My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

[Higgins55]

Just past Thursday my 7 year old husky was diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis. The vet said she would have to be hospitalized and would be $900 or we could do it at home by ourselves for $500. Being I'm on a fixed income I had to do the at home option. Has anyone had to do this and can you possibly give some advise?

[jesse girl]

Re: My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

Hi and welcome

What is the treatment your vet gave you to do at home include insulin type and amount .Be specific ?

Has your dog been spayed ?

[Susan M]

Re: My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

When my dog Max was diagnosed earlier this year I thought I was going to lose my mind. It can be overwhelming at first. I am still a newbie at this but this forum has been a god sent. There are some very knowledgeable folks here. When you are posting a question it is important to include details. How much your dog weighs, what type of insulin, how much and how often is the dose. What are you feeding and how much are you feeding. Are you monitoring at home. Is your dog fixed. The seasoned veterans here are so helpful and are often times more knowledgeable then most vets. It was very stressful at first but as I learned more and was able to get my dog stable its not been so bad.
Take care....

[Higgins55]

Re: My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

Well she is a 7 yr old husky weighs 44 lbs now she lost 10lbs she was diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis and pancreatitis as for wat the gave us it was 2 bags of saline on second bag now nph insulin 10 units every 12 hrs but unfortunately nothing to keep track on blood sugar but they haven't set up for any curves yet they did give us antibiotics for the pancreatitis one every 12 hrs as for food she still wont eat only been able to do force feeding and the food is hills a/d always one can before she has her insulin. But we been on this for now today 5 days and no signs of improvement. and no she has not been fixed.

[jesse girl]

Re: My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

not being spayed can be a problem with regulation . There was actually a husky on the forum after being spayed was not diabetic anymore

the hormones created by going in heat just plays havoc with blood sugar so while in heat you may need allot more insulin and may need allot less when not in heat . As you can see if you have regulated your dog while in heat that dose maybe to much when it ends

my jesse was on a heat cycle when she became diabetic . she became DKA uterus infection which they did emergency surgery and acted as a spay and she got pancreatitis . The diabetes may have been temporary but i believe the pancreatitis made it permanent

the 10 units seems a bit large of a dose for a dog not eating . definitely you should test blood sugar at home to keep your dog safe

Force feeding a dog with pancreatitis is not the best idea . the pancreas needs time to rest from digestion . Thats why fluids are given intravenously

[Raysaint]

Re: My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

I would work closely with the vets in treating these conditions at home. Hospitalization is usually best, but if you can't, please let them guide you and educate yourself.
For ketoacidosis, they usually try to bring down blood sugar levels quickly to help reduce the keto.

Pancreatitis is usually no food for 24 hours, then very gradual introduction of food. But dogs need their minerals and nutrients, hence the need for intravenous solution to provide that. And low fat food is very important.

https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/...239&pid=11196&

http://www.ivis.org/docarchive/proce...07/SAE/163.pdf

http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/wsava/2011/124.pdf

If the last 2 links won't open {you may need a signin) I can email them to you.

[LizE]

Re: My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

I treated my dog at home for ketoacidosis when she was first diagnosed. Snickers was very sick and the vet did not think she would make it and started to prepare me for putting her down (She was 15 at the time). We decided to try to treat her at home, hoping to keep her alive long enough for my son to get home to see her.

We did not do an IV at home, rather I took her in to the vet in the morning and again at the end of the day for her to be treated with insulin, hydration packs, appetite stimulants and anti-nausea meds. Her blood sugar was also tested at those times.

We had a really hard time getting her to eat. I had to cook some meat fresh (so the smell would interest her) and then hand feed her meat and rice. I literally would have to put the food into her mouth to get her to eat. She would only eat a little at a time so I would try to feed her frequently during the day.

Snickers responded really well to the insulin and she got her bg levels down but she still felt awful for a very long time.

With all the uncertainty going on with treating your dog, you should try to learn to test your dog yourself. It can take a while to get it figured out how to get the blood for testing but it is well worth it. I started with a human meter because I didn't want to wait to order a dog one. It has worked out great for us.

When you say that she has no signs of improvement do you mean her bg is still high? Or is it just your observation? Even if you are treating your dog at home I would think the vet would need to evaluate your dog in person.

[amydunn19]

Re: My dog was just diagnosed with diabetes ketoacidosis

I dealt with pancreatitis for years with Maggie. Force feeding is not a good idea - their body is rejecting food for a reason and trying to force them to eat can cause a relapse. We always tried boiled chicken with homemade broth first. It is easy on their system.

Did the vet give anything for pain relief? It is such a painful condition and so stressful on their bodies.