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  • New member Snowball

    Hello,

    First time posting here, found the forum while googling. Snowball is an 11 year old 8lb maltese female. She was diagnosed with diabetes about 3 months ago. Up until that time she was a normal dog, would run to you when you call her and play with her toys etc. We noticed she was peeing all over the house and not making it through the night which was very unusual for her so we brought her to the vet and got the diagnosis. Two vets actually. We started her on the Insulin from Walmart, whatever they sell for 24.88 and we have syringes from there as well. They started her on 1 unit twice daily and currently she is on 3 units twice daily. Even since starting the insulin its like we have a different dog. Up until the last couple of weeks it wasn't too bad, she just basically wouldn't play with her toys anymore which she used to do nightly on the couch with me to the point of driving me crazy sometimes. She did do it once in the past week, but that was the first time in at least 2 months.

    Anyway, the past couple of weeks, she is just basically dead. She gets up and walks outside and goes to the bathroom and then comes back in the house and lies down. If I do get her to get up, she basically walks a little bit and plops back down and sleeps. She is still active if someone is eating food though.

    Before we got the diagnosis of the diabetes she was urinating almost constantly and drinking lots of water. Now with the insulin she is still drinking tons of water and once in awhile she will make it through a 7 hour night, but usually we have to take her out in the middle of the night. I'd say about 3 hours she typically makes it. She also has lost a bit of control and frequently will pee on herself while lying down.

    Sorry for the long post. I guess the main question is, I've read both things saying that increased thrist can be too much insulin and also not enough insulin.

    We did about 5 times at the vet for glucose curves and each time they tell us to come back again the next week that they are still regulating it. The vet is very reasonably priced, but frankly we just don't have the money to keep going back. I suppose I could do it at home, but i'm not exactly sure how to draw the blood. Just hoping to get some advise so I can make her at comfortable as possible within the confines of the budget.

    Thanks

    Rob

  • #2
    Re: New member Snowball

    Testing her blood sugar at home would be the best approach. Go to www.k9diabetes.com/bgtestvideos.html and you can see various places to test and how people collected the blood sample, which is quite small.

    Though many vets use the ear, that's not usually the best place to test dogs.

    If you don't have the results of the vets' blood sugar checks and curves, please obtain and copy and post the information here.

    It's possible that the blood sugar is swinging through a large range from highest to lowest and she could have both too high blood sugar and too low blood sugar every day.

    A few dogs also are allergic to NPH, which I'm sure is what you're using (Relion N) - that could be making her very tired and sluggish.

    But I'd like to see her blood sugar readings first before going there.

    Did she have a full blood panel when she was diagnosed?

    If so, any abnormal readings besides her blood sugar?

    How much does she weight?

    Natalie

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    • #3
      Re: New member Snowball

      Ah, I see you said 8 pounds. 3 units twice a day - it is given twice a day? - could be too high of a dose, causing her to have low blood sugar at certain times of day.

      The "average" dose for dogs is around 1/4 unit per pound, so 2 units in her case. Their needs vary and my guess is that perhaps her insulin dose has been raised too quickly and she bottoms out at times.

      If you'd like to go with a human meter rather than one for dogs, the OneTouch group are very good with dog blood. They usually come pretty close.

      You can find general information plus numerous links to other sites at the main website: www.k9diabetes.com.

      Natalie

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: New member Snowball

        As natalie suggested you have to get a bit more proactive . Vets are good for many things but managing diabetes exclusively at the office is difficult unless you get lucky with the correct dose

        Not even knowing what insulin your dog is using says you might be behind the curve but catching up is not to difficult . The more you put into it the better your dog will be . Now your vet may fight you being proactive but having a discussion with them about being more involve should be helpful
        Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
        Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: New member Snowball

          I think human meters are cheaper so I'll go with that if I can. Is there a recommended meter and strips?

          As for the testing. What is the preferred spot for an 8lb dog? I don't know if she has enough lip for that method. She has big ears though. I'm not super comfortable sticking her at the bottom of her foot.

          As for the insulin. I do know what it is. I just thought the walmart insulin is pretty well known by everyone.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: New member Snowball

            My jesse was very sick and i did not give her much hope when she came home from the hospital after 10 days . I decided to read everything the site had to offer . Read as many threads as i could that was similar to jesses situation

            I became the foremost expert on jesses diabetes and i believe that to be true
            That was over 8 years ago and she has lives a happy normal dogs life with some limitations

            It has changed my understanding of medical conditions which i had none . Doing curves at home seeing what is going on with blood sugar may give the clue on why snowball is not herself

            One other thing if not asked has your girl been spayed ? . That can lead to problems with regulation
            Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
            Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: New member Snowball

              She is spayed.

              As for meters I see a brand was mentioned in the first reply but the test strips are quite pricey. Is there a meter that works well with reasonably priced strips or generic strips that people verify work?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: New member Snowball

                Looking at bayer meter or relion meter. Both seem to have very inexpensive strips. Anyone have luck with those?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: New member Snowball

                  Jesse has used the relion meter and other human meters for the last 8 years which have worked for her. numbers can get less accurate in the higher range but get pretty close in the lower range which is most important with low bloos sugar . Even being off a bit in the higher range will still give an accurate pattern of what is going on with blood sugar and how to proceed .

                  So any meter human or not will most likely work understanding it wont be perfect but should get the job done
                  Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
                  Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: New member Snowball

                    Okay I will grab a relion today.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: New member Snowball

                      Now it can be a bit of a learning curve testing blood sugar the big one is how to get a drop of blood and depending on where you end up testing on your dogs body can have a different size of lancet

                      I use thin lancets on jesse because i test her inner lip while people that test other locations on the body like the base of the tail or maybe the ear need a much larger lancet with sizes as big as 26 gauge

                      Now just because your dog is small you still maybe able to use the lip which i believe is the easiest spot because there is no fur and plenty of blood vessels and very few nerve endings

                      Take your time dont push it . If its a struggle take a break . The goal is to get a drop of blood . If you can do that you and your dog are on your way to managing the disease and improving snowballs quality of life

                      Now smaller dogs can be a bit more challenging to regulate. Full unit adjustments higher maybe to much and half and even quarter unit maybe more appropriate
                      Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
                      Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: New member Snowball

                        I bought 30 gauge lancets with no lancing device, figured I could just prick her. I did the inner lip, but didn't get enough blood. Tried the foot pad and she just looked at me with an ouch look on her face and no blood, the ear she didn't mind, but again, but enough blood. I'm going to go back and try to get 26 gauge and a lancing device and hopefuly I can get enough blood.

                        Originally posted by jesse girl View Post
                        Now it can be a bit of a learning curve testing blood sugar the big one is how to get a drop of blood and depending on where you end up testing on your dogs body can have a different size of lancet

                        I use thin lancets on jesse because i test her inner lip while people that test other locations on the body like the base of the tail or maybe the ear need a much larger lancet with sizes as big as 26 gauge

                        Now just because your dog is small you still maybe able to use the lip which i believe is the easiest spot because there is no fur and plenty of blood vessels and very few nerve endings

                        Take your time dont push it . If its a struggle take a break . The goal is to get a drop of blood . If you can do that you and your dog are on your way to managing the disease and improving snowballs quality of life

                        Now smaller dogs can be a bit more challenging to regulate. Full unit adjustments higher maybe to much and half and even quarter unit maybe more appropriate

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: New member Snowball

                          thats a very good start getting some blood

                          I do have to milk the area at times depending on blood flow od jesses inner lip . Jesse has never complained about pinching her lip a bit but she always been a trooper

                          Hopefully in a month or 2 you will be in this new normal and snowball will return to her old self
                          Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
                          Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: New member Snowball

                            Originally posted by jesse girl View Post
                            thats a very good start getting some blood

                            I do have to milk the area at times depending on blood flow od jesses inner lip . Jesse has never complained about pinching her lip a bit but she always been a trooper

                            Hopefully in a month or 2 you will be in this new normal and snowball will return to her old self
                            I did the ear and finally got enough blood. Lip not enough blood again, would probably help if I had a lancing device but walmart around here is out of the relion lancing devices and I"m not spending 12 dollars on one.

                            as of 1238AM she is 292 according to the meter. Thats around 442 according to dog meter I'm assuming using .66 conversion? She gets insulin around 7am and 7pm although on the weekends it might be a bit later in the morning. Probably 8am this morning.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: New member Snowball

                              great getting that first test

                              I have not done any conversions with jesses human meter. For us we accepted numbers for what they are but many do do conversions. How accurate that is especially in the higher range i dont know

                              What you are looking for with this dose at 3 units are the numbers fairly stable throughout the day 100 points or lower difference from low to high is quite stable . Higher than 200 to me is becoming more unstable .

                              stable elevated numbers may point to a dose increase and big swings in blood sugar may point to a dose being to large

                              remember one number doesnt give much info because it is one moment in time . complete curves are the only real way to determine a dose adjustment during the regulation process
                              Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
                              Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

                              Comment

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