Munchie–11 yr. old MiniSchnauzer - Earned his wings

[Patty]

If the previous diet was maintaining his weight, I think I'd try to match the calories. And you do seem to have room to increase insulin to bring those numbers down a bit.

[Abby's Mom]

Have been away awhile, but just checking in to see how Munchie is doing. At least he has a great appetite. That is always the first hurdle. Probably enjoying his new diet.

Ack... who likes all that white rice anyway?

Barb

[BogiesMom]

Hi Louise,
I was also thinking of Munchie... Hope he is doing ok

[LuvMyMunchie]

Thanks for checking in on Munchie. Wish I could say all is going well but it is not. Munch started turning his nose up at the Dick Van Patten food but ate it today with some shredded tilapia in water added. My non-picky eater has now become picky but from reading on the forum it seems pretty common. He was not thriving on the rice diet and it took a huge amount of calories just to maintain his weight but only 5 days and way too much food on the new diet and he gained a little.

He definitely has room for more insulin and know I'm repeating myself - it just seems odd to me that the more insulin he's given the worse his numbers get. Maybe there's something about the regulation process I don't understand. He drinks water non-stop now. He's up and around some if his bg is in the 400's but that's pretty much a thing of the past. With the 8 units NPH his numbers decrease slightly and then start upwards again in about 4 hrs. I thought perhaps my overfeeding of the new diet was causing the elevated bg but wrong again as I have reduced the amount. I honestly don't know what's wrong nor do I know what to do. Vet had me change him from 4 meals down to 3 and again down to 2 but his numbers remained lousey no matter what. I could wear the "patience hat" if I was seeing a tiny amount of improvement but things are going the other way for Munch. Maybe he has another issue going on that's not obvious. Don't know, just doing a lot of guessing.

Today is curve day so I'll post his current curve this evening along with his other curves for Nov. and maybe somebody will see something obvious jump out and have a suggestion. I imagine his insulin will be increased tomorrow evening after vet looks at curve. Sure hope his bg will come down a bit instead of getting higher.

Louise

[Judi]

oh Louise, you and Munchie need a break. I hope some of the veterans are around after you post your curves with some good suggestions.

Jenny was in the 600-500 range for 2 or 3 months while we slowly increased and it drove me crazy. I don't know how you deal with all of his issues. hugs, Judi

[LuvMyMunchie]

Originally Posted by Judi

Jenny was in the 600-500 range for 2 or 3 months while we slowly increased and it drove me crazy. I don't know how you deal with all of his issues. hugs, Judi

Thanks for the support, Judi. Arrrgh...he's only a month into this and I'm already a basket case. 2 or 3 months and I'll need one of those nice white jackets and the special van to take me away.

Hugs back at ya' Judi. I know you have your hands full with Jenny also.

Louise

[momofdecker]

Louise, I'm sorry to read the food change has not had the positive outcome you'd hoped for. From my experience with Decker, high lipids and chronic pancreatitis can wreak havoc on bg levels. You may find that aggressive insulin treatment is what Munchie will need - not careless - but perhaps a three days inbetween, curve, then increase the dose. You may also find that the insulin he is on may not be best suited to break through the resistance he may be experiencing.

Folks here have taught me that you have to be aggressive with medical staff when it comes to this disease. Our vet did not offer an insulin change, in fact, she denied our first request for one. She agreed to test Decker for concurrent diseases but stated she felt he simply needed more insulin. Had we not asked for the tests he would have continued to struggle. Now with his neck lesion, I am again having to be upfront and ask for meds to help him. So wish it was easier as I'm not an aggressive person by nature. Sure am gaining a lot of experience though - lol!

Thinking of you and Munchie! Holli

[Rubytuesday]

Hi Louise, I haven't been able to keep up lately, but it sounds like you are as confused as I am and you have been right there.
It almost seems like you need the clean slate approach, or maybe you have already started this. Hopefully he has been at the same amount of the same food and same dose of insulin for at least 3 days. Then because he has been running so high for so long I would be fairly aggressive/faster with increases.

I think you test at home right? With numbers like you have been having I would feel comfortable curving every 3 days and then evaluate for an increase. Then as you got closer to ideal numbers you could slow down and let things settle in more.

Again i haven't been able to keep up lately, so I hope you don't take offense if I have missed details that would make this approach wrong, just how I would appraoch it.

Tara

[BoJanie]

Hi Louise, have you considered Levemir for Munchie? My mini schnauzer was on 16 units of NPH 2 x day and bg's were in the 500 range still. Once we switched to Levemir, it was amazing the difference and how quickly we got the numbers down on much less dose (it is potent). But this breed seems to do well on it from what I can tell on the forum. At least a consideration.

[LuvMyMunchie]

HAVING PROBLEMS....

I'm watching Munchie closely as I may have to take him to ER tonight if things get worse and definitely back to his vet tomorrow. He has vomited white mucus several times and attempted to eat grass so may be having a mild episode of pancreatitis again. Although he is still drinking water he is refusing to eat anything at all. I haven't given him any insulin yet. His regular dose is 8 units so I will give him 1/4 dose of 2 units after I check his bg again. The last bg measurement of his curve at 8:26 p.m. was 519. This is getting scary.

Louise