Nibbles earned his wings

[MaryLea]

Re: My dog Nibbles

I was slow to get on the bandwagon for BG tests, too. Since I can learn to do it, you can too!

You will have a much better handle on your dog's progress and be able to make more informed decisions. Your love and concern for Nibbles will carry you.

Mary

[Cebe]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Yea for home testing! It does take some getting used to but I know you can do it!

[Shellie]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Honestly...I think the home testing will help a lot and you'll get it! But it just sounds so much like Hank with the stomach problems! You may want to consider pursueing some sort of investigation into that possibility. You can try a pepcid tab...5mg half an hour or so before each meal is the usual dose. A dog refusing to eat anything at all...something is going on.

[nibbles-mommy]

Re: My dog Nibbles

he'll eat his food eventually over a few hours. the problem is getting him to eat enough 1/2 hour before shot . But he licks at it he doesn't dig into it. i think it's because he can't see what there. he cautiously licks so i started putting water in it to make like a soup so he gets more on his tongue. since i started the alpo hidden goodness and mighty dog it's been a lot better. he eats a little then crys to get up and run around then eats more and runs more. so within maybe 3-4 hours he ate it all.

[Cebe]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Could you syringe feed him a certain amount of food in the morning to support the shot then leave out food for him to eat throughout the day? Might be a big mess, but it's a thought.

[nibbles-mommy]

Re: Update-My dog Nibbles

Ok, I finally started the testing but not before a major incident Sunday night. For the past month I have been giving him 11 units in the morning and 12 at night. Nibbles ate as normal and got his shot of 12units went to sleep around 11:00pm. At 12:00 he woke up and started jerking his body so I ran and got some karo syrup and rubbed it on his gums. Then he had a seizure that lasted about a minute. It took another couple minutes for him to recover from it so i fed him and within an hour he was running around like normal again. The following morning I tested his sugar with the Bayer contour I had and it came back at 140 i decided to give him 7 units. I called the vet and explained to type of meter and result and he said that meters normally have around a 20% difference and his bg was good. Then later I realized the strips were expired so I ran to walmart and bought the Relion Ultima meter. Tested when I got home and was still in a good range and it matched the Contour. He ate between 7:30 and 8:30 and I tested him before his shot at 8:45. The reading came back at 170. I gave him 9 units I tested him at 11pm and it came back at 70. I gave a little karo in gums and fed him a little. He went to sleep got up around 3am and ran around all night his bg was up to 245 and stayed that way until his shot yesterday morning. Then last night I got home fed him did the whole routine and bg was 190. Igave the shot of 9 units and tested at 11pm this time it said 35 i also tested myself and it came back at 93. I started shaking and running around to give karo. Gave him some and fed him more. This whole time he wasn't acting any different he was running around like normal. I trsted him again it came back around 80. He fell asleep and got up at 2am I tested him and bg was 245 he ran around the whole night playing and was pretty hyper he finally took an hour nap and got up at 6am. I continued to test throught the night and bg continued to rise. He ate beginning at 7:30 and I tested him at 8:39am and bg was 301. I gave him 9 units and fed him the rest of his food and tested again at 9:30am and it was down to 225 tested before I left at 10am and it was down to 180.

So I am really confused about everything I am shaking and making myself a nervous wreck. I can;t even concentrate at work worrying about him. How could his bg drop so low 2 hours after the shot. I decreased the dose by 2 units and was thinking maybe more but then he gets the highs a few hours later.

[heinzle]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Yunhee had the same problem with Harry. She found out that they were giving Harry too much Tristolane for his Cushings making his cortisol levels too low. She was getting wild swings in his blood glucose readings.

I was having the same problem with Sammie - but opposite. Sammie has Addison's (produces NO cortisol) so I have to supplement with Prednisone. Once I added a little more Prednisone, thus raising her cortisol, the 2 hour after shot drop disappeared.

[nibbles-mommy]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Do you think I should stop the trilostane for a few days? Or as the vet suggested a few months ago when I questioned the dose that he would get the 60 mg every other day instead of daily. I know I need to take him back to the vet but it's an hour away and he hasn;t been there or in the car since going blind and I really worry about how he's gonna react. His bg's are going to be higher because of the stress and he's not going to know here he is and I don;t think I can do that to him for almost whole day.

[heinzle]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Do you think I should stop the trilostane for a few days? Or as the vet suggested a few months ago when I questioned the dose that he would get the 60 mg every other day instead of daily. I know I need to take him back to the vet but it's an hour away and he hasn;t been there or in the car since going blind and I really worry about how he's gonna react. His bg's are going to be higher because of the stress and he's not going to know here he is and I don;t think I can do that to him for almost whole day.

I have no idea about dosing - I would absolutely talk to your vet about this. I just know that Yunhee had some success when lowering the dose. The cortisol regulates both blood sugar and blood pressure. If you're giving too much tristolane then the cortisol is too low. Can you at least call your vet?

[nibbles-mommy]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Already called him and waiting for a return call this afternoon. I'll keep posting when he calls back.

[jesse girl]

Re: My dog Nibbles

that has been jesses pattern from day one big drop first few hours but lately that seems to be changing for her

it has been a difficult thing to bring under control

the crushing may have an impact on this also

you want to settle on a dose that keeps your baby safe and stay there if its a bit higher at times so be it .

after you have established that dose stick with it for a week or longer . if the drop is still there but not as deep with less insulin and the numbers are elevated you will have to determine how to slow that drop so you can possibly give more insulin

maybe something carby with meal, delayed shot to give food an opportunity to work with insulin are a few things you could try or it maybe a temporary thing what i have seen with this disease things can change quickly

[nibbles-mommy]

Re: My dog Nibbles

Still waiting on the call back. That's exactly what I wanted to do. I was thinking 9 units was safe since he was at 12 but I'm so worried about the highs and lows. I wanted to give 9 for a week and see how everything goes. What doesn;t make sense is that if he was at 32 last night he was still running around and I had to make him eat and lay down.

[HarrysMom]

Re: My dog Nibbles

When was your dog's last stim test? To see if your dog is overcontrolled, you can also just do resting cortisol. Anything less than 1 would concern me.

[nibbles-mommy]

Re: My dog Nibbles

the stim test was in April. I'm due to take him back but I'm very worried about leaving him there in the cage and him not being able to see. When he doesn;t here my voice for a while he starts howling and he's going to run in circles in the cage.

[HarrysMom]

Re: My dog Nibbles

When was your dog diagnosed? Protocol for stim is 10-14 days after starting Trilostane, 1 month after then every 3 months initially. We did resting cortisol about every month to make sure he was not overcontrolled.

Our vets allowed us to take Harry out of the vet office after the cortrosyn inject and then bring him back an hour later. This reduced a lot of stress for him.