Queen Angel Tiggy July 30, 2018

[Patty]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Sandy,
It may be hard to judge how her curve really is at this point. If she was quite stressed it could have brought her numbers higher or lower than actual.

Some dogs get very excited at the vet and it can drop bgs quite sharply. My dog is one of these.

A true stress response on the other hand can involve adrenaline which may release stored glucose into the system and drive bgs upward.

I would say that 7pm number isn't a true reflection of what's been going on either...different food, already rising, stress, etc.

Sorry you had to go through all of that. I agree with Natalie, quite a crazy situation.

I think I'd focus on easing into home testing. In the long run, I think it will be a blessing for both of you not to have to go to the vet's office for regular curves.

Good luck with a new vet!
Patty

We're back from the vet FINALLY with, IMHO a crappy curve

The first draw was done a little more that 3 1/2 hours after her morning meal and 2U.

10:00 247
1:00 320
4:00 375
7:00 458

She wouldn't eat her evening meal at the vet so we force fed her 1 1/2 sm jars of Beechnut chicken baby food. I still gave her her usual 2U and brought her home against the vets reccomendation....by the way she wasn't even there, the tech was texting her, and she basically told him to get rid of us and keep the dog there. He was letting me read her texts!
Came home and tiggy had a diabetic cookie and her duck jerky and is in her favorite spot on the couch....I need to find a new vet and start testing myself!!

[SandyL]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Hi All!!
I just called the Vet about Tiggys experience yesterday....interesting how sweet she sounded on the phone, but maybe the same tech who gave me the insight on her, gave her the insight on me
Anyway, she wants to keep her insulin at the current dose of 2U BID. Reasons given were she had only had a .2 lb weight gain and the first reading for her at the 247 was very reasonable in the morning. She is assuming that the 458 was due to the stress factor. Suggested a weight control diet so my little potbelly chihuahua wouldn't gain any weight, but in the same breath was happy she hadn't lost any. She said since tiggy wasn't drinking or peeing excessivily that we are in a good ball park and noting that our observations of Tig at home was that she acted totally normal with activity and such.
Since Tiggy just does NOT appreciate the vet experience, she also said curves done there probably were not a good indicatior of her BG and suggested that we take her in in about 3-4 weeks for a frutosamine blood test. And surprise, surprise....doesn't think it would be a good idea for me to do it at home since, as she put it" small dogs don't do well with it, and it would probably stress her out even more"

Ok, most of this all sounds fine to me and I appreciated the suck-up she was doing. Still will check out the other Vet that was suggested to me.

Natalie, I totally agree....I would call and complain but the tech was an angle and I certainly would not want to take the chance of him getting in touble.

Thoughts??? Suggestions???

Waiting for my new test strips and control liquid to come in from Hocks then hopefully my own testing slowly begin

[jesse girl]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

home testing will change everything for you two once everyone gets comfortable with it peace of cake then you can do the curves yourself and report your results to the vet if you want . I would recommend with the new vet that this will probably be how you will do it (It seems people have more power when you first go to a vet and you already have a dx so they are willing to go along with you)

[peggy0]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Id look forward to home testing

[Patty]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

I think success with home testing is very individual. I've seen some small dogs do great and others are just too upset over it. I definitely wouldn't dismiss it just because you have a small dog.

I'll tell you in general I'm not a fan of fructosamines unless there just isn't another way. They only give you an average of the last 2 weeks and don't tell you how high or low the blood sugar has gone.

The 247 was a reasonable number for just starting out. What was the diet suggestion she gave?

[SandyL]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Don't worry Patty, I'm definately going to give it a try and see how she does with it. If nothing else, I want to be able to know which way she's going when she just isn't acting right! And I look at the frutosimine the same way, it's better than nothing for the mean time...who knows, I may not even need to take her in for it in 3-4 weeks

Peggy, I am starting to look forward to it....my husband has always said I'm a control freak so I don't want to be at the mercy of someone who doesn't know Tiggy as well as I do

Jesse you're absolutely correct...I want to be able to take her in and just tell the new vet I'm testing myself, but I'd like you to get to know her and her case, so that when I need you as a doctor you're not in the dark.

[Patty]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

So is her food regimen staying the same then? I was confused on that. Because that can change her trend and insulin needs.

[SandyL]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Patty, she wants her to ultimately be on the Hills W/D wet or dry....mentioned that one on her first visit so I'm assuming it's still the same. Tig is a REALLY picky eater, who gets bored with the exact same thing day in and day out She's always been given small amounts of what ever kind of meat we have for dinner in hers. Ya I know, I'm bad....that's gonna be my real problem with her!! Any suggestions on food?

[SandyL]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Just saw your last question.....gonna leave her food the same for now until I start testing myself...I figure that would be the best

[Patty]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

What has she been eating now? I don't necessarily think you need to go with w/d if her numbers wind up looking good with what you are doing.

[SandyL]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

She has 1/2 cup California Natural Ultra mixed with 1/8 c either boiled chicken,green bean,brown rice mixture OR Extra lean hamburger,brocolli, brown rice mixture. Sometimes I have to put a little dollop(less than a 1/4 of a tst of cottage cheese or Pharm cheese in to mix it up a little

[peggy0]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

I think her current diet is fine Once you start testing, you will see the balance between insulin and food and can start tweaking it if necessary. I never moved my dog to perscription dog food and he did very well as many other dogs here do

[pat3332]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Sandy,

I agree with everyone else. Stick with what you're feeding and what you know Tiggy likes until you see from the testing that it's a problem.

Just a suggestion or so on the feeding.

Remember Consistency.

1. When you start home testing, I would stick to either the chicken, or hamburger mixture for a week or two until you get an idea of what the glucose levels look like with one, then when you have an idea of what the levels look like with that mixture, you can try switching to the other to see if the change makes much difference in the levels.

2. I know this sounds really picky, but this is just a suggestion based on my experience. You said you are measuring the food by measuring cup. Bailey weighs 95 pounds and 4-6 pieces of kibble can make his levels change over a 12 hour period and that can cause an even a bigger change in small dogs. Patty got me using a kitchen scale to weigh the food. I found that when I weighed several cups of Bailey's kibble, the amount of kibble in each cup could vary enough to make a difference in the readings. Weighing the feedings gets me within about 1-2 pieces kibble at each feeding, so less variation. On your chicken, or hamburger mixture, you could weigh each of the ingredients so they are the same at each feeding. If nothing else, it will give you an idea of how consistent your measures are.

3. A "dollop", considering you said it's less than 1/4 tsp. may not make much difference, but again, I would pick one or the other of the cheeses and either use it each time, or not at all until you get a trend.

Again, I know this sounds very picky, but some dogs are more sensitive to change than others and especially at first, you need to be very consistent so you can see what any changes in ingredients, or amounts you make later will do to the glucose levels. If you're doing something different from one feeding to the next and the readings are up and down, it's much harder to figure out what's causing it.

And again, this does all become routine. Trust Me!

Pat

[SandyL]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Definately will keep her on her current diet.....California Natural is a good high protien food. Most importantly, she'll eat it! When I switch up her food now, I already alternate it a week at a time ,so when I start home testing there won't be too much variation on what she's been getting since she was diagnosed...But I guess I'll be going out this weekend for a kitchen scale!

[pat3332]

Re: Newly diagnosed...A BIG thanks to all!!

Hi Sandy,

I wasn't sure from what you said, whether you were switching the mixtures daily, weekly, or just as the mood hit you. A week on each will probably be fine. I'm not sure weighing the food is anything you need to do immediately, it's just something that I started doing when I was looking for reasons for Bailey's erratic readings and it has helped a lot. Plus this kind of detail oriented precision just goes along with my personality and although it often drives my family nuts, it makes my day.

Right now, just keep everything as consistent as possible and you can start getting more precise later if you need to.

Pat