Is my Dog Diabetic

[TomS]

I don't want to bore anyone. I've owned dogs all my life and my dog, Scott, has been diagnosed with diabetes. Here is a rundown on what I have experienced and then I will ask a question.

My dog seemed to be having some issues that my family had noticed...he was eating normally but drinking a lot and we didn't take him to the Vet until he started throwing up. His glucose level was just above 200 but below 300 and the doctor said he had diabetes and must be given insulin or he would die. so we started treating him for diabetes...his glucose levels went straight to above 600 and stayed above 600 through 3 bottles of insulin. I kept asking the doctor why it was going up and she basically told me she didn't know and continued to want me to raise the dosage. I had already given him over 300 shots by this point and took him off insulin because I felt it wasn't working. I had starting making him homemade food the day the first doctor said he had diabetes.

I took him off diabetic medicine for 7 days prior to taking him to a new doctor. The new doctor tested him and his glucose was 398. He said we needed to give him insulin for 7 days and to come back 4 hours after giving him his dose the morning of the 7th day. The doctor said his glucose should be around 200 and that the insulin wouldn't cure him but would stabilize him for several hours during the day....so his glucose would be high but by 4 hours would be below diabetic levels and that is what we would be doing. So we went home and started the new insulin. 7 days later, today, we took Scott to the vet expecting the glucose level to be below 398 and possibly as low as 200. But it wasn't it was at 500 and the vet wants to raise the units higher.

My dog appears to be diabetic but when on insulin he becomes full blown diabetic. glucose 398-500 after 14 shots of insulin. The same thing happened with the other doctor only we kept giving him insulin and making him full blown diabetic for 300 shots prior to stopping and his diabetes went down after taking him off insulin.

Is this normal? Did this happen to you...your dog had a lower glucose level without insulin and becomes full blown diabetic on insulin?

Making my dog diabetic seems to be contrary to our goal of curing him of diabetes or at the lest lowering his glucose. Now my dog has cataract which I think was because we made him diabetic instead of lowing his sugar.

I need some help because I feel frustrated and think I'm making my dog diabetic by giving him insulin.

[CraigM]

Re: Is my Dog Diabetic

Welcome to you and Scott.

Probably the first thing most here would suggest is for you to look into home blood glucose testing. Most pups, and parents, learn / accept how to test within just a few days. There are videos on the main portion of this website and many videos on YouTube. Some vets discourage home blood testing, but it can save you $$$ and help you figure out what's happening with Scott. Some use meters designed for dogs like the AlphaTrak or PetTest, others use normal meters meant for humans. Here's a link to the PetTest system: https://www.amazon.com/Advocate-Gluc...monitoring+kit And AlphaTrak kit: https://www.amazon.com/AlphaTRAK-Blo...monitoring+kit Testing supplies are usually much less expensive online than at your vet clinic, or local stores.

How much does Scott weigh?
What brand of insulin are you using?
What dosage of insulin?
Injecting twice a day, about 12 hours apart?
Feeding "identical" meals 12 hours apart? No "free feeding" nor snacks?

Many vets want to blood test 4-6 hours after breakfast because "the book" says that should be when the insulin is its strongest and indicate the lowest blood glucose reading. Trouble is that most dogs haven't read the book! my dog, Annie, usually has her highest blood glucose around that time. Her lowest reading is generally around 9-12 hours after her meal and injection!

Let's see if anyone else has answered your post.

Craig

[jesse girl]

Re: Is my Dog Diabetic

hi and welcome

200 is just one number and many vets diagnose a dog off just one blood sugar test . which to me is not practical . I would rather see a complete curve before starting insulin but that appears not to be part of diagnosing a new diabetic

Back to the 200 thats not a high number and may show your pup still maybe producing some of his own insulin or miss diagnosed

We do see a newly diagnosed dogs with blood sugar going higher with the introduction of insulin . why its hard to say maybe the body is struggling to balance this artificial substance with the body which is quite different from the natural process . there are no answers set in stone

I might get a meter and do your own testing of blood for sugar if you suspect a misdiagnosis or your pup is still producing there own insulin i might stop insulin for a couple days and do a complete curve testing blood sugar every couple hours for 12 hours or longer . this will see if you pup is producing insulin if the number go down

Basing insulin adjustments off just one number is a bit reckless because sugar can be dramatically different anytime in the day and its possible the higher number were created by having to much insulin and that does happen and that could be what your seeing

most diagnosis are correct with diabetics but on rare occasions other things can affect blood sugar and may give a diabetic impression that maybe false

You are correct to question the treatment you want to be sure

[CraigM]

Re: Is my Dog Diabetic

Let me continue about blood testing.

Because "every dog / situation is different", most here wouldn't make insulin adjustments based on a single blood test. Most here would do a "blood glucose curve" which is testing just before breakfast and then every two hours until dinner: about 7 tests in one day. By doing this, you would really see how Scott's food and insulin work together.. here's an example of what my Annie might show:

7am. 130mg/dL. Fed 1.8oz kibble
9am. 187mg/dL
11am 239mg/dL
1pm. 266mg/dL
3pm. 205mg/dL
5pm. 170mg/dL
7pm. 133mg/dL Fed 1.8oz kibble

That was just a made up example, but you can see her blood glucose readings rose for 5 hours, and then came down the last several hours. If I just tested at 1pm (266mg/dL) I might have thought I needed to increase the insulin, but an increase might have driven the low readings (130mg/dL) down to a too low of a reading.

Btw, curves should be done on typical days. Excitement, exercise also affect blood glucose in some dogs. Annie would have lower than normal readings if we had company, like when our adult son would bring his dogs over for a play date! Non stop running, barking and playing was fun to watch but wouldn't be a good day to base insulin changes on.

Craig

[Judi]

Re: Is my Dog Diabetic

I've never heard of this. What type of insulin are you trying? There was a batch that got recalled. If I were you I'd try a new bottle or maybe a different type of insulin.

There have been dogs who have been allergic to one type or another but I don't think rising blood sugar was the symptom.

How often is he eating?

[amydunn19]

Re: Is my Dog Diabetic

Diabetes in dogs is more similar to type 1 in humans. There is no cure, only management. Without a regular course of blood testing, it is hard to say why he is going higher with insulin except possibly he is anxious at the vet. Anxiety can drive the numbers higher. But, he could go lower at times during the day and without testing, you just don't realize it. Random tests at the vet are just that - random. There is no set time for dogs to be lower - they have very individual responses to insulin. Of course, many vets will think there low point goes exactly according to the "book" and that just isn't the way it goes for many. The other thing to consider is that you must keep everything consistent to compare results. (Not saying you are not but without being there, it is hard to say so I am just throwing it out there)