Why did this happen?

[StylosMom]

My 8 year old Maltese was diagnosed with diabetes a few days ago. The vet sent me home with the Alphatrak2 meter and strips. Unfortunately, I am having a difficult time getting the blood sample and I am wasting strips. I went back to the vet and was given another bottle. I had a few strips left from the original bottle and so I did a dumb thing and put all the strips into one container. Shortly after this doing this dumb thing, I realized the containers had two different codes. One container has the code 5 and the other has the code 36. There doesn't seem to be away to tell the strips apart.

Does it make a huge difference if I use a strip meant for code 36 and use the code 5 and vice versa? I'm feeling so dumb right now. I can't believe I did this. If its just a matter of 1 to 20 points off then it wouldn't make much difference. I tested my boy tonight and his blood sugar was 297. This am it was 383 when I used the correct code before mixing the strips into one container.

Thanks for your help.

[StylosMom]

Why did this happen?

Why at the age of 8 did my Maltese suddenly get diabetes?
Was it something I fed him? Age? Breed? Why does this happen to dogs?
My Maltese was just diagnosed a few days ago after I discovered a wound that would not heal. He had an open chole a few months ago and it was his suture line that wouldn't heal.

I'm feeling like it was something I did or didn't do. Is this my fault?

[CraigM]

Re: Why did this happen?

Just have a minute, but wanted to welcome you.

For the most part, I think diabetes is just getting a bad deal. Nothing that you did, or could have prevented. Sometimes, certain treatments for injuries MIGHT push a dog towards diabetes, but there's no sense driving yourself crazy

Tell us more about your pup.

Craig

[k9diabetes]

Re: Why did this happen?

Diabetes is quite common in dogs and is not diet related. It's more of an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks the insulin producing cells.

And it's equatable to Type 1 diabetes in people - it cannot be managed through diet; insulin must be given.

So no, you didn't do anything to cause it.

And it's entirely manageable and shouldn't affect your dog's lifespan.

As for the strips, I think tests awhile ago showed that the code often doesn't make much of a difference. How many are there with the other code?

Anybody here with an AlphaTrak and one of the same codes?

If so, would you be willing to run two tests side by side with different codes and see what you get?

Natalie