Help

[momofdecker]

Re: Help

Belated welcome to you and your pup. I'm glad you found your way here. My boy was overdosed for around six weeks before we found this site. We knew something was wrong because our high energy boy just curled up in the corner and slept because the bouncing of his bg left him feeling quite unwell.

A few basic questions for you:
What is your pup eating and how much are you feeding per meal?

What type of insulin do you use?

What type of meter do you use?

The folks on here are great and will help you sort through getting your pup on track. Don't hesitate to ask questions.

Holli

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Help

You really need to stay consistent with the dose. With input from a vet, figure out a dose and stick with it for at least a week. If that's 8 units then fine but insulin is a different animal. It's not like gasoline where the more you give the faster the car goes and then you back off to slow down. The effects of insulin last longer and the body adjusts to it over a few days. And y'all seem to be all over the place with dosing. I'm glad you've backed off the amounts but now I would work on consistency. Also a spot check is only as valuable as that moment and a dog's bg changes all day. So, I recommend staying at a certain dose for 5 days straight, feeding 2x a day only and 12 hrs apart, and doing spot checks. At the end of 5 days, do a curve. A curve is a series of bg tests over a 12 hr period (starting before breakfast/shot, then test every two hours until the evening meal/shot).
Very much agree with Cebe on this. When starting out there needs to be consistency especially in amount of food fed (I weigh mine to be exact) and amount of insulin given. Only then can you truly evaluate the feet of said dose though a 12 hour curve.

Of course if you see crazy numbers in you spot checks address that at the time. But make your focus consistency.

If I may clarify the above, I think the crazy numbers that Cebe was referring to would be if you saw any lows...say below 100....

(but can you please tell us the brand of meter you are using or if you're using urine strips this info is key to evaluating the numbers you post.)

.....Not if you saw any highs. Even if you see hi numbers please keep the dose the same. As the link I sent earlier explained, high numbers may in fact be a result of overdosing. Only when the dose is reduced does it give the body time for the hormones released in such a scenario to clear the system and start showing true numbers.

Good job backing off on the dose. We will walk you through it. I remember your first post about thinking the numbers just needed to be coming down quicker. There really is no short cut here. The body needs time to adjust to a finely tuned systems that releases insulin from the body as needed, to an artificial replacement system.

Tara

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Help

I assume you are using urine strips as you mentioned one reading in the thousands.

The important thing to know about urine strips is they are only an average of all the urine that has accumulated in the bladder since the last time the dog voided.

If using urine strips I imagine that there have been some hypo episodes that have been happening but the lows have been averaged out by the highs that may have been produced by the liver releasing stored glucose.

I will send a separate link in another post.

As the vets aren't very fluent in your area (if you let us know where you are someone might have a referral for you) I would recommend getting a meter and home testing. There are a lot of videos on you tube and we can help you know what to get.

Tara

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Help

http://diabetesindogs.wikia.com/wiki/Glycogenolysis

image of urine strips:

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__...etodiastix.jpg

if that link doesn't work:

http://tinyurl.com/lo2mlsa

[farrwf]

Re: Help

She is about 30 pounds right now as she lost weight before she was diagnosed.

Never heard of a Rottweiler weighing much less that ~80 lbs???

[CraigM]

Re: Help

Please. Can you confirm your pup's weight? 30 pounds, or possibly 30Kg?

Craig

[Peta]

Re: Help

It is now 12.40 and her BG is up to 497. We are not going to feed her until this evening as per your suggestion, but my husband is not happy and I can see him itching to give her more.

[Cebe]

Re: Help

You do more damage if you dose now rather than wait. Bg doesn't necessarily continue to climb. It could stay level at 400 the rest of the day. Patience.
Again, it's not like an engine where you put more in and you go faster. Putting more insulin in now could basically flood the engine and then You'd have to start over.

And Tara was correct to clarify my post. I did mean you should adjust if you see lows. Lows readings (for my dog, 60 or below) can be very dangerous.

So, be patient. Wait. Test. Observe. Be consistent.

I know it's hard but it's part of the process.

[momofdecker]

Re: Help

Just sending some encouragement for you to hold steady. The elevated numbers are difficult to see, however, low numbers can kill. Dogs actually tolerate elevated bg much better than humans. My boy went from November 2011 to May 2012 with his bg running 300 - 600 most of that time. Once we stopped overdosing him, his energy level and love of life turned around pretty quickly, despite the elevated bg. He did drink more than average for a dog for his size, however, he was able to go from about 8a - 4:30p with no potty accidents in the house.

One of the biggest risks with elevated bg is developing ketones. There are urine sticks you can buy at most pharmacies where you can test your dog's urine for ketones. Anything more than a trace can turn into an emergency and should be addressed immediately with veterinary care. Here is a link to what you may be able to find at a local Wal-Mart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Reli-On-Ke...Strip/13037592

Speaking of Wal-Mart, I'm not sure what insulin you are using, however, Wal-Mart carries Novolin N under their Relion brand for around $25.00. It's similar in make up to Humulin N. Since you are just getting started, if you are using Humulin and looking to save some money, it may be worth asking your vet about switching.

[Peta]

Re: Help

So we waited and tested her at about 3 pm. Her bg is down to 408. We will continue as planned.

We live in Trinidad in the Caribbean, so no Walmart here. We are using Humulin. It is the only one that can be used on dogs available here.

[CraigM]

Re: Help

I'll ask once again. Is his weight 30 pounds, or 30 Kg (66 pounds)? Rottiweilers are big dogs, aren't they?

This chart indicates Trinidad generally uses the metric system: http://chartsbin.com/view/d12

Craig

[Peta]

Re: Help

Hi everyone,

Well, we discovered that the scale used to weigh Daisy was faulty. She actually weighs 57 pounds - not 30 pounds, and just to clarify ... we are weighing in pounds, not kilos. She lost a good bit of weight prior to being diagnosed. Our other female Rottie weighs 73 pounds.

We are using the Code Free unit to test her blood glucose levels.

Since realizing the weight discrepancy, we adjusted her insulin dose to 12 units twice per day, and yesterday things seemed to be stabilizing, But today she has been on a steady incline. At 8.30 this evening the meter read HI. With this particular device, this means her BG level is over 600.

We have continued to feed her twice a day, morning and evening and she is getting the correct amount of food, not over-feeding. She is not getting treats in between.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Help

Look in the pharmacy/chemist... not sure what they are called there! for something like Ketostix or Ketodiastix.

http://www.k9diabetes.com/monitoring.html

http://www.americandiabeteswholesale...s_1641_130.htm

Natalie

[Cebe]

Re: Help

Peta, do you have a vet that you are consulting with?

[Peta]

Re: Help

We have not been back to the vet since he first diagnosed her. She has now gained 5 pounds - - and is getting 16 units twice a day. She is holding in the 400s like this for the past week.

Should we increase the dosage to get her BG down to at least the 200s? She is now 61 pounds.