Insulin and Your Diabetic Dog
I have seen the same question or concern posted a lot lately. BG (Blood Glucose) numbers seem to be humming along in a consistent way for a good period of time and then they start to creep up. Are any of you seeing this happen?
If this describes your situation, the first thing that comes to mind is this… How old is your insulin? How long have you been using this same vial? I am hopeful that when you start a new vial of insulin that you mark it in some way, either on the box that you store it in or maybe a date on the vial itself in Sharpie pen. I know that the manufacturer says that it is “good” for 42 days after piercing it, but I have yet to meet one person that gets consistent numbers for the whole 42 days. Most that I know (me included), change it out on the first of every month.
The people that are very in tune with their pups and are avid journalers can see the strength of the insulin start to diminish around day 25 or so. These are very well regulated pups and any slight change is noticeable to their parents.
Every time that we give an injection, we mix the insulin as well as we can, but every time that we draw a dose, the mix in the vial changes. There is no way to ensure that we get the same parts of insulin and suspension solution in every dose. I was a bit of a freak when it came to mixing my vial before I drew a dose. I rolled it in my hands 30-35 times, then end over end 5-10 times. For those of you that use Vetsulin/Caninsulin, you must shake the vial somewhat vigorously to mix it. Even then, the mix won’t be exact.
Start watching your numbers around the 25 day mark and see if you begin to see your numbers creep up. If so, you can wait until the 30 day mark or you can change out the vial when you start to see the increase in the numbers start to happen. This is one of those “nuances” that comes with being a “seasoned” Diabetic pet owner.
Of course there could be other reasons for the upward trend, but this is the first thing that I think of when I see the question, “we were having such good numbers for several weeks and now they are going up, what am I doing wrong?” The short answer is that you likely aren’t doing anything wrong, it could just be that you need to change out your insulin vial.
I’d like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all that participated in the “Leap Day Sale” this past Saturday. It was a booming success!!! I hope that you all took the opportunity to stock up on the staples that you need to keep your pups in good shape for a while!
The last bit of “business” is to watch for the new product that will be on the www.ShopPetTest.com website this week. It is the starter kit for those newly diagnosed pups and it contains everything that you need to get this journey off on the right foot. It will be a “staple” on the website going forward. Because of the deep discount of everything in the kit, there is a limit of one per household. Every order will be checked and cross checked to be sure that you “bargain hunters” aren’t trying to get more than your one kit. LOL
As always, please like this blog post and share it if you’re so inclined. The groups and products mentioned in this post are linked to that particular group or item for purchase on a website. The text will be in blue and all you need to do is click on it. If you have any thoughts on new topics for this blog, please feel free to email me at NancyForPetTest@PharmaSupply.com You can always just comment below also. Look for a new post next Tuesday.
Until next time…