New and Questions about Maggie

[Kaburton]

Hello all!

I am so excited to find this forum. My sweet Maggie (8 year old yorkie) was just diagnosed with Diabetes and it’s been a lot to take in/emotional week. I need some advice and reassurance. Maggie weighs about 17 lbs and last August, we had a scary flare up of acute pancreatitis, which has lead to her diabetic diagnosis. I spoke with the vet and we’re now on Vetsulin 2.5 units twice a day. We currently feed her “Fromm—Senior and low activity dry food”, because it’s a low-fat diet to prevent the pancreatitis. We have 3 dogs, so feeding time is obviously chaotic. Maggie is a grazer. What can I do do to ensure that she eats her full meal without breaking the bank but keeping her healthy? I work 8 hour shifts in a hospital and it’s difficult to come home at my 30 min lunch break. Is this too long to have her go without eating?

I am a nurse so I realize I may be making this more difficult than it should be but I’m not a vet and dogs are much different than humans lol. My vet didn’t suggest a glucometer and that was weird to me. She just said to bring Maggie back into the vet in 2 weeks. Should I buy a glucometer? How often do I check it if so?

My last question is, we’re on the first week of the two times a day insulin injections and tonight at dinner, I gave Maggie her insulin and within 15 mins, she was pretty tired. Easy to arouse but like seemed really tired & didn’t want to move much. Should I be concerned? I would imagine this is a huge adjustment for her. Oh and she has a UTI so she’s on antibiotics.

Please help this worried momma! Thanks guys
Katie

Ps am I crazy to have set up a camera to watch her throughout the day? Or is this too much?

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: New member looking for advice

hi and welcome to you and your Maggie.

anything we can do to help us in their diabetic journey is worth doing!!

yes i.d install surveillance.

just reading your post, i.ll be right back.

K9 diabetes should be i shortly to start your own thread

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: New member looking for advice

at first its important to know their blood sugar readings especially at injection times. when the bg is over 200 wait till its over 200 to inject.
waiting 2 weeks to see the vet is scary to me

it must be a real treat to do your job then come home to your family of fur babies.

i got a glucose meter and tested my Riliey at home doing weekly curves taking blood every 2 hours for a twelve hour period then adjusting insulin according to the lowest number.
we can help you regulate Maggie at home. theirs lot to read on the main page here.

having a uti will raise Maggies blood sugar until the antibiotics have cleared it up. its advisable to buy a meter, strips and lancet. amazon has the animal meter Alphatrack kit for about $70

[Kaburton]

Re: New member looking for advice

Thank you so much. This is helpful and reassuring. I did end up buying the AlphaTrak 2 glucometer yesterday and should be here Saturday. And definitely yes, coming home to all 3 of my babies is the highlight of my day. They truly are angels that chose fur instead of wings.

So the weekly curve would be a one day a week thing? I think that’s a great idea. Thank you.

[Kaburton]

Re: New member looking for advice

Hi all!!

So I wanted to jump on here to see what my next step should be. Maggie has been on insulin for 6 days at 2.5 units twice a day. I’m feeding her half a cup of Fromm reduced activity and about 1T-1/2 T of Purina En Low Fat with her insulin at 7:30 am& 7:30 pm. I just got her glucometer in. When we brought her to the vet, she was diagnosed with UTI and diabetes last Monday and glucose was 700. I’ve checked her sugar one time Friday and one time today about 2 hours after dinner/insulin because she’s been pretty drowsy, but easy to arouse. Not her spunky self tho. I’m thinking she’s hypoglycemic. Friday her sugar was 699 and tonight it’s 653. I realize you have to slowly lower blood sugars or it can cause brain swelling, but like what should I do? I also think the addition of the new food is causing some bloating but she doesn’t seem to be in pain. I’m also worried about her pancreatitis flaring up! I give her a purina fortiflora probiotic (since her pancreatitis in August). I cant tell what she needs. Please help this worried momma! Thanks everyone

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: New member looking for advice

with her uti and antibiotics she definately needs more insulin.

also shes been started on a relatively low dose of insulin. 2.5
for a 17 pound dog estimated starting dose of 4 units.

call your vet with your high meter reading . they should raise her dosage right away without a curve

you can raise it yourself by doing a curve then upping according to the lowest number.

remember 1/2 unit will raise 50, 1 unit will raise 100.

regulation is around 250.

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: New member looking for advice

you know your dog, if you think the new food is a problem then stop it.

i would stick to one food for now.

is half a cup of Fromm on the feed guide for a 17 pound dog

[robl45]

Re: New and Questions about Maggie

Not saying vets are bad and I actually have a really good one, but my vet when I went through this 4 years ago was charging 100 dollars a time to curve the dog and it was getting stupidly expensive. I bought a meter, cheap relion from walmart, people say they don't read correctly, but I mentioned it to the vet and they said it was fine. curved each hour or so for a number of days until I got her levels right. I don't know how much Vetsulin costs, but my dog snowball has been on Walmart Insulin for 4 years and she still kickin and the walmart insulin is like 25 bucks. As for feeding/etc at first we were really strict and same time etc, but with 2 kids, life gets in the way sometimes, if its really out of time like really late, really early, then I'll adjust slight, like if its late, I'll give her full dose and drop the dose in at the next feeding. If its early I'll probably do a little less dose that time. Also and this was told by the vet to me that they have to be more cautious on the dose versus someone who is checking the sugar. I don't check sugar much anymore because Snowball is blind and isn't very tolerant to me pricking her ear so its only in case of real emergency that I"m checking the sugar.

Finally, You might want to look into Hills W/D food. I'm pretty damn cheap, but this food keeps the levels lower so I'm dosing Snowball less insulin than I was before.

FINALLY, and probably most important is my dog would never eat her food, she would take a piece of kibble and walk 20 feet, eat it and then walk back to the dish, it was hours if at all that she would finish the food. She got diabetes and she pretty much finishes the food in 5 minutes now so its been pretty easy to give her the injection. We sometimes will wet and heat the food a bit and other times if she really stubborn we will mix in some chicken or bread at the bottom. Probably could use bone broth too but we never did that with her.

[Kaburton]

Re: New and Questions about Maggie

First I want to say thank you all for responding and I am really happy I can get some advice here. And to know I’m not alone.

Stressful update: We’ve had 2 glucose curves and both times there have been “issues” where the vet thinks the curves aren’t true readings. But we’re still making alterations to the insulin but we’re not sure the curves are correct? I have a problem with that. We have to go back in 2 weeks for another one? Oh and she mentioned “well now I’m wondering if it’s cushings disease” but “her other labs are all fine”. Huh?? So we’ve misdiagnosed? I’m just not happy with her. I have been very strict about Maggie’s regimen and followed every step they’ve told me to do, which has been very vague. I’ve had to ask the questions, send emails, and reach out. I’ve had to clarify if her insulin was compatible with her heart worm meds, probiotics, etc. She told me it was ok for Maggie to graze between meals when everything I’ve read says be strict.. Idk what to believe.

During The first curve, Maggie wouldn’t eat so they had to force feed her and the curve wasn’t true. Today, the vet told me I probably didn’t give the shot correctly and im not trying to toot my own horn, but im a registered nurse and giving insulin is second nature to me. It wasn’t the injection I gave.

I guess my purpose of that is to see if someone has gone through something similar. Do I get another opinion? So many people change the dose based on timing and how much the pup eats but I haven’t been given that direction.

Half a cup of Fromm 2 times a day is the recommendation on the bag. That’s what I have been doing.

Thanks everyone!!!! Hoping to get some routine down soon!

[jesse girl]

Re: New and Questions about Maggie

Doing curves at the vet is going to be a challenge as it's stressful on the dog and may not get correct information as you need that to determine dosage.

After a month at the vet I decided to manage my Jesse's diabeties at home . No vet . She lived a healthy 11 years with the disease under my care testing sugar at home ,giving some 10000 or more shots and developing a homemade diet that many said I can't do with no medical expertise . I also only fed her one meal a day which was unheard of

The expertise of the forum got me started . They did not have the magic answer but could give some guidance. It took a while . 6 months to turn a corner and I could relax a bit and a year to have an established routine that needed no more tweaking and intervention. It was worth every solitary moment . It also benefited me as I took a healthy path . I always said my Jesse caught diabeties to save me .

Vets can only do a tiny amount. If a dog is easy to regulate great but if not it's going to be a struggle to do it at the clinic and costly

Cushing is a go to diagnosis when regulation is not going the desired way . I would recommend talking to our sister site k9 Cushing's and talk to them before any treatment . Remember the medication just treats the symptoms and don't want to give if not a Cushing dog.

My Jesse was difficult to regulate but worth every moment. I also said Jesse caught diabeties to save my life as I changed my lifestyle right along with her .

You can post your curves . Put down when fed , shots were given and times and amount . Any other thing out of the ordinary is helpful . You have to become a medical detective . The more info the better . Especially during the regulation process

I can say 95 percent get to a much better place and get their dogs regulated but that can be very different depending on the dogs situation.

3 to 6 months from now you may wonder what all the fuss was about .