It's all so new

[Gomeysmom]

Hello! I am a new parent of a diabetic dog. Gomey's numbers are right around 300. We went in for the curve and found that we need to up the insulin. I had an Accuchek meter but it isn't working so I am buying another tomorrow. The vet wants me to draw blood from the foot pad. that scares me! Gomey has been great for all of her shots. She is not being incontinent but is very sore when she gets up. she is also fighting anaplasmosis so she is on another round of Doxy. I have read so much and asked my vet about Kinostat to help her with cataracts as going blind saddens me for her. However that drug is not approved yet..boo I have also had the pharmacist muddle up some gabapentin to help with her back legs. I haven't started that yet. Since we went in for the curve she has had great energy. I recently purchased a $35 dehydrator from Walmart and have made some chicken, liver, and sweet potato treats. The liver ones have been great to hide the Doxy in. I do not have any questions but I am encouraged by everyone on this site and hope that we can be here for each other!

[CraigM]

Re: It's all so new

Welcome to the forum.

How much does Gomey weigh? What insulin are you using? Feeding and injecting about 12 hours apart? What dosage is he on?

There are several sites where you can get blood. I use the ear, others use the inner lip or a callus.

Craig

[Raysaint]

Re: It's all so new

Hello and welcome. I am somewhat new here also and it has been great. Lots of experienced people to keep me sane when things don't go to my expectations, and it's good to be able to share my experiences so that others can realize that a lot of what you'll experience is normal, we are in the same boat.
Just a comment on the Accuchek, might be worth having it's results compared to the vet's, as a human meter can give different results compared to an animal meter.
Lots to learn, but it's certainly worth it.

[Gomeysmom]

Re: It's all so new

Thanks Craig. Gomey is a female mix. Pappilion, Maltese, Cocker, Doxy, Pug! She weighs about 22lbs and should weight about 18. Currently she is on Novilin N she is on 5 units 2x per day now (up from the start of 4...with 4 units, the insulin was quitting after 2 hours) and yes we are pretty consistent with the 12 hours apart. She is getting a treat of dried protein that I have made about 4-6 hours later. I have always cooked for the dogs but have added kiblets from a store bought brand and they love a few snacks that are full of grains. they no longer get them! We took her to vet as I was sure it was cushings with how week her hind end was. Vet agreed. We went through the testing and she is 100% not cushings..yey...I am in the horse business so I lost a cushings horse 2 days after her tests started! She is very hairy so I did try blood from her ear but there are not many bare spots in there! She was a superstar as my Accucheck failed 5x. I am going to walmart today to get an ultra. Vet says to use the rear pad on her foot or her gums. I don't want to use her gums if gum disease is part of this disease. Why poke at a future issue? Gomey doesn't complain about anything! My hope had been that the vet would shave a patch on her rump but vet said that isn't ideal. I will keep posting once I accomplish my task. I have been keeping good records of sleep and personality etc. I do think her anaplasmosis was causing weakness as she is moving better! She has been hunting and enjoying trips to the creek and the barn! he vet also noticed swollen lymph nodes. Hopefully this is nothing??? her Lyme has caused her trachea to collapse but after complete doxy dose her airway opened up...I will be back at the vet in week as we want to be sure that we are on the correct insulin. I appreciate this forum and will keep posting my successes (?)...keeping positive! I hope everyone has the best day with their pet today! ~Nikki

[Gomeysmom]

Re: It's all so new

Thanks...I look forward to everyone's insight! Best people EVER!

[jesse girl]

Re: It's all so new

well its really not the gum but the inner lip above the canine tooth. i have been testing jesse there for 7 years thousands of times and from what i see there is no risk for gum disease or any other type of infections of the mouth caused by testing blood sugar there and i have not heard of anyone having a problem with this method . there is no hair and very few nerve endings so they fell no pain . actually my jesse gives me a kiss after a test

[CraigM]

Re: It's all so new

Just have a minute.

I bought a small battery powered grooming razor from PetCo years ago and shave a patch on Annie's ear flap every week or so. For the first year we shaved the small patch on the outside of her ear flap, but she was self conscious when at the dog park, so we switched to the hidden underside of the flap. Sounds like Gomey is about the same size as Annie and Annie's mouth just seemed too small for my hands to mess with her lips. Besides, she doesn't like having her face messed with.

Every pup / situation is different. food makes a difference in Annie. I try to keep her meals very consistent by weighing them out on a kitchen scale. Some have had good results with home cooking, but when we tried home cooking I worried that each meal might differ too much.

As mentioned, human blood glucose meters generally read dog blood a little lower than true. This isn't all that bad, just something to keep in mind. I have a collection of eight(!) meters, always looking for something to play with . As you probably know, the cost of testing is in the test strips. For a couple of years I used the Walmart ReliOn Prime meter. I think the test strips are 50 for $9 (18 cents each).

Gotta run...

Craig

[amydunn19]

Re: It's all so new

I always used the base of the tail to the side. If there any skin tags, they give great blood and it isn't harmful to use them. Blood is blood and it doesn't matter where you test. The One Touch Ultra is a human meter closest to the animal ones. I never felt the need to change to the animal one and with almost 9 years of diabetes, I think we did fine with our human meter.

Where are you injecting? The scruff gives really inconsistent results and Maggie always screamed when I tried it.

[Raysaint]

Re: It's all so new

I can't seem to get a lancet to go thru his skin far enough around the tail base. Any suggestions?
And as for the scruff, most other areas don't have enough loose flesh and the injection site contracts/tightens up. It's not bad just past the scruff to the side of the spine.
Lots of vets recommend the scruff, do we know for a fact it can be inconsistent?

[Toby'sDad]

Re: It's all so new

Welcome! I'm new as well and have found this forum to be a tremendous resource.....lots of reading!

I'm also curious now regarding the scruff of the neck....is this a good place for the injection? I've read mixed opinions here but I was originally told by 2 vets that the scruff was an OK injection location. My Toby has been receiving it there for a year now and its so automatic that he turns around without prompting so that I can access his neck area.

[CraigM]

Re: It's all so new

I can't seem to get a lancet to go thru his skin far enough around the tail base. Any suggestions?
And as for the scruff, most other areas don't have enough loose flesh and the injection site contracts/tightens up. It's not bad just past the scruff to the side of the spine.
Lots of vets recommend the scruff, do we know for a fact it can be inconsistent?

There are many styles of "clickers", if you are using one. You might try another brand that might go deeper, or has a stronger spring? What gauge lancet are you using? Most common lancets for humans are around 30-33 gauge which are very skinny. Some of us only use the slightly thicker 23-25 gauge on our pups. Generally, we need to order the thicker lancets online because the typical pharmacy won't carry them. Lancets are pretty cheap, might try another brand?

I injected into the scuff for about the first year. Can't REALLY say I saw a difference (others say they can), but hard spots developed under the skin like a marble. That was probably some sort of scar tissue. I avoid that by moving the injection from above the front leg to above the the hind leg along the side.


Craig

ps. I just remembered something about my "clicker". It came with two caps. One for normal finger poking, and another one for "alternate area" poking (palm, forearm, etc.). I THINK the alternate cap might poke a tiny bit deeper, but don't really know.

[amydunn19]

Re: It's all so new

I don't know if there is any scientific basis - there is not much out there as far as numbers because most people don't monitor their dogs with home testing. Most vets don't encourage home testing either. I know from the dogs here, many found that when they changed to another spot, the inconsistent numbers they had been seeing improved greatly. Also, there can be scar tissue that builds up and that makes the insulin pretty ineffective so, in my opinion, you should be varying your injection spot daily.

[Daisydog10]

Re: It's all so new

I bought a small battery powered grooming razor from PetCo years ago and shave a patch on Annie's ear flap every week or so. For the first year we shaved the small patch on the outside of her ear flap, but she was self conscious when at the dog park, so we switched to the hidden underside of the flap.

CraigM you're a genius!!! A couple weeks after the groomer, Daisy's ear hair grows back and sometimes the blood gets all caught up in the hair and I have to poke her again. I didn't want to use a razor, so I just kind of went with it. Well I just shaved the inside of her ear flap with the little shaver and WHOALA!!! All nice and clean. And no unsightly embarrassment!!!

I was told by my vet not to use the scruff of the neck as it was an absorption issue. She said to go up and down the back on the sides, but not too near the buttocks.

[Raysaint]

Re: It's all so new

There are many styles of "clickers", if you are using one. You might try another brand that might go deeper, or has a stronger spring? What gauge lancet are you using? Most common lancets for humans are around 30-33 gauge which are very skinny. Some of us only use the slightly thicker 23-25 gauge on our pups. Generally, we need to order the thicker lancets online because the typical pharmacy won't carry them. Lancets are pretty cheap, might try another brand?

I injected into the scuff for about the first year. Can't REALLY say I saw a difference (others say they can), but hard spots developed under the skin like a marble. That was probably some sort of scar tissue. I avoid that by moving the injection from above the front leg to above the the hind leg along the side.


Craig

ps. I just remembered something about my "clicker". It came with two caps. One for normal finger poking, and another one for "alternate area" poking (palm, forearm, etc.). I THINK the alternate cap might poke a tiny bit deeper, but don't really know.

Being diabetic myself I have a few lancing clickers, but most have about the same full depth. Barely works on his ear, so I free poke most of the time now. I think they are 30 or 31 gauge.
I bought a Genteel lancing device, which uses suction/vacuum effect, but I can't always get a complete tight seal on his butt skin, even tho it's shaved. They even sent me 21 gauge lancets to try, which puncture his skin but the size of the hole still doesn't seem to let enough blood to come out for the Alpha. I gotta keep experimenting with it, other people have luck with it. Even tho the Genteel is mostly pain free, the 21 gauge makes him flinch, so I didn't want to free poke with it on his butt.

[Gomeysmom]

Re: It's all so new

So I did a curve yesterday at home. Gomey had a rough night last night. Was incontinent for the first time since we have been on insulin, she was up every couple of hours. Panting and weak back end... The first reading i did was "fasting" and at 490 (lip) at 6:40am. She was willing to come to the barn but not active. We went for a short walk to the creek. I gave her insulin (5 units) at 7:30 about 20 minutes after her morning feeding (which is 1/4 total of home cooked chicken stew and a few kibbles (which I haven't figured the one that she will actually eat so this was the store bought "bad" kind so I could get her to eat) at 8:45am (ear) she was 499, at 12:04pm (foot) she 381, 2:30pm (foot) 351, 5:00p (foot) 479...She was sore today! She did not want to eat dinner. This is a first! I gave her sliced low sodium deli chicken and some of her "former" favorite treats so she would eat so I could give her the insulin. I did not want to skip it. Had she eaten I was going to up the insulin to 6 units. At 7:00am (ear) today her fasting number was 266. She is beter today, still fussy about food. Will see what dinner brings. I did go and buy a new kibble. I am having trouble with the testing location. She is SO sweet and patient but I will not opt for the lip again. The ear is simple but offensive. Her foot pad will absorb the blood sometimes and I will not get enough to read. This was my first day...I am sure I will get better. The vet and I spoke today and we discussed how the first weeks are trying. Uggh Ketosis...Uggh..too low...where is that line with my individual dog. I want to have the perfect recipe for her meals so I can be consistent. I never thought it would be so hard! I have also not begun the gabapentin but the vet says to go for it! Her pain may be causing her indifference to food. I hope that is the case but of course this medication has to be taken with food too. Gomey is very sore now on her front right shoulder. she walks like Frankenstein and if she isn't gung ho, i have to lift her hind end to get her to come for a walk. i am doing my best but am hopeful that consistency on my part and her sugars part is coming soon! That would be the best Mother's Day present ever!