Gus, the mini-schnauzer an Angel March 7, 2018

[Lee04]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

I hope Gus starts feeling better and is on the mend.
Just thinking about you guys.

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Still struggling to get him to eat anything. Only thing he has interest in are the tiny mini-milkbones. No boiled chicken, egg, rice with broth/chicken, no boiled hamburger with rice, or warmed up canned food. Will get some babyfood today to see if I can entice that way. Sure wish he'd get back to himself. I'm wondering if the Tramadol pain med is affecting appetite. Since he doesn't appear to have the pain he had, I'm going to not give the 3 pills he's got left. This is so nerve wrecking. I just lost his "brother" schnauzer 8 weeks ago (who was 15 yrs, non-diabetic), so I just can't lose this little guy. I've got to get him on the mend. I know the appetite may take more time. Juggling the insulin is a worry. Trace ketones (at least that's not increased), but any ketones is not good. Vet had me give him mid-day dose of 1/4th insulin the other day, and I did that again last night because the 5 little mini-milkbones he ate spiked his sugar over 700. Thankfully,his morning fasting today was down to 387. She says it's better I give him little more insulin than is recommended for amount of food eaten to keep sugar in better range since I am home to monitor him.

[jesse girl]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

its going to take sometime . dogs have good memory . my jesse had back pain over the summer and could not jump up on the bed so i helped her . she still will hesitate from jumping up even though the pain is gone

you may be able to give more insulin with the numbers you are seeing since you testing sugar at home . at least he is eating something and not overwhelming his pancreas . the higher sugar may affect appetite

your doing a great job looking after your gus hope to see continued progress

[Raysaint]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Milkbones are usually high in carbs, as is anything biscuit like, so they will spike the blood sugar. Try to get him to eat low fat, lower carb food. Sweet potato, green beans, pumpkin, brown rice, chicken breast, 0% fat cottage cheese are all good choices. Red meat is high in fat.

If he eats some of this then you may not have to juggle insulin, which is not usually a good thing to do.

DKA shouldn't be a problem at these bg levels. I forget, did your vet do the test for pancreatitis, or are they just guessing? You have to know for sure. You can't treat what you don't know.

Jus a side comment, he's 20 lbs. and gets 19 units each dose? I know a full unit per 2.2 lbs (kg) is usually the highest dose before resistance is considered.

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Milkbones are usually high in carbs, as is anything biscuit like, so they will spike the blood sugar. Try to get him to eat low fat, lower carb food. Sweet potato, green beans, pumpkin, brown rice, chicken breast, 0% fat cottage cheese are all good choices. Red meat is high in fat.

If he eats some of this then you may not have to juggle insulin, which is not usually a good thing to do.

DKA shouldn't be a problem at these bg levels. I forget, did your vet do the test for pancreatitis, or are they just guessing? You have to know for sure. You can't treat what you don't know.

Jus a side comment, he's 20 lbs. and gets 19 units each dose? I know a full unit per 2.2 lbs (kg) is usually the highest dose before resistance is considered.

Yes, he requires the high dose. He's a schnauzer and often very hard to regulate. Been at that dose for over a year and has done well. I know milkbone is high carb, but that was only thing I got him to eat. I did get him to eat 3 frozen green beans this morning. He thought it was a "treat". I went shopping this morning and bought couple brands of sensitive stomach food to try, (lowfat, which right now is main concern), along with babyfood as a topper, and ground turkey. So, we'll see if anything works. I think I am just pushing it too soon. I'd love to get him to at least eat a half of normal amount, but we're not even at full 1/4th amount of food. And, no, the vet did not do the pancreatitis test. He had the classic symptoms, and said we'd treat as though and go from there. His regular vet was out of town that day.

[Judi]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

well at least he ate something. As frustrating as it is with the insulin and the ketones, it seems like we have to let their little pancreatitis prone stomachs lead the way on food sometimes. Glad you can be home with him today. Give him a gentle pat from me.

Judi

[Raysaint]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

I can't believe a vet would go on " classic symptoms" when the test is so easy and pretty reliable. Why don't you demand it. I think it would be worth the cost.

I guess my philosophy is that I expect good doctors, for humans or animals, to be the ones wanting to test for things. That's their job, to correctly diagnose and treat. Modern science keeps coming up with ways to test for things, and a doctor who doesn't want to know for sure would not be my doctor for long.

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Back to the vet today (his regular vet). Thought we were making progress. Didn't want to eat, but got him to eat a smidgen of groundturkey, and then later some of of the burger/rice. His BG fasting was 401, and 2 hrs later was 610. I don't think he ate that much to be the cause of the spike. Restless, stands, doesn't want to lay down. So please keep my Gus in your prayers today as we go from here. I have a feeling we may end up at specialist. I fear tumor or cancer and I've not voiced that fear. So very worried.

[Judi]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

keeping you guys in my thoughts. xoxo

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

My Gus has a bacterial infection of some sort. Anemic, high RBC, blood work all out of whack. Fluids given under the skin, with stronger antibiotic. If not better or worse tomorrow, I need to take him to 24-hr 1.5 hrs away. Changed his meds. He's lost a pound this week with his not eating. Glad he is not vomiting,and no ketones, so that is a plus. I will have to monitor his BG and not let it get out of hand. Based on his BG readings, I am to give regular dosage, and not rely on what he eats, since I can monitor closely. I continue to ask for prayers for this little guy. He means the world to me. It's only been 8 weeks since I lost his brother Bailey. I can't lose him...I just can't. I'm so stressed out.

[Daisydog10]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

I understand how stressed out you are. I haven't had the same experiences you've had with Gus, but I've had some wild rides with Daisy with her bs over 750+ and vomiting, not eating and lethargic.

I'm praying these antibiotics kick in with him and am keeping you both in prayer. OXOXO

[jesse girl]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

might want to go with a fast or short acting insulin temporarily

i have used novolog and r insulin on jesse and still do today on occasion

you could give it every 6 hours if needed . allot more testing involved but it may buy some time . i am a bit concerned to give a full dose without or a little bit a food

sometimes these intermediate or long acting insulin's may not do the job in these situations as far as getting sugar down to get things to heal

just a thought

[jesse girl]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

as others have suggested you may want to get that test for pancreatitis . at least you would know if gus had that and not drift off to other possibilities at this point

[Daisydog10]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

might want to go with a fast or short acting insulin temporarily 

I've had to use the Novolin R on Daisy when her numbers were 400-750+. Daisy's only on 3.5 units N q 12h, so I used 1/4 to 1/2 unit. I was hesitant at first, but she was so sick that was the only way I could buy some time. I checked her every 45 minutes to see how she handled it and she did pretty good. I didn't give it to her if she wouldn't eat, though. If she ate half her food, I'd give her 1/4 unit with 1/2 her dose. I will admit it brought her down nicely and I'll always keep some on hand.

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

I am to give him extra insulin mid-day if needed - amount based on his reading at that time. Just regular. I did not ask about R (forgot to). With his infection, his numbers are going to be all over the place. Just don't want constant highs. Praying his ketone levels stay negative. He ate and wanted to eat evening meal, which tonight was ground turkey breast, and small amount of sensitive stomach canned food, and frozen green beans, and even a few kibbles of dry w/d. He really wants those green beans. I was so thrilled he wanted to eat that I hope he didn't overdo and keeps it all down. No vomiting is important.

The blood work was complete panel. Indications is bacterial infection,which could be liver, pancreas. Kidney functions were good. Probably needs ultrasound,but that cannot be done locally.