New to the Forum - Bruno

[Mani]

My dog Bruno, chocolate lab, was diagnosed with diabetes last week.
He is 7 years old and weighs 67 lbs (came down from 75 lbs). His blood sugar was 430 and started him on 15 units of Vetsulin 2 days back as per vets recommendation. I checked his blood sugar but it is not coming down yet, seems to be in the range of 380 to 460. Does it take a while for the body to get adjusted to have the blood sugar regulated?

This forum has been of great help and I have been reviewing past threads to see how I can manage my dogs diabetes. In the beginning I was very concerned, not sure how to manage it. Now I feel bit confident after going over the posting of others experience, and Bruno is also taking insulin without fuss.

Thanks!

[MikeMurphy]

Re: New to the Forum - Bruno

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It can take several weeks or even months for a dog’s body to adjust to injected insulin. Is he getting 15 units every 12 hours? If so, that’s a good starting dose for 75 lb dog.

The standard protocol for a newly diagnosed dog is to wait 5 to 7 days on his current dose, do a 12 hour BG curve, analyze the results, if necessary increase insulin by .5 or 1 units. Then keep repeating the process until his low BG reading is around 150. The goal is then to keep him between 150 and 250 for most of the day.

What food is Bruno eating? Also, are you testing with a blood glucose meter?

There’s a ton of good reading info at the main k9diabetes website...http://www.k9diabetes.com/

[jesse girl]

Re: New to the Forum - Bruno

Hi and welcome

It takes a bit of time and patience for numbers to come down into acceptable ranges

You do a complete curve and based on the lowest number in that curve determines if you raise or lower the dose . If numbers in a curve stayed at or above the levels you described than there is an opportunity to raise the dose

With raising the hope is the overall numbers go lower and you continue weekly curves until the numbers get to an adequate range which can be different for each dogs situation

We all started out running around with our heads cut off but overtime you get use to the new normal and for dogs they dont even know they have a problem . The pokes and pricks just end up to be more attention for them and a more closeness for us with our dogs

[Mani]

Re: New to the Forum - Bruno

Bruno

Insulin - 15 units of Vetsulin twice a day.
Weight - 67 lbs, dropped from 75 lbs before the start of the treatment
Food - 2 cups of Orijin stay fit and trim (high protein and low fat) twice a day + some Broccoli florets. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Supplements - Ocuglo - 2 tabs, Salmon oil tablet-2
Meter - Alphatrack 2

Thanks for all your responses.

-Mani

[amydunn19]

Re: New to the Forum - Bruno

Hi and Welcome to the forum.

You will want to consider testing blood sugar at home. Vets don’t always encourage this for varied reasons, but we have all found it to be key in managing diabetes.

Food wise, low fat is preferable but high protein and low carb can be problematic. Because we use intermediate acting insulin and dogs process insulin faster than humans, some carbs are necessary to balance the insulin. Sometimes, a dog will “use up” the insulin quickly if there is not enough carb to slow it down. You want to lengthen the action of the insulin over a 12 hour period, and carbs accomplish this. I always say to use moderate protein, moderate fiber, and lower in fat to avoid pancreatitis. You might want to wait and see if your dog has a problem first because another factor in this disease is that dogs are individual and one size doesn’t fit all. The food may not be a problem so it might be best to change food if you can’t get him regulated or if you can get to a certain point but can’t really get further.

Regulation is rarely a quick process. You can’t go too quickly with changing insulin or you can risk overdosing. Their bodies need time to adjust to each change. Generally 5-7 days after an insulin dose change is adequate but some dogs can take up to 2 weeks.

Everything affects their blood sugar - anxiety/excitement can cause highs or lows and infections usually cause sugar to go up. So, testing at home is critical to figuring out how changes can affect your dog and keep him safe.

[Mani]

Bruno's Update

bruno-resting.jpg

My beloved, sweet and fun loving dog Bruno crossed rainbow bridge on 2/23/23 after surviving diabetes for almost close to 5 years. Bruno became blind in 2021 and was active until the last 2 weeks when his hind legs started giving problems. Even with the blindness he was able to navigate in the house (known area for him) very well. He couldn't put pressure on one of his hind legs and it was affecting his mobility. He was finding it difficult to get up. He also started suffering from arthritis and hip dysplasia. Bruno always showed interest in going for walks even with the pain. Considering his deteriorating health condition, I didn't want him to suffer anymore and had to make a difficult choice of putting him down. It was the hardest decision and I am heartbroken without him. Without Bruno it is a big vacuum in the house and I miss him every moment.

Thanks to this group for guidance on keeping diabetes under control. Without that I would not have been able to get through this journey.

Bruno - Chocolate Lab
Date of birth - 3/31/11
Diagnosed with diabetes - 07/2018
DoD - 2/23/23 (almost 12 years)

[Scootersmom]

So sorry for your loss of Bruno Run free in fields of green clover sweet boy

[jesse girl]

Nothing easy about getting old but dogs have a way of not complaining . I know how difficult it is to make the decesion to let go and Bruno will sure be missed as with all our other diabetic fur babies