Help! Diabetes

[Bpcooper14]

Always (i'm sure you have gathered that from me by now ). Every time i have talked to the vet I have started off with an apology. "I don't want to sound like that patient that is going to dictate how you do your job BUT I have had some very good advice and I have done nothing for the past 2 months but learn as much as I can about Ace's condition so I knew what to expect and how to recognize things along the way".
Well, according to the vetsulin site, initial dosing is calculated per kg so current levels do not seem to play a part in the amount administered...at least initially. But, I do have a question for them tomorrow because the website explains the formula for administering once per day as .5 IU/kg. If administering twice, than the starting dose is 25% less per dose (rounding down to the nearest whole kg and the nearest whole IU).
Ace weighs 30 lbs for all intensive purposes. Rounding down gives me 13kg x 0.5 = 6.5. So by the website, rounding down would have a dosage of 6 IU once per day. If we do twice per day, that would be 13kg x 0.5 = 6.5 IU x .75 = 4.875 IU per dosage twice daily. Again, rounding down would then be 4 IU injections twice daily if my understanding and math are correct.

[Olesia711]

Bill.... glad you visited the site..... and YES..... this is how it was explained to me too!

"If administering twice, than the starting dose is 25% less per dose (rounding down to the nearest whole kg and the nearest whole IU).

IMHO.... ask THEM to calculate tomorrow based on the above Vetsulin guidelines....... just to make sure....and then see if their number agrees with yours as you don't want to be way off with insulin.............

good luck and please keep us posted!

P.S. i too did my own calculations, but i contacted Vetsulin directly to confirm the dose........

[Bpcooper14]

Just home from the Vet and spoke to one of their technicians. Basic "how to" tutorial of how to pull insulin, give the shots, and test blood glucose. I asked about the 6 units and how, by my calculations, that was only for once, not twice daily. The doctor that was in today was consulted and didn't want to make any changes outside of just doing 1 dose per day instead of the 2 doses and to consult with the vet on Monday when she is back in.

[Olesia711]

Well, if the one dose a day doesn't really appear to be working, at least you only have to wait until Monday to alter things.
Glad they gave you a tutorial.

REALLY glad they showed you how to test the blood sugar... if you have any trouble finding a sweet spot and getting blood, feel free to contact me. IN the beginning, it all sounded easy UNTIL i got home and tried getting some blood- -i have no patience, and i am a big weenie ... i got so frustrated that at one point i just sat down on the floor and cried.......thankfully i finally figured it out with the help of the online k9-diabetes video tutorial and no more tears!

Did they give you recommendations on what to do if the blood sugar goes to low? (below 50)
I personally just rub a dab of corn syrup on the gums... and that brings it up.... just a FYI...

Brace yourself, it is real frustrating in the beginning but once yo get the hang of it.... it is not bad at all.
What i learned early on (cuz i knew i was going to do so many blood curves) is that i made a game of taking the blood sample.

1. Always use the same phrase (i say "Mommy's going to take some BLOODddddd" )in a certain sing-song tone
2.Always gave a tiny piece/just a sliver of meat (baked chicken breast) every single time i stabbed Izzy's for some blood... whether i got any blood or not cuz sometimes you just don't and have to do ti again........

What this created was a crazy dog that LOVED the game of me taking her blood , she would run to me whenever i sang "Mommy's going to take some blood" used to make the vet laugh!

Anyway... if you need help... or just a shoulder to lean on, contact me.

[Bpcooper14]

Thank you for the tips. I was able to get a stab in one of his pads and drew some blood to show me how the meter works and did a test insulin shot with saline solution.
This has all brought me way back to college when I initially had planned on going in to med school. So all of the anatomy, physiology, organic chemistry has come rushing back. I joke that I know just enough to be dangerous and want to make sure I am on the right track with my thought process and am overly apologetic to our vet that I'm not trying to take over the care plan but, rather, I want to make sure that we are all on the same page and if I am way off, that's fine too.
Now to get a new google form put together for the monitoring and logging side of things.

[Olesia711]

Hey..... big congrats an getting blood from the pad!!!!!.... i never could get any from there and it freaked me out.... i get izzy's from inside the upper lip- -right over the canine tooth (no pun intended).

Looking forward to the new google sheet.... ... when or if you ever have a free moment.... in the beginning of juggling both EPI + Diabetes.