Understanding Pepper's Juvenile Diabetes

[Lieder2]

Originally Posted by k9diabetes

Her age also means her diabetes will be in flux until she finishes growing. Another big big vote for daily blood sugar testing (and curves too periodically).

Natalie

That was the thing that stood out to me the most with Hero's story. I was able to see a potential end to the struggle of regulating blood sugar and food issues and what prompted me to post a reply in the first place. It may be a long road ahead but it is not forever!!!

[Lieder2]

Doing a curve today with Pepper. How quickly does insulin change her blood sugar levels? Maybe that is not a fair question. Her fasting blood sugar was 365 and has climbed steadily all day. Granted, she has eaten all day today.

8am Fasting 365
8am she ate 1/3 of her food (offered 1 1/4 cup food)
9:30 she ate 1/2 of her food (total of what was offered)
9:30 2 units of insulin
10am 381
12 noon 450
1pm she ate the rest of her food
2pm 471

She will not be fed again until 8pm this evening so I am curious what her blood sugar does. Am I doing the curve correctly? The vet asked me to raise her insulin another unit, bring her in on Tuesday to make sure her meter is set accurately, and they want an accurate weight for her. Oh my this girl!!! It is a good thing she is cute!!!

[jesse girl]

good start

the inconsistency in feeding will stagnate the regulation process until things settle into a routine

the numbers actually are not as bad as you think with the feeding inconsistency's the 471 is not unexpected with the late feeding and insulin maybe fading and food producing added sugar late .

my thought if your pup was dependably eating you maybe seeing numbers in the 300s across the board which maybe give an opportunity to raise the dose

this is going to be tricky and raising a dose of insulin knowing your pup is struggling to eat just twice a day and just finish a meal in one sitting . thats where you need to put your focus on how that can be done or a modified routine that can be duplicated even if its temporary

[amydunn19]

I think you will have a problem if you feed Pepper all day. I understand because I had a dog who refused food for weeks except very small amounts. It is tough but maybe you could substitute some of that food for a more suitable snack. Is there any way to switch your feeding and insulin schedule so you could wait to feed her - some dogs are not hungry in the morning. I don't know if that will work with your schedule or not but if possible you might could go to 9:30 and 9:30. I would try to get her to a twelve hour schedule if at all possible.

If she doesn't eat breakfast, you could give whatever proportion of insulin to whatever she ate. 1/2 meal/1/2 insulin, etc. then, don't keep offering it. Try some green beans or a piece of boiled chicken if she can't stand it. Then, feed her at normal mealtime.

[Lieder2]

The remainder of our day went as follows...

4pm 574
6pm 368
8pm 413
8:30 Fed 1 1/4 cup food (which she ate about 1/2 of her food)
9:30 3 units of insulin

I have several more questions but my brain needs more time to process your responses.

Originally Posted by Lieder2

Doing a curve today with Pepper. How quickly does insulin change her blood sugar levels? Maybe that is not a fair question. Her fasting blood sugar was 365 and has climbed steadily all day. Granted, she has eaten all day today.

8am Fasting 365
8am she ate 1/3 of her food (offered 1 1/4 cup food)
9:30 she ate 1/2 of her food (total of what was offered)
9:30 2 units of insulin
10am 381
12 noon 450
1pm she ate the rest of her food
2pm 471

She will not be fed again until 8pm this evening so I am curious what her blood sugar does. Am I doing the curve correctly? The vet asked me to raise her insulin another unit, bring her in on Tuesday to make sure her meter is set accurately, and they want an accurate weight for her. Oh my this girl!!! It is a good thing she is cute!!!

[Lieder2]

Originally Posted by amydunn19

I think you will have a problem if you feed Pepper all day. I understand because I had a dog who refused food for weeks except very small amounts. It is tough but maybe you could substitute some of that food for a more suitable snack. Is there any way to switch your feeding and insulin schedule so you could wait to feed her - some dogs are not hungry in the morning. I don't know if that will work with your schedule or not but if possible you might could go to 9:30 and 9:30. I would try to get her to a twelve hour schedule if at all possible.

If she doesn't eat breakfast, you could give whatever proportion of insulin to whatever she ate. 1/2 meal/1/2 insulin, etc. then, don't keep offering it. Try some green beans or a piece of boiled chicken if she can't stand it. Then, feed her at normal mealtime.

Oh my goodness!!! I took your advice and it has worked WONDERS!!!!!! I have changed Pepper's feeding time to 9:30 am and 9:30 pm and she is eating all her food in one sitting and is gaining weight!!!! Thank you, thank you!!!

[Lieder2]

Pepper is making great progress. She still struggles with eating, having a week of success followed by a week of tricking her into eating. Her blood sugar is running on the high end and we are still increasing regularly as we work to regulate it. Pepper still drinks lots of water and urinates all over the rug. Grrr! BUT, she is gaining weight!!!!, her coat is soft and smooth, and she PLAYS!!!! (tug-of-war and chase are her favorites) with the kids. (Sorry for the exclamation points. We are very excited.) The change we made recently was so simple but made a huge difference. She is fed an hour and a half later than before. Apparently, Pepper is not a morning person and would rather eat her first meal at 9:30 than 8:00am!!!! Man I wish she would have told me that weeks ago! What a difference 90 minutes has made for our baby girl! At 18 weeks 3 days, our Shepherd Mix is almost 11 pounds and we could not be happier!!!!

[Cara Sandler]

So glad to hear that things are looking up for Pepper :-)

[amydunn19]

When you say increasing regularly, I would be very careful and give any increase 5-7 days to settle and do a curve before increasing any more insulin.

[Lieder2]

Originally Posted by amydunn19

When you say increasing regularly, I would be very careful and give any increase 5-7 days to settle and do a curve before increasing any more insulin.

Oh yes, amydunn19! We are only increasing after 7 days and with closely monitoring her blood sugar. Thank you!