My dog is requiring more insulin than normal.

[Dog Mom]

Re: Buddy's latest Curve - Thinking about food change

I use the Freestyle Lite Meter. I plan on being home so I gave him 6. I added a little cottage cheese to his food besides his EVO and WD.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Buddy's latest Curve - Thinking about food change

Cool. Since the meter is most likely reading the BG a little low, a 1-unit decrease should be more than enough.

Natalie

[Dog Mom]

Question about how much to give

I am changing Buddy's food tomorrow. I will continue to give him 1 1/2 cups of his WD but am no longer going to give him EVO Duck ($$$$). I am going to give him 7% lean ground beef and low fat cottage cheese. My problem is that I don't know how much to add to each meal. Will 1/2 cup be enough for breakfast and dinner? That would be a total of 2 cups of food for his 2 meals and his 1/2 cup green beans for his midday snack. He does need to gain weight.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Buddy's latest Curve - Thinking about food change

Figure out how many calories of Evo you are eliminating and replace it with the same number of calories of the home cooked diet.

According to my book, 4 ounces of broiled lean ground beef has 248 calories so about 992 in a pound after cooking and draining off the fat. Round it to 1,000 and you should be close enough.

If you cook a 1 pound package, you could measure how many cups that is and get a calories per cup amount. And then dole it out in cups if that's easier than ounces. I never used a scale, just a measuring cup.

Doesn't have to be exact - just try to come close.

If the Evo doesn't have the calorie per cup amount on the can, you can get it from their website. http://www.evopet.com/products/.

If he's not gaining weight and you want to increase the food, I'd increase all of his food - the WD and the home cooked - by 20-25%. And then you will have to check and see how his blood sugar responds. A small increase in insulin is likely needed but it's usually a much smaller percentage than the percent increase in the food.

Natalie

[Dog Mom]

So I changed his food...now a question about his BG

His BG was higher than normal when I got home this evening. Is it because I took him off the WD/EVO and he is now eating WD/ground beef/cottage cheese?

[k9diabetes]

Re: Buddy's latest Curve - Thinking about food change

Changes in food can be unpredictable. I used to hate to do them cuz after I finally figured out what and how much to feed, I'd have to figure out the insulin side.

That's a long way of saying yes, quite possibly the food change is the cause!

Natalie

[Dog Mom]

Can't get his BG down.

Can't figure it out....got home tonight and he was at 277. Big change from his last curve. He has not been lower than 185 since I changed his food. Gave him 10 1/2U. He has never received that much. Has gone from 7 to 10 within 2 weeks. Is it possible that his Insulin has lost it's potency? I have read where you shouldn't keep a bottle for more than 28 days. Buddy's bottle lasts at least 2 months....I am confused

[peggy0]

Re: Can't get his BG down.

Forbins BGs changed/went up when I eliminated canned food from his dry and gave him boiled chicken. I had to go back to canned food and chose newmans organic chicken.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Buddy's latest Curve - Thinking about food change

It is worth trying a new bottle if this one has gotten old. And then also perhaps dropping the dose since you may have raised it because the insulin was old and deteriorating.

Food changes definitely can make a big difference, especially if the number of calories are different. But also if you only take spot checks, the shape of the curve can be very different and a 285 instead of a 185 at a particular time of day doesn't tell you what the blood sugar is doing the rest of the time. It could be going lowest at a different time of day than it was on the other food.

If the curve is not as flat, for example, you will see higher BGs at meal time but it could be going too low mid-day.

That's a lot of increasing in dose in just two weeks... I wouldn't go any higher and I personally might even lower the dose until I had a change to do a curve on the new food and get the whole picture.

Exactly why I used to hate food changes! It does set things back so you have to evaluate the new curve.

Natalie

[Dog Mom]

Buddy's latest Dr. visit and Acupuncture

So I took Buddy to the Vet today more for the weakness in his back leg than anything else. Good news is he has put on 2 1/2 lbs in 1 month. He also has arthritis in his back right leg hence the weakness. He gave him Rimadyl to be used occassionally. I asked him about acupuncture and he said that we could try that and see how it works. Wondering if anyone has had any experience with acupuncture.

[jestersmom]

Re: Buddy's latest Curve - Thinking about food change

How old is Buddy? We have had several ollldddd dogs- 13 13 15 16 years old. In three cases, there was/is weakness in the hind legs. Something about the spine and messages to the back end and nature taking its course. Not much can be done, just ease any pain. I havent used acupuncture, but several of my friends have and say it helps. I do more of a targeted massage that seems to help.

Take Care

[Dog Mom]

Re: Buddy's latest Dr. visit and Acupuncture

Buddy is 11....the Vet took pics of his spine...perfect alignment. He said it's like looking at the spine of a 2 year old dog.

[Dog Mom]

Buddy hasn't eaten....3 days...please help

Hi everyone,

This will probably be a long post so I apologize in advance.

It has been awhile since I have posted anything. I always come on and read the posts but to see how everyone is doing. Buddy had been doing so well (BG was never over 150 and he was gaining weight). Last Wednesday that all changed. He did not want to eat but did so after an hour. I gave him his insulin and an hour later, he vomited. I called the Vet and brought him in. All his Bloodwork came back fine except his liver function was a little high. Vet wasn't concerned because it has been runnning like that. He said he probably has a virus. He gave him some Cerenia and we went home. He did not eat Wednesday night and Thursday morning he wouldn't eat his regular WD and ground beef. He did eat a 1/2 can of WD (those are his treats). Also gave him 1/2 cup ground beef..not thining that was enough, I cooked him a skinless chicken breast and he ate that too. He wouldn't eat Thursday night and in the middle of the night developed Diarrhea. No food on Friday morning so I tried a little experiment. I gave him 1/2 cookie (the ones he shouldn't have) and he woofed it down. Gave him another and he ate that too. I also tried giving him some fo my other dog's food and he ate that. Not much but he still ate it. I called my Vet and he gave me some Reglan and Flagyl along with a case of Hill's ID. I asked him if there was another food I could put him on and he said I was limited but gave me no options. Came home and he didn't want to eat Friday night. I baked some canned WD for him and he ate a couple but nothing else. I know he wants to eat as everytime I go in my kitchen he follows me, wags his tail and is waiting. He looks sad as I feed the others. He is continuing to drink water and I have cut down on his insulin as he is not eating. PLEASE HELP! This place has always been a source of great support and help to me. Is there another food that I could try? I am shocked that my Vet did not suggest something else.

[peggy0]

Re: Buddy hasn't eaten....3 days...please help

I'm so sorry to hear about buddy. You could try him on another food, but it will affect his insulin dosage as you know. Have you tried science diet lite? Some folks here I know feed that and then there are the wellness foods that several people feed. I feed Forbin blue buffalo that you can get at petsmart or petco. I feed him the weight management food as it has the correct combination of carbs and is lower fat like the diabetic foods. You would have to mix in his WD so he doesn't get an upset stomach or diarrhea over 5 days, but you can at least see if he will eat it. they sell it in dry as well as wet. I'm not sure which one he prefers. My dogs stopped eating their food last summer and a month later it was recalled. Not to scare you, but he may be fine and doesn't like something in the food itself. I'd try one of the foods I've mentioned just to see if he will eat it. If so, you'll have to adjust his insulin accordingly after several days. Hope this helps.

[Patty]

Re: Buddy hasn't eaten....3 days...please help

Glad you had bloodwork done on him and that it came back fine. It doesn't sound like he's in any pain. I do like Peggy's food suggestions to see if you can tempt him to eat something new.

I know it's frustrating when your diabetic won't eat
Hoping it's as simple as a food change,
Patty