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Mini Schnauzer Gretel
Hello Everyone,
I have an 8yr. old mini schnauzer, Gretel, who was diagnosed with diabetes one month ago. Presently she weighs 18.5 lbs., but normal for her is around 20 lbs. As of this writing, she is still not regulated, although the vet has done 4 curves plus a few spot checks, and she is up to 8 units of NPH insulin twice a day. Her lowest reading so far was 250 but most of them have been in the 3 and 400 range. Complicating things is the fact that she just had bladder stone surgery a week and a half ago. (This is her 3rd bladder surgery in less than 2 years.) Tomorrow she goes to get the stitches out and will stay for the day for another curve.
She has been on wd canned and dry dog food (I mix them), plus I add to her food Tricitrate syrup which is to keep her urine ph at an acceptable level to try to prevent stone formation. It's been a real balancing act with her, because the food/medicine that helps one condition isn't usually good for the other. She also was recently diagnosed with a disc problem in her neck that was causing her pain. She seems to have recovered from that, at least for now, but she was on meds for that as well.
Through all of this, Gretel has remained a cheerful and energetic little girl. She takes the injections quite well. I can tell she doesn't exactly want it, but she will come right to me when I call her, and as soon as I give it to her I praise her greatly and give her a small treat (which is compatible with the wd dog food.) She gets no other food or treats throughout the day.
I do have a question that may not seem all-important but I'm curious as to what feeding schedule works best for others. Since they must be 12 hours apart, at some point in time there may be a conflict with your own schedule, and I'm wondering how you handle those occasions. I've always tried to stay at exactly 12 hrs. apart (give or take 5 mins.), but is there any room for leeway - like maybe 20 mins. or even 1/2 hour? (Just on the rare occasion, obiously not all the time.) Right now I'm feed her at 6:30am and 6:30pm, with the insulin following immediately after she finished eating. I chose this schedule because I thought that if we had plans for the evening we wouldn't have to rush back at a certain time to feed her. However tonight I have a situation where I need to leave the house by 6:15, so over the last two days I have inched her feeding back by 6 or 7 mins. each so that by tonight she'll be due for her feeding and insulin by 6:15 (but I don't necessarily want to stay that early). Would love to hear how others handle this type of situation.
Again, I'm thrilled to have found this forum. I'm sure all of us wish we didn't have to be here, but it sure is nice to know you can help one another out with questions and just with support in general. Thanks to all who respond!
Carolyn
I have an 8yr. old mini schnauzer, Gretel, who was diagnosed with diabetes one month ago. Presently she weighs 18.5 lbs., but normal for her is around 20 lbs. As of this writing, she is still not regulated, although the vet has done 4 curves plus a few spot checks, and she is up to 8 units of NPH insulin twice a day. Her lowest reading so far was 250 but most of them have been in the 3 and 400 range. Complicating things is the fact that she just had bladder stone surgery a week and a half ago. (This is her 3rd bladder surgery in less than 2 years.) Tomorrow she goes to get the stitches out and will stay for the day for another curve.
She has been on wd canned and dry dog food (I mix them), plus I add to her food Tricitrate syrup which is to keep her urine ph at an acceptable level to try to prevent stone formation. It's been a real balancing act with her, because the food/medicine that helps one condition isn't usually good for the other. She also was recently diagnosed with a disc problem in her neck that was causing her pain. She seems to have recovered from that, at least for now, but she was on meds for that as well.
Through all of this, Gretel has remained a cheerful and energetic little girl. She takes the injections quite well. I can tell she doesn't exactly want it, but she will come right to me when I call her, and as soon as I give it to her I praise her greatly and give her a small treat (which is compatible with the wd dog food.) She gets no other food or treats throughout the day.
I do have a question that may not seem all-important but I'm curious as to what feeding schedule works best for others. Since they must be 12 hours apart, at some point in time there may be a conflict with your own schedule, and I'm wondering how you handle those occasions. I've always tried to stay at exactly 12 hrs. apart (give or take 5 mins.), but is there any room for leeway - like maybe 20 mins. or even 1/2 hour? (Just on the rare occasion, obiously not all the time.) Right now I'm feed her at 6:30am and 6:30pm, with the insulin following immediately after she finished eating. I chose this schedule because I thought that if we had plans for the evening we wouldn't have to rush back at a certain time to feed her. However tonight I have a situation where I need to leave the house by 6:15, so over the last two days I have inched her feeding back by 6 or 7 mins. each so that by tonight she'll be due for her feeding and insulin by 6:15 (but I don't necessarily want to stay that early). Would love to hear how others handle this type of situation.
Again, I'm thrilled to have found this forum. I'm sure all of us wish we didn't have to be here, but it sure is nice to know you can help one another out with questions and just with support in general. Thanks to all who respond!
Carolyn