Newly diagnosed - Calming reassurance needed

[LogansRun]

My 8 year old miniature dachshund, Logan, just came home from a 6 day stay at the emergency vet and I am hoping to get some calming advice on what is "normal" for a newly diagnosed diabetic with pancreatitis...so maybe his dads can come down from the hair trigger worrying state we are in.



Logan was diagnosed with pancreatitis and diabetes last Thursday. Upon returning to our vet on Friday to learn insulin administration, Logan was showing signs of severe DKA so we rushed him to the ER. I am glad we learned after the fact, but I guess he was hours from death when we brought him in. Thankfully my boy is a fighter and he was brought back from the edge, but now Logan has two dads freaking out with every wince the boy makes.


We were told his regulation was going to be hard and take some time due to the pancreatitis, however, we really weren't given any guidelines as to when we really need to worry during this time of spikes and drops.


Logan is eating 2x/day (Rx diet i/d low fat), given 2 or 3(if glucose is >250) units of Humulin. He is on antibiotic, anti-nausea and ppi.


he is sleeping soundly, which I would understand with the pancreatitis and being poked & prodded non-stop the last 6 days. 8pm dinner reading last night was 357, 2am reading was 638, 8am reading this morning was 614. these readings are similar to the huge swings at the ER but shocking to us.


So, I guess my question is... Can Logan's dads relax (with a watchful eye) these next few days while we and Logan adjust to the new strict regimen until our first curve Monday?

[amydunn19]

Re: Newly diagnosed - Calming reassurance needed

Welcome and try to take a few deep breaths. Logan has been on a similar path as my Maggie when she was first diagnosed. The road is not easy and will take some time and patience. You have to be careful in the beginning to not push too much food too fast. If it makes you feel better, Maggie was diagnosed at 7 and she lived to be a couple of weeks short of 16 years old.

The swings result from inconsistent eating and the fact his body isn’t adjusted to insulin. He is using food in survival mode and he will gradually settle back to normal. Swings for the newly diagnosed are not abnormal. Just remember it is a marathon - not a sprint.

Things to watch for: signs of increased pain(tenderness in belly, licking lips, shaking), vomiting, diarrhea, refusal of food or water, dehydration, and presence of ketones in urine. Those would signal trouble. Examine his gums - this is one place where you can gauge dehydration by pressing them firmly with your finger to see if the blood is flowing and changing color in a normal way. Or, if they feel excessively dry and look pale.

I assume you are checking sugar at home - that is an excellent first step.

Feel free to post any questions, thoughts, concerns, rants. If you can continue to post in one thread for all specific posts about Logan, it will help members to look at the history and see what has happened along the way. I will be glad to rename your thread if you have a name in mind (like Logan’s Story or anything you like) so it will be easy to find. You can always message directly if you aren’t comfortable asking questions but people learn from your questions and there are no dumb questions here. We have all been there - scared and confused about it all. Nobody ever really thinks or plans on their dog getting diabetes. I was really clueless and it was a miracle Maggie survived with me for so long.

[farrwf]

Re: Newly diagnosed - Calming reassurance needed

Hello and welcome to you & Logan. You've found your way to the hands down best place in the universe for information, advice and fellowship regarding doggy diabetes.


We have many seasoned canine diabetes veterans who have dealt successfully with a situation just like yours. Good luck on Logan's journey!

[jesse girl]

Re: Newly diagnosed - Calming reassurance needed

As with amys maggie and your pup my jesse had all those problems and more and that was over 8 years ago

It is a bit of a life change but its not a big deal and what you learn and the closeness you get to your pup because they need you is quite amazing

[MikeMurphy]

Re: Newly diagnosed - Calming reassurance needed

Hi and welcome to the forum.

There’s a lot to learn about when managing a diabetic dog. A good place to start is the main k9diabetes web site at http://www.k9diabetes.com/

Home BG testing is the one thing that you can do to ease your mind. By doing this you’ll be able to find out how Logan’s body reacts to injected insulin, food and exercise.

Sounds like you’re off to a good start handling difficult situations.

I don’t want to complicate things, but if you live in the USA Walmart sells Novolin N insulin at $25 per vial. It’s an NPH insulin that is similar and interchangeable with Humulin.

[CoCoMom]

Re: Newly diagnosed - Calming reassurance needed

Welcome to you and Logan! You've come to the right place for help and information. When working with my dog through her Diabetes and Cushings I couldn't have survived without the information I found on this forum. You come to learn that you can not rely solely on your Vet. In that vain - we lost our 14yo girl last year and I have quite a lot of diabetic supplies that I need to pass on to someone who is willing to put in the time and effort to help their baby. It is obvious that you are dedicated to helping Logan and I would like to help you if you could use some supplies. I have a brand new VetMate glucose monitor, two brand new boxes (exp date 6/23/2019), one partial box (exp date 01/2019) of VetMate Test Strips, 2+ boxes of Petlet lancets, a Autoject EI (fixed needle automatic injector) and a 100 count box of Sol-M U-40 0.3mil 30Gx1/2" insulin syringes. The U-40 syringes are only for Vetsulin/Caninsulin insulin. If you can't use any of this I will try to donate it someone else on this forum. Please e-mail me at fasn8me@verizon.net if you can use any of this. Good luck and God Bless!

[Raysaint]

Re: Newly diagnosed - Calming reassurance needed

Others have made a lot of the key points. What I'll add is that you'll need patience, as it does take a while to regulate, probably months, but that's OK. It's taken me a year. You'll discover that your expectations, and what actually happens, will be 2 different things many times. Don't panic.
Don't expect good bg numbers too soon.

Be consistent and methodical with food and insulin adjustments. test blood sugar at home.
Things will continue to change and you'll scratch your head wondering why. Is it the food, insulin, ??
A lot of times it'll just be the body behaving in the many ways we don't understand. So you roll along.
Numbers will not be the same all the time, it's not that scientific and the body isn't a machine. You're shooting for a good range eventually, with a safe nadir.
So relax and enjoy the ride. Many dogs, including mine, go thru the DKA and pancreatitis early on. Just keep an eye out for anything unusual, and don't be afraid to ask your vet to test for something if things don't seem right.
Conditions like low thyroid, high triglycerides, etc. all are common and can play a negative role in regulation.
It's all a learning curve that you'll get used to, it'll frustrate you, but remember we've all gone thru it and we're here to help.