Angel Mochi December 2020

[Raysaint]

Re: Questions about my boy Mochi

Things like this could cost a lot of money to examine and there still be no cure.
Arthritis is only manageable, not curable. Who knows if it is not bad enough to make him not want to put weight on it.

Our chihuahua has that condition that makes her do a lot of her walking on 3 legs, holding up her left rear leg, but she runs on all fours, and it doesn't seem to be painful.

[jesse girl]

Re: Questions about my boy Mochi

If they could only talk

I wonder if the paw is the problem

Its odd that running gets the leg working . It doesnt sound like pain because you have not talked about that with whimpering and a big run

Dogs are very resilient and find ways around there difficulties

[Lchow022]

Re: Questions about my boy Mochi

Mochi has been going to acupuncture and it hasnt helped at all.

Now we're starting rehab treatment at the specialist center today...I'm losing a bit of hope and it kills me seeing him walk on 3s..I got him a custom made wheel chair and he does not like using it..so we just took him out for a short walk yesterday up and down the block. He seems to use it once in a while..and he doesnt like walking on a slow pace and would only start walking if I have chicken treats held out to him..

His blood sugar is still jumping all over the place..yesterday it was at 380 at 4pm and then after the walk it drops to 195 at 6pm..
I'm so confused to why his bs is all over the place..the only thing that's different is his arm not working and we haven't taken him out for regular walks..

[jesse girl]

Re: Questions about my boy Mochi

Walks and exercise can drop blood sugar and it can be substantial and that may have caused the drop to 195

Sometimes we just have to live in the parameters given . Jesse is not the same dog at 15 and thats ok we find other ways to stay present .

Early in jesses diagnosis she struggled to get around so I took her on car rides to her favorite rabbit spots so she could see what they are up to and she enjoyed that

I have seen dogs in strollers and when they got to their favorite spots they would let them get out for some smells and do some business

I have heard water exercise is helpful if you dog likes the water

[Lchow022]

When should I increase his insulin?

Mochi's blood sugar hasn't been stable this month. His highs are always around 460 and his lowest would be around 170.
But he's been on the higher side this month..
I remember my vet telling me that if his numbers do drop in the day back to the norm then just leave it as it is but I feel like he's had more high numbers than normal range numbers..
I know I've been taking him in and out of the specialists to get rehabilitation done and we've been rewarding him with chicken breast but tiny pieces. I don't think that's what's causing his highs because he just started rehab last week..

I've taken one number today so far at 12:30 and it's at 440..

Should I increase his insulin slightly to see if it'll make a change?

[jesse girl]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

Normally you should do a curve to determine dose adjustments but i do adjust jesses dose depending on fasting but not by much .

[Lchow022]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

Would you increase the dose of insulin even if it goes back to a normal range number by the end of the day?

[jesse girl]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

What I do if she is above 250 at fasting I will give her a half unit more . If below that I will keep it at a normal dose . !20 and below I will give hew a half unit less

I dont see a problem if sugar isn't really that consistent with a dose that is with making small adjustments . The Ultimate goal and allot of dogs dont get there and still do good is under 200 maybe for two thirds of the day

[Lchow022]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

Thank you so much...I'll have to do a full day curve to see.

I think he's been higher throughout the day than lower..
But the past few weeks he's been having ups and downs every 2 hours. It would be lower around 250 at noon sometimes and then 2 hours later up to 380 and then back down again 2 hours after that.

[jesse girl]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

sounds like a plan

[Lchow022]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

My jet lag has been so bad...I ended up not being able.to take the numbers after the first fasting number until the midday number...

It's still quite high...I raised his dose of insulin only by 0.25units.

6am fasted- 310 (17.3mmol)
12pm midday- 410 (22.6mmol)

I'm starting to worry...what could be causing his sugars to have gone up...? It has been pretty consistent before. Besides his leg injury and bringing him to rehab last week there isn't much of a change with anything else...

[jesse girl]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

They haven't made a test strip to tell us where the sugar came from . Wish they could so all we can do is speculate

As long as your testing blood sugar a little bump should be ok . What I look for is if the bump drives numbers higher but with any dose adjustment higher give it 5 to 7 days to settle

[Lchow022]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

Can these bumps happen with anything? Even when the dogs totally fine?
Mochi's going on his 4th year being a diabetic and I still feel so clueless when things like this happen.
So far his blood sugar hasn't dropped too much...

6am fasted- 310 (17.3mmol)
12pm midday- 410 (22.6mmol)
2pm -270 (15mmol)
4pm-273 (15.2mmol)

I'm hoping for one last drop at 6pm..

[jesse girl]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

Their can be no rhyme or reason . You must remember we are replacing a fine tuned natural process that works on a demand function . If the body needs insulin it produces it the same for sugar . What we do is a time release type of system that slowly gets released into the body . Quite different than the natural process

If the body calls for blood sugar maybe for energy and produces to much and not enough insulin to cope than sugar can spike .

We are actually very fortunate we are able to get the regulation we do and shows the body tries to adapt

You have done a good job with mochi . 4 years is fantastic . You cant control the process from start to finish . I tried and it just makes you nuts . So I am content with what we do with jesse and she has lived quite some time with the disease and she is far from perfect

[Raysaint]

Re: When should I increase his insulin?

Jesse makes good points, we can't control the process like we want. Diabetes is full of ups and downs. It's knowing when the ups/highs are more than a slight hiccup.
Consistent forever regulation is not how diabetes works. We human diabetics go thru hiccups all the time.

My dog right now has had almost a week of morning fastings higher than I like. Nothing has changed so now I wonder. However, this has happened many times before and suddenly he'll be back to better fastings.
So no panic now, but if it continues, then a vet conversation will be in order.

Your numbers show that at least he's coming down, like a typical bowl curve. The slight dose increase might be enough to bring fastings down, which should make all numbers lower relatively.