abcessed tooth/dental cleaning

[KathyAAllen]

Hi, Im new here and not sure if im posting this right Im still getting used to giving Roscoe his insulin shots, 7 weeks now, hes now starting to jerk and pull away when i give him his shots Today he jerked as i injected it, i heard a pop and felt liquid on my hand that was holding the skin, I dont know how much insulin he got, I dont know if i should give him more or wait till next dose, 12 hrs, He just had another gloucose curve and he is not regulated yet, still has high readings. I called Vet and she isnt in till 11, 3 more hrs. any suggestions?
Kathy

[jesse girl]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

hi and welcome

yes you just have to wait till next injection

you could try some practice injections tenting throughout the day in a loving way just to reaffirm to your pup this is a positive thing

of coarse warming insulin helps, thinner needles, bevel up and trying alternative locations with shot the practice tests may help with that .

[farrwf]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Wondering what the "pop" could be???

To be on the safe side, ... wait till the next scheduled shot.

[Eddie]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Hello and welcome

Jesse Girl is right - you have to wait as you don't know how much you might have got in and there is too big a risk of overdosing.

If your dog is a reliable eater you could try giving his injection while he eats. We do this and our dog rarely notices us doing it. You do need to be confident that he will eat all his meal though.

In the meantime and before you can give his next dose, a bit of exercise might help to lower his sugar levels.

Antonia

[eyelostit]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Yes, you'll need to wait till next injection time. It takes some time to get the feel of the tent method or maybe try another injection spot.

Dolly and Angel Niki

[KathyAAllen]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

thank you for your responses, im just feeling so stressed and confused, vet cant get him regulated, he had his glucose curve yesterday, first test was 345, then 450, then 609, then 700 so they stopped it. Raised him to 10 ml twice a day. im confused as to why it keeps going up. I know hes getting sore on the scuff of his neck so im trying new places but hes resisting, hes so good really, accepting all this even coming to me after bout 30 mins to get his shot i know its me being more stressed than him. I'm scared to wait till next shot, im not sure what will happen, i guess its the unknown, i need to find out more about this but cant find anything on how it effects dogs, thats how i found your site, trying to research. sorry im rambling, guess i will try walking him he loves his walks. thank you again

[harleychik66]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Kathy...first off breathe. I know how stressful this can be. My guy was diagnosed not too long ago. It's very overwhelming at first. And it's scary...especially when you have no knowledge of diabetes and have never dealt with it at all which was my case. No family, no friends no nothing to even understand it. The only think I knew was diabetes meant high blood sugar.

If you aren't home testing I would highly recommend starting. Only when I started home testing was I more in control and as such I could be more proactive with my vet and do better by my guy Lou.

I also found that my guy...who loves the vets...had totally innacurate numbers when he stayed for the all day curve tests. His readings at home where he was content and happy were completely different than the ones at the vets office. With many dogs the stress of being there all day raises their BG levels as the day goes on so while the readings at the vets show elevating levels this may or may not be what your guy is doing on a normal day at home.

As far as him hating the shots. Lou did real well the first two weeks. Then he acted like I was killing him. Broke my heart. I have found out since that cold insulin can hurt. I now warm it up, rub his injection site with an alcohol swab, give him a little chicken treat and inject then another little chicken treat. I am talking to him the whole time. He now just plunks down where I tend to give his shots and is so good. It comes with time. Remember if you are stressed or tense your dog knows and senses it. Easier said than done but it will come with time.

Shots, blood testing ect are now just part of Lou's routine. He knows it and he's fine with it. Your Roscoe will learn this is all part of his new routine and adapt. Dogs are amazingly resilient that way. Again the main thing is don't get frustrated and worked up...keep it upbeat and positive.

The only thing I can think of with the pop is it poking out the other side of his skin. Or are you tenting enough to make sure you're not hitting anything?

My guy is a rottie so a good sized dog. Hubby and I do shots from between his shoulder blades all the way down to his nubby. I tend to rub on him and grab a little skin before the shot to see where he is loosest at that time. Yes some days his skin is tenser/tighter in various areas so I find a looser spot before injection and use that area. I also feel the little rub/tug down before the shot helps.

[jesse girl]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

sometimes when raising the dose and seeing higher and more erratic numbers you may be going in the wrong direction and it maybe an overdose situation

if you are not getting full injections that can contribute to erratic blood sugar also .

i know you are struggling with shots and you do need to find a way to lower your anxiety i know its not easy but dogs are sensitive to how we feel and you have to be strong

another thing you may contemplate is home testing i know this is another step that maybe difficult to wrap your head around with the struggles you are having but this maybe the only way to figure whats going on . just testing at the vets may not be enough . lots of videos on how to do sometimes dogs are more cooperative with that then giving shots and you can practice with that also without actually testing .

i started testing my jesses blood sugar shortly after diagnosis and it did save her life .

[Judi]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

my Jenny went from not noticing her shot to trying to bite me she hated it and felt it so much. We even muzzled her for about a week.

We warm the insulin, get the bevel side up, and give her duck jerky treats only after her shot. She still doesn't like the shot but her tail wags immediately after because she loves duck jerky.

I think some dogs are just sensitive. The scruff area was the only area that didn't really hurt her but even though we rotated around that area her vet noticed she has tons of scar tissue there and her insulin is no longer absorbing there. So, she has to suck it up twice a day for jerky.

You might want to try "tenting" his skin when you are just sitting around so he gets used to that and that action alone doesn't freak him out.

Are you testing for ketones with urine strips? that would be my biggest concern if I were you. hang in there, it does get to be more of a routine.

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Hello and welcome to the forum Kathy and Roscoe

Can you post some more information please?

How much does he weight?
What insulin is he on?
Can you post a recent curve that was done?

I too rotate his injection site now were at the top of his leg inject right side am, left side in the pm. I roll the insulin 20 times to mix it and warm it up, then tent then inject right after food.

Again welcome

[KathyAAllen]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

thank you again! Wow im learning alot from you guys! I didnt know to warm up insulin or keep bevel up (had to look up what the bevel was) i will definitely do that tonight. I know ive been rushing the injections lately since hes been resistant so yes i will take a breath and try to relax before, and a treat after . Any suggestions for home testing machine? What snacks are good that wont raise his blood sugar? We had to give up his favorite, baby carrots

Kathy
I appreciate the support, i dont have anyone to help me, its just me and my dogs/cats.

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Ya warming the insulin will make a smoother injection.

I use and many of use the one touch ultra meter.
Theres a deal on for the animal meter the alphatrack meter $98 free meter buying 100 strips check out American diabetes wharehouse website k

How much does he weigh and what insulin is he on?

[KathyAAllen]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Hello and welcome to the forum Kathy and Roscoe

Can you post some more information please?

How much does he weight?
What insulin is he on?
Can you post a recent curve that was done?

I too rotate his injection site now were at the top of his leg inject right side am, left side in the pm. I roll the insulin 20 times to mix it and warm it up, then tent then inject right after food.

Again welcome

thank you for the welcome
Roscoe is a rat terrier, he was always overweight, he went from 34lbs to 23lbs, then 25 and now 27 within the last 7 weeks, since diagnosed.
Hes on Novolin N started out at 3 ml twice a day now at 10ml as of yesterday. His curve yesterday started at 345 which is the lowest weve gotten it to, then in 400, 609, and 700 (they didnt give me exact numbers) His last fructosamine was 465. he goes back in 2 weeks for another curve and fructosamine test.
ive tried other spots but skin doesnt seem as loose and harder to pull up.
Kathy

[harleychik66]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

I bought the human meter the Relion Confirm. I bought it based off of ratings, the extremely minimal blood it needs to do a reading and the fact the test strips aren't overly expensive. They're about 50¢ each if you buy them at walmart but I found them online...ebay...and they come out to about 27¢ each and that's with shipping included.

Human meters do read dogs blood low. I took my meter to the vets and had comparisons run several times at different times. I know my meter runs about 30 points lower than it actually is.

As far as treats..many on here use green beans. My guy as mentioned is 100 lbs so the small treats I give him don't appear to ever affect his levels at all. I used boiled chicken, boiled rabbit, ground burger, pieces of steak, a little chunk of cheese. I also give peanut butter as a treat. I have always used peanut butter...my crew loves it...but most are made with salts and sugars and such. When Lou was diagnosed I found peanut butter made with just peanuts and oil...again no change in his bg levels. Of course my guy gets a mid day meal as well of boiled rabbit or chicken, a hardboiled egg with shell and some cottage cheese. Again for him it does not alter his bg levels.

Each dog is different so my treats may put some other dog over the top bg level wise. I would say if you do treats stick with either trying the green bean or something all protein like boiled rabbit or chicken. And it doesn't have to be huge. The size of the tip of your finger is really all they need since they tend to inhale them anyway

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Jerked giving insulin shot

Can you post what food he, s eating and how much each serving every 12 hours plse?

For a 27 pound dog would get 1/4 his body weight which would be 6.25 7u twice a day. You say he, s up to 10 iu. His numbers aren, t coming down for some reason.

Did he have a full blood work up? If so can you post the results?

Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to c whats going on with your Roscoe