Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

[anotherk9lover]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

you have accomplished all the important things . shots are given and testing blood sugar is not to difficult . the nice thing about this you become less reliant on the vet and most end up this way on the forum . the last time i was at the vet there was no discussion of diabetes as for me he has nothing to offer that i already dont no . jesse has kept her sight for the 10 years . the more you put into it especially in the beginning the better the outcome

It's amazing that Jesse kept her sight for so long, wow! That seems to be pretty rare from what the vets say.

I'm also very surprised that my vet didn't tell me much about the diet either. It didn't seem like he knew much about that aspect of it, he just knows to prescribe a certain brand. I was asking him about the ratio of protein/fat/carbs etc. he couldn't give me any clear answers. Nor did the specialist go into detail about it either, which is really odd considering I came to the apt for diabetes, sigh.. So I'm really surprised to read on here that diabetic dogs apparently need carbs and sugars in their diet. I wouldn't say that Daisy had any spikes or crashes on the high protein diet though. Maybe we'll try to go back to the taste of the wild for a bit and see how she does on it, or just get the prescription diet from the vet. Which brand seems to be the favorite among the group here?

[anotherk9lover]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

to be honest. Once I had Jenny fairly regulated and wasn't as worried about her going scary low, I didn't do too many curves. I would test her sugar before I fed her and gave her her shot. It got to the point where it just made me feel better.

I do know lots of people with diabetic dogs that don't test that often. The ones on this forum are usually the problem ones with multiple issues, like Daisy!

We all do the best we can. It's great you guys are all doing it together and like Natalie said, it does become routine. After my Jenny died it was weird not to have to be home every 12 hours.

When in doubt, give less insulin. Lows are the most dangerous thing.

hang in there!

How was Jenny's eyesight?

[k9diabetes]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

What was the reason your dog needed insulin every 6 hours? That is a lot of work, wow I applaud you really! I think not many people would be able to work around a schedule like that. We sometimes struggle with twice a day.

He wound up being on Regular (relatively fast acting) insulin so that’s how long each injection lasted. He was allergic to NPH (to the protein added to it) and the Vetsulin-like product available at the time didn’t work well for him. We loved using R - not commonly done but worked great for him.

Natalie

[Raysaint]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

In my case, my vet wanted me to feed Hills WD food, so I just looked for foods that were close to that in fat, fiber, protein.

And I add a little pumpkin or sweet potato, blueberries, pinto beans/oatmeal. Not all that in a meal, I switch it up each meal.

Diabetic or not, everyone needs carbs, it's what fuels the body. Insulin is what keeps it in balance.

[LizE]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

I think things are going better for Daisy than you might think. Your numbers could be worse and I think once you get back to a normal food things will settle down. Remember the lowest number is the deciding factor in dosages.

I did not follow a 12 hour dosage schedule with my dog. It was a real challenge just to get her to eat a breakfast so we aimed for a 8am and 6pm schedule. Did not always happen but we did what we could. I used several different brands of dog food for her as variety helped keep up her interest in food. I never paid much attention to ratios but did eliminate a few brands if I thought they made her numbers spike.

I always used a human meter on Snickers. We started with a human one because it was going to take a while to get an Alphatrak and just stayed with it. Her vets didn't care - I was one of the few patients that could successfully test my dog - they were more concerned about the overall trend than exact readings.

I ran my dog high. When she was first diagnosed one of the vets suggested keeping her numbers higher because they were more afraid of her not surviving lows. She had already lost most of her vision before she was diagnosed so cataracts were not as much of a concern. She did develop cataracts about 18 mo after diagnosis but she adjusted very well.

Your dog is almost a senior so there are going to be adjustments in her well being even without diabetes. It will not always go the way you might like but try not to get locked into a narrow vision of what defines success for Daisy's care. She can be happy and thriving even if she is less than physically perfect. Good luck.

[labblab]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

btw how did you guys add a picture on here of your pet, I want to add daisy's.

Hi!! I’m a member over here as well as on k9cushings, and if nobody has yet gotten back to you about this, here’s some tips. The little picture you’re talking about is called an “avatar.” To add a picture of Daisy, first log in and then click on the “User CP” button on the left side of the blue menu bar at the top of every page. Once at your User Control Panel, you’ll see another menu along the left side. Under Settings and Options, you’ll see “Edit Avatar.” Click that button, and you’ll get instructions for uploading your photo.

We have exactly the same option over at k9cushings, so you can add an avatar of Daisy over there, too .

Good luck!
Marianne

[anotherk9lover]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

Hi!! I’m a member over here as well as on k9cushings, and if nobody has yet gotten back to you about this, here’s some tips. The little picture you’re talking about is called an “avatar.” To add a picture of Daisy, first log in and then click on the “User CP” button on the left side of the blue menu bar at the top of every page. Once at your User Control Panel, you’ll see another menu along the left side. Under Settings and Options, you’ll see “Edit Avatar.” Click that button, and you’ll get instructions for uploading your photo.

We have exactly the same option over at k9cushings, so you can add an avatar of Daisy over there, too .

Good luck!
Marianne

Thank you Marianne, I can always count on you

[anotherk9lover]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

Another general question I had to everyone, what kind of insulin syringes do you guys use, and do you dispose them every time? We've been using the orange top 30 unit ones from walmart and disposing them, but the waste is really accumulating, and we were thinking maybe we can just boil them and reuse them at least once? It would be more environmentally conscious and also save us an extra expense.

[Raysaint]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

Yes, 30 unit, BD Ultra Fine, 3/10 ml, 8mm (5/16"), 31 gauge.
I use each needle twice. Inject, cap it carefully, use once more. Been doing that since the beginning.

For my own diabetes, I use the syringe 3 or 4 times.

[anotherk9lover]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

Yes, 30 unit, BD Ultra Fine, 3/10 ml, 8mm (5/16"), 31 gauge.
I use each needle twice. Inject, cap it carefully, use once more. Been doing that since the beginning.

For my own diabetes, I use the syringe 3 or 4 times.

Yea will probably start doing that too now.

[DebEsco]

Re: Diabetes and Blindness! Did your dog go blind?!

My dog Romeo cataracts got worse about 9 months after dx. I was not surprised because he already had small cataracts at dx. His eyes have always been a weak spot for him. I put him on Ocuglo (yes it is expensive), I do think it helps with inflammation. I am trying to decide on surgery right now. Doc explained his sight is like he is looking thru frosted glass. He sees me coming, looks toward me. He does not however see where the treat is when I hold one out. He bumps into things occasionally, at first into walls, but he quickly figured that out and doesn’t walk into anything unless we move things while we clean. Snow is a problem outdoors, I think because it removes his scents, so have to be careful to leash him in fresh snow. He manages to find his toys on the rug to play. He adapted very quickly and he seems playful and happy.

[DebEsco]

Re: Please help me regulate her sugar??

I thank this forum for getting Romeo out of low sugar events that rebounded to very high sugars (400-500). At dx Doc had told me carbs were to be avoided so I had put him on high protein dog food, that was causing the problem. The advice here convinced me to go back to his regular food (minus the extra sweet potato or pumpkin I put in pre-dx for regulation of bowels) and he is doing great right now. I went from testing 3-4 x a day (more on a curve day) to testing 2x a day and now 2x a week with a curve day every few weeks. He is stable and I do test if I notice any difference in thirst or pee quantity, but he has only had one day where it was unusual but when I tested it was 300ish. A little high, don’t know why, but he came right back into his usual range of low 200s to 150 quickly.

[jesse girl]

Re: Please help me regulate her sugar??

I thank this forum for getting Romeo out of low sugar events that rebounded to very high sugars (400-500). At dx Doc had told me carbs were to be avoided so I had put him on high protein dog food, that was causing the problem. The advice here convinced me to go back to his regular food (minus the extra sweet potato or pumpkin I put in pre-dx for regulation of bowels) and he is doing great right now. I went from testing 3-4 x a day (more on a curve day) to testing 2x a day and now 2x a week with a curve day every few weeks. He is stable and I do test if I notice any difference in thirst or pee quantity, but he has only had one day where it was unusual but when I tested it was 300ish. A little high, don’t know why, but he came right back into his usual range of low 200s to 150 quickly.

i remember early in this journey there was a member that said blood sugar spiked off protein and it was not long after eating . I thought that was impossible . Protein doesn't digest that fast . Its slow . So something else must be happening with protein. It did not directly spike sugar with quick digestive sugar but instead it was the bodies response to not having any sugar for injected insulin to work which caused the spike
So in a way protein indirectly spiked sugar

[anotherk9lover]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

Hi guys, me again!

Just wondering, does your dog ever get restless at night? Last few days Daisy has been restless, pacing, licking my sisters face nonstop, being clingy like she's in pain. What could it be? She's usually a great sleeper. She was restless like this once before right before she got really sick with her DKA, so this is making me super nervous. No ketones in urine as of now though, sugars seem somewhat ok, she's not drinking and peeing a ton.
I'm hoping it's not something more serious like pancreatitis, but I'm guessing with that she would have some GI symptoms. Maybe a uti? although no visible changes with urine pattern.
Someone on Fb mentioned acid reflux with diabetes, is that a thing any of you experienced?

[jesse girl]

Re: Who took their dog to a specialist? Advice?

When jesse ran high blood sugar at night I saw this . I would test sugar at this time to see . I guess it could also be low sugar or big swings . Yes you do not want to see DKA . Pancreatitis is another problem that can occur