Gus, the mini-schnauzer an Angel March 7, 2018

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Daiseydog, I'm at a loss right now with what is going on with Gus. I finally learned this past year not to worry about an of day or two with his numbers. I've never adjusted insulin because of an off day. I know many do, but my vet doesn't seem to think that is really necessary when they are just off for some unknown reason.

However, his fasting numbers are really getting erractic. This morning was 598!! And just two days ago, we had 152! We've not been this unstable for a long time. So, I'm not sure what to do at this point. I'm trying to figure out how to post a copy of his spreadsheet here, but I'm not having any luck.

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Here is his July spreadsheet showing his fasting readings and spot checks. This is kind of hard to read, but the color coding should show his trends.

Pink is 100's, Aqua is 200's, pale yellow 300's, purple 400's, gold 500 and up

[Daisydog10]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

I'm not sure about the others, but I couldn't access his spreadsheet.

This morning was 598!! And just two days ago, we had 152!

That's pretty much what Daisy does, not quite that high yet, but we've been in the low 500's and then the next day she's in the 150's. Then we're good for a week. We're only 6 months into this so I'm guessing we're still in the mid stages of regulation? Do I occasionally need to add some R????

I hope and pray Gus stabilizes quickly.

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

How do I insert photo? I created an album, uploaded a jpg file, and then referenced the URL from that photo in the album?

[MikeMurphy]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Hi MomofGus,

To insert a photo into your post, you need to wrap [IMG] and [/IMG] around the URL of the photo.

You can do it manually or select the photo icon on the message toolbar and insert the URL ...

[jesse girl]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

for jesse when her numbers become unstable the first thing i think about is the dose is to much . jesse goes through periods needing more and less insulin

why i dont know but thats her reality

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Mike, I edited posted with the brackets. It shows up for me when logged in, but not when I'm not logged in??

This evening's pre-meal fasting was 200. Such a big swing from this morning. I'm a little scared and hesitant to start lowering dose. Guess I could do for a day or two and see how he goes. Really had hoped he would get back to how he'd been doing.

[Daisydog10]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

I like the color coded spreadsheet because at a glance you can see where he's at.

I guess nothing is written in stone with these pups. Numbers can change so quickly for odd reasons that we may never figure out. My first thought when I looked at his spreadsheet was an infection, or maybe a not so concentrated bottle of insulin, or maybe neither, I wish I knew. These swings are nerve-wracking. Were his numbers like that in June or is this just a July thing?

[jesse girl]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

being on such a high dose to begin with maybe some of that resistance has been broken why it would have taken so long its hard to say

my opinion most dogs may have a dose thats to much but the body is able to balance it out but if it becomes unstable the body maybe having a more dificult time

only a few things you can do . wait it out and maybe things will settle but i would have a timeline for that and might not go more than a couple weeks the other is the dose is to much . the difficult thing is by how much and if you only did a small amount it may even look worse with less insulin working and last maybe and underline medical issue

[Raysaint]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

I am surprised at his dose, 19 units twice a day, for a 21 lb dog. My vet said many dogs get as high as 1 unit per kilogram (2.2 lbs).
So 10 units twice a day would be a pretty full dose. How did he get to 19 units?
My dog weighs 25 lbs and was up to 9 units twice daily.
He could be doing lots of rebounding. His body will be all over the place and never be able to settle into a proper routine.

[MomofGus]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Raysaint, he's just one of those dogs that required more (partially due to being a schnauzer). It took a year to get find the dose that kept him stable, and we've had excellent numbers this past year until this last month and half (the switch to the shorter needles). When changing his dosage the first year, he would stay 3-4 weeks on a dose before adjusting again.

It's been extremely hot and humid here, and he's only out long enough to take care of business throughout the day. I suppose that could be part enough. If he had really high numbers for more than a day or so, I'd have him checked for UTI. No excessive drinking or any change in his behavior to indicate if not feeling well.

I've learned enough these past 2 years to know things never stay the same and can vary and change for unknown reasons.

[Daisydog10]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

One thing I did notice with the heat and humidity is we've had to change our walking schedule to around 7-730p. Sometimes it's so hot we don't go until 8p and we cut our walks short because we're both a sweaty mess. When we don't get our full walk in, her morning numbers are usually higher than normal.

It's hard to tell but maybe the heat is a factor as well.

[jesse girl]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

i understand its hard i go through periods with jesse where she just isnt doing that well but she always bounces back

sometimes i will use a short or fast acting insulin to buy time to figure things out but that is quite rare nowadays but its always in the tool box when needed

i have been wrong on this disease many times and i had to rethink my opinion on many occasions and i am not even close to a 100 percent as to what is going on

i always looked at the other dogs just regulated so easily but with jesse being so difficult she prepared me for other challenges when they come up and they will thats her reality

anxiety is what we feel we worry . we struggle to fix things for the love of our lives but we do the best we can . we keep trying to improve things and make it a bit easier for our best friends and usually we do . look at the alternative to just bury our head in the sand maybe easier emotionally but its not who we are here on the forum

i always wish it was easier for everyone here but thats not the reality for some but we get back on the horse and keep trying

[Daisydog10]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

i understand its hard i go through periods with jesse where she just isnt doing that well but she always bounces back

sometimes i will use a short or fast acting insulin to buy time to figure things out but that is quite rare nowadays but its always in the tool box when needed

i have been wrong on this disease many times and i had to rethink my opinion on many occasions and i am not even close to a 100 percent as to what is going on

i always looked at the other dogs just regulated so easily but with jesse being so difficult she prepared me for other challenges when they come up and they will thats her reality

anxiety is what we feel we worry . we struggle to fix things for the love of our lives but we do the best we can . we keep trying to improve things and make it a bit easier for our best friends and usually we do . look at the alternative to just bury our head in the sand maybe easier emotionally but its not who we are here on the forum

i always wish it was easier for everyone here but thats not the reality for some but we get back on the horse and keep trying

Well said and I think you speak for many of us.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Gus, the mini-schnauzer

Erratic blood sugar is a hallmark of mini Schnauzer diabetes - and rotties too in my experiences at the forum.

They can rather abruptly change in terms of the amount of insulin needed, drastically... a dose that was barely enough yesterday is now a dose that's way too much or way too little.

So it may not be anything you can control. But any time you are having low fastings, it makes sense to me to reduce the insulin dose and see if it stabilizes the blood sugar even if higher. Then work with the resulting blood sugar to decide what, if anything, to do next.

Heat does tend to have a big influence on how they process insulin and probably food.

It winds up being trial and error regardless - make a small change, in this case likely to insulin dose, and see what results before making any additional changes.

Natalie