Jasper - Advice needed please

[jasper2008]

Jasper's BG 3.7 at lunch time

Sorry! for not replying but we are in the middle of gale force winds we live on the coast & we are on red alert, so I am posting this quickly in case we have a power cut. Did the spot check as suggested by my vet & Tara and he was 3.7 at 1pm and the day before his low peak was around 2pm so I was concerned he may drop further I had to make the decision on my own I hope I did the right thing? I gave him a little boiled chicken and tested again at 2pm & he had gone up 9.1.

Need to go as I am placing candles & torches around the bungalow just in case & have put some freezer packs in the freezer, I can take them out & can keep the insulin cold, I hope it doesn't come to that but better be safe than sorry.

thank you

Hilary x

[Patty]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Hilary, stay safe! It's always so hard to have to let them out to do their business in storms too...

At 3.7 (67), I'm not sure how much your meter may be off but at that low you could always give a drop of honey/karo syrup/regular pancake syrup for a fast sugar source to prevent any further drop. But sound like the chicken did the job this time.

If 5u seems too much during the day, you may need to look at switching to syringes/vial to fine tune the dose better.

My dog had diabetes for 4 years and never developed cataracts. Though many dogs do at some point. You just never know. As Antonia said, preparing with cues/training ahead of time is never a bad idea.

Wow, I've become a bit opinionated in the last almost 8 months! LOL

I laughed at this Mel. And good advice

Take care,
Patty

[Auddog]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Hi there,

I'd like to extend our belated welcome to you and Jasper. First off that's a good looking curve this early on in the marathon, GOOD JOB !! I don't really have much to add to the advice you've all ready received, but I do agree with patty's suggestion of maybe switching to syringes and a vial rather than the pen so you can get that 1/2 increment option.

Bazzle has developed cataracts and is nearly blind now, but for us it was a very very slow process, giving us a lot of time to adjust. My boy's been diabetic since 12/28/12 and I think he may still have a little bit of sight left. Between the issues Bazzle has coming out of anesthesia, how inflexible my wallet is right now, and the fact that he has been lucky enough not to have any other eye problems, we decided to opt out of surgery to remove the lenses. I hope you and Jasper won't have to deal with developing cataracts, but you do have the option of surgery and the support of all of us here on the forum to help you work through it.

Stay safe in that storm!! Happy you found us, and again welcome welcome

Audrey & Bazzle

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Hey Hilary, our power went off last year for 36 hours. At the dollar store, I found some led stick ups for all the walls, worked great. Wow 160 km winds, we only had 100. What a wicked winter we all r going through

Hoping you guys r okay, sounds like your well prepared.

We had that polar vortex, had to give Riles less food as we couldnt get a full walk in and raised his insulin 1/2 unit till the storm was over.

[jasper2008]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Hi! everyone
Thanks for the replies & good wishes.

The power didn't go out thank goodness but there is a lot of damage around us, next door to us their ridge roof tiles blew off hitting their car which was parked on the drive, they lost their guttering & down pipes which were blowing up & down the drive, we left our car on the road instead of the drive, just in case, thank goodness! trees down on the avenue. Our window cleaner lost all his garden panels & when Thomas was going back to work a large piece of plastic was being carried on the wind & nearly hit our car, I could go on & on, Oh well another front on it's way today, hope we stay lucky..

Jasper seems to be at his low point 6 hours in we are due to talk to the vet today sometime, he is continuing to throw low numbers SUN 5.9 MON 8.6 TUE 6.2 WED 3.7 THUR 4.4

The reason we went for the VetPen I have health problems a stroke & arthritis which affects my hands & I would be unable to draw insulin & inject, even though we could get round the drawing insulin, I would have trouble holding & injecting, the VetPen seemed ideal for me as all you do for first use is insert insulin cartridge, prime it to get the bubbles out, then each time you use it all you do is insert a needle set the dial on top of the pen to the units required, inject, press a button & the dial then counts down the dose to zero (only take a second) you then put the pen in the fridge ready for next use. One cartridge will last 10 days on Jaspers dose of 10 units per day. The pen is thick enough for me to hold & I have had no problem at all. The only downside is it doesn't allow for half units, I hope we can work around this somehow??

Below taken from Caninsulin website:-

The world’s first and only insulin pen designed specifically for use in diabetic cats and dogs
Enables owners to provide a precise dose of insulin for every injection
Makes selecting a dose as simple as turning a dial
Precise instrumentation reduces the chance of user error
Eliminates need to draw doses from insulin vials
Enhanced ease of use
Ergonomic design makes handling easy
Beneficial for pet owners with poor eyesight, arthritis, or unsteady hands
Reduces the risk of accidental needle stick injuries
Reduces the chance of insulin spills
Sturdy body protects insulin cartridge from breakage
Helps eliminate air bubbles that can lead to incorrect dosage

http://www.caninsulin.co.uk/vetpen/about-vetpen.asp

Thanks again everyone for all your help & advice it is really appreciated. Can I just say that having had a diabetic cat for 6 years this is by FAR a lot harder & I have the utmost respect for you guys, thought it was going to be a walk in the park, boy how wrong was I ..

Riley&Mo Watched with bated breath the Polar Vortex looked really scary & we think we have got it bad..reminded me of the film the day after tomorrow. I still can't get my head round the food & insulin dose relationship changing amount of food to help regulate, never had to worry about that with my cat... ANY HELP to understand would be so appreciated..

Antonia I have been checking ebay & amazon for the vibrating collars, I think we are going to get one for Jasper with him being deaf, thanks for letting us know about them.

[amydunn19]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

You can make it work with the pen. I understand about the hands - my brother has rheumatoid arthiritis and he is so limited with what he can do with his hands.

You might can give some targeted snacks to keep those numbers up if you have to settle on that dose. Food and insulin is like balancing an equation - you can adjust either one to get results.

[jgr789]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Very glad you made it through safe!

Continued best wishes that you stay that way.

[Eddie]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Glad you didn't get blown away!

It's odd that the Vetpen doesn't allow for half units. I saw the claim about accurate dosing on their website as well. I wonder if it is worth getting in touch with their customer service and asking what you can do about it.

As Amy says, you may work around it with food as an alternative. We sometimes do that a bit eg if we are out and may be back a bit late for the dogs' teatime, we get our neighbour to give Eddie (and the others) a little snack so that we know that he can't go too low when he gets to his usual lowest point just before his mealtime. There is then a risk he might go too high but that is less of a problem.
It seems like a bit more of a blunt instrument than adjusting the insulin dose but it certainly can work once you get a feel for how much is needed (and assuming you do not have to watch your dog's weight too closely so you can be flexible about food quantities).

Antonia

[Monsters Momma]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Hi! everyone
I still can't get my head round the food & insulin dose relationship changing amount of food to help regulate, never had to worry about that with my cat... ANY HELP to understand would be so appreciated..

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4051

Maybe this will help!

Stay safe!!

[jasper2008]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4051

Maybe this will help!

Stay safe!!

Thanks for the link, going to try & digest it xx

[eyelostit]

Re: Jasper - Advice needed please

Hi Hilary,

Glad you found your way here Welcome

Jasper is getting nourishment now that he's on insulin.

Try not to get too overwhelmed, I know its hard, we've all been at that point in the beginning. It takes time starting out, learning, you'll be a pro in no time.

As long as he's eating and receiving his insulin he'll be ok.

Chin up, breathe, Jasper will be ok, I think Jasper is more worried about you.

Dolly and Angel Niki

This is link about food and insulin
http://www.k9diabetes.com/insulinfood.html

My Niki's story (I had a hard time with food and insulin also at the beginning)
http://www.k9diabetes.com/storynikid.html