Mental Health Thread #8 - Fall is here!!
- Thread Starter Betty3
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cbg
Super Moderator
It's bad at home. I've heard from my husband and from Maven; they both still have power but she's got over 2 feet; he reports somewhat less on the immediate coast.
So, have any of you pet lovers here ever had to deal with a diabetic pet? Our 100+ pound "puppy" was diagnosed last week. Took her to the vet because we thought she had a urinary tract infection, which she did, but they did a blood test and her glucose level was almost off the charts. And unfortunately, diabetes in dogs can't be controlled by diet, so she has to have insulin twice a day.
We went in and learned how to give her insulin shots which on the surface isn't hard (the needle is so tiny she can't even tell you're sticking her) but she's way too wiggly so to hold her still my husband has to put her leash on her and restrict her movement and she hates that part of it. She's caught on to the fact that I'm coming up behind her and doing something (even thought she can't feel it) and this morning she growled at us when I tried to give her the shot. Argh......
We went in and learned how to give her insulin shots which on the surface isn't hard (the needle is so tiny she can't even tell you're sticking her) but she's way too wiggly so to hold her still my husband has to put her leash on her and restrict her movement and she hates that part of it. She's caught on to the fact that I'm coming up behind her and doing something (even thought she can't feel it) and this morning she growled at us when I tried to give her the shot. Argh......
cbg
Super Moderator
I'm around, Elle. (30 character limit)
Betty3
Well-Known Member
Nope, we have always had dogs but none were ever diabetic. I'm sorry to hear that.
PS - was replying to cynthiag
PS - was replying to cynthiag
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Gstone
Member
Cynthiag................................My cat is diabetic and I have to give him shots twice a day- 12 hours apart. The only way I can do this by myself is put food in his dish let him take a few mouthfuls and then grab the skin in the back of his neck and shot! I count to 30 very slowly and then that's it. Its only been since last September but I think he's getting used to it. I had to switch to an all can diet as dry food for a diabetic cat is like poison. Maybe if you give him his favorite food/treats it will help. Good luck!
ferretrick
Member
Had a diabetic dog for years who passed on and also a diabetic cat. For the cat we give him a little saucer of milk at shot time. He never notices the shot.
Admittedly, my dog was much smaller, but chances are you are making a bigger deal of it (understandably) than it needs to be. Then she's reading your fear of hurting her, and getting scared. I promise with time and practice this will become no big deal to you or the dog. The first thing I would do is ditch the leash and trying to hold her-that's just going to scare her and make her fight more. Instead, have your husband distract her with a treat-something that will hold her attention and that she can't just swallow in one bite. A spoonful of peanut butter is excellent for this purpose. Then while she's licking the PB, take aim and stick it in, gently but firmly. You really can't hurt her with that little needle and you don't have to hit a vein or anything, so don't take a lot of time aiming it perfectly-just stick it in, press the plunger, and pull out in one quick motion. When you know what you are doing it only takes a second and after a while you probably won't even need the peanut butter.
Admittedly, my dog was much smaller, but chances are you are making a bigger deal of it (understandably) than it needs to be. Then she's reading your fear of hurting her, and getting scared. I promise with time and practice this will become no big deal to you or the dog. The first thing I would do is ditch the leash and trying to hold her-that's just going to scare her and make her fight more. Instead, have your husband distract her with a treat-something that will hold her attention and that she can't just swallow in one bite. A spoonful of peanut butter is excellent for this purpose. Then while she's licking the PB, take aim and stick it in, gently but firmly. You really can't hurt her with that little needle and you don't have to hit a vein or anything, so don't take a lot of time aiming it perfectly-just stick it in, press the plunger, and pull out in one quick motion. When you know what you are doing it only takes a second and after a while you probably won't even need the peanut butter.
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Thanks everybody for your feedback on diabetic pets. Ferretrick, I know you're right that we're making a bigger deal of it than it needs to be....I know that tiny little needle doesn't hurt her and she's got plenty of loose skin on the back of her neck so I barely even have to get ahold of it to do the shot. Unfortunately, she is such a smart dog she recognizes when I'm preparing the shot so I have to do it when she isn't watching. She's the same way about the antibiotics she's on right now, if she sees that pill bottle she becomes suspicious and won't take them no matter what kind of treat you hide them in. She's very sensitive about having certain parts of her body touched, and she's also much quicker than you'd expect a dog her size to be. Once when we took her to the vet they went to take her temperature and before anybody realized what was happening, she whipped her head around and grabbed the thermometer and dropped it into my hand!
We've decided we're just going to have to become much more creative about how we give her shots. She loves peanut butter, but we haven't been using it to treat her because we were told she can't have it on her new diet. But I'm thinking we may have to resort to small amounts of things that aren't necessarily good for her, in order to be able to get the insulin into her. This morning my husband used a leftover McDonald's French fry and I was able to jump in and give her the shot before she knew what was happening. I think tonight we'll try peanut butter. I was thinking about it and honestly, I bet my husband could sneak the shot in there when he's putting on her collar to take her for a walk, because she's always so happy when dad gets her "suited up" to go for a walk, but he's more nervous about giving her the shots than I am so I imagine it'll take a while before we get to that point.
We've decided we're just going to have to become much more creative about how we give her shots. She loves peanut butter, but we haven't been using it to treat her because we were told she can't have it on her new diet. But I'm thinking we may have to resort to small amounts of things that aren't necessarily good for her, in order to be able to get the insulin into her. This morning my husband used a leftover McDonald's French fry and I was able to jump in and give her the shot before she knew what was happening. I think tonight we'll try peanut butter. I was thinking about it and honestly, I bet my husband could sneak the shot in there when he's putting on her collar to take her for a walk, because she's always so happy when dad gets her "suited up" to go for a walk, but he's more nervous about giving her the shots than I am so I imagine it'll take a while before we get to that point.
Betty3
Well-Known Member
We ♥ our pets.......................
Betty3
Well-Known Member
I don't have or never had any human children & live alone since my brother passed away last year. My Snickers is good company for me though even when my brother was alive we had dogs.
My cousin lost her husband a year ago to cancer. She is not in good shape financially. She came to live with me with her two dogs(her babies). Nobody else in her family would take her with the dogs. Now I know why. They shed really bad and she doesn't clean up after them inside or out, and they did some damage to my house. She got a job and I let her move into a rental house that I have. She lost her job and doesn't qualify for unemployment. If she doesn't get a job soon we have some tough choices. I can't just let her stay rent free. Even if I did she's not going to be able to pay other expenses. I can't let her move back in with me with the dogs. Nobody else will let her move in with the dogs. She's very fragile emotionally and I don't know how anyone is going to tell her she may have to part with the dogs.
ferretrick
Member
That's sad txls. Wish I had some advice for that one.
cynthiag, one more thing I suggest, and I'm going to climb on my soapbox for a minute, so forgive me. Take the dog off any brand of dog food with GMO modified corn in it (which is most grocery store brands). I can't back up with any science studies, but my husband is big on natural foods and such. I'm more of a skeptic, but this one I believe-did you ever hear of animals with diabetes even 15 years ago? But now I know tons of people who have to give their pets insulin, and I firmly believe it's because of these GMO products which are bad enough for humans, but murder on animal's digestive systems. We use Diamond brand ourselves, and not that two dogs is conclusive evidence, but the two I have now are doing great. (I didn't know about it back when little Powder was alive). You can usually find it (and other good brands) the cheapest at feed stores-places like Tractor Supply or Rural King if you have any of those in your area. If your dog already has diabetes, it's probably too late to change it, but I believe it will help.
cynthiag, one more thing I suggest, and I'm going to climb on my soapbox for a minute, so forgive me. Take the dog off any brand of dog food with GMO modified corn in it (which is most grocery store brands). I can't back up with any science studies, but my husband is big on natural foods and such. I'm more of a skeptic, but this one I believe-did you ever hear of animals with diabetes even 15 years ago? But now I know tons of people who have to give their pets insulin, and I firmly believe it's because of these GMO products which are bad enough for humans, but murder on animal's digestive systems. We use Diamond brand ourselves, and not that two dogs is conclusive evidence, but the two I have now are doing great. (I didn't know about it back when little Powder was alive). You can usually find it (and other good brands) the cheapest at feed stores-places like Tractor Supply or Rural King if you have any of those in your area. If your dog already has diabetes, it's probably too late to change it, but I believe it will help.
My Sebastian was diabetic. I just lost him a few weeks ago. He was diagnosed the summer of 2013 and given weeks to months. I did the insulin thing for months and he barely registered it. Then, he started big time objecting. Poor little guy would cry and squirm and run from me. I made the difficult decision to stop the insulin. I decided it wasn't worth making his final days miserable and having him cry and be afraid of me. Cat lived for another year.
Sorry to hear about your kitty, Elle. I understand your decision to stop the insulin, though. If it's to that point sometimes I think quality of life should win out.
Thanks for the suggestion about the food, ferretrick. I've wondered about things like that myself, especially when you see the incidence of things like diabetes that seem to be on the increase in pets. We changed Zoey from grocery-store brand food to a well-known brand the vet sells that is for weight control and to help maintain normal blood glucose levels. It's crazy expensive compared to what we were feeding her, which was one of the higher-end grocery store brands. The vet said that she didn't think it tasted very good (not sure how she'd know) but our dog seems to love it and gobbles it right up. It has more fiber so she has to go potty more but she looks like she's starting to lose a little more of her "chub", which can only help, even though it's too late to really reverse the diabetes. She's been approximately 15 pounds or so overweight ever since she got her full growth, and we know that doesn't help but she's always been fairly sedentary and loves to eat....a trait she picked up from us, I'm sure.
We don't have any feed-type stores here (fishing & logging towns in S.E. Alaska are notably short on livestock!) but once we're sure she's really stabilized and doing well on her current diet/meds I think I'm going to do some research into different brands/types of foods. We may have to order it online, but we're used to ordering so much of what we get here that's not a big deal.
Thanks for the suggestion about the food, ferretrick. I've wondered about things like that myself, especially when you see the incidence of things like diabetes that seem to be on the increase in pets. We changed Zoey from grocery-store brand food to a well-known brand the vet sells that is for weight control and to help maintain normal blood glucose levels. It's crazy expensive compared to what we were feeding her, which was one of the higher-end grocery store brands. The vet said that she didn't think it tasted very good (not sure how she'd know) but our dog seems to love it and gobbles it right up. It has more fiber so she has to go potty more but she looks like she's starting to lose a little more of her "chub", which can only help, even though it's too late to really reverse the diabetes. She's been approximately 15 pounds or so overweight ever since she got her full growth, and we know that doesn't help but she's always been fairly sedentary and loves to eat....a trait she picked up from us, I'm sure.
We don't have any feed-type stores here (fishing & logging towns in S.E. Alaska are notably short on livestock!) but once we're sure she's really stabilized and doing well on her current diet/meds I think I'm going to do some research into different brands/types of foods. We may have to order it online, but we're used to ordering so much of what we get here that's not a big deal.
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Just love it (not) when you tell someone exactly what to do. Then you end up with this type of conversation. I told you to do A, B then C. Did you do that? No I but I did X, Y and Z. Okay, let me bang my head on my desk for a few minutes while you go do A, B and C. You know, just like I told you to begin with.
That's kinda cool!
I'm not a fan of beauty pageants and it's very easy to dismiss women who participate in them as human Barbie dolls, but I saw her in an interview and she seemed like a very sweet, genuine person.- Status
