My 10-11 year old cockapoo was just diagnosed as diabetic yesterday. I was giving 3 choices..hospitalization (not recommended), insulin program, and euthanasia. After just putting down my other baby 2 weeks ago due to a brain tumor, I am definitely not entertaining putting him to put him to sleep so I am opting to try the insulin. I will go to the vet today again to be "educated," and learn how to give the shots. Just wondering if anyone had been thru this, and any thoughts/tips that could be offered. I'm a bit afraid this may be too much for me in my present situation, (currently taking care of mom with Alzheimers), but I love this dog, and I want to make sure I do everything correctly. I know very little about diabetes. I guess that is what I will learn today...but text book pamphlets no substitute for human experience. Tia................IAG
i'm not sure exactly the correlation between human diabetes and animal diabetes, but i can tell you it's constant work. you have to pay attention to your dog's symptoms all the time, since they can't communicate them. but certainly manageable, you should definitely do the insulin therapy over euthanasia.
the falls - does your pup get high/low blood sugar? or is he always well regulated?
the falls - does your pup get high/low blood sugar? or is he always well regulated?
Thanks The Falls and ZJP....I had the insulin instruction this afternoon. I have no problem giving the shot...I think the hardest part will be loading the syringe and making sure to get the right amount of insulin, no air bubbles or blood etc...I still don't really understand all the physiology of the disease, but I guess if I just follow the instructions and keep my eye on him, we will be ok. I have to go back in 10 days and every couple weeks til they get the appropriate dosage...she said if no improvement in a couple months or if he develops cataracts, another route might be appropriate.
We had a Diabetic Samoyed for 8 years (he died at age 14), we were told that he would live 6 months if we were lucky. Once you learn the right insulin dosages its not that hard. We made giving the shot a playful event telling him that it was time for his bam bam and laughing and playing with him. Then we would tell him to roll over and we would give him his shot in his stomach. You just pinch up a little skin on the stomach and stick the needle in, the needle is very thin and it doesn't hurt them.
The hardest part is being aware of the high and low blood sugar signs. The lows are much more dangerous than the highs so you want to keep a treat around that is high in sugar content that can quickly raise his glucose level if need be. We learned how to check our dogs glucose level by pricking his ear on the blood vessel that runs along the ridge of it. Use the same type of testing equipment that humans use. Target glucose level is between 80-120 pre-meal and under 200 post meal. If you are willing to make the effort you can manage this and your pup can have a long normal life. PM me if you have questions.
The hardest part is being aware of the high and low blood sugar signs. The lows are much more dangerous than the highs so you want to keep a treat around that is high in sugar content that can quickly raise his glucose level if need be. We learned how to check our dogs glucose level by pricking his ear on the blood vessel that runs along the ridge of it. Use the same type of testing equipment that humans use. Target glucose level is between 80-120 pre-meal and under 200 post meal. If you are willing to make the effort you can manage this and your pup can have a long normal life. PM me if you have questions.
good info. like i said, i am not sure of the correlation between humans/animals with diabetes. if it is similar, i can surely give you some guidance as i have type 1 myself. as cfbfan mentioned above, pay very close attention to the symptoms. if your dog seems out of it, get him something that will hit his bloodstream full of carbs asap. send me a pm if you have any questions, i can try to help.
I had to give insulin shots to my cat when I was in high school/college.
It isnt nearly as bad as it sounds. They teach you how to do it and the animal wont even feel it. The only pain is if there is more than one giving the shots to make sure you dont double dose. That and knowing when the levels are too low. I had some gel that I was supposed to give when it was low or he started seizing. Man im a dog person more than cat but remembering those days is making me sad. The last few days before being put down he was really suffering. But that was many years after the diagnosis so hopefully your time with him will be a long time.
It isnt nearly as bad as it sounds. They teach you how to do it and the animal wont even feel it. The only pain is if there is more than one giving the shots to make sure you dont double dose. That and knowing when the levels are too low. I had some gel that I was supposed to give when it was low or he started seizing. Man im a dog person more than cat but remembering those days is making me sad. The last few days before being put down he was really suffering. But that was many years after the diagnosis so hopefully your time with him will be a long time.
Wow. Reading this...it's beginning to seem a bit overwhelming. These darn syringes are so small and it's hard for me to even see the insulin in there. The bottle and needle we practiced with in the vet's office was so much larger and easier. The vet did not mention anything about checking glucose levels at home. Arrrghhhhhhhhh.....
No special food.. I asked about it.....She said most important thing was to keep it consistent and something he would eat at first to get him used to the routine (scheduled feeding as opposed to free feeding) I thought she would want him on a special food too...but she acted like it was not the most important thing at this point...that concerns me a bit.
