Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

[tawn]

Dog's name, breed: Twinkie, 12-year-old female fawn pug
Dog's weight: 21lbs
Diet: Raw with veggies. No treats.
Insulin: Novolin NPH
Number of units per injection and injections per day: 6 units twice per day
Brand of BG meter if home testing: OneTouch

Twinkie was diagnosed in March 2012. She seems to be doing well most of the time but has random panting spells. Her vision has also taken a turn for the worse the past couple of weeks.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Welcome to you and Twinkie - what a great name!

I'm sorry to hear that her vision is declining. Does she seem to be adjusting okay?

Natalie

[amholmesy]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Welcome Twinkie! Sounds like you are doing well! This forum has so much info and helpful people . It really helped me still is! Just wanted to say hi

[farrwf]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Hello and welcome to Twinkie and yourself.

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Hello and welcome to you and Twinkie.

Do you have a sense that she is regulated? Some folks complain of the panting with higher numbers. Do you have a recent curve that you would like to share?

[Patty]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Just wanted to say hi and welcome to you!
Would love to hear more about Twinkie, her diet, etc.
Take care,
Patty

[tawn]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Thanks for the welcome!

I don't have a recent curve to share. We noted a few weeks ago that her reading was always a bit on the high side and increased her dose from 5 units to 6 (twice daily). She isn't panting as much but it hasn't stopped completely.

She is adjusting pretty well to her vision issues. We also have a 9 year old male pug (adopted in 2008) and a female mutt (age assumed to be 7, adopted last year) and Twinkie joins us for walks in a red wagon. Her mobility started declining last year so we bought it as a way letting her walk with us. I look ridiculous pulling it but she loves it!

Prior to diabetes, Twinkie was fed a raw food diet with varying proteins - salmon, rabbit, duck, lamb, turkey, chicken. We switched her to kibble (Now! and then Taste of the Wild) as soon as she was diagnosed but she was always hungry and wanting to eat mid-day. When she eats raw she only wants two meals a day.

It's definitely been a learning experience. I am fortunate in that she takes insulin like a champ. She never resists the needle.

Anyway, I am looking forward to learning from all of you!

[SandyL]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

I too just want to say welcome!!! You'll learn so much here that everything will just become second nature!!

Sandy

[PrncssJnnie]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Welcome to you and Twinkie

[Judi]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

welcome! I love the visual of you pulling Twinkie in a wagon. some people have made a raw diet work with the insulin. So glad the shots are not an issue for Miss Twinkie! Judi

[tawn]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

I was reading a few forum entries and found a few others who also raw feed.
I'm not opposed to trying other types of food. The raw food issue can sometimes be a sensitive one with an 'all or nothing' opinion. My other pug is raw fed because he is allergic to everything under the sun, but my mutt absolutely rejects raw so she is fed kibble. I just try to do what is best for each individual dog and if that means playing around with Twinkie's diet again, so be it. Needless to say, feeding time is pretty chaotic here.

I'm going to do another curve this week and share the results. The numbers others were providing seemed oddly high to me, but I was informed that American readings are different than Canadian. I'll convert the numbers, share, and welcome any feedback. I know something isn't quite right because of the panting. Usually a damp, cool cloth on her back settles her down. Last night was another story because the damp cloth trick didn't work. She seems fine for the time being.

Thanks again for all of your comments and help! This is a wonderful forum. I wish I would have found it earlier in the game.

[jesse girl]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

i feed my jesse a partially raw diet i am not sure a barf diet would be practical with a diabetic dog but if you could measure food and determine calories i guess anything is possible

that is why for jesse it is just partial some things i believe may not be good raw but i did like others to be raw to get some of the benefits so took the best of two worlds that maybe appropriate for a diabetic jesse it does stay the same day in day out

i think the best part is she does enjoy her meal and voices her desire at dinner time which makes me happy

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Hello, I am one of the members who feeds raw. Ruby has megaesophagus and the raw slips down her throat really easily. I have tried switching for a variety of reasons, but then the megae flares up.
You want to be sure that the meat is balanced as it has a lot of phosphorus and can be hard on the kidneys if not balanced with Calcium.
Other then that I think it is a matter of matching the diet to the insulin and I like your approach of doing whatever each individual dog needs.
Meat is broken down slower then other foods. When Ruby was on the NPH it didn't seem to match the high protien diet well.
She now is on Levemir which is a long acting insulin. We muddle through but Ruby definitely has her challenges. If I was able to I would probably opt for a diabetic friendly commercially prepared diet and take the easy way out. But that is not to be as nothing is easy with Ruby. Good thing she is so lovable.

Check out this post that Natalie recently did on the interplay between insulin and food.

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/show...3&postcount=83

Hope the link works haven't quite mastered some things.

[CraigM]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

The numbers others were providing seemed oddly high to me, but I was informed that American readings are different than Canadian. I'll convert the numbers, share, and welcome any feedback.

If you haven't seen the formula to convert mmol (your values) to mg/dL that we use in the States, all you have to do is multiply by 18.
So 10mmol times 18 = 180mg/dL

[tawn]

Re: Pug Twinkie diagnosed in March

Rubytuesday, when did you make the switch to Levemir and was it easy to make the switch? It might be something I should look into.

Twinkie's panting has been a bit strange lately. She seems to only pant at night and I am no longer sure it is related to diabetes. I just checked her glucose because she started panting and it is only 147. Any thoughts on this?