Charlie has crossed the bridge - December 2022

[mrgregj]

Hello, my dog Charlie (9yrs 12lbs) was just diagnosed with diabetes yesterday. This is a new and scary situation for us and I am hoping this community can provide some support for us as we start this new life.

An additional complication with Charlie is that he has Addison's Disease and takes .625mg of prednisone to manage that disease. He had been on 1.25mg of pred for the past 2.5 years, and the Vet indicated that long term use of pred can cause Diabetes so we cut that dose down to .625 so the diabetes can be managed.

I gave him his first Vetsulin injection this morning of 2IU.


Any beginner advice would be greatly appreciated!

[CraigM]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

Hello, my dog Charlie (9yrs 12lbs) was just diagnosed with diabetes yesterday. This is a new and scary situation for us and I am hoping this community can provide some support for us as we start this new life.

An additional complication with Charlie is that he has Addison's Disease and takes .625mg of prednisone to manage that disease. He had been on 1.25mg of pred for the past 2.5 years, and the Vet indicated that long term use of pred can cause Diabetes so we cut that dose down to .625 so the diabetes can be managed.

I gave him his first Vetsulin injection this morning of 2IU.


Any beginner advice would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome to the forum. I don’t have any knowledge of Addison’s disease, but I’m sure someone will be along later today.

Some general notes about diabetes:
Feed and inject 12 hours apart.
Select a lower fat food.
Monitor blood glucose at home

Gotta run. Wife says we are late for an appointment😉

Craig

[jesse girl]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

Hi and welcome

read all what the site has to offer

There has been some members in the same situation as you with addisons . Heinzle had a very good thread on the subject and how they manged it . Use the search to look that up and or type addisons into the search for other members that dealt with it

read read read and educate yourself there are examples . Diabetes can be managed with steroids . You can find dogs with allergies that needed steroids for quality of life and made it work . Maybe type steroids into the search

Get a glucose meter role up your sleeves and go to work solving your dogs unique situation . Dont get locked into what may work for someone else in a similar situation will work for your dog . the disease is very individualistic and thats why most of the management is done at home

the good thing its doable and you may not need to upset the balance you already have with the addisons as far as dosing of the steroids. Its very possible you will have to use allot more insulin than normal but its not a contest on how little you give its how good the regulation is .

another thing to think about is timing of giving steroids to spread its affect over a 24 hour period as even as possible . if not you may have to give differing amounts of insulin in the 2,12 hour periods

[mrgregj]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

I'm having a hard time coping with Charlie's diabetes. The time commitment and injections are overwhelming. I've never been a fan of needles myself so having to poke him all the time is really hard. I bought the autoject 2 to see if he can get used to that, but we are still in the training phase of him even getting comfortable with that thing close to his body, he just barks haha. I might try the inject-ease if he cant get comfortable with the louder sound of the autoject.

I have also not been able to do any home blood tests, the vet told me to do it on his ear or paw and I just cant get enough blood or at all to get a test. So I did buy some urine test strips to test for glucose and keotones. I know its not nearly as accurate, but its something.

This is taking a toll on us as I am sure it has for a lot of other people first introduced to this with their dog. The stress and anxiety with injections is tough, I feel like I live injection to injection.

[jesse girl]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

I'm having a hard time coping with Charlie's diabetes. The time commitment and injections are overwhelming. I've never been a fan of needles myself so having to poke him all the time is really hard. I bought the autoject 2 to see if he can get used to that, but we are still in the training phase of him even getting comfortable with that thing close to his body, he just barks haha. I might try the inject-ease if he cant get comfortable with the louder sound of the autoject.

I have also not been able to do any home blood tests, the vet told me to do it on his ear or paw and I just cant get enough blood or at all to get a test. So I did buy some urine test strips to test for glucose and keotones. I know its not nearly as accurate, but its something.

This is taking a toll on us as I am sure it has for a lot of other people first introduced to this with their dog. The stress and anxiety with injections is tough, I feel like I live injection to injection.

Yep thats normal in the beginning but as time moves forward it becomes the new normal . The thing about diabetes in dogs in a way its a gift to a caretaker with little medical knowledge because it introduces this knowledge to this individual that they may have never acquired

It has opened my eyes to things i would have never thought i could do . I ask questions about jesses care and dont take a professionals opinion as gold as i use to . I am also the same way for myself questioning medical treatment if necessary or not . My doctor wanted to put me on 3 different medications based on blood and urine test . I said lets try diet and she said ok and i am not on any medication at this rime ( knock on wood ) . I am sure if jesse wasnt here i would be on those medications and at worse may not be here

So for me i dont look at this as a terrible thing that inconveniences me and my life but in a way a gift from jesse sacrificing her normal life to make me better

[Lolo]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

If he has elbow calusses try testing there. That’s where I get blood from my Lucy. She doesn’t like her ears or paws messed with, but has no prob with my poking at her elbow.
It is a super steep and high speed learning curve. I sympathize and we’ve all been there... I’m still there. Okay about a month since diagnosis and it’s been one complication after another including a $2k emergency vet visit this weekend.

[k9diabetes]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

There are many different places to test. Many small dogs are tested on the back at the base of the tail or on the lip.

You can see great videos of Tiggy, a Chihuahua, being tested on the back at www.k9diabetes.com/bgtestvideos.html.

Natalie

[mrgregj]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

Today is our 1 year anniversary since Charlie was diagnosed with Diabetes! While it is sad thinking back to those early days of struggling with this new change in our lives, it is definitely better! He has been doing so well with his regulation and we are just cruising a long.

This forum was absolutely helpful and a great source of information!


To many more years!

[jesse girl]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

congrats on the first year . Thats usually the toughest . Be careful of cruise control . Its when you let your guard down and get complacent is when i ran into problems with jesse

Keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing many more of these anniversary's from charlie

[MikeMurphy]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

Congratulations to Charlie and you!

Keep up the good work

[Raysaint]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

congrats on the first year . Thats usually the toughest . Be careful of cruise control . Its when you let your guard down and get complacent is when i ran into problems with jesse

Keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing many more of these anniversary's from charlie

Congrats, it's a great feeling when things start cruising along. I reiterate what jessegirl says, don't get complacent. My dog has had so many unexpected changes, I'm so glad I test his morning fasting, and record it, every day.
Wishing you a steady cruise.

[LizE]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

Happy Anniversary! So glad your were able to work through the hard times. It can be such a long process but look at the payoff. Charlie is lucky you are on his team.

[amydunn19]

Re: My dog Charlie was just diagnosed with Diabetes...

Congrats on a year! I remember back that I was always so nervous about Maggie. It took me a couple of years to start buying decent quantities of supplies, because I was sure she wouldn’t make it much longer. Time flies by and the years added up. Just take it one day at a time. You are doing great !

[mrgregj]

I wanted to update the community and thank everyone for all of their exceptional support and knowledge. I didn't often post here over the years but I lurked every now and then and it was always comforting to read the stories and know you're not alone.

This week on Monday Charlie ran across the rainbow bridge away from diabetes, the injections, and blood tests in search of all the sunny spots to lay in, all of the blankets to bury himself in to take a nap, and all of the cuddles while watching TV.

We managed his diabetes for almost 5 years, many ups and downs, but it was all worth it to stick to the same routine every day to give him that extra time. In the end it was another autoimmune disease called IMHA that caused him to be anemic and go downhill fast.

RIP Charlie 01/26/09 - 12/19/22

[jesse girl]

Thanks for letting us know about your good friend charlie . It's a special relationship to be a caretaker for a loved one . I don't know of any other way to gain such a closeness with another . It's funny my Jesse never seemed to mind being diabetic and like your Charlie diabetes did not end her life . 5 years is a job well done .