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Our doberman Quincy's final chapter May 4, 2016

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  • Our doberman Quincy's final chapter May 4, 2016

    Just a test. Too new at this to even know enough to ask too many questions. Just got diagnosis today and gave first shot tonight
    Quincy 8 1/2 year old Black/rust spayed Doberman, diagnosed May 2, 2015, 87.6 pounds, 10 units 2x daily Novolin N, W/D plus whatever she can catch

  • #2
    Re: test

    Welcome to the forum!
    Tell us about your pup: breed, weight, type of insulin, amount of insulin, other medical problems? Really anything you can / want to share.

    Your posts might be delayed showing on the forum until the forum owner approves your membership.

    Craig
    Annie was an 18 pound Lhasa Apso that crossed the rainbow bridge on 10-5-17. She was nearly 17 years old and diabetic for 9½ years.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: test

      Thanks, Craig. I'm new at this. I suppose I need to go to the biography section?
      Quincy 8 1/2 year old Black/rust spayed Doberman, diagnosed May 2, 2015, 87.6 pounds, 10 units 2x daily Novolin N, W/D plus whatever she can catch

      Comment


      • #4
        Imwildfire

        We lost our first Dobe when she was just 8 1/2 and we were so heartbroken we didn't get another for many years. Still hurts today. But when my (then) 83 year old mother asked if we were ever going to get another Dobe, we thought it was time.

        We picked out Quincy when she was 8 weeks old and we love her so much. Now she's been diagnosed with diabetes at 8 1/2. Just gave her the first insulin shot last night. She's such a good dog. Took a while to finally figure out where to get blood on her so we can check her blood sugar level. She never flinched as we made a pin cushion out of her. Poor thing.

        We are very confident in our vet. We've been with him for over 30 years and he knows us well. We're retired dairy farmers so our vets became like family since we've used them so much. We don't live near town, so we have to do the monitoring and report to him what we find so he can adjust medication, if necessary. He's not a diabetes specialist, but he has several diabetic dogs in his care and isn't afraid to look up information if need be. He even does it right in front of us and shares what he's looking at.

        We've started Quincy on W/D, which she likes, thankfully. 10 units of Novolin N twice a day. Her blood sugar was 305 this morning, which sure beats the 498 2 nights ago. This is scary since we've never been down this road before and don't know what to expect. Don't even know enough to know what to ask. That's why I found this forum. Hoping to learn A LOT.


        If I ever figure out how to list Quincy's info like I see others have done, I'll do that. I'm not too familiar with how forums work.

        Thank you to all who post so "forum challenged" people like me can read and learn
        Quincy 8 1/2 year old Black/rust spayed Doberman, diagnosed May 2, 2015, 87.6 pounds, 10 units 2x daily Novolin N, W/D plus whatever she can catch

        Comment


        • #5
          Quincy, the doberman

          Originally posted by imwildfire View Post
          We lost our first Dobe when she was just 8 1/2 and we were so heartbroken we didn't get another for many years. Still hurts today. But when my (then) 83 year old mother asked if we were ever going to get another Dobe, we thought it was time.

          We picked out Quincy when she was 8 weeks old and we love her so much. Now she's been diagnosed with diabetes at 8 1/2. Just gave her the first insulin shot last night. She's such a good dog. Took a while to finally figure out where to get blood on her so we can check her blood sugar level. She never flinched as we made a pin cushion out of her. Poor thing.

          We are very confident in our vet. We've been with him for over 30 years and he knows us well. We're retired dairy farmers so our vets became like family since we've used them so much. We don't live near town, so we have to do the monitoring and report to him what we find so he can adjust medication, if necessary. He's not a diabetes specialist, but he has several diabetic dogs in his care and isn't afraid to look up information if need be. He even does it right in front of us and shares what he's looking at.

          We've started Quincy on W/D, which she likes, thankfully. 10 units of Novolin N twice a day. Her blood sugar was 305 this morning, which sure beats the 498 2 nights ago. This is scary since we've never been down this road before and don't know what to expect. Don't even know enough to know what to ask. That's why I found this forum. Hoping to learn A LOT.


          If I ever figure out how to list Quincy's info like I see others have done, I'll do that. I'm not too familiar with how forums work.

          Thank you to all who post so "forum challenged" people like me can read and learn
          You are lucky that Quincy likes the W/D food, many dogs seem to pass on it.

          How much do you think he weighs? What brand of insulin and meter are you using?

          GREAT work on testing already!

          Craig

          Just reread and saw you are using Novolin-N
          Annie was an 18 pound Lhasa Apso that crossed the rainbow bridge on 10-5-17. She was nearly 17 years old and diabetic for 9½ years.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Quincy, the doberman

            Are you getting your Novolin-N from Walmart? Only $25 for a vial there. Syringes are also pretty cheap there also.

            Is your plan to stay at 10 units for about a week, and then do a "curve"? In case you haven't read, a curve is taking a blood reading before breakfast / injection and then about every two hours until the evening meal / injection. This is what most would do because it might take several days before Quincy's body learns how to use the injected insulin.

            Consistency is pretty important so really try to give repeatable meals. I use a food scale to weigh the food, but for a big Dobie measuring cups might be OK.

            Just thought of something about the W/D food. How much are you feeding? I know the various diabetic foods require a pretty BIG portion You will likely go through the bag pretty quickly if Quincy is a big boy. One good thing, W/D makes huge poop piles so it will be easy to see to pick-up

            Weekends are normally slow on the forum so don't get discouraged if you don't meet many of the folks today.

            Craig
            Annie was an 18 pound Lhasa Apso that crossed the rainbow bridge on 10-5-17. She was nearly 17 years old and diabetic for 9½ years.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Quincy, the doberman

              Hello and welcome!

              It sounds as if you are already doing all the right things to help Quincy deal with this which is great.

              If you aren't already doing it, you might find it helpful to keep a record of all the variable things like food, insulin doses, glucose levels, any other medication. After a while it builds up a really useful picture of what your dog's particular patterns are; they are all a bit different and you end up becoming an expert in your particular dog's diabetes.

              Our diabetic dog, Eddie, was about the same age as Quincy when he was diagnosed. Two and a half years later we are still at it, despite feeling very anxious about it all when we started. It does all become quite routine after a while once you get used to it!
              Antonia
              Eddie - Lab x golden retriever. Weighed 63lbs. Ate Canagan. Diagnosed October 2012. 13units of Caninsulin twice a day. Had EPI as well as diabetes. Died 20 June 2017. Loved forever.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Quincy, the doberman

                Hello & welcome to the best spot in the known universe for doggy diabetes information, advice & fellowship.

                Sounds like you're moving in the right direction, as well as having a humble vet who admits he doesn't know everything.
                Otis Farrell dx'd 12/10, best friend to his dad, Bill, for over 14 years. Left this world while in his dad’s loving arms 10/04/13. Sonny Farrell dx'd 1/14, adopted 5/15/14. Left this world while in his dad's loving arms 9/06/16. Run pain free, you Pug guys, til we're together again.

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                • #9
                  Re: Quincy, the doberman

                  BTW...welcome, and good for you on testing right away! If your Dobie has the usual elbow callous of a big dog, it's a great place for getting a blood sample to test...no hair to get in the way, and little to no feeling of the poke.
                  Grayson - 95lb black lab, 10yrs old, diagnosed 3/22/14 - Novolin N (27units) and Merrick Grain Free Buffalo and Sweet Potato dry food - Novox 100mg twice daily & a Cosequin supplement - Alphatrak2 & One Touch Mini

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                  • #10
                    Re: Quincy, the doberman

                    Welcome to you and Quincy! I think you will find once things settle down that Quincy is still the same dog - your life just becomes a little more structured. It is very scary in the beginning but most figure out that these dogs are pretty tough and can withstand a few mistakes. I have made many through the years and Maggie is still around.

                    A good relationship with your vet is important. Many vets are very difficult to work with and aren't open to new learning. Diabetes is not covered very thoroughly for general vets so their experience coming out of school is very little and some think strictly by the book. There are many general vets who are very good with diabetes if they are willing to think of this disease as individual instead of one size fits all. My first vet was so inexperienced and was so over her head that she overdosed my dog a lot. She is a great person but I took over just in the nick of time. Now, I have an IMS who is a really great with diabetes but even he admits Maggie has taught him a thing or two. Communication is key and keeping meticulous records.

                    You will find many things affect blood sugar - activities, baths, snacks, infection, virtually any medication, stress, anxiety, company in your home, and squirrels. Figuring out how these things affect your dog is what home testing will show you. Some dogs are very sensitive to insulin , others very sensitive to even one extra bit of food, some go high with anxiety, some go much lower so you see what I mean. You already have a great start.

                    Anyway, not to overwhelm you. This is totally doable and in some ways, diabetes has given me a very close relationship with Maggie and a type of structure I never really had before. Granted, I hate diabetes but it has had some positive aspects and given me experiences I never would have had otherwise.
                    Maggie - 15 1/2 y/o JRT diagnosed 9/2007, Angel status on 6/20/16. Her mantra was never give up but her body couldn't keep up with her spirit. Someday, baby.......

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                    • #11
                      Re: Quincy, the doberman

                      Thank you EVERYBODY for your replies!

                      I guess I'd better let you know Quincy is a girl

                      I started keeping record of time and blood test as soon as we finally found blood. I'm going to try the elbow. Her elbow doesn't have a callus, but there is a small bald spot. I'm getting a good blood sample from her inner lip. She doesn't even seem to notice.

                      Yes, on Walmart. Vet gave us a bag of syringes, but I bought a box when I picked up the insulin. It's almost across the street from our vet and he's very cost minded.

                      I had to have my husband watch and make sure the needle was going in. It's so easy to do, I thought I must be missing something. Nope. I got it. Now I have to teach hubby to give the shot, too. After all the years of working cattle and horses, I've always been the official "shot giver". Hubby hates giving injections. He loves Quincy too much to let her go without a shot just because I'm not home, so he said this AM he's going to learn to give it.

                      Thanks for the tip on note taking. As you know we just started on this journey and I didn't even think about keeping track of the food. I will add that to my records.

                      I'd never heard of curve, so thank you for that. I will do that at end of this next week.

                      Quincy was 98 pounds a month ago. She was 87.6 Saturday. We were very concerned about her weight gain and were trying to cut down on her food intake. Ideal weight for her is around 80 pounds. She's a big girl. 28" at the shoulders.

                      Quincy will eat just about anything. So not fussy. We're lucky there. But we do have a question that we asked our vet and he wasn't concerned because he said it was so natural. We're feeding her (just started) 3 times a day to try to spread it out. HOWEVER, we are farmers. She goes with us everywhere we go and gets a lot of exercise. Part of the exercise is that she is also a terrific hunter. We can't stop it without stopping her from going with us. We have 4 dogs. It's like a dog pack and they all hunt together. They find and eat rats, mice, rabbits, moles....you get the idea. How do we figure that in to the mix? We don't always get to see what it is she's eating. She runs the fields with us when we're checking on cattle and we're not always aware what the dogs have found. Don't want to gross anybody out, but it's what dogs do. Do we worry about this?

                      I would have responded sooner, but Mom who prompted us to get another Dobe is now 90 1/2 and has Alzheimer's. We always do church, lunch and spend time with her on Sunday. As soon as Quincy is regulated we're going to take her to Mom's assisted living. We take her there when we can and the residents love her and she loves them. Now she'll have something in common with some of them Quite a few diabetics live there.

                      Thanks and sorry for the long story.
                      Quincy 8 1/2 year old Black/rust spayed Doberman, diagnosed May 2, 2015, 87.6 pounds, 10 units 2x daily Novolin N, W/D plus whatever she can catch

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Quincy, the doberman

                        with exercise and spontaneous play blood sugar can drop with injected insulin and it can be quite dramatic

                        many dogs that lead active lives the caretaker tends to leave blood sugar a bit higher to compensate

                        your testing will help to see whats possible some seem to do fine with quite a bit and some just cant do it at a high levels my jesse is somewhere in the middle but for her the exercise must be structured and amounts and timing is important

                        always carry liquid sugar and snacks like a milk bones while out romping around just be aware of symptoms of low blood sugar maybe carry the meter with you . it can be difficult running into a problem with a large dog . not to say anything will happen but you want to be prepared .
                        Jesse-26 lbs - 16.5 years old ,11 years diabetic, one meal a day homemade and a vitabone snack . 3 shots of Novolin( under the Relion name ) a day . Total insulin for a 24 hour period is 6.5 units of NPH insulin .
                        Jesse earned her wings on 6/21/2021

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                        • #13
                          Re: Quincy, the doberman

                          I grew up on a farm and although I am a city girl now, I fondly remember our beagles rabbit hunting and all the vermin the terriers would drag up from time to time. It will make consistency difficult because the schedule is important. Also, I wouldn't know how to figure it in. The thing is a random animal as a snack could cause sugar to skyrocket and I feel like it could become an issue for her. I know you don't want to disrupt the pack and her role but this could be a dangerous practice. Life changes and the more consistent you keep her meals, the better her diabetes is to control. I know it is tough to think of excluding her but there are side effects of uncontrolled sugar that would be life changing for her too. My thought is to give it a chance and see how big of a problem it becomes - who knows the occasional rat might not be a big deal. Testing will tell you how she is doing.
                          Maggie - 15 1/2 y/o JRT diagnosed 9/2007, Angel status on 6/20/16. Her mantra was never give up but her body couldn't keep up with her spirit. Someday, baby.......

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Quincy, the doberman

                            I don't really know that you can figure something like that in... it is definitely challenging both with free roaming dogs and with dogs who do a lot of hunting or hiking. All of the activity and the unknown things consumed have a big effect on blood sugar.

                            I would test her at home certainly so you can catch an extra meal early on and you could skip or reduce her meal when you know she got hold of something and adjust her insulin dose to blood sugar that's unusually high.

                            The other thing to be concerned about with all that activity is, down the road, low blood sugar. One particular dog I know routinely went on very long treks into the woods and her blood sugar went dangerously low a dozen or so times. He had to carry syrup with him and carry her out more than once. So you should make sure you have a remedy for low blood sugar with you at all times when she's out with you. Maybe a little pack and she could carry it herself!

                            One potential side effect of diabetes is blindness - unfortunately, diabetes-induced cataracts are common. Not guaranteed but a high likelihood... so you may eventually have to change how you deal with her anyway in the future. They can have cataract surgery to have the cataracts removed but in about 10% of cases complications result in them being blind anyway. Dogs generally adjust very well to being blind so it's not tragic at all - not at all like it would be for us - but she would need different outings if that happened.

                            Natalie
                            Natalie

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                            • #15
                              Re: Quincy, the doberman

                              hello and welcome to you and your Quincy. your doing great
                              your keeping her very busy. try to keep a log collecting data on Quincy as you go along. i can relate to your mom at 90 years young mines 93 coming home from rehab next week. thats a whole other subject eh!

                              has Quincy been spayed?
                              Riliey . aka Ralphy, Alice, Big Boy
                              20 lb male. 5 1/2 nph insulin. 1/2 cup fromms. black cockapoo, dx Apr 2012 . 5 1\2 yrs diabetic. 2000 to 2017

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