Winnie

[Suzanne123]

My Dog: Winnie (Female, 12 year old, shih-tzu mix)
Weight: 25 pounds
Just diagnosed
Just switched to Blue Buffalo Adult Chicken
use Advocate pet test meter
Her blood sugar was between 640 and 450 when first diagnosed last week
It has gone down to 450 to 350 but all of the sudden she won't eat
Her kidneys are good according to blood test
Need any help anyone can give me or advice
She is on Vetsulin once a day/6 units (starting dose)

[CraigM]

Re: Winnie

Welcome to the forum😀

Sorry Winnie has diabetes, but congratulations to you for learning to blood test so quickly!

Many vets will try to make a single injection of Vetsulin work, but I don’t think there is a single member of the forum that has been able to make that work. Vetsulin just doesn’t seem to last much longer than 12 hours, so everyone(?) finally goes to twice a day injections; 12 hours apart after breakfast / dinner. Who knows, Winnie might be the one to make one injection work, but don’t be surprised if she needs two injections.

Craig

[Raysaint]

Re: Winnie

I agree with Craig, get her on a schedule of eating and insulin twice a day, 12 hours apart.
Not eating could be pancreatitis, which is very common with diabetes, especially when first diagnosed. Have your vet, sorry, demand your vet do the quick blood test for pancreatitis. If she has it, it needs treatment asap.

[Suzanne123]

Re: Winnie

Thank you very much for your good advice. I will do a glucose curve test on her next weekend and give the results to my vet, and she did say that at that time we would probably have to increase her insulin. I'm used to checking blood glucose because I am diabetic myself.

[Suzanne123]

Re: Winnie

Thank you for your advice. Thankfully, Winnie started eating again (I mixed her food half dry and half wet Blue Buffalo Adult Chicken). I am sure the vet will increase her dose to twice a day next Monday. I'm doing a blood glucose curve test (myself) this weekend on her and will give the results to the vet then.

[Raysaint]

Re: Winnie

From one diabetic to another, my advice is to not set expectations for the curve, her sugar will probably run high for a bit and then slowly come down over time. And you'll get many surprises.
But dogs can handle high sugars over time better than we. There's no immediate dangers other than ketones.

The biggest mistake I made, as a diabetic, was to try and manage and regulate my dog like I do myself. I got focused on numbers, and was always trying to correct, and I just kept making it worse and delaying his progress. I'm 9 months in and just now getting some regulation. I was his worst enemy.

Be methodical and patient. Incremental and consistent doses and increases will win the battle.

[Suzanne123]

Re: Winnie

Thank you for your wise advice. I think you are correct, I am expecting instant and perfect blood glucose readings because once I was diagnosed and medicated my numbers came into line pretty quickly. Her vet is starting her twice daily instead of one daily and at a reduced dose. If I could even get her to consistently in the 300's I'd be happy but I will be patient. It's good to know dogs can run higher sugars than people can. I keep expecting to wake up and find that she has gone blind overnight. She (my Winnie) certainly seems to e handling this better than I am

[Suzanne123]

Re: Winnie

Vet has switched Winnie to Vetsulin x2 a day now, beginning with 3 units morning and 3 units at night, she said we will probably up it to 4 units morning and night. Her blood sugar is running over 500 in the morning and only gets down to about 350 late in the day. She's having some diarrhea but I think it is her adjusting to the new food. She isn't vomiting and is playful but still drinks tons of water and soaks her wee-wee pads in the middle of the night.

[CraigM]

Re: Winnie

Vet has switched Winnie to Vetsulin x2 a day now, beginning with 3 units morning and 3 units at night, she said we will probably up it to 4 units morning and night. Her blood sugar is running over 500 in the morning and only gets down to about 350 late in the day. She's having some diarrhea but I think it is her adjusting to the new food. She isn't vomiting and is playful but still drinks tons of water and soaks her wee-wee pads in the middle of the night.

Every dog / situation is different, but a general starting dosage (Vetsulin or Novolin-N) has been 0.2 units per pound (twice a day). So, many would start a 25 pound pup at around 5 units twice a day. I realize this is more than the Vetsulin website suggests, but seems to work better as a starting dosage.

Annie was 18-20 pounds when diagnosed and spent most of her diabetic life around 9 units. Again, every pup is different: food, activity, other medicines, etc. can make a difference.

Craig

[CraigM]

Re: Winnie

Oops, I forgot to ask the question that was on my mind. Are you using U-40 syringes, generally bought from your vet? Vetsulin is a U-40 insulin and needs the fairly special U-40 syringe for proper dosing.

U-40 syringes are different than the common U-100 syringes that most human style insulins use.

Craig

[Suzanne123]

Re: Winnie

Thank you for your posts. Yes, the 3 units twice a day seems really low to me. She said we would raise it to 4 units (or even higher) shortly if her numbers are still high. I know we are both just so worried about hypoglycemia but her numbers are so high I don't see that likely, though I'm new to all this. Yes, I am using the U-40 needles that I get directly from my vet. I was going to see if I could them cheaper off the internet but I'm afraid to risk it knowing that different needles have different dosages and I don't want to make a mistake with my little girl. They aren't very expensive - $3.50 for a pack of 10. Did Annie get 9 units twice a day or each day? Also, my Winnie isn't much for exercise - other than her 3-4 short walks per day to go poddy, she just gets tuckered out pretty quickly and doesn't like to walk more than about 15 minutes tops. She always has been that way, since she was a pup. She's 12 now.

[Suzanne123]

Winnie - morning BS 600+, vet switches to 2x day at 6 units each

Winnie's blood sugar was over 600 this morning. Vet is increased her Vetsulin to twice a day at 6 units each. I hope this will do the trick. Her numbers are all over the place but always way too high. Still drinking lots of water and urinating alot.

[CraigM]

Re: Winnie

I’m hoping the 6 units will make a noticeable difference. Let us all know.

I think (no longer have Annie’s notebook of 9 years ago) that she was around 7 units, twice a day, while on Vetsulin. She ended up her last several years at 9 units of Novolin-N. She was on Vetsulin about a year, and we were still in the learning phase. Her diet changed several times and the dosage also increased over time.

Craig

[Raysaint]

Re: Winnie

Going to 6 units seems like a big increase all at once. High morning blood sugars can happen even on the right dose, from the dawn effect, or if she rebounds during the night.
Small incremental increases is easier for the body to adjust to, and safer.

[Suzanne123]

Winnie glucose curve test

I did a glucose curve test on Winnie yesterday. She started out at over 600, then I gave her 6 units insulin with her breakfast, and her numbers went basically like this every two hours: 545, 455, 354, 250, 355, 450. Then she had her dinner and another 6 units, and I checked her before she went to bed and it was 350. This morning she woke up and it was 545. She had her breakfast and another 6 units, and three hours later it is 445. I'll keep checking it throughout the day. Does this look like a good glucose curve? Do you think once within a few weeks on this new dose she might be getting regulated? I really don't want it to go too low.