Diabetic dog not eating

[sammymac]

Hi, My dog Buddy was diagnosed a year ago, he is a 2 and a half year old Labrador cross collie, which is very unusual for a dog of his age. It took almost a year to stabilise him and he is on insulin injections twice a day at 10 units each time. Over the last few weeks it has been a real struggle to get him to eat in the mornings, ive mixed some wet food with his dry food, added chicken and various other things but he just doesn't particularly want it in the mornings. He eats normally in the evenings. My dilemma is that i was told by one vet when he was first diagnosed that if he doesn't eat he shouldn't have his insulin, but then his sugars go a bit high, i discussed this with my vet and he said to just give him his insulin as normal even if he doesn't eat - this concerns me as surly his sugars will go really low if he he doesn't eat and that could be really dangerous especially as im out at work in the mornings, i just don't know what to do for the best?

[farrwf]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

I have / had a similar "morning meal" issue with Otis and now with Sonny. Both showed much less interest in the morning meal than in the evening. In fact, Sonny will leave a small amount of kibble in his bowl almost every morning. Then he'll Hoover up the treat dish I use to give him his insulin shot, just a few minutes later.

Evenings, he Hoovers up everything in his bowl, then spends a few seconds licking it clean.

I've attributed this behavior to some dogs being like some people, and simply aren't that hungry when they get up in the morning. I handle this by giving Sonny a "tad" less insulin in the morning than his evening "normal" dose.

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

hi an welcome

yes do not give a full dose of insulin without any food . a friend once told me there is nothing common about having common sense and shows its good you have it

what we have determined on the forum to give a quarter of the normal dose without food is ok . if your testing blood sugar at home you maybe able to adjust that depending on the numbers

my jess is actually one of few if any at all that gets only one meal a day . she gets a dose of insulin with dinner and in the morning she gets an adjusted dose of insulin with a milk bone

now for a young dog to have appetite problems that may point to something else going on if this is something unusual . pancreatitis is common in diabetic dogs and maybe you could be seeing early stages to this a sore abdomen could be a clue to that . with anything you have to be a defective to help the vet make a diagnosis if something else is going on

having prolonged higher blood sugar for long periods of time is not helpful without any injected insulin . of coarse if your testing blood sugar at home it makes it much easier giving a dose of insulin without or some food and determining how much

[chucksmom]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

Hi sammymac welcome
I have had the same problem with Chuck, he's a Rottie, and until he was diagnosed with diabetes, he ate like a horse.
At the advice of my vet, I started giving him Famotidine, generic pecid, about 30 minutes before each meal. After a few days he started eating well again at both meals.
The vet had already ruled out pancreatitis and any other underlying issues, so we tried the famotidine and it worked for him.
I've also heard since then from others that give famotidine that it can also work as an anti nausea med. So if you rule out pancreatitis and other health issues, this could be something to try.
I get walmarts generic famotidine, just bought a bottle yesterday 200 20mg tablets for under $10. I use the 20mg, because Chuck is a big boy, 108 lbs. It's like a little treat before I test his blood at meal times, I get a little blob of fat free cream cheese and stick the pill inside and he just eats it right up, lol

[Charlie's mom]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

We had the same problem too in the beginning, plus Charlie needed regain some weight and muscle. Nuking a scrambled egg did the trick for us, the anticipation of waiting for the microwave ding might help too!

[sammymac]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

Thank you everyone for your replies. The vet doesnt think there is anything underlying but he has a 2 or 3 infections 2 in his leg from where blood was taken and a large lump on the back of his neck we think at one of his injection sights. They all cleared up with antibiotics. Its so difficult, when i first took him to the vet i just thought he had a water infection as he is so young and was a very fit, healthy pup! I think i will just reduce his food and insulin in the mornings and try to test over the next few days to see whats happening. Unfortunately my insurance has now finished i only got it for 12 mths. Im not sure i have much trust in my vet especially after telling me to give 10 units with no food in the mornings. I am grateful for any other thoughts/advice as im pretty new to all of this. Oh and thanks for the welcome.

[Cara Sandler]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

You are definitely correct to not give a full dose of insulin if your pup doesn't eat. Generally, we say to give 1/4 of the dose.

[Shellie]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

As the mom of the original picky eater who will NOT eat in the morning no matter what I do, I have had to sort of work around the issue. If he continues to do this and it becomes a habit rather than just a momentary health concern, you will probably have to accept he'll be a semi-regulated diabetic. I give Hank about 3/4 of his regular dose at 1100 am rather than at 630 am when we wake up because he won't eat til afternoon. Then I give him his next dose (full dose) at 830 pm. He gets food put down at the 1100 dose and eats when he is ready. There are days when I know he does go lower than I'd like but forcing him to eat just so I can dose him on MY schedule was not working. He pretty much eats anytime he wants from 1100 to about 11 pm. I accept the fact that his curves look horrific and he bounces around from high to low and that this is probably cutting a year off his life but you cannot force them to eat...just accept what they are willing to do.

Anyhow...I REALLY hope that this is a passing fad with him and you can get back to a regular schedule.

[sammymac]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

Hi, Buddy has eaten all of his breakfast for the last 3 days so hopefully it was just a phase!
Buddy is very muscley and not overweight at all, I usually inject him on the back of his neck in a kind of cross area. Is there anywhere else thats easy to inject into, it seams to be getting a bit tough in that area but ive found it difficult to find skin to lift in other areas?

[jesse girl]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

usually that scruff of the neck is not the best place due to absorption and like you have said it can develop scar tissue fairly quickly and make it difficult to inject

i use the backside for jesse either side of the spine maybe 8 inches up from the base of the tail . she is a beagle so easy to tent back there

remember any change in injection site location could affect how the body process insulin

[farrwf]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

When you inject in one place, like the scruff of the neck, ... lumps will form. Best to move the injection sight around s bit.

I use the side, several inches away from the front shoulder and about 6" from the spine. I move around that entire area, to just past the rib cage.

[amydunn19]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

Maggie always yelped when we tried the scruff - you don't get great absorption there anyway. She has been diabetic so long that she has some scar tissue despite me always moving the injections. I have been working down the sides and top of the back. I just avoid the spine! She seems to get pretty good absorption there and I don't tent. I just pull up what skin I can and inject at the bottom.

[mzizgayle]

Re: Diabetic dog not eating

vet showed me the neck to test, but I use the sides etc, much easier since Cee Cee has a chubby neck. When Prissy (now over the Rainbow Bridge) was put on food for allergies, prescribed by vet, she refused to eat, I would practically stand on my head to get her to eat, after couple days she decided I wasn't giving in so she decided to eat, sort of like a spoiled child lol