Resources for canine diabetes?

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Helen & Snickers

Helen & Snickers

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I don't have a ton of information, so please bear with me :) My mother-in-law's dog was recently diagnosed with a fatal illness, one that destroys the liver. He's been given 6-12 months to live, poor guy! My sister-in-law is watching the dog since my MIL is out of town for a few weeks, and she mentioned giving the dog insulin shots. I don't know what kind of insulin, but I know she's not testing, and she mentioned to my husband this morning that she's giving him something like 12 units a day! I want to do some research and hopefully hometest him, but I need some reference information. I recall you can do lip testing on dogs, but I'm hoping there's another site that's easier. Does anyone know of any reliable sources online with information? A lot of sites come up with a basic search, but we know how much bad information can be floating around out there.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
 
I am the owner of a diabetic dog and have been trying to get a website, http://doggydiabetes.com, going well for some time. But I don't have the time for it! Nag me and maybe I can spend my insomnia hours getting it into better shape.

My dog has been very well maintained on N insulin for over 4 years. Pork insulin is identical to canine insulin so you may see better results or lower injection amounts with an insulin like Vetsulin. Economics, as usual, factor in since humulin N is much cheaper than Vetsulin. Miss Parker has had great results with Humulin N, we keep her on that. In fact, she is so stable on 9U twice a day that we don't even check her much anymore. When we do use the glucometer, we use her ear. I had very good luck with the lip testing on a lab several years ago but Miss Parker will have nothing to do with that! She is a Cairn terrier so pretty furry, including inside her ear. We shave an edge of one ear to make testing easier but it is often still a bit tough. When the owner of the Illumavein company sent me a sample, it worked fabulously on Miss Parker to facilitate ear testing (Once I read the directions and did it correctly!) Pricking the paw is also used on some dogs.

Dogs usually take a LOT more insulin than cats, partially because they are in general much larger. Miss Parker weighs 20 pounds and has been on as much 15 U twice a day in the beginning. The only time she had a hypo episode was when she developed a pituitary brain tumor. She now has Cushing's disease, a generally high dose insulin condition, but does great on 9U per day, so about .5 U/lb. The lab I referenced earlier was on 50U a day!

Let me know if I can help otherwise.

_Rebecca

P.S. If you are interested in the illumavein, we currently have several at a 30% discount (see announcements). The owner of the company kindly donated them to us as a fundraiser.
 
Thanks for the information! I feel better knowing that the high dosages are okay--Toby is getting 10 units BID of N. I'm going over tonight to try to test him before his evening shot. He's been going into the vet for spot checks, and the most recent value was 380 (previous one was 340). He started at 4 units BID about two weeks ago. He's a King Charles spaniel, and weighs 22-25 lbs. He's a mellow guy so I'm hoping to have luck with the testing, even if it takes a few tries in different areas.
 
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