Gus, the mini-schnauzer an Angel March 7, 2018

[jesse girl]

glad gus feels better today . probably still a good idea to watch food intake and keep an eye on insulin. once infection clears that may change your insulin dosing and it can happen quickly

fingers and paws crossed for continued progress

[MomofGus]

Vet recheck this morning. He's improving. Better hydration, better gum color. Will redo blood work panel next week. Hard part now is to get back on track with his regular food. It's a chore, and I've done all the "tricks".

[Daisydog10]

That's such good news and happy to hear he's doing better.

[MomofGus]

Today was recheck with the vet for Gus. His bloodwork has improved, and the bacterial infection is going away. Couple liver enzymes still out of whack,but she indicated this is normal considering his infection. Says it may take up to 3 months for his liver & pancreas to heal. I'm just so thrilled that his red & white blood cell counts are so much better. The WBC was normal and RBC was still a little low, but improving. She indicated he has "baby redblood cells forming, meaning bone marrow is doing what it's supposed to do.

His sugar is still higher than it should be, but we are just now getting back to his regular food, and closer to our normal proportions of dry/wet ratio. Hopefully, in a few days that will improve.

I will still be keeping a close eye on him.

[jesse girl]

thats good news for gus . hope to see further progress . yep it takes sometime to heal

[Daisydog10]

So glad to hear Gus is on the mend. I'm sure you'll get his bs under control now that the infection is going away and labs are looking better.

[amydunn19]

Yay, Gus! Hope the good news continues!

[MomofGus]

It's been a few weeks since I've posted. It's been over 2 months since Gus had pancreatitis, and a severe bacterial infection. Once he started back to his normal food amounts and insulin, it became apparent that I could reduce his dosage a little. He is one that most vets would consider resistant, but just actually requires a lot of insulin. For his weight at the time of approx. 20 lbs, he was on 19 units in order to be regulated. Was on that dose for over a year with good results. Since his sickness, I have him now at 17.5 units of NovolinN 2x/day. He is also one of those dogs with a mountain curve, where his lowest readings are his fasting. I have been getting nervous when he gets between 150/125 when he still has 2 hrs or less until mealtime, knowing that he more than likely will drop further. So, I test him 3/4 way through the day and give him a couple mini-milkbones to move him back up a little bit. That keeps his afternoon/evening fasting numbers above 175 for the most part.

I did a curve today (first one in a year/half). Here are his readings. Wondering if I might be able to reduce another .5 unit. Let me say that todays curve is pretty much what we get most days. However, he will throw me a curveball and be above 500 on morning fasting, but always comes back down to the 200's or lower, even as early as midday. I usually lower his dry kibble amount a little when we get above 500 the couple times a month that he does this. We have checkup on the 12th for follow-up bloodwork to see how things are since his sickness. I'm not waiting the full 3 months because it's holiday time and I want to be on top of things if there is anything starting to happen again. So, we're going at 2 months.

4:45 AM 179 pre-breakfast
8:30 AM 252
10:30 AM 273
12:30 AM 207
2:30 PM 169
3:30 PM 162
4:30 PM 152 pre-dinner

Thoughts, anyone? I just get nervous when he starts dropping and I know he will go lower before feeding. Do any of you adjust your insulin amount if their fasting is below 200? I follow another group on FB and it's said on there you should not give full dose if below 200. To me, adjusting frequently is like chasing the tail and confusing the body. Now,if he were below 100 or 120, I might consider reducing. Thoughts on this practice?

[Suzanne123]

so happy to hear Gus is getting better. You take very good care of him. I'm a mommy to a newly diagnosed little girl, Winnie. She's 12. I am having a hard time getting her numbers under 350.

[MikeMurphy]

Nice job with getting Gus back to his old self and nice curve. I love mountain curves because you don’t have to worry about him going low during mid day.

It wouldn’t hurt to reduce his insulin another .5 units. You can always go back up if his BG gets too high mid day.

I’m not a big fan of constantly adjusting insulin based on fasting number below 200. When I did that with Lily, her body would not react well. Consistency is best for her. I also follow that FB group and they are very knowledgeable. I just don’t agree with their insulin adjustment rules because every dog is different.