Gretel is now our angel

[CoolGram]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hello all,

Just brought Gretel home from having a curve done. Today's numbers were 172 at 8:30am (she eats at 6:30am and had 12 units of insulin at 6:45am). At noon her BG was 235, and at 3:00pm it was 383. Her weight was up another 2 oz. - to 19.4 lbs. Average for her was 20 lbs., so her current weight I think seems pretty near perfect.

The vet upped her insulin to 12-1/2 units twice a day and will do another curve in one month. Barring anything unforseen, this will be the longest stretch in ages that we've gone without visiting the vet. It's been once or twice a week for months and months.

My current project is setting up a line chart, showing her curves. I want to be able to have a chart where more than one days' curve are shown on it, so that I can easily compare them, but I'm not sure if I can do it, or how to do it, but I'll figure it out .

Now my only minor problem is that the syringes I'm currently using don't have the half unit markings, so for now I'll just have to eyeball it until I get new ones. I am very happy that things are going in the right direction. May not have been as quickly as I would have hoped, but still happy nonetheless that we're making progress.

Again, thanks to all of you for being my support , it's been so much appreciated.

Carolyn

[k9diabetes]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

So is Gretel's curve a "mountain" - lowest blood sugar at meal times?

Those numbers look great Carolyn!

Sorry about the bunnies... wow, no one in this house would ever get any sleep at all if Jack knew there were bunnies in his backyard! We would have to relocate the whole bunny family in self-defense! Last time he saw a jack rabbit from the car he started trilling... high pitched feverish screaming... and now we can't go back there because he has such a good memory! LOL Apparently, our border collie thinks he's a Schnauzer.

Natalie

[CoolGram]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hi Natalie,

Well, it looks like Gretel's lowest reading was 2 hrs. after her morning meal, then just went up from there. Her last reading was at 3:00pm and she still had 3-1/2 hours to go until next feeding and insulin, so it's hard to say how much higher it went until then. I kind of wish they would have kept her for one more test, at 5:30 or 6:00pm. I think next time I'll ask them to do that. I'd just like to know actually how high it goes until right before the next feeding.

I do know that home testing would be a huge help, and I'm slowly getting to the point where I'll be ready to try it. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me when I do!

As for the bunnies, last year we had a nest inside a wooden wishing well I have in the same flower garden. Gretel was too short to jump in, but she sure knew they were there. I have tons of pictures of her standing on her hind legs, peering into the well - in fact I showed one of them to my vet and she loved it so much she asked if she could put it on her bulletin board. Maybe some day I'll figure out how to post it here because it is quite comical

Carolyn

[CarolW]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Oh, Carolyn, I have so much to say to you!

1) Bunnies - Kumbi got into a nest of newborn bunnies, IN our fenced yard, a couple of years ago. Before I discovered it, he'd eaten about four of them! I saw Mama Bunny escape under the far gate; she couldn't save her babies. Nor could I; I then froze them, poor babies. A wildlife expert friend of mine said Mama would have another litter in a few weeks! Not in my yard, though! End of Kumbi eating newborn bunnies. His BGs were up for a bit, but recovered.

2) Syringes - capacities, needle length and so forth.

I'm doing a fresh bunch of photos of a variety of syringes. What's the capacity of the syringes you're using now - 1 cc? Half a cc? I have pictures of both capacities (for NPH insulin). Also, I took fresh pictures of the syringes I use, which are the (BD) 3/10 cc capacity. These hold up to 30 units of NPH insulin (Humulin-N or Novolin-N). They have the SHORT needles (which are wonderful - they make it easily through most dogs' skins, to the target area, which is the layer of fat (if any) just under the skin. I think Linda and Ladybug, in that thread, have comments on these syringes. These ALSO have the half-unit markings - which are a total blessing! You can even eyeball quarter-units with them, which I have done at various times with Kumbi.

I'll put them up when I have them done.

3) Charts - when you want to do charts, let me know, and I'll give you an extra helping hand if I can. I have a very old version of Microsoft Excel; it's so old I dumped it, and I'm using Open Office Calc. Calc is the spreadsheet that comes with Open Office. The program is free.

A passably modern version of Excel will do the job for you very nicely. So will Open Office Calc.

Here's a chart of four curves on Kumbi, made some time ago, with Open Office Calc. I could make it a little more legible now, as I've had more practice with Calc since then.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/bgcharts6.php

The current version of Open Office is, I believe, 3.2; that's the version I'm using. It's a big download; around 150 MB or a bit less, I think. I ONLY installed Calc, didn't install the other stuff that's in there. Here's where you can find it:

http://www.openoffice.org/

The principles work this way, both for Excel and for Open Office Calc.

You set up columns of data. First, you make a top row, of text, for each column - and that's a label (text). Then you have columns of data below - time under "Time," and BG readings under "Reading" (or BG or whatever).

So, you end up with a situation like this for your data:

Time Reading
Time #1 Reading #1
Time #2 Reading #2

and so forth.

You can make a single-curve chart that way; you select the type of chart you want, and the software does it for you after you answer some questions about what you want.

For multiple curves, you merely add more columns of Times and Readings.

It's not DIFFICULT, once you find your way around the software, but using the software's Help files has been very necessary for me! You might find it helpful too, when you get there (haha!)

Kevin (Ozzi) seems to be good at doing this; hey, Kevin; I volunteer you to help Carolyn; haha! Kevin, you seem to be using Excel, but Calc works much the same way.

4) About that photo of Gretel peering into the well - you could post a link to it. Here's how. Go there, find the photo. Then copy the contents of the address bar in your browser to your computer's clipboard. Then paste the result into a message here!

To do that, you need to know how to Copy and Paste - you can use menus to do that; usually, it's the Edit menu, at least it is on a Windows computer; I'm not sure about Macs or Apples.

I'd REALLY love to see that picture!

Seems to me you're doing really well with Gretel, and I'm very pleased! Hope things keep going that way!

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:20:36 (PDT)

[CoolGram]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hi Carol - good to hear from you .

Ok, first of all, the syringes I am currently using I think are the same as what you use, except they don't have the half unit markings = BD, 3/10cc, hold 30 units, short needle, 31gauge. I think I'll be able to use them anyway (I still have 40 left) as it seemed pretty easy to find the 1/2 unit because the black stopper was exactly in between two lines. I will buy the ones with 1/2 unit markings next time I buy them. Although it's possible my pharmacy will swap what I have for the other ones. I'll have to ask. Or better yet, maybe I'll just go ahead and buy a box of new ones and hold these in reserve, because chances are good that at some point in time her dosage will get changed again and we'll be back to whole unit measurments again.

As to the chart, I have a quite current version of Excel and did manage to create a very simple chart showing one curve. I haven't had time this evening to play around with it further, but I will be doing that tomorrow. I'm kind of like a dog with a bone - once I get hold of something, I don't want to let it go!!

I'll also attempt to post that picture tomorrow too, I think you'll get a kick out of it. I can't imagine how upset you must have been when Kumbi ate those bunnies. I just can't bear to think that Gretel would do that, but yet I know she would if given the chance; she is, after all, a dog! She just came in from her final outing for the night and I watched as she stopped by the place where the nest is and listened intently for about 5 mins. Then she slowly walks the perimeter of the garden, stopping every couple of steps, sniffing and listening. I can tell she's having an immense internal struggle with herself. Then she looks up and sees me standing at the window and walks away. Ah well, tomorrow's another day, I'm sure she's thinking!!

Thanks again for your great advice and offer of help. I'll let you know how the chart work is coming.

Carolyn

[CarolW]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Yep, Carolyn; I was upset when Kumbi ate those newborn bunnies. What can we do! These are DOGS we have! Mini Schnauzers and Terriers alike; they go after live little-creatures that they find good to eat. I look forward to seeing Gretel's picture!

Sounds as though you'll do fine with the syringes; I'd do as you suggested, and buy the ones with the half-unit markings, and use your current ones when you're on whole units; ha! Brilliant!

About the charts, I think all you have to do is make multiple columns, as in,

Time BG Time BG Time BG Time BG

and then select from start to finish, from Time to begin with (first column) to the end of the last BG column. It's nice to have a pretty current version of Excel.

As you can see on the charts I make, I don't smooth the curves, because when you connect the dots, as I chose to do (you don't have to; you can just use the scatter-marks instead) - the connecting lines really don't have much meaning anyway. I use then because I find it easier to sort out which curve is which that way.

I'm like you, Carolyn - I obsess on whatever I'm doing at the moment! I look forward to your picture - and to your charts, too!

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:36:51 (PDT)

[CoolGram]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

I just attempted to attach the picture I mentioned in yesterday's post of Gretel peering into our wishing well at a nest of baby bunnies. Not sure if this will work or not, let me know if it didn't and I'll try something else.

Carolyn



http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/pict...&pictureid=696

[k9diabetes]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

LOL... that worked just fine! She has a cute little tush!

Natalie

[CoolGram]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hi everyone -

Nothing much to report today, except an incident that happened last evening as I was injecting Gretel. We were in the midst of a storm at feeding time and I had just stuck the needle in her and was injecting when along came a huge crack of thunder and lightening . Needless to say, she jumped a mile and pulled away from the needle. Luckily, I had just managed to inject the last of the insulin, but the needle was still in her when she jumped. Yikes. Of course I then worried if the memory of that scare might carry over to this morning's injection and she wouldn't want me to give it, but luckily it didn't. Keep the focus on that treat - nothing else matters!!

Have a good day all,
Carolyn & Gretel

[Patty]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Yikes Carolyn,
Glad you were done injecting and so glad she wasn't traumatized. Gotta love the treat
Patty

[CoolGram]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hi everyone,

I have been getting ever closer to wanting to home test Gretel. So, today I decided I was finally going to give it a try . Well, I can't say it was a success, but it was a start. I was trying to figure out the best spot to test, and finally decided to try it on the dew claw pad. I have two meters for myself, a One Touch Ultra and the One Touch Mini so before I get one just for her, I planned on using one of mine.

I had her lay down and then I used a warm wet paper towel and held it on the pad for maybe 20 seconds, then dried it before starting. Long story short, I was unable to get a blood drop. I'm sure it's just because I didn't have the dial on the lancing device set at a high enough number, but I didn't want to hurt her unneccesarily. I started out on #1, then tried again at #3, but still no luck. Maybe I should just do it with just the lancet and not the device, but I'm afraid I'll really hurt her that way. Anyway, I felt that was enough "practice" for today, didn't want to stress her (or me) out too much on the first attempt. She was definitely aware I was doing something to her and lifted her head every so often to see what I was doing to her now

I do believe I'll be able to do this though, with enough practice. I'm still not sure how she'll tolerate it because even with the insulin injections, she'll come to me when I call her, but quite reluctantly, in fact I usually have to "help" her to get closer to me those last couple of steps, as she's really dragging her feet by then, even with her treat container sitting right in front of her!

So now my next question is what type of monitor and lancing device do I want to use. As far as the human glucometers, I've read (here) lots of good things about the One Touch Ultra, but then someone also mentioned they liked the Freestyle because it takes the smallest drop of blood. Also, I think it was Natalie who mentioned she liked the Softclix lancing device. So actually I'm leaning toward combining one of those two meters with the Softclix.

Just to inform myself, I've also been looking at the meters specifically for pets, and I do know they're more expensive, but are they worth the extra expense? I read about the Glucopet and also the iPet Monitoring system. And the Alphatrak seems to be the most expensive, so I've pretty much ruled that one out already. I think some of you may have talked about the Glucopet, but I don't recall reading anything here about the iPet system. Anyone have any info about that one?

Wish us luck! Hopefully soon I'll be able to use a smiley face in my posts about the home testing instead of and !!!

Carolyn

[peggy0]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hi Carolyn,

I used the alpha trak and have an ultra one touch. The one touch is great. I also use lancets, I don't use the pen. Forbin was a big dog and I used his elbow pad. He didn't mind at all. I think Margarets Lucy only uses lancets as well. Congrats for trying!!

Peggy

[Tikobird]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hi Carolyn - even though I am still a newbie I would like to add my 2 cents....
Dozer was diagnosed on 4-5-10 and I started home testing him on 4-12 thanks to the info & encouragement I got from this site. I can't imagine now not testing him. I stick his upper lip and he doesn't bat an eye. I actually announce it's Sugar Time and he sits up to take the test. As soon as he hears the meter beep, he knows I got the sample & starts wagging his tail cause he knows he gets a little piece of grilled chicken.

I just started using the Accu Check Aviva meter with the Multiclix. The Aviva meter uses a very small sample (at least compared to the Advantage meter I was using) and what I like about the Multiclix is it loads a drum with 6 lancets in it so I'm not having to manually change them each time I test.

Good luck with the testing - it is a little scary at first (I actually broke a sweat the first time I did it!) but after you find the site Gretel doesn't mind it will be come 2nd nature.

Lori

[Margaret Boyle]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Hi Carolyn,

You are doing really well if it is of any help, when you test on the dew pads
try the lancet on it's own------- just put it in quickly and gently and you will get a good drop of blood, do not do it slowly a quick gentle jab.

I used to always use the clicker but I get better results with the lancet on it's own.

I use the clicker on the inside of her lips though. The dew pad---- if you are using the clicker I see you were up to 3 on the clicker try the next number up.

I used the One Touch Ultra 2 it is a good meter. I keep this as a spare now.

I have found one called On Call Plus I get my strips for half the price it is a good meter, uses only small drop of blood.
I am in the UK so I don't know if you would get it in USA.
It is a company called Val Med.

Hope this helps some.
You are doing good Carolln well done.

Hugs Marg

[CarolW]

Re: Mini Schnauzer Gretel - Injection problems brewing!

Good for you, Carolyn; you're halfway there!

By the way, I recently changed the gauge of the lancets I use. I do NOT use a device, but prick by hand, and I sink the lancet needle to its full depth. I imagine that with a "gun-like" device, there's some force in the prick, and maybe you have to be careful about setting the depth.

And I imagine that pricking by hand, at least the depth of the lancet-needle is okay for the dog! It certainly is for Kumbi.

I changed from 25-gauge (thinner) to 21-gauge (thicker; lower numbers are thicker). Lucky I did, because the next day, we had a prolonged power failure (about 30 hours), and I had to do two of my tests, evening and morning, in darkness. I used two propped-up flashlights.

And the house got cold, affecting the ease of bleeding.

However, I ALSO learned (took me a few days) that with the 21-gauge lancets, sunk to full depth (by hand), I don't have to warm Kumbi's lip at all. I find I merely need ONE prick - and the blood drop wells up nicely, on its own.

This set of circumstances - 21-gauge lancet, hand-pricking, sinking needle to full depth, and using the inner, upper lip- and now, without warming - makes a test very quick and very easy. It's so reliable that now I merely fold Kumbi's lip up, blot it with a dry paper towel, and hold for a moment, pulling the strip into the meter at the same time (as shown in my BG test series on Coherent Dog), then prick, blood wells, touch test strip to drop - and I have my reading.

Kumbi appreciates this! He's no longer so shy of testing. A bit, but not bad.

By the way too, I don't call Kumbi to come for a test; I go get him. I might call him for something he loves - and then test him before I give him that something! But I'm even careful about doing that.

Since my testing is now much faster and more reliable than it was (one-prick testing without delays), calling him for the Big Reward (like his canned food, or his afternoon snack) is less horrid than it used to be!

But I've always been careful about possibly compromising Kumbi's Really Reliable Recall (see works by Leslie Nelson). And he DOES come when I call him, usually, without any reluctance - so I'm still thinking about this, and generally omitting the call to come before a test, despite the nearly-immediate Big Reward (because the test intervenes).

Similar principles might work for the carpal pad, or other site.

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:35:08 (PDT)