A Roadmap to Success with Your Diabetic Dog: Pt.1
Today we talk about how to succeed with a Diabetes diagnosis for your dog. For you “newbies” that have just gotten the diagnosis, this may help. For those of you that have been on this journey for some time, it may be a good refresher. Sometimes when we have been dealing with Diabetes in our dogs and we have been on “autopilot” for a while, we tend to forget the basics. So, here we go.
First and foremost, BREATHE! I know that it’s a lot to take in at first and if you haven’t found “community” (a group to support you) then you are probably overwhelmed beyond belief! I will assume that so far, you are feeding and doing your injections 12 hours apart. That’s the most basic thing that you must master. Even if your vet didn’t tell you to feed and inject 12 hours apart, please know that insulin is a 12 hour medication, so you need to keep your schedule as close to that as possible. There must be at least 11 hours in between injections, so if you have to alter your schedule, please make sure that you have at least those 11 hours between injections. If you are stuck in traffic and are late getting home, please adjust your next dose accordingly. What supplies do you need for this? You need Insulin and syringes.
For those of you that have been following along, you know that the next skill that I believe is imperative to manage this disease is testing. If you were diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic, you would be testing yourself multiple times a day and your dog is no different with the exception that unless it’s a curve day, you really only need to test twice or maybe 3 times. For those of you that have gone to the “I don’t want to hurt my dog” place in your head when you read that last sentence, let me assure you that there are many places on your dog’s body that have very few nerve endings so it isn’t painful for them and I promise you that there will be a day that it will save your dog’s life and will always give you tremendous peace of mind!
Testing is just one more technique to learn, you have your injection technique down I’d imagine, so this is the next one for you to learn. It really isn’t difficult. I tested on the inside of the upper lip which in a human would be really painful, but for a dog, they have very few nerve endings there so it isn’t a painful thing. I found that I could always get a nice blood drop there with very little fuss. I didn’t use a lancet device; I just held the lancet in my fingers and “poked” freehand. There was no popping sound this way and therefore Max wasn’t startled. I gave a treat (small cube of chicken breast) before and after each test and before and after each injection. All I had to do was get the Ziploc bag out of the refrigerator and my boys would come running!
When do you test? You test the fasting number (before meals) twice a day. So the routine is test, feed, inject. Repeat after me, test, feed, inject. I also tested a midday number most days right before the midday snack. Yes…. I gave a midday snack EVERY day. It consisted of protein, usually chicken breast and a veggie or some pureed pure pumpkin. If you feed a midday snack, make sure that it consists of things that won’t raise BG (Blood Glucose) numbers.
What do you need to be able to test you pup? A meter, test strips and lancets. So far we need: Insulin, syringes, a meter, test strips and lancets (just in case you’re taking notes). LOL Check your email for discount codes!
We will continue on this roadmap in our next post (Part 2) so stay tuned!!!
You’ll notice that for most of the products or groups that I mention, the text is linked to a website that you can purchase that item or a link to join the group mentioned. Just click on the colored text (red or blue, depending what device you are on) and it should take you right to the item or group. If you have any thoughts or ideas for topics that you’d like to see covered here, please feel free to comment below or send me an email at NancyForPetTest@PharmaSupply.com. As always, please “like” this blog post or any of the others that have helped you or just refreshed your memory.Look for new posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday!