Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer - Earned his wings

[LuvMyMunchie]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Craig-

Thanks for your response. Think I'll get away from the computer and take Munch for a little stroll. It will do us both good.

Louise

[CraigM]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Craig-

Thanks for your response. Think I'll get away from the computer and take Munch for a little stroll. It will do us both good.

Louise

Might be a good test to take a reading before and after your walk. Some pups can have a big drop, while others not so much. I really haven't seen any noticeable drop in Annie after a brisk 1/2 mile walk, punctuated by 4-6 stops to squat (Annie, not me).

[farrwf]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Might be a good test to take a reading before and after your walk. Some pups can have a big drop, while others not so much. I really haven't seen any noticeable drop in Annie after a brisk 1/2 mile walk, punctuated by 4-6 stops to squat (Annie, not me).

You just look for a tree or a fire hydrant and hike a leg, eh???

[buddy]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Good to hear you are checking out a new food. That white rice diet is just ridiculous.

Regarding exercise: Unless Munchie has some sever disorder I don't know about, I find your tech advising against exercise preposterous. Exercise is of extreme importance to dogs and humans. We know Munchie has some significant health issues to consider so he can't walk alot right off the bat. However, he can start slowly and take a nice leisurely stroll and work up. Like Craig said, you want to test the BG before and after.

With my schnauzer Buddy, he may drop 50 to 100 points after a 45 minute walk.

I've had 3 schnauzers and all were voracious walkers. The two previous schnauzers lived 17 and 16 years respectively.

As I remember, dogs evolved from wolves 7000 years ago. Wolves will travel easily 40 miles per day. I read a storyabout a young female wolf that was tagged with a collar and traveled about 1200 miles in a month over some of the roughest mountain passes imagineable.

[Judi]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

hope Munchie enjoyed his walk. I'm rotten at taking my dogs for regular walks. Have gotten lazy and just let them out to run around and bark in a fenced in doggy area.

When Jenny was diagnosed I told my vet I could start walking her but honestly didn't know if I would keep it up in the winter so hated to get her all adjusted WITH the walk and then quit doing it. So my vet told me just to keep her in the routine that is her normal life and we would adjust her based on that.

I wonder if that is what your vet tech was thinking when she said not to walk Munchie?

Judi

[Linda1]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Jake will drop a good 100 points with a 20 minute off leash walk. Of course I'm walking and he is going a 100 miles an hour running circles around me!

[LuvMyMunchie]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

When Jenny was diagnosed I told my vet I could start walking her but honestly didn't know if I would keep it up in the winter so hated to get her all adjusted WITH the walk and then quit doing it. So my vet told me just to keep her in the routine that is her normal life and we would adjust her based on that.

I wonder if that is what your vet tech was thinking when she said not to walk Munchie?

Judi

Don't know why tech told me that. Everytime he goes to the clinic I'm asked a ton of questions and I always tell them he is still enjoying little walks. Doesn't make sense to me.

Regarding exercise: Unless Munchie has some sever disorder I don't know about, I find your tech advising against exercise preposterous.

Buddy- I agree. He has a mitral valve problem and enlarged heart but his cardiologist always asks if he still wants to walk and doesn't tell me not to do it. The only thing walking will do to his kidneys is give him plenty of opportunity to relieve himself

Today, in his blindness, his walks are more like a sniffing expedition. He's so busy smelling everything on the ground we go at a snail's pace. That's ok though. Every little bit counts.

[BogiesMom]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

So happy to hear Munchie had a great sniffing expedition I think that is what my guys look forward to the most

Best of Luck to Munchie and his new routine

[Franklin'sMum]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Hi Louise

Keep in mind that some pups can have a different bg response depending on where they are in their insulin cycle. Franklin goes down before the nadir but often went up when insulin was running out.

[buddy]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Don't know why tech told me that. Everytime he goes to the clinic I'm asked a ton of questions and I always tell them he is still enjoying little walks. Doesn't make sense to me.

Buddy- I agree. He has a mitral valve problem and enlarged heart but his cardiologist always asks if he still wants to walk and doesn't tell me not to do it. The only thing walking will do to his kidneys is give him plenty of opportunity to relieve himself

Today, in his blindness, his walks are more like a sniffing expedition. He's so busy smelling everything on the ground we go at a snail's pace. That's ok though. Every little bit counts.

Sounds like Munchie's a real trooper. Of course, it's the quality of the walk that's important -- not the mileage. You deserve a heepin' helpin' of praise this Thanksgiving for being such a great dependable friend to Munchie.

[LuvMyMunchie]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

I'm in the process of trying to change Munchie's food and all is not going well. Tried about 2T Pinnacle Trout & Sweet Potato (also has oatmeal) and it was a disaster. I'm really starting to think it has been the grain in his past diets instead of the chicken that caused problems. Am transitioning to Dick Van Patten Bison & Sweet Potato right now which I had given him in the past and he is tolerating it (fingers crossed). I must say on this food he poops as much as a buffalo and this morning it was on the living room carpet. So glad it wasn't diarrhea.

Tried to catch Natalie while she was online but missed her so I'll ask here. I feel rather dumb asking this but will do it anyway. Munch had to eat a huge amount of that bucket of rice diet just to maintain his weight i.e., almost 1000 calories worth. He did not thrive on that diet. Should I be feeding the same amount of calories worth of the Van Patten food? Before he ever started on the rice diet from Davis he ate kibble and never consumed anywhere close to that amount of calories.

His bg is getting worse. It was in the 700's last night before food and was 747 this morning. He seems to do better eating 3 meals a day no matter what the food is opposed to 2 meals. Still checking daily for ketones and so far there are none. After injection his bg dropped into the 400's but within 3 hours bg is on it's way up again. I've never seen him drink as much water as he did this morning in his entire life. He almost polished off the whole bowl. It's probably because his bg is so high, or else his kidneys are going kaput.

Treating his cancer wasn't as bad as trying to regulate his diabetes. This is extremely frustrating.

Louise

[jesse girl]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

i think once the food has settled and you are still seeing higher numbers than you would have to raise the dose if substantially higher if most numbers are above 400 than you may have to give a bit more for a dose adjustment higher i am sure there can be some upset from a change from rice to something more substantial

as far as food amounts for jesses home prepared diet which is partially raw it was difficult to come up with an amount i went to raw diet sites to give me an idea where to start i am not the most scientific person as far as calories its more of an art and watch jesse to see if she needs more or less and i think we ended up a quarter cup more from where she started which was one cup per day not much poop from her diet so most is utilized i guess

[Judi]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

I'm no expert but I agree with Jessegirl. Seems like Munchie has room for more insulin. I didn't look back at your curves tho. I'm on my phone. Hugs to you and your boy

[momofdecker]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

It may be one of those, 'every dog is different' things. Decker, who hovers in the 87-90 pound weight category, eats on average two cups of food total per day. He's been getting an extra 1/4c to 1/2c of food once a day when his bg runs low due to pain med adjustments. Still not a lot of total food for a 87+ pound dog. His neuro exam in October listed him as 8/9 and obese, the worst rating he could have received. And that was after he'd lost 11 pounds. He was upwards of 98+ pounds before starting his thyroid meds.

Maybe start by looking at how many calories it would take to have Munchie at an ideal weight, based on activity level, and adjust from there?

[Judi]

Re: Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer–Just Diagnosed

Good points Holli. I spoke with a breeder who said her healthy dogs all have vastly different metabolisms. And I am feeding Jenny and overweight ranger exactly the same thing and he may have quit losing already. My vet said Jenny may not be utilizing all of her calories so she can eat more than a healthy dog.