

Re: New diabetic mom

I think egg or boiled chicken would be okay to add. It's most important that you feed her something she will eat consistently. Insulin can be tweaked to get it to work best with the food. Twice a day feeding also usually works best, since free feeding can cause more fluctuations in BG, so you want two feedings that are consistent and repeatable. Most of us also measure or weigh the food to make sure they're getting the same amount every time. I would put her food down (adding a topper is okay, but like I said, consistency is important), and if she doesn't eat after 20 minutes, pick it up, and don't give her anything until the next meal time. I know it's hard, but she will adjust to the schedule once she realizes that it's not going to stay down.

Also, you mentioned that she is on Humulin. If you have a WalMart near you, they sell Novolin N for $25 per vial. Both are the same type of insulin, walMart just has a contract with the manufacturers of Novolin to sell it under their ReliOn brand for much cheaper than Humulin. Since she hasn't been on insulin long, it wouldn't be hard to switch over.

All of this can be very overwhelming at first, but things will settle down, and it just becomes routine. Things will get better.

[Bailey's_Mom]

Re: New diabetic mom

Ok, tried adding green beans, she ate a couple but more importantly, she ate the food and picked around the green beans... $25 sounds a lot better than $90, though I hate throwing the $90 away... would it hurt to switch after this vial is gone in 28 days? Also the diet food is $70 a bag, if she's not happy eating it, I have no problem cooking for her every day. Can someone point me to a site for a diet of table food?

[momofdecker]

Re: New diabetic mom

Sorry for the brief response earlier. Using up the humulin N and then switching to the novolin n sounds like a practical plan. One tip, a lot of folks find that either insulin seems to lose it's potency around the 28-30 day mark. So even if your vial of insulin is not gone, if you start to see wonky things, it may be worth discarding the insulin and purchasing a new vial.

Regarding food, if she was eating fine before switching to the prescription food, I'd consider switching her back as long as there are no other medical issues at hand (high lipids, pancreatitis, etc..., for example). As others have said, the most important thing is to make sure a diabetic dog eats and eats consistently. If you are always having to add toppers to encourage them to eat and the eating time and amount varies from day to day, you will never get a clear picture of how well balanced the food/insulin is interacting as the variables change daily.

If you can get your dog to eat a consistent amount at a consistent time twice daily, you can give a consistent amount of insulin and then after a minimum of five days (unless there are any low numbers or concerns of DKA) you can run a full 12 hour curve to see how they are working together. The results of the curve will tell you what you need to do.

Home cooked food does work for some but in the beginning it seems there are enough other overwhelming things to consider that if you are comfortable going back to the old food, that may be the simpler route to follow for now.

[sherryandfred]

Re: New diabetic mom

Ok, tried adding green beans, she ate a couple but more importantly, she ate the food and picked around the green beans... $25 sounds a lot better than $90, though I hate throwing the $90 away... would it hurt to switch after this vial is gone in 28 days? Also the diet food is $70 a bag, if she's not happy eating it, I have no problem cooking for her every day. Can someone point me to a site for a diet of table food?

they are smart and know how to pick out food thats for sure..so i have learned to chop it all up in a blender so he can not pick it out..i boil chicken and chop it finely in a blender then mush my sweet potato into it and add wet dog food a table spoon i found an all natural dog food that he likes and add it to make it moist and he cant pick anything out anymore so he has no choice but eat it all..and ya i would finish that bottle and not throw it away first thats just my opinion..walmarts needles are also cheap i pay 12 dollars for a box..i am sorry i dont know that website but i am sure others do...i just guess he is getting enough food and so far he hasnt loss weight so i am doing ok..

[Monsters Momma]

Re: New diabetic mom

Ok, tried adding green beans, she ate a couple but more importantly, she ate the food and picked around the green beans... $25 sounds a lot better than $90, though I hate throwing the $90 away... would it hurt to switch after this vial is gone in 28 days? Also the diet food is $70 a bag, if she's not happy eating it, I have no problem cooking for her every day. Can someone point me to a site for a diet of table food?

They are stinkers aren't they!? Other veggies I've tried are broccoli and pureed pumpkin...you have to make sure it is pure pumpkin and not the pumpkin pie stuff. I know a few others add beans, but I'm not sure what kind or what that does exactly.

I'm assuming since it's early, a full curve hasn't been done yet? You might also want to watch the video's on home blood testing http://www.k9diabetes.com/bgtestvideos.html at some point.

Everything is quite overwhelming at first...it seems like you'll never get it, but you will. It's amazing how fast our pups accept their new reality, faster than we do really. It's also amazing how fast we figure out that we've got this! And when you don't, you come here and ask a question and someone is bound to help!

Hang in there!
Mel

[Abby's Mom]

Re: New diabetic mom

At one time Walmart did offer the Humulin N under the Relion brand, and I switched from it to the Novolin N when they did.

Just a word of caution, and that is for some pups (and they all behave differently), it seemed to be stronger than the Humulin. So has a safety measure we decreased. But considering Baily may not be regulated yet, it may not be an issue, as Mandy stated, you are not too into it. I would recommend finishing the bottle, and discuss with your vet, that you would like to try the Novolin.

We do weigh, measure and try to keep things consistently as possible. Diabetes is a crazy disease, and not predicable, so the more you can control, hoping for more predicability.... well maybe

If you are looking for some good diabetic recipies, Lew Olson's is a good one, (Raw and Natural Nutrition) as I did at one time home prepare raw food, and I am sure others will offer theirs.

Barb