New member Snowball

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

Up at 285 now. twice today I guess I didn't get enough blood and it read really low. first try read 45. Its very difficult getting enough blood to do the test correctly.

[jesse girl]

Re: New member Snowball

yeah that can be a problem with these meters as they dont read error but could give a false low if not enough blood but you will realize that

if you get a number out of place especially on the low side test again . Usually it will be quite low

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

she is seeming better today, giving me kisses which she hasn't done, but she still isn't walking normal. I'm not sure what to think as this just kind of started a couple of days ago when I started testing her. she is walking, but its like she is having trouble with the back legs. Sometimes better than others. She squatted to pee and fell down at first. But she did make it up the steps there are 7 and then 5 steps and she went up them without help.

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

339 now at 4pm.

She was at 302 yesterday at 6:05PM on 3 units and now she is at 339 on 3.5U at 4pm, but she was definately lower and acting more like snowball earlier in the day at 9 and 11 when I tested her. Any advice? It appears she clearly isn't staying well regulated. I feel like I should have given her more insulin around 1pm, but 2 times a day is more than enough.

[jesse girl]

Re: New member Snowball

rear leg weakness is seen here on the forum from time to time mostly in larger dogs . Sometimes they say its from high sugar but it just seems like something else is going on with the symptoms your describing

any signs of feeling better is a good thing

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

rear leg weakness is seen here on the forum from time to time mostly in larger dogs . Sometimes they say its from high sugar but it just seems like something else is going on with the symptoms your describing

any signs of feeling better is a good thing

I"m getting a bit concerned with the lack of regulation, it seems to me that the curve should have held much flatter during the day instead of spiking at 1pm and 3pm. All of this issue started with the drawing blood from the ears. I can't find anything that would say that it is an issue, but I can't think of anything else. I can't get the blood from anywhere else, even with the ears it usually takes a couple of tries and 4-6 pricks. This poor dog.

[jesse girl]

Re: New member Snowball

your probably reading to much into this. pricking has no biological consequence for the body other then the localized prick and seeing some irritation to the skin .

How is your dog eating drinking urinating and stools ?

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

your probably reading to much into this. pricking has no biological consequence for the body other then the localized prick and seeing some irritation to the skin .

How is your dog eating drinking urinating and stools ?

398 now at 636. Much wider range than previously. I understand what you are saying, but its just bizarre. She fell down when she squatted to pee earlier and she walking funny and such, yet I brought her home after a 2 hour car ride let her out of her bag to go out and she walking fine, peeded fine and came in the house, then I prick her and she starts walking funny and stuff. I tried the lip again, got plenty of blood, but meter doesn't even read it. It just sits there blinking like no blood is on it. I even wiped the area with a paper towel. I'm going to test again probably at 9 and then try to test again at work since we are extremely short staffed so no one is really around I can do it this week.

[jesse girl]

Re: New member Snowball

thats a bit odd . The only time i had a problem with a blood sample from the lip is if it did not bubble up and spread out like the bubble was popped and the strip could not suck up enough blood but it looked like there was plenty

blood sample needs to be concentrated . You might be missing the mark a bit

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

374 now at 9pm two hours after giving 3.5u. It should be much lower I think.

[farrwf]

Re: New member Snowball

she is seeming better today, giving me kisses which she hasn't done, but she still isn't walking normal. I'm not sure what to think as this just kind of started a couple of days ago when I started testing her. she is walking, but its like she is having trouble with the back legs. Sometimes better than others. She squatted to pee and fell down at first. But she did make it up the steps there are 7 and then 5 steps and she went up them without help.

http://diabetesindogs.wikia.com/wiki/Neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy is one of the symptoms of prolonged hyperglycemia. It causes numbness and weakness in the legs, particularly in cats.

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

going to test again today at work, just tested now and meter read HI which means supposedly over 600MG.

[MikeMurphy]

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.

302 at 6:05pm this evening. I got the stuff from the vet. This is on 3 units. I'm thinking I'll put her back on 3.5 units and see how it goes. Still the only place I can get blood is the ear. i tried both sides of the mouth on the lip. She is fine with it, but no matter what I do, the meter either doesn't register the blood or it doesn't get enough blood. I'm thinking maybe it gets saliva in it?

First curve 6/16/2018 she was on 1 unit.

8:40 320
10:56 366
12:56 360
2:56 306

They had me increase to 2 units

6/24/2018

8:30 472
10:30 377
12:50 340
2:40-406

Said increase to 3.

7/14/2018

8:30am 516
9:30am 435
10:30 536
11:35 516
12:35 606

Told us they didn't think my wife was giving the insulin correctly and said to stay on 3 units.

7/21/2018

They had me do the shot at the vet at 8:25am
8:30am 439
9:30am 185
10:30am 130
11:30am 98
12:30pm 102
2:30 pm 99

They said to drop to 2.5 at that point I think we did that for a day, but we could clearly see that the dog was still constantly thirsty so we put it back to 3 pretty soon and she has been on that since.

from the curves you posted it appears numbers went higher with a larger dose maybe showing you have passed the dose that was needed . Raising the dose at full unit increments was probably to large for a dog your size and its very possible you are giving to much insulin

going to test again today at work, just tested now and meter read HI which means supposedly over 600MG.

It looks like we don’t know what type of insulin you are using. Please verify that it is indeed Walmart’s ReliOn Novolin N.

As jesse girl suggested, with each curve showing higher BG readings, it looks like we may have gone beyond the proper dose and she may be experiencing Somogyi Rebound. With Snowball weighing only 8lbs, her starting dose of 1 unit was correct, but insulin increases should have been in .5 unit increments, not 1 unit. Most small dog’s are very sensitive to even small increases. Her best BG numbers were on June 16 at 1 unit. If it were me, I’d drop back to 1.5 units, wait 5-7 days and do a 12 hour curve. The only solution to rebound is to reduce insulin. Of coarse, run this by your vet.

Glad you are home testing.

One more thing. What type of food is she eating?

[robl45]

Re: New member Snowball

It looks like we don’t know what type of insulin you are using. Please verify that it is indeed Walmart’s ReliOn Novolin N.

As jesse girl suggested, with each curve showing higher BG readings, it looks like we may have gone beyond the proper dose and she may be experiencing Somogyi Rebound. With Snowball weighing only 8lbs, her starting dose of 1 unit was correct, but insulin increases should have been in .5 unit increments, not 1 unit. Most small dog’s are very sensitive to even small increases. Her best BG numbers were on June 16 at 1 unit. If it were me, I’d drop back to 1.5 units, wait 5-7 days and do a 12 hour curve. The only solution to rebound is to reduce insulin. Of coarse, run this by your vet.

Glad you are home testing.

One more thing. What type of food is she eating?

It is the novolin N. She eats taste of the wild chicken flavor dry dog food, thats what she has eaten for years mixed with a little chicken breast so we can get her to eat twice a day. Before the diabetes we would just leave food out and she would eat when she felt like it one dry piece at a time that she would have to carry 20 feet away from the bowl to eat.

[KathyLindly]

Re: New member Snowball

It is the novolin N. She eats taste of the wild chicken flavor dry dog food, thats what she has eaten for years mixed with a little chicken breast so we can get her to eat twice a day. Before the diabetes we would just leave food out and she would eat when she felt like it one dry piece at a time that she would have to carry 20 feet away from the bowl to eat.

My dog is a maltese/poodle mix, 10 pounds, she was diagnosed about 18 months ago. You may want to ask your vet about Hills w/d prescription food. I know that many people do not feed their dogs prescription food and it works great. I did try other premium food for her but have returned to the Hills because it she loves it and the canned is very easy to measure and make sure that she is fed the same amount at every meal and her glucose numbers are good. Perhaps your little girl would love tbe canned food and eat it all at meal times. Molie is now eating the w/d kibble and she loves it.