Our sweet Vinny is an angel, July 27, 2018

[CraigM]

Re: My Monster Vinny

Better safe than sorry. You gotta make decisions and not second guess. Looking forward to the following tests

craig

[jesse girl]

Re: My Monster Vinny

its not a good thing to see affects of low blood sugar but it does give information for the particular meter you are using and the level you do see hypoglycemic affects .

so i would say at this point in regulation and the symptoms your are seeing i would reduce the dose as tami stated and you would like those numbers above a 100

the problem with those levels it doesn't give much room to play with if you see some spontaneous activity

[Rubytuesday]

Re: My Monster Vinny

8am 156
10am 118
12pm 69
2pm 66

I would be suspicious that in between 12 & 2 he dropped lower and was possibly on his way back up.

If you have another curve that will give you some indication of whether he had hit bottom. Sometimes if I saw a similar lowish number on the Prime and if I wasn't sure if Ruby had hit her lowest point yet I would test at 1 or 1/2 hour increments.

For interventions it is good to give a fast acting sugar and then a carby treat. That way the sugar goes to work quickly, but when it leaves just as quickly the carb will kick in instead of the dog going low again.

I had to give Ruby a fair amount of syrup and then treats, where as Patty would just rub a drop of.....honey?? on Ali's gums. You will need to see how your guy reacts. I would probably give him a small sized dog biscuit in addition to the syrup.

Tara

[Monsters Momma]

Re: My Monster Vinny

Vinny's 4pm number is 86. I guess I was expecting more of jump since at 2 when his number was at 66 and was wobbly we gave him a bit of Karo and some of his food. Looking at your posts, maybe a cracker would have been better since we don't have dog biscuits? And when you say reduce his insulin dose...educate me on why and how much if you could?

I am looking forward to getting the AlphaTrak2 just so I know how far I'm off with the Prime!

I can't tell you how thankful I am for all your input! Now it's just for me to absorb.

Oh and I didn't mention that it appears Vinny 'twisted' his left front paw in the first joint playing with our other dog. He's limping a bit, but quits after walking on it a bit. Could this be affecting things one way or the other?

[SandyL]

Re: My Monster Vinny

Tight regulation is a great thing IF you're always going to be home with him... Such as catching the lows. I for one work full time and both my dogs go in and out as they please. Which means barking and running the fence with the mailman, ups guy, squirrels etc. and you know what all that can do to a bg!!

I use the One Touch and have always taken the readings at face value. No conversions. Tiggy has been between 125 and 250 now for a couple years. That 125 has given me enough wiggle room to not even worry about her when I'm gone 9- 10 hours in a day. You might want to consider this for when you go back to work

Sandy

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: My Monster Vinny

hi Mel

I would definately lower Vinnie, s dose by 1/2 next injection. he is getting 20 then 19 1/2.
when u get the alphatrack test at the times he goes low or gets wobbly k.
wait 3 days then do a curve.

I put abit of jam on Riles gums, followed by 1/2 a milkbone then a few pieces of his kibble then test him an hour later. this brings his bg up. I find the karo raises his bg too high.

your doing great at catching the low good work

Mo

[jesse girl]

Re: My Monster Vinny

well the numbers are not jumping around that much and maybe a half unit is ok as mo sugested but being so new to your pups trends i would reduce by a minimum of a unit just to push those numbers up a bit . if they dont move and remain in a lower range dont hesitate to lower the dose further

as sandy said dogs do just fine above a normal range

it takes time for the body to adapt

[Soaphie & Sydney's Mom]

Re: My Monster Vinny

If Monster Vinny were my dog, I think I would reduce by 2-3 units and hold for 1 week at that level, then do another curve. Of course, doing spot checks etc each day.

[Monsters Momma]

Re: My Monster Vinny

Well, about the time for his next test/feed/insulin and the fireworks around here had started! Vinny is not so nervous around them, but our younger dog, Bogey, gets anxious, so we just fed Vinny, reduced the insulin to 19 from 20 and called it a night on everything else.

I'm going to have everything ready tonight to test him before I feed him in the morning just to see where he is after fasting all night. I'll spot check him tomorrow, but if I understand...his body won't adapt to the 19 twice a day for a few days so there's no need to do a curve, right?

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all!! I think we would have been in a panic had it not been for the input you all gave us! Thank you!!
Mel

[jesse girl]

Re: My Monster Vinny

you dont necessarily need to do a curve but i would place an emphasis on the times vinny usually run low . you dont want to take your finger of the trigger of testing and want to be sure he is out of that lower range

anytime you see a low blood sugar event the individual dog is not able with stored glucose from the body i to balance injectable insulin which does point to an overdose situation .

so i would keep an eye on things . its great you are seeing levels in a normal range but it did happen fairly quickly and its alright to pull back a bit you can always raise back up again maybe by a quarter unit if needed in the future .

all information is good even if it is scary at this point you know 20 units is to much for what you are doing wright now .

[momofdecker]

Re: My Monster Vinny

You are doing a great job!

One trend we learned over time was that Decker would either not have a nadir (without food/karo intervention) or he would continue to drop beyond his nadir time when his dosage was too high. He had a lot going on near the end so we often adjusted his insulin amount based on his fasting reading and whether or not he was getting prednisone. Sometimes it was a bit of a guessing game so we tested a lot to make sure he stayed safe.

Over time we also established a routine of treatment when his bg was dropping to soon or too much in a short time. We used karo, milk bones and his dry dog food to intervene depending on what his bg readings told us. It took us awhile to find a routine that worked for him though. In the beginning we often over-corrected, which resulted in an elevated fasting number the next day.

It took me a long time to figure out that was the beauty of home testing. It allowed us to figure out what his routine was. The established patterns and trends that he'd developed over time helped us come up with a plan that allowed us to overcome some of the obstacles he was confronted with and enabled us to still keep his bg in a decent range for a good part of the day. Of course, there were always exceptions. The only challenge is that every dog is different. They each write their own story.

Since you had to intervene with karo/food today, I'd check tomorrow around the same time to see how the 1u reduction is working for Vinny, especially since you did not seen much of a rise two hours later despite the extra sugar/food.

Looks like overall he is doing well. Keep up the good work!

[peggy0]

Re: My Monster Vinny

I agree with tami. Watch him closely. One unit may not be enough.

[SandyL]

Re: My Monster Vinny

Totally agree with Tami and Peggy.... Especially with the nervousness with the fireworks. You don't know if the added stress will send him sky high, or make his BG plummet . Every dog is different!

Sandy

[Monsters Momma]

Re: My Monster Vinny

Looks like 19 might be a little high too. We checked Vinny at noon and his number was 76. Yesterday it was 69 so not much change. We decided to intervene now instead of waiting so gave him a little Karo with a bit of food. Will check again in ah hour or two.

Vinny is tired of being a pincushion...I can tell because I have to hunt him down now with treats in hand to do any testing. I remember reading that someone had written that they kept telling themselves they were doing it to keep their dog healthy and that's what I keep saying.

Thanks again!
mel

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: My Monster Vinny

did u get the alphatrack meter yet. remember it reads higher. that 76 should be higher with the alphatrack.

maybe u can change his bg testing spot, rotating it around.

your doing great