Patty's Ali - my precious, beautiful angel

[peggy0]

Re: Patty's Ali

Oh geez, nothing like a scare and again thank goodness for home testing. Hoping Ali perks up for the rest of the evening Patti

[ozzi]

Re: Patty's Ali

OMG Patty! What is going on with our doggies this weekend?!! It's been hypo-city around here! It does sound like you nicked a small vessel, which fortunately is nothing to worry about. But the 39....that was just too close to home having just dealt with a similar number yesterday! I'm so glad Ali's BG went up fairly quickly with the honey.

Because of Ozzi's experience, I compared the carb and sugar content in the honey, pancake syrup, molasses and Karo (corn syrup) that I have in my house, and the honey had the highest amount, followed by molasses, maple syrup and Karo in that order. I'm not sure that this is true across the board, but it is the case for the products I have on hand. My vet had only told me about Karo, and for me, it's the least effective choice and may be the reason Ozzi didn't respond so well yesterday, coupled with the fact that he hates it and was spitting it out as I was putting it in his mouth (quite a scene really!)

If this happens again, I will go for the honey first. The other thing that I realized in retrospect is that I fed Ozzi a half can of his usual food (BB Wilderness which is grain-free, low carb and high protein), which works well for him when he's more regulated, but probably isn't the best choice when you want to carb load! So now I have the honey and a can of Alpo all ready in the cabinet...hoping never to need it!

Kevin

[CarolW]

Re: Patty's Ali

Geez, Patty; it never seems to end; one thing after another. I think maybe Noodle is leading the way with his stash-hunting - Ali is doing things differently! So is Kumbi, who has been watching me like a hawk, disappearing out the door at just about any move I make that he thinks COULD be preparation for another BG test.

It'll take a few days for HIM to calm down - another day at least, I think! He was SO grateful I didn't test him today, but of course, I'm watching him. Same as he's watching me!

And I realized how very much, when WE get stressed, or busy, our dogs notice all of it, yes, ALL Ali of it!

Well, I'm so tired now I'm just getting silly!

But I hope Ali feels better very shortly. you are SUCH a great DogMum; I expect she will!

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:32:41 (PDT)

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali

I know craziness, right? You'd think there was a full moon or something with all that's going on, lol . I think the insulin must've gotten into her blood stream and gave a faster response.

Ali was in the 170s at hour 3 so she really rose. Not sure how much to feed of her regular meal at hour 4 since she's on the rise and I'd fed part of it early. We'll see what she is at 11pm and go from there.

You know Kevin it's worth mentioning I'd had trouble with my honey getting hard once it's opened and been around about a month or so. I found there's a bottle at Wal-mart (Great Value) that has a plastic valve inside the cap and keeps it from crystalizing so fast. Important when you need to grab it quickly.

Patty

[ozzi]

Re: Patty's Ali

Thanks for the tip Patty! You are right about needing it right away, and there's not a lot of time to run it under hot water in an emergency. Yesterday I was reading about canine diabetes and hypoglycemia and the web site (I forget which one) suggested carrying a tube of cake decorating gel, which apparently is mostly sugar, and inexpensive. I'm going to look at it tomorrow when I go to the store, because if it looks like it would be okay, it would be easy to have a small tube with me when I'm out with Ozzi, or traveling in the car. Personally, I like the idea of a liquid form of sugar for ease of administration rather than using glucose tablets, particularly if the hypo event were to cause seizures or unconsciousness.
Kevin

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali

I've heard of people using frosting tubes. Never tried it though. You can google Insta Glucose as well. This is what I keep in Ali's test kit for emergencies. I think I got mine at a Walgreens somewhere. I did use about 1/2 a tube on her once when she had her seizure.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Patty's Ali

What a time everyone has been having lately!!

We have carried some frosting as I too get low blood sugar but it gets funky after it's been laying around a while. We wound up sticking with pancake syrup and just kept a whole bottle of it in the car inside a ziplock bag for Chris. I use the glucose tablets for my low blood sugar because syrup is awfully messy.

Chris hated karo too and also wasn't a big fan of handy little prepackaged syrup from McDonald's! But he did like Log Cabin syrup! He had standards apparently.

I think the main thing is liquid is ideal because it would be absorbed the fastest directly through the skin into the bloodstream when rubbed on the gums. Frosting with something like butter in it would probably take a lot longer.

I used to give Chris a full tablespoon of syrup.

Natalie

[Margaret Boyle]

Re: Patty's Ali

Thanks for the tip Patty! You are right about needing it right away, and there's not a lot of time to run it under hot water in an emergency. Yesterday I was reading about canine diabetes and hypoglycemia and the web site (I forget which one) suggested carrying a tube of cake decorating gel, which apparently is mostly sugar, and inexpensive. I'm going to look at it tomorrow when I go to the store, because if it looks like it would be okay, it would be easy to have a small tube with me when I'm out with Ozzi, or traveling in the car. Personally, I like the idea of a liquid form of sugar for ease of administration rather than using glucose tablets, particularly if the hypo event were to cause seizures or unconsciousness.
Kevin

Hi Kevin,

If it is any help I use Asda (your walmart) own brand of squeezy honey (lemon). It is not a big bottle and comes out no bother.

If Lucy has been low it always works for her. It is a nice squeezy bottle and so easy to use.

Just a suggestion


Marg

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali

Just as follow up:
Ali’s urine culture came back negative for UTI, yeah! pH was 7.5 but I’ve been getting 6.75 on my sticks at home. And doc was worried her specific gravity was pretty low at 1.011. She asked me to catch a sample and bring it in to recheck later this week to verify her kidneys are concentrating.

Her cholesterol was up at 360. It was 313 though in December and the reference range is 92-324.
Amylase was low at 272 but it’s always been low. Last time was 264. Reference range is 290-1125.

Her lymphocytes were quite a bit higher 3075 vs. 1984 in Dec but both are within the norm. All other values were within a couple of points of last time and Within Normal Limits.

A good report all in all.
Patty

[ozzi]

Re: Patty's Ali

Patty,
Has Ali's urination been normal or has she been peeing more frequently? I'm glad to hear her culture was negative. That specific gravity is fairly dilute, which is why I was wondering if her urine patterns have changed in terms of frequency and amount (if you have noticed). Is her drinking normal, or has that changed from her norm?
Kevin

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali

Kevin,
Thanks for asking...I talked to the vet about this. She asked the same thing. Her patterns haven't changed.

I did wonder if it had anything to do with her appointment time. She ate her 2nd meal at 11am and drinks a good bit of water with that. Then her appointment was at 1pm. Could've been that she was pretty well hydrated from her meal.

Vet said they'd repeat the specific gravity if I take another sample in. I'll try to catch her later in the afternoon.
Patty

[ladysmom06]

Re: Patty's Ali

Hi Patty,

Glad to hear that Ali had a good report and no UTI. Hugs to you and her.

[connieandgypsy]

Re: Patty's Ali

Hi patty,
I have just read your thread from start to finish. glad to hear no UTI for Ali. I will be watching this with interest, I'm still learning so I will leave the opinions and advice up to others. Thanks for you support with Gypsy

Connie

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali

Wow Connie...start to finish, LOL. We've been through a lot. I told Natalie I felt like I had to try every possible avenue before accepting the fact that she's a huge wobbler! And her allergies are a big part of that.

I've just learned that an allergy treatment facility back home that has helped a couple of friends with severe and numerous allergies has done a treatment on his dog and may be willing to treat Ali. I have seen first hand the miracles this doctor has performed in their lives.

It would be worth it to eliminate some of these food allergies if he's able to work with us.

There's a gentleman back home that was so severely allergic to meat that he would go into anaphylactic shock. The facility treated him for meat allergy. When he was told to try meat, it took him an hour and a half to gain the courage to eat one bite of steak. But he truly had no adverse reaction.

And this is not an uncommon story. They don't guarantee treatment for anaphylactic reactions but can sucessfully treat most other allergies. If I didn't know the people that are being "cured," I'm not sure I'd believe it was for real.

Anyway, I digress. But after learning they may work with us, it's been on my mind...worth checking out anyway

Patty

[Margaret Boyle]

Re: Patty's Ali

Patty,

I hope you get Ali sorted out.

Thinking about you and Ali

Hugs

Marg