Six weeks into diabetes with Sam, need help

[cappi29]

Hi. We too are a newly diagnosed diabetic canine owner... 6 weeks into it. Our Sam is is not regulating. Our biggest challenge is getting him to eat at specific times in order to give his insulin. Sam is 10yrs old and very stubborn.

We have tried deli meat with his dry food - worked for 2 days, mixing wet & dry food - maybe 3 days of success, all wet food - worked for 1 week. We are at our wits end. Our vet is being very patient and helpful but our entire family is frustrated. Most days I just want to cry! I have read several post of the games / tricks and they are not working. I do not want to use treats, as he thinks not eating is a way to get treats.

Our morning schedule is food for Sam between 5:30-6:30am and evenings are the same time period. His newest stunt is just lying down at his bowl.

[Joan]

Re: Six weeks into diabetes with Sam, need help

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like Sam is getting the best of you LOL. Was he a good eater before diabetes?

I have had a few that did not want to eat on schedule, most will eat if you make it appetizing/different enough. But some are really stubborn. If he is feeling good, not having anything else bothering him, it may be a matter of outlasting him to teach him about mealtimes.

Put his breakfast down, and in 10 minutes or so pick it up. You will have to adjust the insulin if he doesn't eat, not sure your dose or Sams size, but you are pretty safe to give 1/3 of the dose with no meal. In the evening same deal, put the food down, if he eats great, if not pick it up in 10-15 minutes.
Usually by the second day even the most stubborn dogs will begin to eat before it disappears. No treats! No tidbits in between, dont feel sorry for him! It is hard to do, but it is so important to get him eating on a regular schedule.
Hopefully someone else will chime in with something different that will get Sam to eat, but this has worked for me. Have lots of rescue pugs here all the time, and many do not know how to eat regularly. Poor guys!

Let us know how it goes. Joan

[CraigM]

Re: Six weeks into diabetes with Sam, need help

Welcome.
Possibly his blood glucose is very high and he just feels lousy. How does he seem at other times?

Tell us more about Sam. Weight, type of insulin, current dosage & starting dosage, any other madical conditions? Are you home blood testing, or planning to home blood test?

Craig

[jesse girl]

Re: Six weeks into diabetes with Sam, need help

hi and welcome

my jesse actually gets one meal a day homemade highly nutritious .

not to say thus is the best an only way for a dog that struggles with the schedule but there maybe ways to modify it for you and your pups schedule

as long as it is consistent it has the opportunity to work . you can have a larger meal at the time appetite is optimum and less when not so good and adjust insulin accordingly

the one meal for jesse was not do to appetite problems but digestive issues . she does get a milkbone snack with her morning shot of insulin and that's it . the funny thing thats when she has her best blood sugar

the 12/12 routine is not written in stone as long as you can test blood sugar at home to determine how much insulin is needed for how much food is given it has the opportunity to work

the list of alternative routines is almost limitless the key is consistency and that is what you are struggling with write now and i believe on the forum i have yet to see anyone not figure a way to make a routine work . Its really quite amazing and i am sure you will. you might have to be a bit more proactive and thinking outside the box and many times not and things just fall into place

[LizE]

Re: Six weeks into diabetes with Sam, need help

I also have a stubborn dog that doesn't always like to eat.

As others mentioned, when your dog is first recovering they don't have the best appetite. And with an older dog, they need a lot of time to feel better. We used an appetite stimulant in the beginning because she was so sick.

Eating was always a problem in the morning. Before she was diagnosed she usually wouldn't eat breakfast until almost noon. After diagnosis I have pushed her back to an 8:00am - 9:00am time frame, close to when she normally wakes up. She eats supper when we eat (this is almost a guarantee that she will eat dinner if we sit down to eat) at about 6:00pm. Not how you are supposed to do it but it works for us. If I had to do a 12 hour feeding schedule I think Snickers would choose death instead.

I play hardcore and pull her food if the she doesn't eat in the morning and don't give in until supper. She gets half a dose of insulin in these cases and her numbers are ok (Snickers is not too hard to regulate)

I also cut back on how much food I give her. She used to get 3/4 cup twice a day but some days she wouldn't always eat. Over time we've gotten down to less than 1/2 cup at a feeding and she had maintained her weight for several months now. Shorting her by less than 1/8 a cup this last adjustment has made a world of difference. Figuring out the insulin dose was a little trickier.

Just keep at it and be consistent.

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Six weeks into diabetes with Sam, need help

What we did is went to our local pet food store bought a bag of dry food low protein, low fat fed exactly the amount according to the manufacturers feed schedule twice a day. Sometimes in the am we added a quality wet dog food just as a topper to mix in just a tablespoon. Injecting the right amount of insulin according to his weight. Good luck

Mo