Dudley

[DudleysMom]

Dog's name, breed: Dudley 8 yr old Puggle

Weight: 44 lbs.

Diet: Hills Prescription WD Canned

Insulin: Novolian N

Number of units per injection and injections per day: 10 units twice a day

Brand of BG meter if home testing: Accu-chek Compact

My dog Dudley was just diagnosed with diabetes last week. He spent 3 days at the vets because his glucose levels were over 600. Giving him his insulin injections is fairly easy but I have been having trouble testing his glucose levels. I cant seem to get the dog to bleed enough anywhere I have tried his ears, callouses on the backs of his legs, and his lip and have had no luck. Im using the lancets that came with the glucose meter. Do pet lancets work better? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Patty]

Re: Dudley

Hi and welcome to you!

I copied your post here in a thread for Dudley so more people would respond to it

I'm not sure which lancing device comes with the Compact. I always liked the Accu-chek Softclix. For many, the lip often yields the best results.

Sometimes though it takes finding the right setting for depth on your device (you can always lance by hand as well). Or, moving slightly forward or back in the area you're working with. I find with my dog if I'm too far forward or back she doesn't bleed as much. Right across from the canine tooth seems to be the sweet spot. I'm keep playing around with it a bit.

I noticed you're using Novolin N. Walmart has a contract with Eli Lilly for Humulin N under their Relion name for about half the price. If you're interested, probably now would be the best time to switch while you're still getting started. The two insulins are typically interchangeable (same ingredients, but sources for the ingredients can be different between the 2 companies). Though we have had a few dogs that did better on one or the other.

Glad to have you here!
Patty

[jesse girl]

Re: Dudley

We used the accu-check lancing device about a year ago i am not sure if its the same one but we had a hard time even getting blood from the lip we were not using the meter a friend gave me the accu-check lance devise

I switched to the lance device that came with the meter I was using and worked great on the lip best place to get blood for my jesse

I used other lancing devices and they worked good just the accu-check did not work for us

[CarolW]

Re: Dudley

Hi! You seem off to a good start, willing to test BG levels - that is about the greatest, most wonderful thing you can do for your dog!

I've found the lancets that come with the meters - intended for humans - tended to be too thin-in-the-needle to produce reliable blood samples from Kumbi. They were usually 28-gauge. So I bought some 25-gauge lancets. The OneTouch lancets ARE NOT MARKED, but their 25-gauge lancets are called "Fine Point."

Because I never used a device, but pricked by hand, it didn't matter what brand of lancet I bought; usually, I got Freestyle lancets - marked on the box as 25-gauge.

Also, I think pricking by hand, you don't get the force that a device produces, which is why I'd sink the lancet to its full depth. The holes in Kumbi's "lip" (really, the inner lining of the mouth) would heal up just fine.

Once I managed to get some 21-gauge lancets - THOSE were GREAT! One prick, and there's the sample! (The lower the gauge-number, the thicker the lancet-needle, same as with syringes.)

Here's a page where I discuss pricking (the lip) for samples, lancet-gauge, and getting the samples:

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/lipstick1.php

If you want to follow the entire sequence, the main page is here:

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

A neighbor of mine has a Puggle (Pug/Beagle; is that right?) Very cute dog! I think he's a couple of years old now; maybe a bit older, but younger, obviously, by quite a bit, than your Dudley!

Here's our Big Fat Welcome to you and Dudley! Hope you really enjoy this Fabulous Forum!

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:52:18 (PDT)

[DudleysMom]

Re: Dudley

Thank you very much for all the responses! The websites and all your advice is very helpful! I am going to the store to get thicker lancets so hopefully I can get a reading. I will ask the vet about Humulin N when he goes in for his check up next week. Is there any type of treat that I can give him? The vet suggested green beans and carrots but I cant get him to eat either of them. And yes a puggle is a pug/beagle.

[Mickey'sMom123]

Re: Dudley

Re the greenbeans - not sure if you're giving raw or cooked. We give Mickey either steamed or microwaved (comes in a bag you just pierce with a fork and put in the microwave) - and he likes those. We find that he likes the cooked ones and they are easier for him to digest. We stopped giving him baby carrots, because we were concerned about the sugar (however small) affecting his glucose levels.

[MaryLea]

Re: Dudley

Welcome to our family!

Congrats on home testing, too.

We found that 26 guage lancets worked best and the spot opposite the canine tooth in her mouth was almost perfect, once we changed to the larger (lower gauge numbered) ones. I could switch from one side of her mouth to the other and even though that still meant two samples a day from each side, it was usually OK. The spots close quickly and there must not be many nerve endings there. Other locations did not work well for us.

The lancets that came with the meter were too small (as someone else said). I could not handle doing it manually, so used a device, set at the most penetrating level. I thought that would hurt her, but she rarely complained. If she did, I had done something differently which she did not like.

Keep experimenting until you find the best spot for your Dudley. You are definitely on the right track!

Ruffles loved carrots, but we had to give those up after she was diagnosed. She never liked green beans for some reason, although she would eat most other veggies.

Best wishes,

Mary

[k9diabetes]

Re: Dudley

Our diabetic dog wouldn't eat a vegetable if you paid him in beef jerky! He flipped green beans across the carpet with a look of disdain...

You can use tiny bits of meat like boiled white meat chicken or lean roast beef - skip prepared ones that have salt, onion, and garlic added.

In this early phase, you want to limit treats as much as possible but they can be helpful for things like injections and testing.

Our dog used to get one mini milkbone (he was 62 pounds) after each injection and he really looked forward to his injections as a result. The mini milkbone, since it was given right after meal, was just figured into his meal calories. He never needed treats for testing.

I think thicker lancets will be helpful to you, along with trying different spots on the lip. With Chris, we used a "sweet spot" just back from his canine tooth and a little way back from the edge of the lip, but not too far back! If we moved away from that spot, it was harder to get blood.

I used the Softclix set at 2.5 on Chris' lip, while I can get blood from my own white-collar-worker finger with it set on 0.5!

If you've seen our video testing Chris, that isn't actually how I did it normally. I had him sitting up because the camera was on a tripod and it was easier to see.

But normally I had him lie on his side so I had a flat surface to work with on his lip. I put my index and middle finger on opposite sides of the spot I was going to lance and pulled the lip skin slightly taut. And then I applied just a little bit of pressure with the clicker. That worked great for us.

With experimentation, you will find what works for Dudley.

Natalie

[DudleysMom]

Re: Dudley

I bought some 21 gauge lancets today as someone suggested and tried getting some blood from the callouses on his legs. The meter gave me an error saying it didn't have enough blood again. I'm going to try his lip to see if I can get enough there even though he is not fond of me pricking him on his lip. I steamed some green beans last night and did get him to eat a few. Thanks again for all the advice!

[CarolW]

Re: Dudley

Please let us know how the 21-gauge lancets work out! And - where did you get them? After I got my first 200, I was never able to get any more! But I'm in Canada; I guess you're in the U..S, right?

I THINK you should get samples just fine with those lancets, from the lip, anyway. Should be able to prick by hand. Do keep us posted!

Cheering you on!

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:01:40 (PDT)

[CraigM]

Re: Dudley

The meter gave me an error saying it didn't have enough blood again.

Sometimes I think the meters are trying to play games with us!

When I first started testing, I wasted a lot of strips trying to get the blasted meter to work. Now, sometimes the droplet is so small I figure I don't have a chance, but "beep" the meter says it has enough. Don't think I'm doing anything different.