Scooter, my Maltese 10 y/o was doing great on 8 units 2x's daily and on WD for 2.5 years. We didn't curve at home, but I tested him at vet and everything was perfect...UNTIL...he developed bladder stones with one stuck in his urethra, so surgery was mandatory. Took him to original vet, but the cost was so prohibitive I took him to a vet that is closer to my home and his clinic is very advanced and I thought they would be more expensive. Not to mention the vet lives in my neighborhood and I was able to get a 2nd opinion and made the choice to go with him for surgery. The one thing he did was change him to less food and lowered his insulin after surgery. I didn't want to do it, but I decided to go with his protocol. I should have known something was happening with Scooter because he was starving for the next 10 days and I told the vet. He said we would wait for 2 weeks and curve him. The stones are being analyzed.
Long, long story short....surgery was successful. They removed 2 stones including the one stuck. He got 3 units (no food) morning of surgery. He came home same day, didn't eat, no insulin, slept great, wasn't hungry. For the next 9 days he ate, was happy alert, was able to urinate, and was on 3 units twice daily. Exactly 10 days after surgery he had a seizure. I KNEW it was a hypo incident and I put the Karo on his gums, but I rushed him immediately to the vets office (thank God he is closer to my house than other vet). It was 4:30 pm and they don't do overnights, so they inserted a catheter and gave him sub q glucose and I rushed him to a hospital 30 minutes away. The whole time he was seizing and I thought he (and I) were going to die. All night in hospital and back to vet to be monitored the next day where they did curves all day.
I got a meter and readied myself to do home testing. And I also was told about Somogyi. This was the first time I had heard of the Somogyi effect (shame on me for not every reading about it). By the way the vet said I got lucky keeping him regulated, but I don't agree. 2.5 years of perfection wasn't luck. It was dedication, consistency and being very careful.
My question is this to anyone who has had to have surgery on their diabetic dog: What steps, if any, did you take to make sure your dog's glucose remained constant knowing they can't eat 12 hours prior to surgery? And possibly would be too groggy to eat in the evening? Could this have been what kicked him into Somogyi? Was lowering the food and changing the insulin (without testing along the way) have caused the hypo and somogyi effect?
It makes sense to me that knowing now how somogyi happens it could have been the 36 hours w/o food and 3 units of insulin and then lowering his food intake. But, could this have been avoided? Is there a protocol for this type of surgery and diabetic dogs? Scooter has had his teeth cleaned after diagnosis and not problem, but he was hungry and the procedure was pretty generic. He missed one meal, but not the 2nd.
It has been a very long day of testing, poking, recording, etc. Very scary for a first timer to home testing. I cannot believe that I was dosing him while his body was adjusting so he was getting too much insulin. He was very close to dying, but he is a real fighter. In fact, he loved the baby food, the chicken and all the goodies he got at the hospital to bring him back up. He thought he was staying the night at the Ritz. Cost to date: $2400.00 including surgery, emergency hospital and supplies.
I tested him all day and vet doesn't think Somogyi is present at this time based on numbers and curve. But, we are carefully upping his dose. He is now at 2 units, 2x's a day and I'll be testing at home. His numbers were:
465 Morning, then every hour, then every two hours
Fed got 3 units
462
211
146
409
461
465
Fed got 2 units
Can I have some thoughts, please? Thanks so much.
Long, long story short....surgery was successful. They removed 2 stones including the one stuck. He got 3 units (no food) morning of surgery. He came home same day, didn't eat, no insulin, slept great, wasn't hungry. For the next 9 days he ate, was happy alert, was able to urinate, and was on 3 units twice daily. Exactly 10 days after surgery he had a seizure. I KNEW it was a hypo incident and I put the Karo on his gums, but I rushed him immediately to the vets office (thank God he is closer to my house than other vet). It was 4:30 pm and they don't do overnights, so they inserted a catheter and gave him sub q glucose and I rushed him to a hospital 30 minutes away. The whole time he was seizing and I thought he (and I) were going to die. All night in hospital and back to vet to be monitored the next day where they did curves all day.
I got a meter and readied myself to do home testing. And I also was told about Somogyi. This was the first time I had heard of the Somogyi effect (shame on me for not every reading about it). By the way the vet said I got lucky keeping him regulated, but I don't agree. 2.5 years of perfection wasn't luck. It was dedication, consistency and being very careful.
My question is this to anyone who has had to have surgery on their diabetic dog: What steps, if any, did you take to make sure your dog's glucose remained constant knowing they can't eat 12 hours prior to surgery? And possibly would be too groggy to eat in the evening? Could this have been what kicked him into Somogyi? Was lowering the food and changing the insulin (without testing along the way) have caused the hypo and somogyi effect?
It makes sense to me that knowing now how somogyi happens it could have been the 36 hours w/o food and 3 units of insulin and then lowering his food intake. But, could this have been avoided? Is there a protocol for this type of surgery and diabetic dogs? Scooter has had his teeth cleaned after diagnosis and not problem, but he was hungry and the procedure was pretty generic. He missed one meal, but not the 2nd.
It has been a very long day of testing, poking, recording, etc. Very scary for a first timer to home testing. I cannot believe that I was dosing him while his body was adjusting so he was getting too much insulin. He was very close to dying, but he is a real fighter. In fact, he loved the baby food, the chicken and all the goodies he got at the hospital to bring him back up. He thought he was staying the night at the Ritz. Cost to date: $2400.00 including surgery, emergency hospital and supplies.
I tested him all day and vet doesn't think Somogyi is present at this time based on numbers and curve. But, we are carefully upping his dose. He is now at 2 units, 2x's a day and I'll be testing at home. His numbers were:
465 Morning, then every hour, then every two hours
Fed got 3 units
462
211
146
409
461
465
Fed got 2 units
Can I have some thoughts, please? Thanks so much.
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