Vito and Ginger

[k9diabetes]

I just accepted your account so you're all set! Welcome!

Natalie

[Vito]

Re: Vito - you're cleared to post

Thanks for clearing me to post. I have a Bichon Frese, and she is 9 years old. Her name is "Ginger". You cannot tell the age since she is jumpy and only 13 pounds. She is a bundle of joy. A few weeks ago we took her to the vet, because she was frequently urinating, and drinking water too frequently too.
I received the bad news at the vets office. She was diabetic.
I went haywire. Now I give her two shots of 5 units per day.
Everything has changed, maybe its my mind............
The vet did not show me half the things that I learned on the web.
Then I found this site, and it was fabulous. People with the same problem sharing solutions.

I just want to thank you for letting me in and be a member of your group.

Vito in Brooklyn,NY

[We Hope]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Welcome to you both!

Please tell us more about Ginger. You've been working at this now for a few weeks, how are you both doing?

Much of the time, everything DOES change with diabetes; there's a whole new set of rules and "ropes" to learn. The good news is that once you have them "downpat", you get so used to them that you can't remember when you DIDN'T do this this way!

Glad you're here!

Kathy

[rhodesian46]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Hi Vito,
You have come to the right place These people are wonderful I noticed that you were from Brooklyn. NY I am from Lynbrook, NY( Nassau County:15 mi from Manhattan Have some Italian cousins in Brooklyn HAven't seen them in years(2nd cousin) They had some concession stand in Coney Island My Aunt lives in Valley Stream But anyway just want to welcome you and Ginger.

[Ricksma]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Welcome, Vito, to you and Ginger. Please tell us a little more about your baby...we love the details. I am so happy that you have found your way here. These guys are the best...so knowledgeable, and when you need someone to listen, they are always here. You will get accustomed to the routine, and it will soon become second nature. Again, welcome!! Glad you are here!!

Love and hugs, Teresa and Ricky

[Cara's Mom]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Vito and Ginger,
Welcome! So glad you joined us! There is a beuatiful group of people here, all very willing to help you through this initial very rough period and beyond! It will get betterbelieve me!

Best wishes,

[Mickey'sMom]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Vito and Ginger...Welcome...My Mickey is a Bichon/Poodle..diag with diabetes close to 6 months ago..I know it is scary at first ( I was in a panic if you read my thread youll see) the information and support here is priceless! My Micky is 6 yrs old and was diag when he was only 5 so you can imagine my shock..he is on 7 units of Vetsulin 2x's a day and he is doing fine..Diet plays a big part in getting your Ginger regulated.. I cook Mickeys food because there is too much garbage in most commercial dog food,,,He gets white meat chicken, green beans and brown rice and loves it,,,the only commerical dog food I will give him is either Merricks or Cesar...Again Welcome to you and your Ginger ( we have a beagle named ginger )

[Vito]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Thank you everyone that has sent me a welcome note, especially Kathy and Natalie, for making sure that I was checking in all right. I think I got it.
Vito

[We Hope]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Vito,

You sure did! You logged in just fine now!

Kathy

[Vito]

Re: Vito and Ginger

I hope I am doing this right. I would like to know if others experience the fact that my Ginger doeesn't want to eat. We prepare turkey, and chicken without skin along with a balanced low carb/ high fiber dry food.
Since I only gave her 5 units of humulin L insulin and she is ok. But she scares me. The other night I gave her 6 just like my vet said, but she did not eat for three hours after that, so she started to shake. Promptly I administered some food and Aunt Jemima syrup around her gums. She was ok right away. So the whole thing is a guessing game on how much insulin to give her. I think her vet is not that much help, because most of the knowledge that I have about dog diabetes has been from this site.
Anyway, question is what do you do if they don't want to eat at the specified time? Will they go to eat when they start to feel weaker?
If I am mumbling on and on, its becasuse I find myself overwhelmed by this whole thing and I love my dog like any other person in the house. ( sometimes I think more)
I am sure most of you have gone through this phase, and sorry to talk a lot.
Vito

[k9diabetes]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Hi Vito,

Are you monitoring Ginger's blood sugar at all, perhaps with urine test strips?

Not wanting to eat is pretty common with high blood sugar. But Ginger is already on a fairly large dose of insulin.

Humulin L generally is not available anymore... just some old supplies around. Could be your vet started with that, but it would be very unusual.

Please check the insulin bottle and tell us exactly what it says.

If you can answer some questions, we will undoubtedly ask more questions but will also start to get a good feel for what is happening with Ginger.

Natalie

[Vito]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Thanks Natalie, on the bottle it says Humulin N NPH human insulin. I did make a mastake. It has says it's U100 and its from Eli Lilly and company.
Thanks for catching my mistake, I hope this is not discontinued.
Vito and of course Ginger

[k9diabetes]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Oh good! NPH is great!

Is your vet having you monitor Ginger's blood sugar at home?

Natalie

[Vito]

Re: Vito and Ginger

Yes Natalie, but with the urine sticks. The proper way and the most difficult would be with the human meters. But since the dog is only 13 pounds, she has to be shaven in order to get a blood test. Thanks for getting back to me.
Vito

[We Hope]

Re: Vito and Ginger

OK, Vito, here we go!

Start testing her urine for glucose three times a day--before breakfast, before dinner and later at night before you go to bed. If you haven't started keeping records of things like the time you give Ginger her food and shot, now is a good time to start--any notebook will be fine for this.

After you do the urine tests and read the color key to know how much glucose is in Ginger's urine--you write that figure down and what time you did the test. There's a link at Intervet to help you determine by the readings you get from the urine test whether Ginger's blood glucose is too high, too low or just right:

http://www.vetsulin.com/vet/Monitoring_Urine.aspx

See the table on the page where it says Test 1, Test 2, Test 3--Action Recommended. A "-" on the table means the urine showed no glucose, "trace" means just that--a bit--and "+" means that you did get a glucose reading.

I think Ginger's blood glucose went too low the other night when she was given 6 units of insulin and you did BOTH of the right things for her--giving something with sugar in it right away and some food afterward because the sugar alone will get the blood glucose up but it won't stay up by itself without giving some food with complex carbs in it that take longer to digest. Sugar and syrup are simple carbs--they raise the blood sugar quickly, but don't last a long time. Complex carbs take longer to raise blood sugar and last longer.

When they don't want to eat and it's time for insulin, the full dose of it should never be given because that dose is based on the food Ginger was to eat and didn't. We have a couple of threads here about that:

http://k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257

http://k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=209

And a recommendation from Intervet that says not eating or not eating a full meal means you should reduce the insulin dose you give:

http://www.intervet.com.au/binaries/82_103335.pdf

Page 15-

"When a patient is unwilling or unable to eat due to illness, administer a lower dose of insulin (approximately 30% of the normal dose) until appetite is restored."

So if you were giving 10 units of insulin at a time and your pet decided either not to eat or not to eat all of his/her meal, instead of giving the 10 units, you would give only 3. Many of us had a talk with our vets in the beginning and asked the question about how much insulin our dogs should get if he/she wouldn't eat.

The answer goes according to the body weight and size of the dog, just like the insulin dose you give when he/she is eating all the breakfast or dinner.

Later on, when we're sure we haven't made you want to run away because of all this information, we'll talk about why the body needs insulin even when you don't eat.

I hope I haven't scared you off by all of this!

Kathy