Recently started insulin / diarrhea

[C Hampton]

I am new here. We have a 10 yr old lab named Charlie was has been on insulin for 2 weeks. The vet started him on 7 units Humulin N a week ago and increased to 9 this past Thursday. Friday I came home to diarrhea all over the house. Fed him chicken & rice Friday night and gave him his insulin. This morning he still has diarrhea. Not sure what I should do. Is this because of the insulin increase? Would appreciate any help you can offer

[jesse girl]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

hi and welcome

never heard of insulin having an affect on stools

pancreatitis is common among diabetic dogs and that can be a symptom

i would not wait to long if symptoms don't subside to get checked at the vet

any other symptoms

[CraigM]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

Welcome to the forum,
Agree with Jesse Girl, never heard of insulin or even diabetes causing diarrhea. Any food changes in the past few days prior to the diarrhea?

What is Charlie's normal food? Are you feeding him twice a day, 12 hours apart? No snacks between the meals? Insulin right after the meals? How much does he weigh?

As a money saver, you might want to think about switching to Walmart's ReliOn branded Novolin-N for $25/vial. Novolin-N and Humulin-N are both NPH insulins and are similar (some have found a slight difference) in use. Syringes are about the lowest cost there also.

Craig

[Cebe]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

Welcome! Let us know what his regular routine is. What kind of food, when is he fed, what is his weight?

This could be pancreatitis or just common gastritis. Flagyll (sp) might be a good medicine to get from the vet right now.

Are you considering home testing? I recommend it.

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

Hi and welcome.

My first course of action with diarrhea is to fast for at least 1, possibly 2 meals and then start with the bland diet as you did.

If it isn't gastric upset it could be pancreatitis as others have said.

Most diabetics still need and can take 1/4 their normal dose when not eating just to handle the basal insulin requirements.

Look forward to hearing more about your guy.

Tara

[C Hampton]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

First, Charlie weighs between 80 & 90 lbs. He is on Core Wellness healthy weight formula 2x per day. 7am & 7 pm. He gets BB Wilderness grain free duck biscuits after he goes out and after his shot, other than that, no snacking between meals.

A little more history: Charlie was a rescue approx 3 years ago. He was going to be euthanized. The couple that adopted him took him to the vet and got him fixed up. He was found in a cage outside, no food or water. He had broken all his front teeth and nails trying to get out. He had a chicken bone lodged in the roof of his mouth that had punctured his eye socket. One of his back legs had been broken and had healed on its own. His ears are damaged, full of scars and cartiledge from severe head trauma. He was severely dehydrated. Once they got him fixed up, they gave him to their daughter.

We lost our oldest dog, Star Dec. 1, 2012. She had a series of seizures she could not recover from. We have another dog, Molly, a 12 yr old cocker with cushings. Charlie was posted on craigs list in January and we thought it would be a good match for Molly since she was older. When we got him we were told he was perfectly healthy but we were given thyroid medicine with his belongings. We were told he did not need it, his thyroid straightened out when they got him back to health.

Long story short, 3 days after we got him he started peeing- massive amounts- all over the house. 1 1/2 weeks later he had a seizure. Come to find out from his previous owners that he was never to have been off his thyroid medicine. So back on it he went. A week or so later the peeing got so bad we took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes. His BG was 535. The vet said it would be about $200 a month to treat him and my husband had just gone back to work. We didn't have it. So, I joined this site and we tried to see how low we could get his BG with a regulated diet.

When he started his insulin his BG was 430. Nice improvement I thought. I felt encouraged. 1 week after he started on insulin it was 515. The vet said he needs to test him between shots, so he goes Thursday at 1:00. Hopefully the results are better.

I thought I would be home testing but the vet said it was impossible with his condition. I would not be able to get blood. He had to stick Charlie 9 times last week just to get a small amount. His veins are too small and because of the trauma he went through with his mouth he would not allow me to use his gums. So, the situation is not ideal and I fear this is going to make it very difficult to get him regulated. Curves are out too because the vet cannot get enough blood that often.

My biggest concern right now is the diarrhea as we have already been battling dehyration with him.

Thank you for welcoming me. All of your comments, concern and advise is greatly appreciated.

My husband says I am obsessed but Charlie is a beautiful loving boy who has had a horrible life. I just want to help him and make it better.

[Linda1]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

The story about Charlie breaks my heart. I'm glad he is now in a good home. Prayers and good thoughts that you can figure things out and get his health back on track.

[momofdecker]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

Bless your family for loving such a special boy. When my boy started to get dehydrated we put tuna juice, from canned tuna packed in water, in his water bowl. Worked a bit too well as he tried to drink what was left in the bowl. But worked to get him hydrated.

[Cebe]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

Wait, would you have the same difficulty getting blood from the carpal pad?

[jesse girl]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

he sounds like such a loving sole

yes testing blood sugar at home would be ideal

maybe you could build some trust with the inner lip over time doing some dry runs just rolling the lip up and rubbing your finger across the area above the canine tooth . then move on to something that represents a lancing device like an empty pen cartage and placing on the lip area and if he gets comfortable with that you can start trying the real thing this maybe a progression over a month and using some treats and praise you never know it maybe worth a try

another option would be urine strips and a member here has done well with this method not perfect but nothing is if you could get blood sugar in a reasonable range and being in the 200s is ok

you have a good heart and its fortunate you 2 have found each other

[BogiesMom]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

I wanted to send you a warm welcome... You're a special person to take care of such a wonderful animal who I am sure love's you very much.
I hope Charlie improves over the next couple of days...
Dawn

[C Hampton]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

Hi everyone. Had hoped to be on here yesterday but battery ran out on computer. Charlie's diarrhea is gone but his stools are still loose. Fed him boiled hamburger and rice for 1 1/2 days. Seemed to have worked. I called the vet late Saturday and he advised against fasting and did not seem too concerned about any of it. Starting to wonder if I should find a different vet.

Anyways, I will pick up some tuna on the way home. Charlie should like it as he goes crazy when I feed the cats ( Have 4 outdoor strays that adopted us about 5 yrs ago)
How often do I give it to him? Everytime I give him water?

I am also going to start trying to work with his mouth and gums. Great idea! Hope it works. He seems pretty trusting and tolerant of me.

I will ask the vet about the carpal pad. (I'll be researching that next as I have no idea what that is...lol)

But the way, I read over the weekend that there were several complaints about Blue Buffalo dog food causing diarrhea. Charlie does not eat that food but that's what his treats are. Has anyone heard of or had problem with these treats?

[C Hampton]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

Is Novolin- N a human insulin? If so, I will try to get a script from the vet Thursday. He did not want Charlie on pet insulin because he said that although it is more effective it is not always available.

[jesse girl]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

you may not need a script most places dont require in the states for this type of insulin

walmart has the insulin for $25 under the relion brand which is still novolin n

[CraigM]

Re: Recently started insulin / diarrhea

As Jessie Girl stated, a prescription may not be needed. There is no federal law concerning Novolin-N (NPH) or syringes, but the States (even local governments) have sometimes imposed their own laws / regulations on insulin and the selling of syringes.

Actually, I believe prescriptions could be required everywhere if the pharmacy knew we were using the "human" insulin in dogs because that would be an "off label" use. I haven't heard of anyone being turned away, but guess it could happen.

Craig