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**janspack** · 07-21-2011, 01:10 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Hi Lexi's Mum,

First of all, you've come to the right place. Secondly, once you get used to all this, it won't be anywhere as bad as it seems right now. I'm in the UK so can't help with what your costs etc will be but I have read that most of the owners tend to get their insulin and syringes from Walmart - which is one h.... of a lot cheaper than the vets.

Being disabled, single and living alone, I know how tight money can be.

Now, most importantly, I'm not at all impressed with what your vet has recommended for a treatment plan. In the early stages, the dog needs more careful monitoring until you can get her stable and know what dose of insulin combined with the food is right for Lexi. Maybe he is trying to keep your costs to a minimum but I sometimes feel that if you can perhaps get her better monitored and supervised in these early days, it will be cheaper in the long run.

I imagine, from the fact that they have said that they can't test her for 4 weeks that they are planning to use a fructosamine test to monitor how she is getting on. This test can be quite useful at times but as you've seen most of us like to be more proactive in our dogs' care. The fructosamine just gives the vet an average of the glucose levels for the past 2 - 3 weeks but doesn't give you any idea of how well the levels are controlled from one day to the next.

Glucose testing machines can be really affordable now if you go for a "human" monitor rather than for the one that is made specially for dogs and cats. (Alphatrak). I'm sure other members will make recommendations based on accuracy and balanced with cost. I use one called GlucoRX but I don't know if you can get it in the USA. I got it from the UK branch of Amazon so it might well be worth a search on their website. The monitor was well under �10 and the test strips are 1/3 the cost of the Alphatrak ones.

If you would feel happier to start with, you can get urine dipsticks which while they don't give you quite such an accurate reading as a BG monitor, they would definitely point you in the right direction so that you can tell if Lexi is getting enough/too much insulin.

I'm not qualified to say if the 1 unit twice a day is enough but to me, it does sound a bit on the low side. However, that can be better than going in too high and having the dog go hypo. High blood sugar in the long term could cause damage but a low blood sugar could be more immediately dangerous.

If I were in your shoes, I think I would like to talk to another vet about Lexi and see what they recommend. However, I know this might not be possible when funds are limited.

I know that you will get lots more and probably much better advice than I can give you but you have made a very positive step to help Lexi by finding this forum. There is a huge resource of collective knowledge about diabetes here.

It will get easier and less confusing as time goes on so hang on in there! Most important IMHO anyway, is that you find some way of monitoring Lexi's sugar levels yourself - be it a glucose meter or urine dip sticks. It will help you and Lexi to get things stabilised and under control.

Dogs live and keep very with treatment. Lexi WILL be OK.

**Elokin6** · 07-21-2011, 02:24 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Hi Lexi's mama!

I'm new to this too, but I'll offer you what advice I can. I'm sure the experts will chime in with much better info.

From what you've said, I would be shopping for a new vet. From what I've gathered, the initial insulin dose is kind of a rough estimate (usually a conservative one) of what your dog would need based upon her body weight. The fact that your vet doesn't want to recheck her until 4 weeks later concerns me. That's a long time to go if the dose isn't right.

If you do look for a new vet, you might be able to find a clinic that does low cost care or operates on a sliding scale. We have several in Denver that are very good. Maybe you could find someone who is more familiar with canine diabetes and who is less expensive.

I'm not an expert on food, but looking at the nutrient analysis of the Innova food, it looks pretty good. It's very low fat, which is really good since your dog had pancreatitis. The phosphorous content is low too, which is something you may or may not be concerned about. When my dog had pancreatitis a couple of weeks ago, it really affected her kidneys. Because of this, I'm looking for foods with low phosphorous. The only thing I would wonder about is the fiber content. It may not be high enough, but I'll let the experts weigh in on that.

This is the meter I'm using at the moment: http://www.target.com/Blood-Glucose-.../dp/B0046Z33SG I chose it because it was cheap, the test strips are really cheap (aprox $8 for 25) and the reviews stated that it is pretty accurate. So far, it has been very reliable (my vet was surprised). It tends to read slightly lower than my vet's Alphatrak at low levels (<200) and higher at high levels (>500). Since you are on a budget, it might be a good choice to get you started.

Also, I saw a thread on here earlier that mentioned that the Walmart Relion insulin is the same as Humulin insulin. If your dog is on a Humulin insulin, you might want to look into getting it there. It is WAY cheaper than any price I've seen on Humulin.

**Patty** · 07-21-2011, 02:29 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Hi and welcome to you!
It is a steep learning curve at first but in time it gets much easier

I'm glad you found us. You might want to call around and see if any of the vets in your area have more experience with diabetes. It is very important that your dog eat then receive insulin 12 hours apart. I also don't agree with waiting 4 weeks to re-evaluate a dose of insulin in a dog that's currently registering in the 600+ range.

A curve should be done after a week or 2 to see how well the food and insulin are working together. A curve is where blood sugar is measured started before food/insulin (fasting) then every 2 hours afterward until next shot time. You can read more about the relationship between food and insulin here: http://www.k9diabetes.com/insulinfood.html

It is good to have some honey, karo syrup or pancake syrup on hand if your dog does have an episode of low blood sugar. You can rub it on her gums if she's not able to take it to bring her blood sugar up.

As far as finding inexpensive resources, Walmart really does have good prices. I'm assuming your dog is on Humulin NPH? You can buy this insulin at Walmart under their Relion name for about $25. They also have syringes. I would look for the U100, 30cc, 31 gauge, 5/16" needle length, with 1/2 unit markings. The 1/2 unit marks make fine tuning small doses so much easier! I actually think someone told me Walmart's Relion syringes in this size only come with 1/2 unit markings now, which is nice.

Walmart can also order ketodiastix for you which measure the amount of sugar and ketones in the urine. When blood sugar is running high, ketones can be produced and anything more than trace can be dangerous and warrants a trip to the vet.

If you are interested in home testing, you can find some great videos here: http://www.k9diabetes.com/bgtestvideos.html

I would definitely give her full access to water, which may mean more potty breaks. Her body needs the water when blood sugar is running high. Once her bg (blood glucose) levels come down, you should see her weight stabilize. Her body isn't able to fully utilize her food at this point because she doesn't yet have enough insulin to move the nutrition into the cells. That should come in time as you move toward better regulation.

How much exercise did she get prior to diagnosis? I wouldn't worry about trying to incorporate a regimen right now. Exercise can dramatically raise or lower bg depending on how much insulin is at work and you really want to focus on a daily routine of consistency with the basics at this point.

As far as food, what was she eating prior to diagnosis?

I'm adding the guaranteed analysis to what you posted here:
Moisture - 76.51 %
Protein - 8.57 %
Fat - 6.52 0
Carbohydrates - 5.91 %
Fiber - 0.24 %
http://www.innovapet.com/product_line.asp?id=501

How is she tolerating her shots so far?

Let us know as you have questions. Again, welcome to you!
Patty

**SandyL** · 07-21-2011, 05:09 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Just want to add my welcome to you and Lexi!!

We have all been in that overwelming stage!! But don't worry, it will get better....then you just have to deal with the frustrating moments

You and Lexi will be fine and just remember to ask any and all questions you have, there is always somebody around to help!!

Sandy

**k9diabetes** · 07-21-2011, 05:09 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Welcome to you and Lexi!

I do think you are going to need another vet but there is lots you can do in the interim to get things sorted out.

Definitely DO buy your insulin and syringes at Walmart - best price out there for the insulin especially. Just be sure to ask for Relion, which should cost about $25 a bottle.

And get some ketodiastix because Lexi's blood sugar is very high. Ketones can kill and she must have *good veterinary treatment if she has anything more than mild ketones.

The 1 unit per injection is about right for starting an 7.6 pound dog. The most I would want her started on is 2 units, which is 1/4 unit per pound. Some dogs don't need even that much so I think the 1 unit per injection is good.

Definitely do feed and inject at 12 hour intervals, measure her food to keep it consistent, and use the Ketodiastix to get a rough idea of how her blood sugar is responding to the insulin. You may not see the urine strips change for a while as blood sugar of 300s up will pretty much max out the urine strip. But it is important to test to see if it starts to drop.

Home blood glucose testing would really help you manage Lexi with limited vet visits so worth trying to master.

No way I would wait a month - I'd want to know within a week or two at most what the current dose of insulin is doing for her blood sugar.

You also must absolutely completely keep her out of the trash. Any extra food will raise her blood sugar significantly, as will the inflammation from pancreatitis.

If you can read through the main website, you can get a general idea about managing her diabetes and then let's see how it's going as you start checking for ketones, etc.

Natalie

**jesse girl** · 07-21-2011, 06:26 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

my jesse had the pancreatitis also and was in the hospital over a week it was touch and go for a while but things did get better

I can understand your burden financially many are in the same boat and must find ways to bring cost down to manage the disease and the good thing that can be done insulin and syringes at wall mart most states you dont need a prescription and there are some meters and strips out there that dont cost much and you can do curves at home much cheaper than the vet and a less stressful place to be

we use the prodigy auto code we bought are meter on ebay for 30 bucks and they usually give a 100 strips with that and buying strips separately cost between 5 and 10 dollars for 50

with the additional issues home testing is the direction you should go pancreatitis can affect the digestive system for some time and that can affect how the sugar is processed it will help with regulation save some money and keep your baby safe

welcome to both of you

**mprssdbyu** · 07-21-2011, 08:19 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Originally posted by janspack View Post

Hi Lexi's Mum,

First of all, you've come to the right place. Secondly, once you get used to all this, it won't be anywhere as bad as it seems right now. I'm in the UK so can't help with what your costs etc will be but I have read that most of the owners tend to get their insulin and syringes from Walmart - which is one h.... of a lot cheaper than the vets.

Being disabled, single and living alone, I know how tight money can be.

Now, most importantly, I'm not at all impressed with what your vet has recommended for a treatment plan. In the early stages, the dog needs more careful monitoring until you can get her stable and know what dose of insulin combined with the food is right for Lexi. Maybe he is trying to keep your costs to a minimum but I sometimes feel that if you can perhaps get her better monitored and supervised in these early days, it will be cheaper in the long run.

I imagine, from the fact that they have said that they can't test her for 4 weeks that they are planning to use a fructosamine test to monitor how she is getting on. This test can be quite useful at times but as you've seen most of us like to be more proactive in our dogs' care. The fructosamine just gives the vet an average of the glucose levels for the past 2 - 3 weeks but doesn't give you any idea of how well the levels are controlled from one day to the next.

Glucose testing machines can be really affordable now if you go for a "human" monitor rather than for the one that is made specially for dogs and cats. (Alphatrak). I'm sure other members will make recommendations based on accuracy and balanced with cost. I use one called GlucoRX but I don't know if you can get it in the USA. I got it from the UK branch of Amazon so it might well be worth a search on their website. The monitor was well under �10 and the test strips are 1/3 the cost of the Alphatrak ones.

If you would feel happier to start with, you can get urine dipsticks which while they don't give you quite such an accurate reading as a BG monitor, they would definitely point you in the right direction so that you can tell if Lexi is getting enough/too much insulin.

I'm not qualified to say if the 1 unit twice a day is enough but to me, it does sound a bit on the low side. However, that can be better than going in too high and having the dog go hypo. High blood sugar in the long term could cause damage but a low blood sugar could be more immediately dangerous.

If I were in your shoes, I think I would like to talk to another vet about Lexi and see what they recommend. However, I know this might not be possible when funds are limited.

I know that you will get lots more and probably much better advice than I can give you but you have made a very positive step to help Lexi by finding this forum. There is a huge resource of collective knowledge about diabetes here.

It will get easier and less confusing as time goes on so hang on in there! Most important IMHO anyway, is that you find some way of monitoring Lexi's sugar levels yourself - be it a glucose meter or urine dip sticks. It will help you and Lexi to get things stabilised and under control.

Dogs live and keep very with treatment. Lexi WILL be OK.

Hi, sorry for the delayed response. First of all thank you so much for your input. The fructosamine test is exactly what she said the would do in four weeks.

**mprssdbyu** · 07-21-2011, 10:08 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Originally posted by Patty View Post

Hi and welcome to you!
It is a steep learning curve at first but in time it gets much easier

I'm glad you found us. You might want to call around and see if any of the vets in your area have more experience with diabetes. It is very important that your dog eat then receive insulin 12 hours apart. I also don't agree with waiting 4 weeks to re-evaluate a dose of insulin in a dog that's currently registering in the 600+ range.

A curve should be done after a week or 2 to see how well the food and insulin are working together. A curve is where blood sugar is measured started before food/insulin (fasting) then every 2 hours afterward until next shot time. You can read more about the relationship between food and insulin here: http://www.k9diabetes.com/insulinfood.html

It is good to have some honey, karo syrup or pancake syrup on hand if your dog does have an episode of low blood sugar. You can rub it on her gums if she's not able to take it to bring her blood sugar up.

As far as finding inexpensive resources, Walmart really does have good prices. I'm assuming your dog is on Humulin NPH? You can buy this insulin at Walmart under their Relion name for about $25. They also have syringes. I would look for the U100, 30cc, 31 gauge, 5/16" needle length, with 1/2 unit markings. The 1/2 unit marks make fine tuning small doses so much easier! I actually think someone told me Walmart's Relion syringes in this size only come with 1/2 unit markings now, which is nice.

Walmart can also order ketodiastix for you which measure the amount of sugar and ketones in the urine. When blood sugar is running high, ketones can be produced and anything more than trace can be dangerous and warrants a trip to the vet.

If you are interested in home testing, you can find some great videos here: http://www.k9diabetes.com/bgtestvideos.html

I would definitely give her full access to water, which may mean more potty breaks. Her body needs the water when blood sugar is running high. Once her bg (blood glucose) levels come down, you should see her weight stabilize. Her body isn't able to fully utilize her food at this point because she doesn't yet have enough insulin to move the nutrition into the cells. That should come in time as you move toward better regulation.

How much exercise did she get prior to diagnosis? I wouldn't worry about trying to incorporate a regimen right now. Exercise can dramatically raise or lower bg depending on how much insulin is at work and you really want to focus on a daily routine of consistency with the basics at this point.

As far as food, what was she eating prior to diagnosis?

I'm adding the guaranteed analysis to what you posted here:
Moisture - 76.51 %
Protein - 8.57 %
Fat - 6.52 0
Carbohydrates - 5.91 %
Fiber - 0.24 %
http://www.innovapet.com/product_line.asp?id=501

How is she tolerating her shots so far?

Let us know as you have questions. Again, welcome to you!
Patty

I've highlighted your entire response as I don't know how to break it down and answer it little by little to make it easier to read so I'll just break it down in little paragraphs as I answer each question. I hope that makes sense. I am going to research vets. I live in the Raleigh, NC area. There is a great vet school here but you have to be recommended to them by a vet to get in. Right now though, I'm going to concentrate on what I need to do to get a better handle on her insulin levels. Again, I'm overwhelmed at this point as my hand shakes so bad when holding the needle... so bad that I hold her and my son who is in college is coming home to give her the shot while I hold her and rock her and talk to her so that she doesn't get upset. We're giving it to her at 7:30 am and pm. She loves to be rocked. Right now, she doesn't even flinch when he gives it to her but again, she's only had 3 injections. I know I have to do it eventually but watching him is helping me calm down and be less afraid of hurting her. I HATE needles and am terrified of IVS so I guess I associate shots with that. In a few days or a week, I will try to begin testing her bg by doing a curve. I've read those threads and while some of it is foreign to me understanding some of the terms and what those numbers mean ... they are so different with each dog... I got a little confused but I chalked that up to being tired emotionally, too. But I totally get the ability or attempting to make the insulin and food work together and the rhythm of it. It made so much sense to me. It was so helpful in that at least I understand the gist of it! I'm still a little confused when there is too much insulin which brings on hypoglycemia, the numbers are low which seems it would be the opposite but that only requires reading more about hypoglycemia which I will do. Back to the monitoring, just because it sounds like it hurts, it makes me soooooooo nervous and she's suffered so much! I know that sounds silly as this is about her quality of life but I don't know how to explain it any other way. That doesn't mean I"m not going to start testing her in a week or two..I just have to build up to it. I know her numbers are high but I'm going to get the test strips at least in the next day or two praying that her insulin has dropped below the 600 range and that they have come down a little which may be silly as they aren't specific when you get past 300 and they may tell me nothing but I've got to do something for a piece of mind and feeling like an unfit mom. I just feel so darn helpless and until now, I've always had the ability to make whatever just right or pretty darn close to it. She's the only little girl I've ever had. Who cares if she has 4 legs? My son will tell you...don't mess with her baby.

I do have honey on hand. I read here that someone said their vet told them if they start drinking less it could be a sign of too much insulin and the onset of hypoglycemia. Keeping in mind, until tonight she has now had 2 injections. She seems to have had a little less energy or depressed today. I can't put my finger on it... I know this sounds crazy, but I swear she isn't drinking as much water this afternoon and evening. So I keep talking to her to see if she turns her head as if she's listening which tells me she is alert. She always turns her head and looks at me when I talk to her. She is whining wanting something to eat though in between meals. So tonight I gave her an Innova Health Bar dog treat. Is that a no no? I just started her on them yesterday just because the idea of her starving makes me cry! And she's a very vocal little girl...she's been telling me she's hungry for weeks when I thought it meant fill up my water bowl again! But tonight there is water in her bowl which is something new! It doesn't usually last 5 minutes as I refill it every gosh thirty minutes to an hour depending on what she tells me.

I did get the insulin at Walmart... It is called Humulin NPH..the generic one only after a woman overheard me at Target getting ready to buy the 60 dollar bottle and stopped me, bless her heart. I got the Reli On syringes but the box says 3/10 mLcc, 30 gauge, 8 mm and short needle. I'm not sure what exactly what that tells me other than the needle is short and there are 100 in the box and 10 to a package. Again, I'm so tired so obvious things aren't even jumping out at me.

When I order the test strips, I'll check on ordering the ketodiastix.

As far as exercise goes, up until a month ago, she walked 3 1/2 miles a day with me. At one time she ran or jogged it with me but I ruptured a disk in my back requiring surgery after being in a wheelchair so I can't jog it anymore. But after she started to feel bad a little over a month ago, I stopped taking her with me. I felt like it was just too much. So now, it's go potty and come back in pretty much. She does like to go out and sit in the sun after she potties so I let her sit out there until she's ready to get back up and come in. In fact one of the pictures here under my profile or the main album pic is of her about 3 weeks ago sitting in the sun. I think in that pic you can get an idea of how thin she is and how long her legs are.

Okay, last but not least. Silly me thought puppy food was the best for her. I knew it was high in protein and being that she has never been over weight, so to speak I kept giving it to her until about 2 months ago. I was shopping for her food one day, saw a vet tech and ask her if it was okay. Laughing, she assured me it pretty much wasn't. But until that day, she had always had Natural Choice kibbles for puppies. I then switched to Wellness kibbles for adults. She was on that about 3 weeks I guess but as I begin to realize she more than likely had become diabetic, so I started reading about foods for diabetic dogs. Again, the Innova came highly recommended. I'm at a dilema now whether to switch to Innova Evo which is higher in protein and fat or the Innova Senior which is a little higher in carbohydrates. She's had bouts with pancreatitis so the higher fat content concerns me in the Evo but the carbohydrates concern me in the Senior food as diabetic pets don't do well with carbohydrates or at least that is what I've taken from what I've read. Again, I feed her the can food as it should contain more nutrients than the dry as it isn't cooked in the say way as dry. That's just the conclusion I have come to and I realize that may be just an opinion. I called the vet this afternoon but she won't be back in until Monday. Oh and I'm feeding her 1/2 a can twice a day now. I did throw in the health bar tonight as I stated earlier. I don't know if that's a really bad move on my part but she's hungry and she's so thin!

Again, thank you for your concern... thanks to everyone. I'll answer more questions tomorrow as I'm sooo tired tonight and I need to be up early with Lexi.

Sweet dreams,
Cheryl

**CarolW** · 07-21-2011, 11:13 PM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Gosh, Cheryl - I feel SUCH empathy with you! I felt much the same way about Kumbi as you do about Lexi. One thing you can be absolutely sure of on this forum is, ALL of us here feel the same way about our dogs.

Kumbi went through a period of being skin-and-bones, so I know about the heartbreak for us. But gradually, gradually, as the insulin took hold, he began to put on a little weight. I also rather liked the look of the Innova food, but I'm ANYTHING but a food expert.

One thing I noticed about your reports was, you are VERY complete, very descriptive in your writing. That's a truly great way to help Lexi - it will help us help you help her!

Natalie is right about keeping the trash out of reach. I put mine up on a counter, out of my dogs' reach. All food except the dogs' food is always out of reach for my small dogs. (Now I only have one; Kumbi died just over a year ago - of CANCER, NOT diabetes. He went 3.5 years as a diabetic, and really enjoyed his life. My current dog, Camellia, a Havanese, isn't diabetic, but I got so interested in managing canine diabetes that I stay here.)

I also know all about penny-pinching; haha! ANY spare penny isn't spare; it goes to the dogs, right?

I'm glad your son can help you for the moment. I'm tired too, and on my way to bed, but I wanted to leave this BIG FAT WELCOME to you, to this very fine forum.

Sweet dreams to you, too; you have more than earned them. Hope Lexi is cuddled up with you!
Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:13:22 (PDT)

**mprssdbyu** · 07-22-2011, 02:34 AM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Hi Carol. Thanks for the welcome. I'm awake for the third time tonight. He water bowl is 3/4 full but she's begging for something to eat. Lexi is very vocal when she wants something. Tonight, she decided to check out the little trashcan in the bathroom. It has no food in it or any scraps of paper that contained food but I heard it knocking up against the cabinet in the bathroom as it's close by. She's trying to knock it over.

I wish I had a tape recorder because I swear she talks...just doesn't make sense to her mama and boy does she get frustrated. But tonight, she just will not hush at me. I gave her another Health Bar at like 3:30 because she's fussing fussing fussing at me and kicking her hind legs with each word. When she's kicking her hind legs, you know she's feeling a little better and tonight those little legs are busy! But as you need to become consistent with what you give her and not knowing what her levels are with the insulin, I don't know how safe it is to give her those in between her meals. Do other people give snacks and is it okay to do that? I just don't know what else to do cause she is soooooooooo frustrated tonight for some reason. She's woke me up every hour since I layed down at I think around 1:45. I know 7:30 is only two hours away but she wants something NOW. What on earth do I do?

**Trace65** · 07-22-2011, 05:04 AM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

I know when ginger was running in the 500s she acted like she was starving and it broke my heart. I would mix up a lil bit dog food with broccoli and lowfat cottage cheese. I don't know how healthly it was but it helped her to sleep. I would reallllllllly get her to another vet. When G inger acted like that her ketones were very high and she had to have fluid ivs to flush her out. It wasn't that expensive not as bad as I thought it would be. How is her breath? That is what made me take Ginger in initially. Her breath smelled like fingernail polish remover, it will smell very much like chemicals. This is a sign of high ketones. My vet started Ginger on 2 units and upped her dose every Friday. We are now on 5 &1/2 units and her numbers are between 180 - 290 range so I'm would be scared to wait 4 weeks to take her back for an increase. I'm still new at this but you can always look at others experiences and learn from them. My heart goes out to you and I hope everything works out.

**mprssdbyu** · 07-22-2011, 05:46 AM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Originally posted by Trace65 View Post

I know when ginger was running in the 500s she acted like she was starving and it broke my heart. I would mix up a lil bit dog food with broccoli and lowfat cottage cheese. I don't know how healthly it was but it helped her to sleep. I would reallllllllly get her to another vet. When G inger acted like that her ketones were very high and she had to have fluid ivs to flush her out. It wasn't that expensive not as bad as I thought it would be. How is her breath? That is what made me take Ginger in initially. Her breath smelled like fingernail polish remover, it will smell very much like chemicals. This is a sign of high ketones. My vet started Ginger on 2 units and upped her dose every Friday. We are now on 5 &1/2 units and her numbers are between 180 - 290 range so I'm would be scared to wait 4 weeks to take her back for an increase. I'm still new at this but you can always look at others experiences and learn from them. My heart goes out to you and I hope everything works out.

Hi, her breath hasn't changed. It's been yuck for years but it doesn't smell like chemicals When they did the labwork this week, she checked her liver well almost everything. The test wouldn't have given those results, too? Or is that a specific test that has to be done singularly. They also did a urinalysis. I'll call the vet to ask. She may have gone over that but I can't remember anything that sounded like keotones but I think my ears were so glued into diabetes I may have not digested some info that at the time seemed insignicant if her range in count was good.

**Patty** · 07-22-2011, 06:04 AM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

The syringes you got are fine. You can actually get even thinner ones that are 31 gauge next time if you want. But if she's not feeling them now, what you are using is fine. Here's a link to explain the Relion syringes better: http://relion.com/diabetes/syringes

So glad you ran into the woman at Target! What a blessing

Regarding food, is she on the Wellness Adult kibble now then while you're deciding?

I'll look more at the food later today. The one thing that struck me is the fiber is fairly low which diabetics often make use of to prevent a late drop in blood sugar. You can always add fiber though if needed. Maybe there are others than can offer what they are using in canned food.

I would definitely ask Walmart to order you some Ketodiastix. They can often have them in the next day. The ketodiastix measure glucose and ketones, where the Ketostix measure the amount of ketones in the urine. You can read more about them here: http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=958

Patty

**mprssdbyu** · 07-22-2011, 06:05 AM

Re: Lexi my baby (min pin) was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday

Since I'm asking about Innova health bars, I thought I would post the guaranteed analysis here as that probably is the only way to judge.

Crude Protein (min) 20 %
Crude Fat (min) 8 %
Crude Fiber (max) 4 %
Moisture (max) 10 %
Linoleic Acid (Omega-6 Fatty Acid) (min) 1 %
Vitamin E (min) 40 IU/kg

Calorie Content:
3,365 kcal/kg
35 kcal/bar

Nutrient analysis

Arachidonic Acid
0.08 %

Beta Carotene
37.98 0

Moisture
7.5 %

Starch
0.01 %

Protein
22.9 %

Fat
8.62 0

Linoleic Acid
1.74 %

Omega 3
0.11 %

Carbohydrates
52.32 %

Fiber
4 %

Ash
4.11 %

Calcium
1.32 %

Phosphorous
0.8 %

Magnesium
0.09 %

Sodium
0.11 %

Iron
193.51 mg/kg

Zinc
167.23 mg/kg

Copper
14.88 mg/kg

Iodine
2.6 mg/kg

Manganese
18.84 mg/kg

Selenium
0.49 mg/kg

Arginine
1.59 %

Histidine
0.51 %

Isoleucine
0.91 %

Leucine
1.25 %

Lysine
1.36 %

Methionine
0.48 %

Met-Cysteine
0.77 %

Phenylalanine
0.99 %

Phe-Tyrosine
1.54 %

Threonine
0.9 %

Valine
1.1 %

Choline
1821.35 mg/kg

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
3.92 mg/kg

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
4.97 mg/kg

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
36.52 mg/kg

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
1.77 mg/kg

Folic Acid
0.56 mg/kg

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
15.86 mg/kg

Biotin
2 mg/kg

Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)
5.65 mg/kg

Vitamin A
7221 IU/kg

Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
5 mg/kg

Taurine
0.089 %

Vitamin D
664.12 IU/kg

Vitamin E
72.34 IU/kg

Calories per Sm. Bar
35 0

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