Update on Diesel!

[LindsayandChloe]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

Welcome to the forum. I understand your frustration as I am also the owner of a Min Pin and we are only 11 days into this journey. My Chloe was very sick by the time we started insulin so she didn't have it in her to fight. Since she feels better its all about treats because she was spoiled with them before and now she only gets them at shot time.
I managed to get blood for the first couple days from her ears but since then have had no luck. Tried her lip and that was not a good idea at all for her. Still trying other spots. When I am finally sucessfull I will let you know what was the easiest spot for us.
But hang in there I know how frustrating it can be. There has been more then a few tears shed. You just want to do everything you can but they just don't get it.

[Abby's Mom]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

Just thought I would pop in and say Welcome.

We have had a fair share of minpins, and some very stories on the forum with their antics.

Just wanted to share, even though I don't have a MinPin, but a very frisky Schnauzer/Terrier mix... I could not blood test anywhere other than at the base of the tail. Certainly I could not touch her lip, and she does not like her carpal pad either... I think partly this is due to the fact that I brush her teeth (she hates it), as well as clip her toenails (another non-favorite activity).

There are many areas, as long as they are comfortable with the area. Like the Carpal pad, you will need a thick lancet for the base of the tail.

Again, welcome... It does get better.

Barb

[thirdseasons]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

Thank you Barb and Lindsay. I really should have known better as she can't stand getting her nails clipped.. long story about a bad groomer, she used to not mind until this place clipped all her nails to the quick.. she is now scared of the vet..

I have read about testing in the mouth, but she won't even let me brush her teeth so I think that option might be out..

Lindsay did your Chloe freak when you tried to prick her ear? Mine is just so touchy. She doesn't like her feet touched, her ears touched, I see her being a problem child.

As far as base of the tail testing, do you have to shave that area..i imagine you would

[Abby's Mom]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

As far as base of the tail testing, do you have to shave that area..i imagine you would

To start with you can shave a piece of it. I keep Abby coat short on her backside, and when she gets a little longer, the blood can smear, and make it more difficult.

Try poking her tail without any lancets and see Diesel will tolerate it. Next get the lancet device without any lancets, and see if the clicking bothers her. For us, it actually was better to test than to give shots.

Barb

[LindsayandChloe]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

She did not freak out but I find it very difficult to get enough blood from her ears as they are so thin also she does flinch every time so she must feel it. Chloe is the same about feet and mouth as Diesel.

[Bagel's Mom]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

Am reading this quickly and PLEASE forgive me if someone else has already said this...

Am going on 3.5 years at this and if you could find my first month's (ok more than one month) posts you would see I was freaked out...

I have learned SO much here that I never learned from any of the Vets!
Natalie and many others have taught me a lot...

I always test Bagel by flipping her lip up and sticking her there..There are fewer nerve endings there and she has NEVER cried like she did on her pad- and a beagle's ears are sacred! the Vet did it there but the upper lip is just perfect...Natalie has a video on here somewhere showing that...

I also learned when I fill the syringe, I recap it and put it under my arm pit to warm the insulin before I give the shot...
then I put her between my legs facing me, sitting on the floor, and pinch up some of the fleshy hip that is avaiable when they are sitting.
I do the shot slowly and have a treat ready as soon as it is over...
I also use a accuchek softclick plus pen to stick her and she never has fussed once...
Ok hope I helped ANY...
Sande and Bagel

[thirdseasons]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

Sande thank you! I have started prepping her insulin while she eats and i hold it in the bend of my elbow to warm it up. Yesterday was the 1st time i tried doing this and her morning and evening shots worked out great. Tonight .. same deal! So I think we've got the solution to that.

Lindsay I think I would end up having the same problem as you. If i didn't get anything out of the carpal pad I'm sure i'm not getting anything from her thin little ears.

I went to the pharmacy today to see if they had urine test's for blood glucose and they only sell the ketone test, SO with that said I hope Amazon ships quickly. I hate doing this some what blind ( Since she was Dx'd i've had to take her to the vet two weeks after diagnosis, and i have to take her back two weeks after that visit Dec 8th )

Barb!! Such an awesome idea, i do have a relion lancet device I can use to test her out.( I bought the Relion companion test meter ) She is just so silly, if she see's something that she isn't sure of she snifs it, licks it, then pounces down around the floor hopping around and being silly. she did that with her shot this evening. While i was warming it in my hand i showed it to her and then i pulled up on her skin and just touched it to her to let her know it was ok,

I want to thank you guys for giving me such awesome advise, and like Sande, i've learned alot more on here in the past few days vs the vet office.

[Judi]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

What a playful pup! I'm so glad it is going better

[k9diabetes]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

It is sometimes hard to predict what test spots will work and what test spots won't.

Our diabetic dog, for example, absolutely refused to cooperate with tooth brushing. But... he would let me scale his teeth to clean them.

And he was great about having his blood sugar tested on the lip once he figured out what we were doing.

For both scaling his teeth and testing his blood sugar, I had him lie down on his side, which gave me a nice flat surface to work with and was a very calm position.

The video of him has him sitting up because I didn't have anybody home at the time to run the camera so had to have him sit up to show what we did.

But it's not like he was good at sitting for testing at first. He squirmed a lot at first because he didn't know what the heck was going on. He was also infamous at first for licking up the drop just at the moment it was perfect for testing. And a few times he sneezed when I apparently tickled his nose - and blew that pretty crimson drop across the room.

So take your time, experiment, go slowly, and don't push yourself or your dog. We were using a meter that took a huge drop of blood when I learned so it took us quite a while. I would try to test him in the morning, once or twice, and then set it aside regardless of whether I succeeded or not, and try again a couple of times in the afternoon and/or evening. No matter how frustrated I was, I told Chris he was FABULOUS and SUCH A GOOD DOG to make it a pleasant experience. Eventually he figured out to hold still and it got a lot easier.

Re Diastix,

As human diabetics have moved from testing urine to blood, the Diastix are getting much harder to find on the shelf, so it's not unusual for a pharmacy not to have them in stock. If humans don't use it, the pharmacist doesn't keep it on the shelf. I worry actually that diastix might stop being made one of these days, which would be difficult for the handful of dogs who just refuse to cooperate with home blood sugar testing.

Natalie

[thirdseasons]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

I tried the lancet poker w/o any lancets.. She defiantly doesn't like it in her ear. I left her sniff it and i clicked it so she could get the sound of it. I then took it and put it by her tail area area and clicked it a few times. She scooted her lil booty towards her but didn't run off. I think that will be where I will blood sample from. That will be the next thing we do once she is more comfortable with the shots.

I tried showing her the syringe and pulling on her skin as if i were going to give her a shot and she took of in play mode like she knew what i was doing but didn't want any part of it. You guys are truly awesome and have super ideas! I can't thank you all enough

[SandyL]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

I tried every spot possible on Tiggy until I gave in and shaved a spot on her tush and tried there.... Success!!! I have her on my lap with my hand tucked under and holding her rear and it really works well. Here's a YouTube link of our testing. I hope it helps . One other thing, during the winter I hold a warm compress on the shaved area for about 10-20 sec to bring more blood to the surface

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L-Pv...ature=youtu.be

Sandy

[thirdseasons]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

LOL i just posted on another thread thank you for sharing the vid. I REALLY hope it gets to be like that w/my girl. I just don't see it. She's so jumpy and high strung.

Even with her shot today she was all tensed and tried to jump out of Chad's arm but when i poked her and injected there was no reaction. I'm thinking she is just scared.

[thirdseasons]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

Also... How do I know when to increase or decrease the amount of insulin. My vet told me to check her urine 1st thing before giving an insulin shot if the numbers are not with in range to increase by 1 unit .. Am I understanding him correctly?

Last Monday I had to take her in for a followup 6 hrs after her morning shot so he could check her BG ( still high 315 but better than the 480 she was previously ) and he told me the insulin is work but to go ahead an increase to 3u 2x a day.

Should i be checking this 1st thing in the AM and like my vet check 6 hrs after she eats?

[jesse girl]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

a urine test is a test from an earlier time maybe like testing blood sugar at midnight

it would be nice to know exactly when that earlier time was if it was 6 hours previous and your pups nadir was midway through that would be good and maybe helpful knowing where she is at her low point

it maybe possible to correlate that with curves done at the vets to maybe confirm the time this urine test may represent not perfect science but maybe helpful

now we no a urine test is not a fasting number i am sure your vet realizes this so i am not sure why they would want to adjust to a urine test

i would stay consistent with the dose and adjust if needed after the next curve

[SandyL]

Re: My dog is scared of injections... Help!

Totally agree with Jessigirl. Wait for a regular curve before adjusting insulin dose, the urine strips are just too unreliable for that purpose

Sandy