The Diabetes Arsenal

Your diabetic dog is urinating more often or drinking excessive amounts of water or is stumbling. And it’s Sunday so your vet is closed. What are you going to do?!?! If you have your Diabetes Arsenal, then you can test for possible problems and be better informed of just what is going on with your dog. This will also help your vet when you call Monday morning to get an appointment.

Today I am going to go over PetTest products that we should have on hand; I like to call this the Diabetes Arsenal. Grab a cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage and let’s get to it!

First and foremost, if your diabetic dog is acting off, stumbling, or acting drunk you need to test blood glucose levels immediately. These are symptoms of hypoglycemia and if your dog is having a hypoglycemic episode you need to bring up blood glucose levels immediately. Click here to read more about the dangers of hypoglycemia.

PetTest Meter Kit and PetTest Test Strips – it is imperative to have a blood glucose meter so that you can take blood glucose (BG) readings. We need to make sure it is safe to give insulin, we need to be able to test when our dog is acting off because hypoglycemia is always a concern with diabetic dogs. Blood glucose curves can and should be run at home, diabetic dogs can have skewed BG readings due to stress. Testing blood glucose levels at home saves money and unnecessary vet appointments. When blood glucose levels are tested regularly at home, we have a great insight as to what is going on with insulin and if BG levels happen to be elevated for a period of time we can get our dog into the vets for a needed checkup. Testing blood glucose levels is one of the best defenses we have against diabetes, besides insulin of course.

(click on pictures to open product link in a new tab)

PetTest Safety Lancets – Safety lancets are one of the easiest ways to get a good blood sample, they are simple to use, require just the right amount of pressure to activate the lancet and are pretty error proof. If you have a hard time using a traditional lancing device with a lancet, these PetTest Safety Lancets should be in your arsenal.

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

PetTest Genteel Painless Lancing Device – If you have tried the traditional lancing devices and safety lancets but still have a hard time getting an adequate blood sample, the PetTest Genteel Painless Lancing Device is a game-changer for MANY people, it uses gentle vacuum suction to get a good-sized blood sample and has been specifically redesigned with pets in mind. It is quieter and the vibration has been lessened. I am repeating that the PetTest Genteel Painless Lancing Device is a game-changer because it is that good!

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

PetTest Twist-Top Lancets 21G – The correct sized lancet is very important. The higher the gauge the thinner the diameter of the lancet. While this sounds like a great thing, higher gauged lancets do not work as well on dogs as they do on humans. Using a 21-gauge lancet makes it easier to get a good-sized blood sample and these lancets work great in the PetTest Genteel Painless Lancing Device.

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

Ketone Glucose Urinalysis Strips – Testing urine for ketones is extremely important and we should always have ketone urine strips available. Whenever our dogs blood glucose levels are 300 mg/dL (16.66 mmol/L) we need to test urine for ketones. Ketones are a by product of high blood glucose levels and they are used as an alternative fuel source, but unfortunately buildup is also very toxic to the body. Ketone buildup causes diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) a very serious diabetic illness that requires immediate treatment. By testing for ketones we can keep DKA at bay.

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

PetTest Urinary Tract Infection Urinalysis Strips – A brand new product that is an ingenious addition to the PetTest product line and important to have on hand since diabetic dogs are prone to UTI’s. If your dog is exhibiting any symptoms of a urinary tract infection you can test their urine and contact your vet with results.

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

Glucose SOS Energy Boost for Pets – Hopefully your dog never has a hypoglycemic event, they are scary and can be very dangerous. Getting blood glucose levels up during a hypoglycemic episode is critical. Glucose SOS Energy Boost for Pets uses the same standards that the American Diabetes Association (ADA) uses, except PetTest made their product dosage size appropriate. And this product has been repackaged for easy travel and use, three gel tubes instead of a single large gel tube. It also is more appealing to a dog when it comes to administering since it is meat stew flavored.

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

Vial Safe – For anyone that has ever dropped and broken a bottle of insulin, this could have saved you money. Vial Safe is a silicone sleeve that hugs your vial of insulin and protects it from falls. This product is A MUST!

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

CoolShot Dermal Numbing Device – If you have a dog that does not like injections, desensitizing the area just prior to injection really helps. This is an easy product to use, just keep the CoolShot in your freezer and apply for 30 seconds to numb the area and this can be used an endless number of times, just pop it back in the freezer!

(click on picture to open product link in a new tab)

I hope that my breakdown of the above PetTest products wind up in your arsenal, they are all invaluable tools to have on hand! I had all these products in my arsenal except for the PetTest Urinary Tract Infection Strips, these were not available to us when I was chasing sweet Lucy around to test her urine, I used a human version UTI test strips and they cost $10 for a three pack.

Until next week, stay cool and caffeinated!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please start a conversation below.

If you are looking for a Facebook community to join for support, I have proudly been an admin in Diabetic Dog Owners for four and a half years. You can also join Canine Diabetes Support and Information on Facebook as well.

Be sure to join the PetTest family on Facebook and Instagram. PetTest has fun, interactive posts AND they have fabulous giveaways every week!

For a printable version of this blog click  here.