Queen Angel Tiggy July 30, 2018

[CarolW]

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

I didn't get to use my brand new digital kitchen scale with Kumbi before he died; was still using measuring cups.

But I'm using the scale with Camellia, and I really love it. As Pat said, the measure is down to a very few very small kibbles. VERY handy!

Camellia, not diabetic, weighs (tendency) between 7.8 and 8.0 Kg (17.1 to 17.6 pounds, approximately). This, through three complete changes of food. Her current weight is 8.0 Kg (17.6 pounds), and my vet really likes this weight on her.

The lighter weight was when she was apparently getting less exercise than she is now - she weighed that when she came to me, but we do one to two walks a day, and she's getting a comfortable amount of exercise.

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:32:48 (PST) Note time change coming up!

[SandyL]

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

Hi All!!

Well, I finally took the first attempt at home testing and was totally unsuccessful! I was calm, cool, and collected and tried to be as positive as possible......she was having nothing to do with it!!! THEY KNOW when you're up to something!! She didn't even want to sit in my lap, which is not like her at all! Tried the ear tonight, little to no blood on the first stick, tough to hit a moving object and not much more on the 2nd attempt! Told her " good test" and she followed me to the fridge for a broccolli treat.

Tomorrows another day and I have to work but after dinner we will try try again! I have unlimited broccolli so maybe that pavlovian response will take over and she will help me out here!

Any Suggestions?? Thoughts???

Sandy

[Patty]

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

I took me a couple of weeks to get blood from Ali. Sometimes it just takes finding the right spot and finding the right method that allows her to feel comfortable with it.

You might have to back up a step and just handle the area you want to work with before even sticking her again and treat her for allowing it. Then eventually work up to lancing the area.

Hope the Pavlovian response takes over!

[Patty]

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

Pat brought up a good thought in another thread. What type of lancet are you using?

[SandyL]

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

I FINALLY obtained a successful BG!!! I am so happy that Tiggy and I worked hard at finding a suitable area to stick...currently with help from my daughter, but I'm sure Tig will do just fine when I don't have that extra set of hands.

I tried the ear..to thin and I would go straight through. Tried the lip... that about says it all, tried the dew claw...hers is just too darn small and finally I shaved a small patch on her little butt...SUCCESS!! BG 255 2 hours after eating!! I used the lancet device set on 6 and I used the One Touch Ultra Soft lancets, not sure what gauge the box doesn't say.

I will keep doing spot checks and hopefully will be able to do a full curve in a couple of weeks!

And her word for broccolli is "TEST"

Sandy and Tiggy

[CarolW]

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

To begin - GIANT CONGRATULATIONS to you and Tiggy! You made the grade VERY quickly - much sooner than many do!

If I remember right, the OneTouch UltraSoft lancets are 28-gauge. I had a long talk with OneTouch Customer Care about their failure to label the boxes with the gauges of the lancets. I was - and am - really PO'd that they STILL don't put the gauges of the lancets on the boxes!

They promised me they would, but that was a long time ago.

Anyway, phoning their Customer Care will get you the information you want. Now I can't remember the name of their 25-gauge lancets - might be "Fine Point." But you could ask.

I found I needed 25-gauge or thicker to get good blood samples from Kumbi. I used his lip.

I assume you mean you're getting blood from the back right near the tail, right?

I think when you use the device, you can use thinner lancet gauges (and you just proved that) than if you prick by hand, and I think Pat mentioned that, at least indirectly, in another thread today or yesterday. (How precise can I get; haha!)

Probably it has to do with extra force generated by the device.

Speaking of Pat, give yourself and Tiggy huge pats on the back! - for succeeding in getting a BG reading. Once you've done it once, there's no going back! Of course, it's not ALWAYS perfect, and I found sometimes I'd have to prick more than once, or even, occasionally, I'd completely fail to get a workable sample. But most of the times, I'd manage in one prick or two at most.

Essentially, my eye learned to assess the size of the blood drop, and if it wasn't big enough to register on the meter, I'd prick again, often, very close to the first prick.

Pat, pat, pat on the back from Camellia and me! Kwali and Kumbi join us with ghostly back-pats from the Bridge. Tail-wags and licky kisses, too!

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:16:00 (PDT)

[SandyL]

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

Thanks Carol for the praise!! You have to know how good I felt when I saw that strip fill with blood and begin the count down!

I stuck her a little to the right of the base, where there is a little more "meat". I guess one could compare it to a butt cheek?? Its down much further than where I give her injections and she really didn't seem to mind much and totally forgot about it when I told her good girl and ask her if she wanted broccolli

You're right about the very small guage. I did have to milk it a little. After I try it a few more times and expiriment with adjusting the lancing device I might get the larger ones so that I don't have to go through the milking process

I looked all over the box and even took a magnifying glass to the lancet itself to see if they had the gauge imprinted on it....nothing.

Have a good night!!
Sandy

[jjefferjo]

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

Power to the blood - Congratulations - you are now empowered and a bit more in control!
Ed and I are proud of you!
Jj

[Patty]

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

Congrats Sandy!

[k9diabetes]

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

Yahoo!!! Congratulations!!!!

Natalie

[SandyL]

Tiggy's 1st home curve....need input please!

Well, we did it and it wasn't as tough as I thought it would be

Got off to a rocky start this morning as she wouldn't eat her normal breakfast of 1/2 c D Blue mixed with 1/8 cup chicken,brown rice, brocolli mixture. She ate maybe 2TBS of it and walked away. Tried coaxing her and adding 1/4 tsp cottage cheese....nope not gonna eat Ok..how about 1/2can of W Blue Homestyle Recipe...Success

7:00 PS....274
7:50..Finally ate..2U
10:00 ......223
12:00........254
2:00.........202
4:00.........243
6:00.........168
6:30.........Usual dinner and 2U
8:00.........254

Hopefully next time it will go better as far as numbers go but all in all she was a little trooper!

The high, low pattern has me really confused..

Sandy

[CarolW]

Re: Tiggy's 1st home curve....need input please!

Hi Sandy,

Huge congratulations on your first home-curve - great job!

Those numbers don't look bad at all, at all, at all! I'm slightly concerned that you might get a little insulin overlap, with the two injections only about 10.5 hours apart, instead of being 12 hours apart.

In principle, try to keep the injections 12 hours apart, with no more than an hour leeway.

The odd shape of the curve isn't all that unusual! Kumbi had a lot of those.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/curvejourney.php

But that's really quite a flat curve you got, with no lows that would alert you to problems of any sort. Nice numbers, too! Nothing very high, either!

So, I'd do what you can to keep Tiggy on a good eating (and insulin) schedule, and keep up the good work!

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:14:04 (PDT)

[SandyL]

Re: Tiggy's 1st home curve....need input please!

Thanks Carol, you're so sweet and always so positive!!

Ya, I usually give her her insulin between 12 and 13 hours, but I knew I wouldn't be able to tonight...that's why the 10.5

Really?? The high and lows are ok??? Who would of thunk! I was just extremly happy we stayed out of the 300 and 400 numbers!!

How often did you do curves with Kumbi?? Is there a rule of thumb when and how often you should do them?? I feel a little bad because the little area on her tush were I was testing LOOKS like it should hurt (because of all the sticks) but it doesn't seem to be bothering her. Definately want to wait until the irritation subsides before doing another one.

Sandy

[CarolW]

Re: Tiggy's 1st home curve....need input please!

Sandy - I'd be extremely happy with those numbers in your curve!

I didn't test Kumbi much at all; he found it very stressful, even though he cooperated. My vets preferred me not to test much - only when I thought something wasn't looking right, and an occasional curve. They thought curves every couple of months was okay, as long as Kumbi was clearly stable. Spot-checks now and then, if I became suspicious something was off.

It's quite a different way of managing from how many here manage, say, doing fasting numbers, and maybe one other (nadir-time) test daily. I just didn't do that, and my vets preferred, for Kumbi, how I was doing it.

Late in his life, I tested a lot more, even to the point where my vets asked me to lay off!

Kumbi always ate without hesitation, right when I put his food down, so that made my life easy. Tiggy MIGHT need some supplementation. I was using a commercial kibble my vet recommended; it was one most would turn their noses up at - a lot of corn in it. I would have turned MY nose up at it too, except that I fed it to both my dogs and both did very well on it. It was a vet prescription kibble.

Oh, and I fed canned as well, but much less of that, as I couldn't afford it. But I used it as treats, too.

Anyway, I think Tiggy is looking really good, with those numbers; we'll see what Natalie, Patty and/or Peggy, think.

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:12:07 (PDT) - late to bed again!

[farrwf]

Re: Tiggy's 1st home curve....need input please!

Sandy - I'd be extremely happy with those numbers in your curve!

I was using a commercial kibble my vet recommended; it was one most would turn their noses up at - a lot of corn in it. I would have turned MY nose up at it too, except that I fed it to both my dogs and both did very well on it. It was a vet prescription kibble.

Oh, and I fed canned as well, but much less of that, as I couldn't afford it. But I used it as treats, too.
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:12:07 (PDT) - late to bed again!

Hi Carol,

Otis seems to prefer the prescription kibble also ... Purina OM or Hill's WD. Prior to his diagnosis, he was eating OM usually with some diced chicken ... and, had been for 10 years. When he came back from the hospital, after his diagnosis / ketones / ultra high blood sugar episode, I continued to feed him what the vet was using (WD canned as the mainstay) along with some chicken mixed in. Actually that was his first exposure to canned DF as he'd been a kibble guy almost from day 1.

A month or so back I got a large sample of the WD kibble from the vet and Otis seemed to love it. I just bought a bag last weekend and that's what we're going with as the mainstay. He tired of the canned DF's (any variety) and just seems to like kibble more.

In any event, that's where he's at now.