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__________________ Geoff & Bailey - 15 September 2002 - 26 June 2014 - Went to the rainbow bridge. He will be sorely missed - Love you Bailey 11 y/o Spoodle dx Dec 2011 - 18 units of Protaphane, 5 units of Humalog, on Prednefrine Forte for his cataracts and Cosopt for his glaucoma
Geoff, I am having a hard time taking in the numbers because I keep coming up with questions. I know it can be hard to think of all the things we will want to know.
* I am assuming you feed him at the 9am test time? Do you also feed at 9pm? Do you take a test before feeding? Geeting both of those is pretty important.
* What was his dose on each of these curves?
* I think you had a urinalysis done the last time you posted? I'm not sure if when then is an infection if the bgs would be persistently high or not as his numbers do come down.
Hope someone else can offer some insight.....
Tara in honor of Ruby.
She was a courageous Boston Terrier who marched right on through diabetes, megaesophagus, and EPI until 14.
Lucky for both of us we found each other. I'd do it all again girly.
Hello, I always feed him around 8:30 in the morning and at exactly 8pm at night. His insulin is 12 units Protophane, I think that went up from 11units mid-July. I do not test him before food (I know I should) but Sunday morning with 2 little kids and breakfast time makes it hard, I am getting better at getting his blood though. I test him 10-mins after food so can't be that far off (can it?!?!)
Do people measure out the food they give their dogs? I simply use a 1/2 cup (give or take some bits of kibble) and some wet-food (tin) I do not measure it to the gram (ounce). Usually after exercise his blood sugar goes down but last night it was the same (slightly higher even) which is weird. He is not licking himself so am not certain if he has an infection or not, usually he licks a lot when he has an infection.
__________________ Geoff & Bailey - 15 September 2002 - 26 June 2014 - Went to the rainbow bridge. He will be sorely missed - Love you Bailey 11 y/o Spoodle dx Dec 2011 - 18 units of Protaphane, 5 units of Humalog, on Prednefrine Forte for his cataracts and Cosopt for his glaucoma
Do people measure out the food they give their dogs? I simply use a 1/2 cup (give or take some bits of kibble) and some wet-food (tin) I do not measure it to the gram (ounce).
I do weigh Annie's food. 2.1 ounce. It might be my imagination, but less than 0.1 ounce seems to make a difference in Annie. Of course, every dog is different.
Testing 10 minutes after eating probably doesn't make a lot of difference, but when I was using only NPH ( think the same as protophane?), she would get a 100+ mg/dL (5.5mmol) rise in about an hour. Do us a favor and try a pre-meal test, and another test about 15 minutes later. It would set at minds to rest.
Annie was an 18 pound Lhasa Apso that crossed the rainbow bridge on 10-5-17. She was nearly 17 years old and diabetic for 9½ years.
OK, I'll weigh a few to see if that makes any difference and I will get a pre-feed sample followed by another one 15 mins or so later.
__________________ Geoff & Bailey - 15 September 2002 - 26 June 2014 - Went to the rainbow bridge. He will be sorely missed - Love you Bailey 11 y/o Spoodle dx Dec 2011 - 18 units of Protaphane, 5 units of Humalog, on Prednefrine Forte for his cataracts and Cosopt for his glaucoma
To get the best handle on what is going on it would be great to have a true curve. That would mean things (food, timing, and shot) being as consistent as possible for three days prior to the curve. Then testing before food and injection and every 2 hrs. after that until the evening meal.
On the food, yes weigh...or not weighing can make a difference.
My Ruby does get a big food rise due to some prescription enzymes she has to take. I use R or humalog to deal with that. You really want to have a well established pattern for that and it does take a lot of testing.
Tara in honor of Ruby.
She was a courageous Boston Terrier who marched right on through diabetes, megaesophagus, and EPI until 14.
Lucky for both of us we found each other. I'd do it all again girly.
I always feed him around the same time, give or take 10 mins. I always feed him the same food and amounts, but I will weigh tonight and make some notes for my wife. Nothing else really changes, I walk him exactly the same route every night (except tonight my wife is out). I always test every two hours also, again give or take a few mins, it's hard to be home the whole day, but pretty close.
__________________ Geoff & Bailey - 15 September 2002 - 26 June 2014 - Went to the rainbow bridge. He will be sorely missed - Love you Bailey 11 y/o Spoodle dx Dec 2011 - 18 units of Protaphane, 5 units of Humalog, on Prednefrine Forte for his cataracts and Cosopt for his glaucoma
On that ketone issue...they CAN be scary! I never knew about them before Hank was diagnosed and sadly...THAT'S what ended up landing him in the hospital for four days at diagnosis. I had a very vague idea about the diabetes in the back of my mind with the peeing, etc but never knew that high bg would be so deadly! So I was pretty shocked to find out that is what nearly killed Hank. It's one of the few things in diabetes other that can kill them so quickly. Even hypo takes a bit more time.
My whole point is that I would get the sticks and test. It's not something to panic over but with higher levels, ketones can come so it's best to be watchful. Just one more thing to do for our kids, huh?
Shell and Hank (aka Mr. Pickypants) - now deceased (4/29/1999 - 12/4/2015) Cairn Terrier mix who was diagnosed 8/18/2011 and on .75 U Levemir 2Xday. Miss you little man!
either Patty or Natalie explained once that if a dog is still using his insulin, exercise will make blood sugar drop. If he has used up his insulin and is out, exercise can make blood sugar rise.
Since you walk him at the same time every day maybe his insulin just didn't absorb as well yesterday? I definitely see a difference if I inject Jenny in the scruff vs. along her flank. Less effective.
Or, how old is your insulin? could it be losing it's oomph?
You guys have come so far, isn't it amazing that you can keep an eye on him like you do now? Judi
Jenny: 6/6/2000 - 11/10/2014 She lived with diabetes and cushings for 3 1/2 years. She was one of a kind and we miss her.
I wonder if a food change from the Purina Supercoat would help. The cereals, particularly the sorghum could be potential problems causing the initial spike. Then the dose of insulin required to bring him down may be stronger than the food in the afternoon causing those lower points until it finally runs out and creates the rise again.
If you've been using Science Diet, there are people that have been using Science Diet Lite dry dog food as it closely matches w/d for the fiber, etc. There are other foods as well that seem to match up well like Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight.
I also think weighing out the food is a great idea for consistency.
Patty
Patty and Ali13.5yrs 47lbs diagnosed May '08 Ali earned her wings October 27, 2012, 4 months after diagnosis of a meningioma~ Time is precious ~
Hello Patty, thanks so much! I have been wondering this myself for months now but am hesitant to change his diet. However, I might try changing him to this:
So I might ween him on/off and see how I go! As for insulin, it's fresh, I keep it for around 35 days or so which is only 7 days beyond 4 weeks so...?!
And yes Judi, it is amazing, I can get a drop in under a minute or so now (unless his bum is cold from been outside!) but yes, it's a huge relief for me, huge stress too but still more relief!! :-) Thanks.
__________________ Geoff & Bailey - 15 September 2002 - 26 June 2014 - Went to the rainbow bridge. He will be sorely missed - Love you Bailey 11 y/o Spoodle dx Dec 2011 - 18 units of Protaphane, 5 units of Humalog, on Prednefrine Forte for his cataracts and Cosopt for his glaucoma
Glad you have something you can try Geoff. Diet isn't my thing as I can't alter Ruby's much due to other diseases. but it did feel like something was't balanced and I think a change along those lines could make a big difference.
When I was successful at switching to a lower carb food I did have to lower the insulin so you'll want to keep an eye on that.
I'll look forward to your progress. Wish you luck.
Tara in honor of Ruby.
She was a courageous Boston Terrier who marched right on through diabetes, megaesophagus, and EPI until 14.
Lucky for both of us we found each other. I'd do it all again girly.
Geoff,
One of the things you may run into is not enough fiber with the mature adult small bites. The w/d and Lite and foods like Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight seem to match the action of protaphane insulin better because of the increased fiber. Just something to consider.
Patty
__________________ Geoff & Bailey - 15 September 2002 - 26 June 2014 - Went to the rainbow bridge. He will be sorely missed - Love you Bailey 11 y/o Spoodle dx Dec 2011 - 18 units of Protaphane, 5 units of Humalog, on Prednefrine Forte for his cataracts and Cosopt for his glaucoma
Actually I already bought a bag of the small bites from Science Diet and, contrary to the website, the nutrition is as follows (on the bag)
rude Protein min 16%
Crude Fat min 12%
Crude Fiber min 5% as opposed to Buffalo at 7% and supercoat at 4%.
__________________ Geoff & Bailey - 15 September 2002 - 26 June 2014 - Went to the rainbow bridge. He will be sorely missed - Love you Bailey 11 y/o Spoodle dx Dec 2011 - 18 units of Protaphane, 5 units of Humalog, on Prednefrine Forte for his cataracts and Cosopt for his glaucoma
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