Franklin has diabetes

[BestBuddy]

Hi Jane

Sorry to see you and Franklin over here. Noticed an injection at 11am, just wondering if you are feeding and injecting 12 hours apart. Remind me what you are feeding??

Jenny

[Franklin'sMum]

Hi Craig and Jenny,

Just found our previous thread, and apologise for not checking in and letting you all know what was going on . As it turned out, Franklin wasn't diabetic at that time.

He's eating home cooked (formulated by a canine nutritionist) consisting of sweet potato, butternut pumpkin, brown rice, chicken and lamb. It's low fat and low protein. He also has another recipe of sweet potato, quinoa, oat bran, fish and butternut pumpkin, but the lamb recipe is his favourite one. I've emailed her to see if these are still suitable for him.

Franklin is getting his insulin 12 hourly, but on the first day it was 11am and the locum vet said to give the next dose at 8 pm, making it 9 hours. The thing is Franklin doesn't want to wait 12 hours for his next meal. The information leaflet with the caninsulin says feed, give insulin, then feed 7.5 hours later, with next insulin to be given 12 hours after the first shot.
Locum said to only feed twice a day with no snacks or anything.
Tried that, but he growled for food after 8 -9 hours, so yesterday and today I gave a little food (about 3 table spoons worth) at that time. My vet is due back on Monday and will check with her then.

The 12 hourly dosing will be an issue one week out of 3, I'm a shift worker, so on day shift it can be 6.00/ 6.00 night shift can be 7.15/7.15. I'm hoping the transition day/s won't be a problem. Afternoon shift is where it will be tricky, because at those times I'm meant to be at work. With his phenobarb I move it an hour at a time till it's 11.00/11.15. I asked the locum if I could do the same with the insulin, and first she said yes but later that day she said no. I have to ask our regular vet, and also if I could divide his daily dose into 3 injections so he can have 3 meals, especially on that shift. Or whether he can have some kind of snack, ever again. Or bones.
Or what if he's just eaten, had insulin then 5 minutes later wants more food?
Can I give him a tiny treat at insulin time for being good and staying still?

So many questions to come.....

Thank you,
Jane and Franklin 7.5 years maltese, 7ish kg, 3.5iu caninsulin twice daily, enalfor for proteinuria, melatonin and lignans for atypical cushing's, home cooked, Australia

[jesse girl]

i to recommend testing blood sugar at home if your baby has accepted shots well it should not be difficult to do it at home we use the inner lip you can role the lip up on franklin identify the canine tooth and rub your finger across that inner lip if hes fine with that more than likely that maybe a possible testing spot you can continue to do that just to see if you can make it a routine lots of videos and info on that or if you have a question just ask

always good to start slow and work your way up to something

with the additional challenges franklin has regulation maybe a bit more difficult not impossible and insulin is working for him as you can see from the curve

probably the only thing problematic with it is starting in a higher range and getting a good drop when insulin starts to work we call onset . if that drop is slowed the starting numbers before food and insulin we call fasting may start lower big swings in blood sugar may make regulation more challenging because in a normal dog the body would never see this and the body may react to this

you may have to lower the dose to see if the drop is slowed and fasting is lower but like i said you have to test at home to have an actual account of what blood sugar is doing in a normal situation which would be home

its nice to see you 2 here it is a very good resource read other post it is quite helpful

[Franklin'sMum]

Hi all,

The curve was done, and Franklin's dose has been upped. He's now taking 8iu bid caninsulin. He had lost 100grams in weight, but had me fooled because he had filled out a bit.
Franklin's curve went like this
8 hour fasting 08.40 - 22.4mmol then insulin
After breakfast 10.40 - 11.6
12.50 - 10.7
14.50 - 9.3
16.00 - 11.5mmol.

His nadir seems to be around 6 hours. The dose was upped because he had only been getting .25iu per kg, not .50iu. The little muppet started squirming with his bigger dose the next day. I figured out it must be the coldness of the insulin with the bigger dose. I've since taken to having the barrel of the needle in my mouth for a few minutes to warm it up while he eats. And changed his good boy bribe from schmackos to cheese. It went a lot easier this evening.

The vet wants to do another curve in a week and a half or so.

Does anyone have any pointers they can share if Franklin should become a wriggle pup again? There's only the two of us in the home.

Love to all and thanks for everything,
Jane and Franklin, maltese, 7.5 years, 6.9kg, Australia, 8iu caninsulin bid, home cooked meals.

[CraigM]

I'm concerned if you have gone from 3.5units of Caninsulin straight to 8units! Your curve showed a 9.3mmol (167mg/dL) which isn't all that high, some would say "excellent" for a low (nadir) number done at at vet clinic. That is a BIG increase!

[CraigM]

Franklin weighs almost 7kg and IF you wanted to give 0.50 units of Caninsulin per kg wouldn't that be 3.5 units and not even close to 8 units?

This link is a little confusing to me, but I THINK it recommends 0.25-0.50 units per kg, twice per day.

http://www.caninsulin.com/Managing-d...lin-dosage.asp


Please confirm what syringe you are using (U-40 or U-100)

[BestBuddy]

Hi Jane,

Like Craig I am worried about the insulin raise. I have tried messaging you on FB and I hope you see one of these messages.

Jenny

[Franklin'sMum]

Hi all,

Sorry for the confusion, I thought I'd mentioned we're using u100 syringes, but apparently not.

Thanks all
Jane

[BestBuddy]

Hi Jane

Just sent reply to FB and glad to see things look okay. Nothing like getting the heart beating fast in the morning with a scare Looks like you are giving 3.2iu of Caninsulin and that sounds fine. (8 divided by 2.5)

Jenny

[CraigM]

Originally Posted by Franklin'sMum

Hi all,

Sorry for the confusion, I thought I'd mentioned we're using u100 syringes, but apparently not.

Thanks all
Jane

I think I feel a little better! The 8 "line" on a U-100 syringe would be about 3.2 units if done in a U-40 syringe. I think.