Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

[becky_]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I have an 8 year old Jack russell who was diagnosed diabetic around 2 years ago. Unfortunately he has now lost his eye site due to cataracts however we find he does an amazing job of getting around the house, garden and going on walks he is familiar with.

He has his insulin and food twice a day at approx 6am and 6pm.

Over the last few weeks during the night he has been waking us whining and panting generally but occasionally yelping and growling. This tends to happen at around 10pm and then again at around 4am. We were at first putting this down to him been hot as the UK weather has been surprisingly humid, and then down to him being hungry. However now I am wondering if it could be something else. Anyone had any similar experience ?

Thanks

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

HI and welcome

It does sound like your dog is in some discomfort . Early in jesses diagnosis she did something similar during the night. We started testing her blood sugar at home and determined her blood sugar was swinging wildly at night going from very low to very high . Once we solved that she was better

Other complications of diabetes is pancreatitis that can be quite painful .

If testing blood sugar at home you can test at these times of discomfort to rule out a problem with blood sugar

you dog is definitely telling you we have a problem and you kind have to be a detective to solve it

[amydunn19]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

I would say if he is not having digestive difficulties, then his blood sugar is probably bouncing around. What are numbers from his last curve? Testing at home gives you a tool to figure out these types of problems and hopefully, you can get it solved. If you are interested, we can help you get started.

My Maggie was a JRT - they are such lively and wonderful pups. She was 7 when diagnosed and lived to be almost 16.

[Scooterspal]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

Over the last few weeks during the night he has been waking us whining and panting generally but occasionally yelping and growling. This tends to happen at around 10pm and then again at around 4am. We were at first putting this down to him been hot as the UK weather has been surprisingly humid, and then down to him being hungry.

This may sound too simplistic, but Scooter will vocalize and pant when it gets too hot. He does this in the car and does it at home. Making him cooler (putting on the AC) and, thus, more comfortable does the trick and he calms down almost immediately. The diabetes may also add to the discomfort on hot/humid days.

Try going the temperature route and see if it works.

[becky_]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

Hi, thanks for the replies. He has struggled with his sugars we had a period where we thought we were going to loose him as his sugar levels dropped so low, so it is possible that although he is loads better they are still not 100%. He is under regular checks at the vet.
How do you guys test your dogs blood at home? again this is something we have struggled with, getting the correct amount of blood. When he visits the vets they often have to take the blood from his leg as they cannot get the correct amount from an ear.
Thanks,

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

I have used jesses inner lip above her canine tooth . It does sound like an odd spot but there is not allot of nerve endings there so they dont feel much if anything at all . I have tested jesse there for over 8 tears and thousands of tests with no problems . Most times she gives me a kiss afterwards silly girl

Now you may want to break that down in steps to get your dog use to it . start with just rolling the lip up exposing the canine tooth maybe rub the area with a napkin and be done until comfortable and then move onto the next step . Some dogs are fine with it some are not but for us its easy with no hair to deal with

We tried the ears originally and struggled so went to the inner lip . For jesse being so difficult she had to be tested at home no choice . had to find a way

[Raysaint]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

You can try the flesh on either side of the base of the tail. Use a thicker lancet, maybe even hand poke with the lancet.

[becky_]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

Hi, we are struggling with him at the minute. He is currently on Cansulin on 7.5 twice a day- however the last few days he has not been himself, he has being weeing and soiling in the house, increasing hungry at night (I would say 10pm onwards) thirsty, not settling and at times he has been shaking. We have today controlled this with honey. I am under the impression his blood is high due to the other signs?
I am really finding that my vet doesn’t know what to reccemend anymore, in general they are offering blood tests and telling us to either increase or decrease the insulin which is not actually giving us a result.
Currently he is not himself, he is panting heavily, refusing to go out for a walk and just in general not right. We will be booking him into the vets yet again tomorrow but just wondered if anyone had any advice as we are at our wits end.
Thankyou !

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

You just dont know if its high sugar or low . Could be either . You maybe seeing big swings in sugar that could be uncomfortable for a dog .

some of the symptoms could point to a seizure or borderline to one and with honey helping may point to sugar being low

the only way to know if its sugar is to test sugar at home and with a vet thats doesnt seem to understand the particulars of the disease ( which is not unusual for the reason its a disease thats managed at home not at the vet )

I was in the same boat constantly running to the vet testing blood sugar as i was so worried until i decided to test at home . It was a bit of a learning curve at the beginning being a person with no medical understanding . I figured it out and learned so much and that was over 8 years ago

[becky_]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

Can I ask which kit you baught?
Yes that’s correct we are unsure which it is, I plan to get him a vets appointment after work tomorrow. We are having issues with food, the usual food he was having he has begun to stop eating- our guess is he may have got bored of it. Any recommendations to any sort of foods to try with him? Also anyone have any experience of a dog being particaually ravenous at nighttime ? He normally has his insulin and food at. 6pm and then 6am !
Thanks

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

the ravenous thing could be low sugar or high sugar or something else occurring My jesses appetite changed and stayed that way after being diagnosed

Now you say your dog wont eat his food but is also ravenous later . That could be a reason . If food is not consistent and giving a full dose of insulin that could be problematic not having enough food working with insulin or to much if more food was given later so you may have a roller coaster ride with blood sugar at ight going low and then high but you dont know and all we can do is speculate . There is no set diet outside of the prescription foods just keep it low fat and have some carbs .Heavy meat protein diets can also be problematic . I have a homemade diet for jesse

Diabetes you need to be consistent with food and shots . Monitoring blood sugar preferably at home and if those are done and follow the protocols on regulation most do very well and live happy normal lives with some limitations

I am using the one touch ultra at this time but have other human meters i use , they do have pet meters but i haven't used them

[amydunn19]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

I also used the One Touch Ultra to test Maggie. Some swear by the pet meters - the Alphatrack is the standard, but I personally never felt the need because my meter did the job. Going in, my expectation was to keep her safe. I would take my meter to the vet and it was really close to the vet’s lab result. My vet decided to get one because he was impressed with mine.

I think you need to just take control of the situation. You will have to start testing to do that. It seems like it is daunting at first but then it becomes part of the routine. Think about it like this - you wouldn’t dream of guessing if it was your blood sugar or your child’s blood sugar.

I knew nothing at first but I knew my original vet was out of her element with Maggie. After almost losing her to hypoglycemia by taking advice from this vet, I made up my mind that I was going to learn all that I could and figure it out. It was hard at first because I have no background with medical issues or diabetes. I made lots of mistakes but luckily, none of them were that serious.

I would get a meter and start charting blood sugar in a journal, what your dog eats with the times, insulin dosage with the times, any kind of issues you are noticing or things that are out of the ordinary(like we had company all day, or they eat something in the yard, or if they have storm anxiety), many things can affect their blood sugar. It is like journaling your life.

[Raysaint]

Re: Diabetic Dog Not Sleeping.. Any Ideas?

As others mentioned, you need to test at home. In my opinion, it's imperative with diabetes. There isn't a human diabetic on the planet that doesn't have a meter and test their sugar whenever they want.
Testing is the only way to know if things are working, and if you're trying to stabilize and achieve goals, how do you know if you're achieving those goals.
It's so important to know the blood sugar when you see weird behaviour. You'll never get the sugar stabilized if you're always dealing with highs and lows, and trying to correct those. And guessing if he's high or low is dangerous.