Goodbye to My Murphy

[Soaphie & Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by Rubytuesday

Sorry Muphy is struggling with this. It can be terrible for them not to be getting enough air.

Although I haven't had a dog with LP I used to see a fair amount of dogs have the corrective surgery at the vet practice I worked at. Although surgery is not without it's risks I would not hesitate if it were my dog, but I don't say this lightly.

I say it because LP can be very uncomfortable for them, all the surgeries I have seen have had a positive outcome and have made the world of difference in the dog.

Tara

Ugh! Sorry, Tara! Ruby had EPI, not LP. My bad.

[abdamurph]

Today on our walk Murphy had his first hypogylcemic event after 3 years of being diabetic, it was very scary. We only go for very short walks since he has heart disease also, but I noticed he started going really slowly and his legs started failing, it continued so I gave him the treats I had with me and then I called my neighbor to come pick us up. As soon as I got home tested him and his BG was 36 so I got out the syrup and give him a couple of tablespoons. That seemed to do the trick but I am keeping close watch of him today and will be testing throughout the day. I called Urgent Care and they said not to give him any insulin at all tonight so unless it's really high that is what I plan on doing. Will talk to Vet also tomorrow because he did eat all his food this morning and has been doing well so might need to lower his insulin dosage. Anyway just wanted to share. If anyone has any suggestions please send my way. Thx!

[jesse girl]

Yes exercise and walks can be a time of most danger for our diabetic pups when insulin is active

the hope is to never have it happen again especially during a walk

the key is to always bring liquid sugar with you at all times . if testing blood sugar it might be a good idea to test before walk and after to see how the walk affects blood sugar

if low to start before walk you may need to boost it up . i always like giving jesse a spoonful of honey before we left that would give her about a half hour of immediate sugar supply

the other key is consistency giving the walk at the same time everyday with the same amount . also you would like to give the walk when insulin is weaker and less active curves can help with determining that

you may need a complete curve in a few days to see if a reduction is needed

i am not one to avoid insulin all together just because of the event if testing blood sugar at home . if you can get blood sugar up to a normal fasting number half the normal dose should be fine . if numbers look pretty good on the lower dose it may point to a lower dose maybe needed

as long as there no other symptoms present there will probably no need for any emergency care at the vet .

[abdamurph]

Unfortunately the only time I can take him for a walk is in the morning before going to part time job, and it's always been consistent, everything in his routine has been consistent for the last 3 years. He never has had a problem before, first time in 3 years so I will just keep an eye on him, always have sugar treats with me in case this happens which I did this time. His numbers are still low just tested and at 79, if it doesn't go up substantially will not give him insulin tonight at all, not taking the chance of anything happening in the middle of the night and would rather have it on the high side than low side, much safer.

[Eddie]

That must be very scary. It shows how valuable home testing is.

Eddie has a few times gone down to that sort of level (not exact as we use a human meter). What I find is that I almost always over correct by giving him honey, normal food, less insulin etc and he then ends up really quite high.
I have been trying not to do that so much lately so I am just giving honey and extra food but not reducing his insulin by more than about 1 unit (out of 13).

Another thing to mention just because we are definitely seeing it in Eddie now is that he needs less insulin in the summer months. He was until recently on 14.5 units but now he needs no more than 13 units and it is still dropping. We don't know if it is because we are all more active in the summer, or the temperature or some other factor. We have noticed this in past years too.

We can often guess when Eddie is getting low because he becomes very active and high energy, rushing around, playing with balls on his own and being very reluctant to settle down at all. This acts as useful advance warning so we are prompted to test and feed him if necessary. It only happens when he is about 8 or more hours after a meal. If we are going to be out at that time we either feed him a bit in advance or we get the dog sitter to give him a handful of kibble anyway just in case.

Hope Murphy's numbers settle down again.
Antonia

[jesse girl]

i go through times with jesse needing less insulin . gave her 3 units last night half of what her higher end dose would be and and extremely low dose for a 26 pound dog .

jesse has always been unpredictable with blood sugar it can be exhausting .

treats are fine to back up blood sugar but they have to be consumed and digested to produce the sugar . liquid sugar goes wright into the blood stream for an immediate affect this brings them back from the brink and then you back it up with some food that is highly digestible

you made a great decision to call your friend to pick you guys up

as far as what time to walk that doesn't matter as much as how you prepare before the walk. maybe testing blood sugar and give a bit of a boost in sugar before if needed . remember food takes a bit of time to digest and produce sugar where a liquid version does not and is out of the body in a half hour depending on the amount .

keep an eye on things . i think sometimes its possible the pancreas may temporarily produce insulin or the bodies stored sugar doesn't seem to work at times for a medical reason

very difficult to catch when things are going well .

hope things get back on track soon but dont hesitate to reduce the dose if needed. the walk may have just been a symptom to an overall reduction needed in the dose. the walk just brought it ahead and the reduction may need to be substantial

[amydunn19]

You have been pretty lucky if this is the first time but I don't know how common events like that actually are - we have weathered quite a few with Maggie but she is kind of a wild card.

The first hour after a big low, Maggie doesn't typically rise much but by the end of the second hour, she goes back up pretty quickly. I base giving insulin on the current number and her pattern over the past few days. She has gone through strange periods of days of lows with no insulin given at all but most of the time, she still needs a small amount. I would reduce it most certainly.

Sounds like you handled it like a pro!

[Judi]

good catch. we had some scary lows with Jenny. her back legs would give out too. She was at 20 once and we went 24 hours without insulin. no problems.

I think Natalie said they used to grab syrup packets from fast food restaurants to take on walks just in case.

so glad you got in touch with your neighbor.

keep us posted. Judi

[abdamurph]

Update: Murphy is doing fine, moving around well now and had no problem eating his dinner. I tested an hour after his meal and he is at 105 so I don't plan on giving him insulin unless the numbers go up significantly tonight. If he stays around 100 he really doesn't need any insulin anyway and I will retest in the morning to see how he is doing. I would much rather have high numbers for a day or two than real low numbers like he had this morning. Thanks for all your feedback!

[abdamurph]

We lost our fight with diabetes, heart disease and pancreatitis last night. My poor baby was struggling with his breathing so I rushed him to emergency, he was in heart failure so best thing was to put him 2 sleep. Even though I knew it was going to happen soon nothing prepares you for the devastation you feel. A light has gone off inside of me, even though I know he will always be in my heart.