Hey everyone -
Looks to be a forum full of useful information and will be browsing through the threads to soak up what I can. My dog, a six year old mutt had lost a lot of weight in recent months. He was around 90 pounds and went down to about 50. He had lost his sight and was drinking excessively, all of this occurring sometime after having a few of his teeth pulled.
I was sure it was diabetes and after going to the vet, they confirmed my suspicions. Initially, the vet told me it would cost about $400.00 a month for the insulin and vet appointments to monitor his blood glucose and I was honestly contemplating putting him down, which I really did not want to do. After doing a little bit of research, I found the insulin and syringes could be purchased for dirt cheap at Wal-Mart compared to what the vet was wanting to charge me.
I gathered the bulk of the cost would come from these vet appointments, which they suggested occur every 10 days after I start giving him his insulin. We are three days in at the recommended dose, 12 units twice a day, after feeding and he is already seeming a little happier.
My big question is about the testing. There are a ton of monitors and test strips out there. In what I can see on this forum, the AlphaTrek 2 seems to be the go to monitor and I think I saw someone mention the Freestyle strips work. I have no idea how often I really need to test my dog. Some places say I need to do it every two hours, which isn't feasible with my work schedule and my vet only wanted to see him every 10 days...which at $90 a pop can get pricey fast.
Is it just during the initial phase where I need to test him often to make sure the insulin dosage is correct and then just test him once a week? Or do I really need to test his levels every day? I'm also not entirely sure what my goal should be for his blood sugar. Some assistance with that would also be appreciated.
Looks to be a forum full of useful information and will be browsing through the threads to soak up what I can. My dog, a six year old mutt had lost a lot of weight in recent months. He was around 90 pounds and went down to about 50. He had lost his sight and was drinking excessively, all of this occurring sometime after having a few of his teeth pulled.
I was sure it was diabetes and after going to the vet, they confirmed my suspicions. Initially, the vet told me it would cost about $400.00 a month for the insulin and vet appointments to monitor his blood glucose and I was honestly contemplating putting him down, which I really did not want to do. After doing a little bit of research, I found the insulin and syringes could be purchased for dirt cheap at Wal-Mart compared to what the vet was wanting to charge me.
I gathered the bulk of the cost would come from these vet appointments, which they suggested occur every 10 days after I start giving him his insulin. We are three days in at the recommended dose, 12 units twice a day, after feeding and he is already seeming a little happier.
My big question is about the testing. There are a ton of monitors and test strips out there. In what I can see on this forum, the AlphaTrek 2 seems to be the go to monitor and I think I saw someone mention the Freestyle strips work. I have no idea how often I really need to test my dog. Some places say I need to do it every two hours, which isn't feasible with my work schedule and my vet only wanted to see him every 10 days...which at $90 a pop can get pricey fast.
Is it just during the initial phase where I need to test him often to make sure the insulin dosage is correct and then just test him once a week? Or do I really need to test his levels every day? I'm also not entirely sure what my goal should be for his blood sugar. Some assistance with that would also be appreciated.
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