Newly Diagnosed diabetes

[Krystalw813]

Hi All,
My 5 year old Chihuahua, Bella, was just recently diagnosed with diabetes. She has been hospitalized since Friday (3/9) and is expected to come home either today or tomorrow. I'm looking for any advice anyone has. It's a scary thing to think about and I want to do everything I can for Bella.

Also, has does anyone know of any organizations that help with vet bills? I made a gofundme and have sent emails to a few organizations. Her hospital bill itself is running me about $7k.

Thank you for any advice!

https://www.gofundme.com/bella039s-life-with-diabetes

[k9diabetes]

Re: Newly Diagnosed diabetes

I'm sorry to hear she had to be hospitalized and the size of the bill... did she have pancreatitis?

I live in fear of pancreatitis after seeing how life-threatening it can be and the cost of recovering in the hospital.

Relieved to hear she's heading home and congrats on being proactive in planning for her care.

Diabetes can be maintained quite inexpensively if you used NPH from Walmart (Relion N), which is about $28 for a bottle containing 1,000 units. But she's so tiny that her dose will likely be small so Vetsulin shouldn't cost too much either.

Natalie

[Krystalw813]

Re: Newly Diagnosed diabetes

I'm sorry to hear she had to be hospitalized and the size of the bill... did she have pancreatitis?

I live in fear of pancreatitis after seeing how life-threatening it can be and the cost of recovering in the hospital.

Relieved to hear she's heading home and congrats on being proactive in planning for her care.

Diabetes can be maintained quite inexpensively if you used NPH from Walmart (Relion N), which is about $28 for a bottle containing 1,000 units. But she's so tiny that her dose will likely be small so Vetsulin shouldn't cost too much either.

Natalie

Hi,
Yes she did. She also had a lot of ketones in her urine so it was just a lot of problems at once.

My vet prescribed me the insulin from Walmart. She gets it twice a day 5 units a day. How long would you suggest using the same bottle before discarding?

[CraigM]

Re: Newly Diagnosed diabetes

Hi,
Yes she did. She also had a lot of ketones in her urine so it was just a lot of problems at once.

My vet prescribed me the insulin from Walmart. She gets it twice a day 5 units a day. How long would you suggest using the same bottle before discarding?

I believe the data sheet that comes packed with the insulin recommend replacing at around 30 days. I took it it 6 weeks, starting a new bottle on the 1st and 15th of each month. I didn’t see any fluctuations in strength due to time, but didn’t want to push it because the Walmart ReliOn Novolin-N is so low cost.

Craig

Clarification: I would start a bottle on the 1st, then replace it the following month on the 15th. Then replace that bottle on the 1st, about 45 days later.

[Krystalw813]

Bella won't eat prescribed food

Hi All,
I brought Bella home last Thursday evening from the hospital after she was in there for a week after being diagnosed with diabetes. The vet prescribed her glycobalance which she ate perfectly all friday and saturday morning.Saturday evening she ate almost all of it. On Sunday, I had to fight with her to get her to eat it, and she ate about 90%. Sunday evening I couldn't get her to eat any of it and had to resort to chicken. This morning she ate maybe 15 kernels of it and then stopped once again. I gave her some chicken as well because I needed to get food into her before I left for work so she could get her insulin.

I'm thinking about feeding her a homemade diet instead of the dog food since she keeps turning her nose to it. She doesn't have a loss of appetite because as soon as she sees the chicken, she gobbles it up so that's not the problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should feed her?

Bella is a almost 5 year old chihuahua who weights about 10 pounds. The vet wanted me to feed her a 1/2 cup of glycobalance twice a day.

Thank you for any advice!

[Krystalw813]

Re: Newly Diagnosed diabetes

I believe the data sheet that comes packed with the insulin recommend replacing at around 30 days. I took it it 6 weeks, starting a new bottle on the 1st and 15th of each month. I didn’t see any fluctuations in strength due to time, but didn’t want to push it because the Walmart ReliOn Novolin-N is so low cost.

Craig

Clarification: I would start a bottle on the 1st, then replace it the following month on the 15th. Then replace that bottle on the 1st, about 45 days later.

Okay, thank you. That's what I was leaning towards as well since the vet wrote it should last 6-8 weeks but I'm just so paranoid right now with everything that I keep on double checking all my info.

[Raysaint]

Re: Bella won't eat prescribed food

There are other foods vets recommend for diabetes, like Hills W/D, and maybe a few others.
But many people feed regular dog foods, or homemade, it's your choice and you need the dog to like it so she'll eat.

Just keep it low fat and moderate protein with good carbs/fiber.

Remember that things like chicken and other meats have no carb content so just giving chicken with insulin might not balance the insulin. You need some carbs, or her sugar might get too low.

[Krystalw813]

Should I be concerned?

Bella was diagnosed with diabetes as well as bladder stones on March 9th. She was sent home last thursday night.

It seems like every single time Bella drinks, she walks about two feet away and pees. I'm not even concerned about her peeing on the floor but more about if shes getting enough fluids to not be dehydrated.

I called two different animal hospitals and both seem to think it's not that big of a deal since she has to be getting enough fluids to be able to produce urine that frequently.

Am I just being paranoid? She was recently diagnosed so it's completely possible I'm still overthinking things.

[Krystalw813]

Re: Bella won't eat prescribed food

There are other foods vets recommend for diabetes, like Hills W/D, and maybe a few others.
But many people feed regular dog foods, or homemade, it's your choice and you need the dog to like it so she'll eat.

Just keep it low fat and moderate protein with good carbs/fiber.

Remember that things like chicken and other meats have no carb content so just giving chicken with insulin might not balance the insulin. You need some carbs, or her sugar might get too low.

Thank you.

I saw somewhere that mashed sweet potatoes are good as well since they're complex carbs and won't spike the sugar levels. Or even eggs? I'm doing research just trying to find things that Bella likes and makes her happy.

[farrwf]

Re: Bella won't eat prescribed food

Raysaint's right, ... most important she eat something.Then find the "best" something for her. ... Low fat, low carb, high fiber is the ideal. Work down from there to find what works for Bella.

I always had either, crock-pot chicken with all visible fat and skin removed before cooking on a raised grate, roast pork loin or ground chuck (all fat blotted off via paper towel) available to dice up and add to their W/D kibble. Worked great for us.

Still had tthe occasional poor appetite issue, but they were few and far between.

[Krystalw813]

Re: Bella won't eat prescribed food

Raysaint's right, ... most important she eat something.Then find the "best" something for her. ... Low fat, low carb, high fiber is the ideal. Work down from there to find what works for Bella.

I always had either, crock-pot chicken with all visible fat and skin removed before cooking on a raised grate, roast pork loin or ground chuck (all fat blotted off via paper towel) available to dice up and add to their W/D kibble. Worked great for us.

Still had tthe occasional poor appetite issue, but they were few and far between.

I've been finding that when I try to mix chicken into her dry food, she digs around and just eats the chicken out. She's so sneaky! She's also on some meds so that could be affecting her appetite as well?

[thomasgunnar]

Re: Bella won't eat prescribed food

We feed Shelby two dry foods. A senior and a light(weight management) food. We make a gravy out of a bit of canned food just to make it taste ever so good. Seems to work for us although she has never had a eating problem. That is other than the odd I'm not going to eat this protest.

[Krystalw813]

Re: Bella won't eat prescribed food

We feed Shelby two dry foods. A senior and a light(weight management) food. We make a gravy out of a bit of canned food just to make it taste ever so good. Seems to work for us although she has never had a eating problem. That is other than the odd I'm not going to eat this protest.

I read online to try to blend the food up a little with chicken broth. I find that even if I pour a little broth on top she just licks the food to get the taste of the broth but won't eat the actual food. She's too smart for own good!

I think tonight I'm going to try blending food with a little chicken broth and chicken to almost try to make my own wet food and see if she goes for that. Fingers crossed!

[Raysaint]

Re: Should I be concerned?

If she was just diagnosed, her blood sugar is probably high, and drinking and peeing a lot is normal when sugar is high.

[thomasgunnar]

Re: Bella won't eat prescribed food

We use chicken and beef broth as well just to change things up for Shelby, but like I said she very seldom doesn't want to eat.