Newly Diagnosed, having issues

[Neirracul]

Okay, we will move up to 15 later this week. I don’t want to do more than one unit at a time because she doesn’t seem to react well to the changes. It took like two weeks for her numbers to stabilize in the 400s.... if that makes sense. We will wait a day or so, so my partner will be home all day to spot test and then probably do another curve next weekend.

Sibhus- that’s good to know, I’m hoping we can get her numbers back down again. They seemed the best around 11 units but still too high. She was actually started on 20 units by the vet and it put her in hyperglycemia rebound pretty hard. Her BG wouldn’t stop going up and up - to the high 600s before we realized what was happening (not sure how accurate this was with an alpha trak though). She seems to like the ketona enough, haha. It’s hard to get her to eat any food for long periods of time - she’s a picky dog.

Also, a side note: before my mom was taking care of her, at age 5 she weighed about 45 pounds and had for a few years. At 65 pounds, she still seems kind of overweight to me. The vet didn’t have any comment on her weight at all which seemed kind of weird to me, but is weight loss even something we should be considering right now as well?

[jesse girl]

With weight gain has your dog been checked for thyroid problems ?Not sure if that has already been sugested . If the thyroid is out of whack it can make regulating blood sugar more challenging .

[sibhus]

I can tell you from owning several Siberians, that they are prone to diabetes and obesity. They love to eat and well its gets the better of them and leads to diabetes. A typical female should weigh 35-50lbs and male about 55-65 but then again there are variations in heights of these dogs. Ive noticed Siberian females put on weight easily after being spayed.

As Jessegirl mentioned I also feared a thyroid problem but his T4 was ok and in my case I was able to get him to shed off a few lbs in a month with extra walks and cutting his intake by 400 calories. But a T4 test on the CBC will identify a thyroid issue.

[Neirracul]

I looked through the CBC one of the vets did and it doesn't look like they included the T4 test or anything thyroid-related. I looked at the bill from the other vet and it doesn't look like they did any bloodwork at all really. We are going to have to take her back sometime soon, but most of our money was eaten up by the hospitalization so we are waiting until we have enough for a return visit.

She has teeth issues and a skin infection that they noted and told me they addressed, but I'm pretty sure they did not because there's nothing on the bill about it and the issues are still there, especially the skin problem/infection.

We did another curve with no changes to diet or exercise times. She is currently at 15 units twice daily. Her BG is averaging higher and higher every time we do a curve it seems. The mid to low 300s and low 400s we were seeing around 10-12 units haven't reappeared yet. Her daily energy levels are lower and lower so we've had to shorten her walks because she just gets too tired.

486 - fasting
521
515
590
552
488

[jesse girl]

yeah it sounds like you maybe seeing other issues affecting regulation . Skin issues can be another sign of thyroid problems . could be some kind of infection. There could be some resistance to insulin for whatever reason

Maybe the insulin isnt agreeable .

The other situation you may have seen is a honeymoon period ( the body still producing some insulin on its own ) and that ended

Now with numbers going higher with a higher dose the body may consider its to much and you can temporarily drop the dose and see if numbers and energy improve . You will need at least a few days at the lower dose to get and idea if its helpful and it could take up to a week to get results with no guarantees but thats how the disease works . Trial and error .

[Riliey and Mo]

if the vet addressed the infection you would have been prescribed an antibiotic
seems he has an infection and that will raise his bloodsugar.
also he could have a tooth infection. a good cleaning will help.
the numbers are good and flat to go up 1 unit to 16. your still at a starting dose for 65 pounds.