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1. 

   gwenap

   101 Kudos

   04/29/09

   Hi Beth,
   
   Thank-you so much for the explanation. I really appreciate all the info I can get.
   
   I added Merrick food to Gibbie's diet about 2 weeks ago. Generally I check his b/g a few times when I make any change. I didn't get a chance to test it for a few days because I had a shower at my house. When I tested it on a Monday night, it was 67 and I freaked out.
   
   Since then, I've made adjustments in his insulin and have tested him every am and pm. Because of the food, his fasting # (in the pm ONLY) is in the low 100's. I'm used to them being in the low 200's.
   
   I do not feel comfortable giving him the same amount of insulin when he's in the low 100's as I would when he's in the low 200's. That's what I've been dealing with and it is scaring me.
   
   I like that he's lower but I don't know how much insulin to give him at those low #'s. The vet said 1/2 of his normal dose, but then that keeps his morning fast # higher.
   
   He's 37 lbs so I don't know if that's considered small or not.
   
   Any suggestions?
   
   Again, thank-you so much for your knowledge and input!
   
   Gwen

   05/12/09

   Reply from LouieTX:

   Gwen, I am so sorry for not responding back sooner than this. Things have been crazy around here and I haven't been on the boards much. :(
   
   How has Gibbie's blood sugars been running? Everything going okay?
   
   

2. 

   gwenap

   101 Kudos

   04/28/09

   Hi Beth,
   
   I'm writing to you privately because I seem to be having the same low's at fasting as you are having with Louie. What do you do when their fasting number is low?
   
   I've been reducing Gibbie's insulin, but then of course, he's higher at the next fasting.
   
   Any input would be appreciated!
   
   Thank-you,
   Gwen

   04/28/09

   Reply from LouieTX:

   Hi Gwen--
   
   When you say that Gibbie's fasting number is low, do you mean less than 80? Or do you mean that he tends to run lowest at fasting? Louie tends to run his lowest numbers at fasting, as opposed to a lot of the dogs on the board that tend to have their highest numbers at fasting. I just attribute this to the variation in how dogs respond to insulin; some must burn through the insulin pretty quickly, while others use it at a slower rate. In fact, this corresponds to what I am used to with my human diabetic patients (I'm a nurse), where they typically have their lowest numbers of the day at fasting. I do not change anything unless I consistently see him running fasting numbers less than 80--then I would probably cut back on the insulin, even if it meant he might run a little higher during other times of the day. To be honest, I don't worry too much if he occasionally runs a little on the low side as he doesn't seem prone to hypoglycemic episodes. In fact, I've had him as low as 30 on my Aviva meter at fasting (which is about the same as 60 on an Alphatrack dog meter) and he was totally acting normal and without symptoms. I just made sure he ate and gave him a little extra kibble (for carbs) and tested him again an hour later to make sure he wasn't too low. I even gave him his regular dose of insulin and at his next fasting he was back up in the low 100's. From what I've seen on the boards I think smaller dogs tend to have more issues with hypoglycemia--just an unofficial observation, though! :)
   
   The other thing you can do if Gibbie's fasting numbers are consistently running too low (aside from cutting back on insulin), is to give him a bit of carbs as a snack an hour or two before his next meal and insulin injection. Of course, this could be a problem in the middle of the night, but most dogs tend to run higher at night anyway, because they are not as active.
   
   Sorry for the novel. <blush> Gibbie looks like a cute pup!

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