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[coco]

Coco is a 9 year old Yorkie and currently weighs 8lbs and was diagnosed with sever DKA, UTI and Pancreatitis on 2-14-2016. Day 6 and she still will not eat. She has been cared for by our vet, and now it is time for homecare, she is alert now and being at the vet all day stresses her.
I am to give her 50ml IV twice a day, and also 2units of vetsulin twice a day. Vet did not administer insulin today and I will not either unless her numbers raise.
Please respond if you have any tips on getting her to eat, or reassure me if your dog did not eat for a long period during recovery. how many days?
I have tried all her favorites.

[amydunn19]

Hi and welcome! My dog went through a similar experience. She would eat boiled chicken in homemade broth and only very sparingly. Some can add rice but mine wouldn't eat it. It takes time to heal from a bad case of pancreatitis. They usually refuse to eat because they just don't feel like it. I would start very light and easily digestible foods. What have you tried so far?

Are you monitoring blood sugar at home?

[jesse girl]

Re: newbie need help and suport my dog will not eat

my jesse did not really eat the 8 days she spent in hospital and did not really eat for a few more days at home

as amy said its a slow process and really you dont want to rush it with full meals

you probably dont want to give a full 2 units until you see some consistent eating . for most of us you can give a quarter of the normal dose without food and that would be about a half unit for your pup . i know a bit hard to line up on the syringe but it can be done

home testing would be a plus in this situation adjusting the amount of insulin for what is consumed and just keeping your pup safe

[LizE]

Re: newbie need help and suport my dog will not eat

My dog was also very sick when she was first diagnosed and lost over 20% of her body weight. She was always treated on an outpatient basis since the vet didn't want to stress her out any more than necessary.

After the initial crisis passed she didn't eat very much for the first 10 days. At first I had to cook up burger every time I wanted to feed her. The act of cooking it seemed to get her a little interested in the food. She wouldn't touch food that was reheated. I would try adding rice but she ate around that. I also had to feed her by hand for the first several days but she still didn't eat very much.

My doctor prescribed Mirtazpine, an appetite stimulant, and that helped. She was also given anti nausea meds initially since she was vomiting. We were told to feed her anytime we thought we could get her to eat and not to worry about being on a schedule based on when she was getting insulin.

I slowly changed her over from cooked meat to adding dry dog food to her meals. That took about a week. Now I just use meat as a topper to dog food, just to get her interested in mealtime.

Snickers had back to back Uti's. It wasn't until the second round of antibiotics (different one each time) was done that she started to act more like her old self. She's older and I think being so sick just really took a lot out of her. We're only 2 1/2 months into her diagnosis and she still continues to recover.

As for getting your dog to eat, getting her interested in the smell of the food first might help. Also, I bathed and groomed my dog, even on the worst of the days as I think that makes her feel better. Keeping her bedding fresh and clean helped too.

My dog has always been a picky eater and getting her to eat has turned out to be the biggest challenge for her after her diagnosis. Hang in there!

[Charlie's mom]

Re: newbie need help and suport my dog will not eat

As she starts to feel better her appetite will come back. Maybe a bit of egg or Parmesan cheese sprinkled on her food would help. We all went through this too

[Magoo's Mom]

Re: newbie need help and suport my dog will not eat

Hi and welcome. I had a diabetic Yorkie who went thru similar problems. She also had IBS and I used to have to hand feed her at midnight as she couldn't go too long without food or would not eat. With my current diabetic Morkie, I am adding some well cooked and drained (actually patted totally dry) Bison. Bison is very lean and it has really helped him get started. There are also some excellent foods that are very easily digestible. I used to use Hills Prescription I/D or Royal Canine low fat. You can try hand feeding small amounts. I found that if my Yorkie did not eat, she got an upset tummy and then wouldn't eat. How about some ground turkey or chicken? I have also added low fat, no sodium, broth which seemed to help. Tuna water is another thing you might try. It's stinky and Magoo loves that. Just a tsp. from a can of all white meat tuna packed in water.
I wish you all the best. It is so hard in the beginning but does get easier!

[coco]

Re: newbie need help and suport my dog will not eat

Hi and welcome! My dog went through a similar experience. She would eat boiled chicken in homemade broth and only very sparingly. Some can add rice but mine wouldn't eat it. It takes time to heal from a bad case of pancreatitis. They usually refuse to eat because they just don't feel like it. I would start very light and easily digestible foods. What have you tried so far?

Are you monitoring blood sugar at home?

Last 3 days she's ate about 1-2 tablespoons food. I am giving her whatever she will eat, trying to make good choices but I will look into easily digested foods.
First day was sweet potato/ chicken rice.
Second day nibble of ham am, (little avocado, kielbasa pm)
3rd chicken broth 2 tablespoons, 3 spoons baby food beef /veg, spoon short rib nibble pieces.
This morning 3 ml chicken broth, 3 ml baby food.
All through syringe, except for meat nibbles. She always ate eveything(good choices healthy options we called her porky) now I get excited when we find something she likes but next offering she puts her nose up to it.

I am monitoring at home, and the vet is helping me through text. We are adminestring 1-2 units while not eating. Usually 1 unit around 5 pm. She gets 220-260. Most the day she's 160 currently.
Is there a recommended table for dosing/ levels somewhere?
And is mild panting a concern? We are on day 2 of home are after 5 days of vet care. So many unknowns for us. Thank you

[coco]

Re: newbie need help and suport my dog will not eat

Thank you! So much everyone for your responses.
coco is eating 1-2 tablespoons of food in evening last 2 nights. I will look into easy digestion foods, at this point I'm giving her what she'll accept. Sweet potato, avocado, chicken and rice, meat, just bought chicken broth and some baby food. She is mainly being fed with a syringe, and taking a couple nibbles of meat. I get excited when we find something she'll eat, but she never wants it the next time I tried to feed her. Last night it was a few bites of our short ribs for dinner that interested her. I bet if I buy it for her tonight she won't be interested��

I am glucose testing at home and thankfully the vet is in contact through text! She was treated 5 days at the vet, now she is on day 3 of home care.
The vet has recommended 1-2 units while not eating, then 2 units twice a day when eating, we do her first curve in about a week.
She is reading 160 in morning, not eating
Early evening she's reading 220,230 last two nights she received 1 unit Friday 9pm,sat 5:30pm 150. 119 before bed, I dab honey on her gums to avoid low since she's getting insulin in evening, last night when she was 119 @10:30 I gave her a teaspoon Karo


I check her every 2-4 hours. Depending on if she ate, I gave her insulin or she's low, then I check with in the hour, otherwise I check every 3-4 hours.

Is there a post with guidelines for glucose numbers? Safe numbers, when to give insulin, when to give Karo? Is honey as good as Karo or is Karo preferred?
I'm great full for the info shared. I had not realized recovery could take so long. Thanks for the reassurance.

[coco]

Re: How often should we be visiting the vet?

Hi Chirsteen and Balto!

We have actually never had a curve done at the vet. We have always done them at home because we knew Vinny would be too anxious to get a good reading at the vet. We share our numbers with them and everyone is happy! There's lots of info on this forum about testing at home and many of us do it if you're interested!

Good luck!
Mel and Vinny

Where can I find the info on this forum to test at home? 7 days new to this and trying to figure it out. Thank you

[CraigM]

Re: How often should we be visiting the vet?

Where can I find the info on this forum to test at home? 7 days new to this and trying to figure it out. Thank you

Here's a starting point: http://www.k9diabetes.com/bgtestvideos.html

You can also find videos on YouTube.

Craig

[CraigM]

Re: How often should we be visiting the vet?

Where can I find the info on this forum to test at home? 7 days new to this and trying to figure it out. Thank you

Here's a start for YouTube videos
http://youtu.be/V8YDSaDZ6X0

Craig

[CraigM]

Re: How often should we be visiting the vet?

And even more info about testing can be found in this article
http://www.2ndchance.info/diabetesdog.htm

[coco]

Re: How often should we be visiting the vet?

And even more info about testing can be found in this article
http://www.2ndchance.info/diabetesdog.htm

Thank you great info! I'm comfortable testing and going well, I just wanted to understand insulin injections, my dog is on day 8 and only eating 2tblespoons of food. The vet has been great through text, I just don't want to feel so bothersome. My least favorite is home adminestring her Iv, sub q. Thanks for the helpful info.

[CraigM]

Re: How often should we be visiting the vet?

Thank you great info! I'm comfortable testing and going well, I just wanted to understand insulin injections, my dog is on day 8 and only eating 2tblespoons of food. The vet has been great through text, I just don't want to feel so bothersome. My least favorite is home adminestring her Iv, sub q. Thanks for the helpful info.

Your situation with giving IV and other complications is waaaaay beyond my knowledge. I've been at this for 8 years with Annie's diabetes, but would have to do a lot of guessing if she had other major problems. It is so difficult if they don't eat full, repeatable, meals to determine their insulin dosage.

Craig

[jesse girl]

Re: newbie (Coco) need help and suport my dog will not eat

without giving any food you can give about quarter of the normal dose . the problem is you dont know what the normal dose is of yet but you have been giving one unit i believe ( if i am incorrect let me know ) you have seen numbers in the 100s which good but so early into this there might be risk of going lower with not having much wiggle room as we call it .

if with the couple spoonfuls of food that seems to raise it up a bit or at least maintain you maybe able to hold at that one unit but in any case a bit more testing maybe preferable

you maybe able to get an understanding when the nadir is ( time of lowest blood sugar ) which can be helpful . you might also get an initial impression of how blood sugar fluctuates throughout the day with injected insulin

as your doing i would not force feed let the appetite naturally come back as not to put to much pressure on the pancreas

the fluids will help . so now it a waiting game to let the body heal . if your pup is responsive and feeling better thats a good sign if you see any blood sugar below a 100 i would not hesitate to reduce the dose of insulin . i i understand that can be difficult to measure up but it can be done without half unit marking as with humane insulin syringes that are 30 units u-100 syringe where pet insulin only uses u-40 which use only full unit measurements ( not sure what insulin your using and which syringe )

my jesse only has one meal a day for specific reasons and if she is in the low 100s she can receive 1.5 units with a milk bone snack and stay in that range all day she is 26 pounds . now that maybe comparing apples to oranges with your pup. now with a full meal she is getting 5 to 6 units