Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

[CraigM]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Sharp Cheddar Cheese

NOPE! All the sharp cheddar is for me ONLY . Annie also liked a fine cheese.

[Lolo]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Thanks everyone! I’ll try cheese, pumpkin or some kind of meat pocket for now. Her numbers are so high I don’t want to give her even a teeny bit of sugar if it’s avoidable for now.

[CraigM]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Exercise usually lowers blood glucose. You might want to try a test by testing before, and then soon after exercise.

It seems excitement can affect dogs by either raising, or lowering their BGs. That’s why home testing can be better than taking them to the vet clinic.

Unfortunately, what happens in one dog might not be the same in another. Heck, what I think would happen to my Annie sometimes would be the opposite!😏.

Craig

Remember I mentioned exercise USUALLY lowers blood glucose? I’m a type-2 diabetic, not exactly the same as our dogs who are more like human type-1, no injected insulin for me, yet. Here’s an example of why diabetes can be so frustrating and confusing!

Yesterday’s pre-breakfast reading was 124. I waited about an hour, then went for a 50 minute brisk walk. Tested 30 minutes after the walk to a very nice 105. Just what I expected.

Today, I had 122 pre-breakfast and had a near identical breakfast. Took the same 50 minute brisk walk, waited 30 minutes and tested 125. The blood glucose increased!

I really can’t explain why my blood glucose didn’t lower this morning. I know(??) exercise it good, and it GENERALLY lowers my blood glucose, so I try to continue this routine.

What I’m getting at is that diabetes doesn’t always follow a text book. Sometimes readings are higher, or lower, than what you expect or desire.

Craig

[Lolo]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Lucy’s numbers are all over the place right now, but always always high. I think it may be complicated by her having some skin sores on her body and she’s fighting the infection. I noticed another one on her tail today that I think has been there for a few days at least. She started antibiotics yesterday. I’m still waiting for more complete blood work results next week. Just crossing my fingers there isn’t something major and more complicated at work here.
That said, I did a little test on exercise today. Took her reading before a really short and easy walk and it was 405... then again about 5 minutes after the walk and it was 365. It may not be a consistent thing, but I just want to test it a few times so I’ll know that when they do test her in the office that’s why she may test lower than at home.

[amydunn19]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Peanut butter is oily and has fat, even if all natural. I used string cheese, but I also used pill pockets and they never significantly affected her blood sugar.

[martorso]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Hi Lolo,
Well, I´m no expert by any means, but I´ve learnt a lot in this forum since my dog got diagnosed in 2016. We had to switch vets three times and still, I don´t think the one we have now knows any more than we do about diabetes in dogs.
That said, what I´ve learnt about MY DOG is:
- To be consistent with feeding times and walks
- To be consistent with type of food and only make small changes IF necessary
- To have him exercise everyday
With that, which isn´t a lot, really, he´s more or less under control. Sometimes he has high values for no reason (although never over 350) and sometimes we get a low of 60 (which to me, is VERY low). But those days are rare. For the most part he´s on the 100´s to 200´s. He´s on Vetsulin, twice a day, 8 units, and he´s now over 50 pounds.
I feed him raw food, consistent of: quinoa, chicken breast, spinach and chard. He also gets Dentasticks (original flavor) and a beef tendon treat after his afternoon walk (1 hr walk). To get to where we´re now we had to go through hell, almost, because none of the diets recommended by former vets nor the dosage (they put him on 12 units!!! which is 30% over what he´s getting now) where doing any good in controlling his BG. So, we got us a meter, started looking for info about diabetes online (that´s how we ended up at this wonderful forum) and figured out ourselves the diet and dosage. Also, we clean his ears on a regular basis....and, so far....so good... we haven´t been to the vet since August, and, before we started to take over control, we had to visit the vet once a week...at least, since his values were all over the place, had constant diarrhea and a lot of ear infections....So, stick to this forum and ask all you need; a lot of people will help you and, their advice comes from the experience.... but be patient. Getting the right numbers take a while.

[Lolo]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Do you guys have any thoughts on whether it’s better to slowly increase their dosage a unit at a time every few days or jump 3-4 units if you know where you want to get? Lucy is at 17 now and he wants to get her to 20. He pretty much left it up to me whether I do it a unit at a time over the week or just jump right to it. Is there any best practice to it?

[jesse girl]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

You raise the dose based on the lowest number in complete curve . The lowest number is how to determine how much a dose increase should be

A larger dog 50 pounds or more may go up 2 units with the lowest number from 350 to 400 . Once you start seeing the lowest number at about 250 you may want to take it down to 1 unit increase and fine tuning a dose you may only use a half unit

Big swings in sugar may require less of a dose adjustment and sometimes you may need to lower the dose even though you may see some higher numbers

A week to let a dose settle and do a curve

[Lolo]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

That is really helpful, Jesse! Thank you! If I were to pick 2-3 points a day to test as I’m increasing just to make sure I’m on the right track and not overdosing, what points do you think are best? 3 hr, 6 hr? I’ve only done a full curve once and she hit her low at 3 hrs... and her highs were scary high. Since then I’ve just been spot testing occasionally and the lowest I’ve seen is 374. I haven’t seen a number over 600 like I did on the curve, but she has been over 500.

[jesse girl]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

If your dog is not symptomatic with thirst and urination your dog is not in any crisis so there is no need to rush . The feeling i get from you is your dog is just fine and out of the range that you would see symptoms .

As far as a daily testing I always test before i give a shot of insulin . Once you give it you cant take it back . A test at the 6 hour mark can be helpful

A complete curve may identify times that are problematic usually dropping or spiking sugar that you may want to spot check .

for me in the beginning more information is better . with a curve you would like to compare with others to see if its consistent and similar . Identify the nadir ( lowest sugar ) and maybe highest sugar

other factors are exercise and how it affects the individual dog . Some can drop there sugar and it can be quite dramatic so identifying when sugar is higher within a curve may identify the best time to go for a walk .

So you can see how curves are so important in the beginning of the management of the disease

[Lolo]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Has anyone had success using the eye drops marketed for cataracts? I figured I had nothing to lose (but $40) and bought Ocluvet drops. It is not an easy thing actually getting them in her eyes. I’m wondering if I’m needlessly torturing both of us, but I don’t want her to lose her vision if I can do anything to prevent it. Everything snowballed so fast and she was developing cataracts within a few weeks of showing symptoms.

[Lchow022]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Hi!!!..Unfortunately eye drops don't work on cataracts...I wanted to find a solution besides surgery and noticed they sold eye drops for cataracts. I spoke to my vet and eye specialist about it and the only option you have is to get cataract surgery. My dog got it done after we got his blood sugar more regulated. But it's better to get it done sooner than later because it'll be harder once the cataracts harden and fully form.

Hopefully they'll come up with another option other than surgery.......

If your dog is ok with being blind and is ok with stairs and everything you don't have to choose to get surgery.

best of luck!
Lina and Mochi

[jesse girl]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

Well i thought about it in the early diagnosis of jesse . What we know is there is no cure for cataracts . Now can some of these drops or supplements slow the progression ? My theory is the high sugar dries out the eyes which in turn damages the lens . So maybe some drops that keeps the eyes moist may help

My philosophy if it doesnt do damage it cant hurt to try but there is no guarantee anything can help to prevent or slow down the progression except for improving blood sugar

[Lolo]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

I guess I’m going to stick with torturing her with the eye drops and just cross my fingers they help. Once cataracts start to develop is it a given that they will get worse without surgery? Or can you stop them from getting progressively worse simply by getting blood sugar under control?

[jesse girl]

Re: Dog diagnosed 1/30... Need advice/help!

I guess I’m going to stick with torturing her with the eye drops and just cross my fingers they help. Once cataracts start to develop is it a given that they will get worse without surgery? Or can you stop them from getting progressively worse simply by getting blood sugar under control?

We have seen the progression slowed but we cant be sure why . You just do the best you can . A slower process can be helpful for a dog to adjust and training your dog while still having site for an outcome of being blind could be helpful

My jesse isnt blind but i work commands with her to jump up and things like that when we come to an obstacle on a walk . She is an older gal and i figure eventually this may happen

You must remeber site for dogs isnt there primary sense and actually in general its not that great to begin with