Canine diabetes

Postby pitbullmamaliz » November 25th, 2009, 12:21 pm

My girlfriend's 10 y/o male Min Pin was just diagnosed with diabetes (she literally just found out). She has to take him to the vet today to learn how to give him insulin injections 2x per day. They said he's a "level 6" diabetic.

Does anybody have any advice I can pass along to her? She's obviously pretty upset as Stewart is her little man.
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Postby amazincc » November 25th, 2009, 1:07 pm

Diabetes is much, much easier to manage in a dog than it is in a person... mainly because you can control/adjust their diets, and they aren't prone to sneak candy or eat the "wrong" stuff.

I don't know what "level 6" means???

Testing blood sugar levels is easiest and most accurate at home when using the inside of the ear, and it's not painful to the dog.
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Postby Malli » November 25th, 2009, 2:56 pm

Make sure she gets a Glucometer to test his blood sugar, often Vets will send people home with Insulin (there are many different kinds) and instructions for it, but no Glucometer, which I think is a tad risky, but it's done :|

Its important to watch the dog closely and if he misses more then one meal or is acting off to take him in to the Vet YESTERDAY, I cannot stress this enough; if a diabetic is acting sick or is off his food, it is very important to have him or seen within minutes.

The shots are not painful or hard to give and neither are the ear pricks, but I would suggest trying to make something positive of it with the dog (ask the vet if there are any treats that are safe to give him) because I have seen dogs who take issue with their Diabetic stuff -if its positive then they are much more likely not to fuss or get nasty.
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Postby blabsforbullies » November 25th, 2009, 7:12 pm

One thing I would suggest.... either purchase a glucometer that is calibrated for dogs :dogRun: (there are a few available) or if they have to get a human one, have the vets test the readings against what they get with an animal calibrated machine. They will compare the results so that the owner can accuarately assess the situation. :wink:

Some dogs will absolutely NOT tolerate at home blood testing. >( In that case, I would suggest at least monitoring for ketones in the urine. If they are present, it is BAD. :sad2: As in, get to a vet ASAP. :shock: It means that the diabetes is very poorly controlled and an animal can crash very quickly. They have little dip sticks that can easily be read by a nonmedical person that you dip into urine every so often. :prescription:

As for the Level 6..... yikes :shocker: .... I have no idea what that means :lookaround: (uh-oh). But, no matter.... as long as they can get the diabetes under control, other than a lifestyle change and committment from the owners, most patients do very well. :mask:
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » November 25th, 2009, 8:45 pm

Thanks very much, ladies! I'll definitely pass this great info on to her. :)
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

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