My dogs 8th vet visit tonight - wish him luck

teachergirl

marshallka sending you lots of love and hugs. You ARE a good dog owner. :grouphug: Hope YOU feel better soon.

buddys_mum

He will be fine and you will be fine, try not to be to anxious or he wil feel it too. Tommorow will be the start of a new day for you all and you will be surprised at how well he will be when he getting on the insulin. You wont break the needle, although i have managed to !!!!! my finger several times when putting the cap back on. I panicked, but a visit to the nurse at doctors soon put me right. She gave me a tetnus jab, and now i dont worry when i !!!!! my finger.

You will look back in a week or so and wonder what all the fuss is about, really you will. I call his insulin his 'Mo-jo juice' as he is just like the old dog i knew before he got poorly. Have you tried asking him to sit still and holding the scruff of his neck for a minute? He really wont feel the needle as its so small (0.5m). Keep practicing and soon he will get used to it.

When you start the insulin if he is squirmming just wait a minute,take a deep breath and try again. Dont panic, Ok.

getthemax

Marshallka, you shouldn't beat yourself up about coulda-woulda-shoulda things. You're obviously a caring owner and are doing the best you can for your dog.

We lost our oldest girl in April with kidney disease when she was 15 1/2 having had it for about 3 years. Since then our eldest collie who's 12 has also been diagnosed with kidney disease. You sound similar to my wife because she occasionally does that sort of thing and and wonders if we could have done more because we now know a lot more about the disease and diets etc.

Just think how lucky your dog is to have you for a caring owner and how you're improving his quality of life.

hethmar

Bless you, you are doing so much for your boy xxx

marshallka

Went into boots yesterday and bought some ketostix. (£10 for 50). I don't know if the vet will give us any tomorrow but thought it was best to check for Ketones whilst waiting for the vets appointment. Done one test this afternoon and it was Negative. I did not say they were for my dog though and they never asked TBH but thought they would be the ones that do a glucose test too. I will have to most probably buy them also as I really doubt I will be able to do a curve with blood. I am just hoping they will allow me to use urine...Have not informed the insurance yet but hopefully they will accept the claim. Have a big list of questions to take tomorrow night for myself. I wonder if I should feed him before going as don't dogs need food before insulin unless they are not actually going to inject him tomorrow evening. I know they are leaving it up to us to do at home as he cannot be handled there. Maybe his first dose will be Friday morning? Just wish i could do this with a tablet.

I wonder how they will monitor this or how they will ask us to if we cannot do the blood things. WIll urine tests be good enough do you think? I did ask if i should buy a glucometer and they said "No" they would do this but surely that would mean daily visits and that would be impossible and far too stressful.

buddys_mum

Tommorrow is a big day, try and get a good nights sleep. What time is your appointment at the vets?

buddys_mum

Its good that he isnt showing up any ketones, Buddy did and he has had to be flushed through. Maybe ring the vets in the morning and ask if he needs to be fed first. Ive just had to change the batteries on the scales as i could hardly read what they said earlier, and had to go and get some batteries ready for the mornings food.

Its good that you have a list of questions, just remember to take a pen to write down the answers.

Trust me you will be fine to take the blood tests, and they dont need to be done daily either. Weekly at home would be fine once he is stabalized. The keto-diastix are pretty good, as i have them too. Mainly to check that Buddy doesnt have the ketones. Trust yourself and then Wippie will feel calmer and trust you back, and the whole thing will go alot smoother for you all.


You see the red dot i have put here= . right, that about as much blood as you need to take to do a blood test yourself, its really tiny amount honest.

marshallka

buddys_mum wrote: »

Tommorrow is a big day, try and get a good nights sleep. What time is your appointment at the vets?

Hi buddys mum. Its at 6.30 so a long day tomorrow. Thanks for asking.

Just wondering what they are going to do about his diet. He is not overweight and never has been and I also have another dog and they eat together (at the same time but different dishes of course lol).

I have just been reading this article and its actually frightening

http://www.k9obedience.co.uk/dogcare/food/dangers.html

It says here about feeding


Our advice is to save kitchen scraps and have a weekly ‘cook up’ to make a thick veggie or meaty stew. All the chunks of fat, gristle, skins, peelings or whatever else you have left over are a hundred times better than commercial dog food, even if they don’t look as nice to your eye. Boil up a large pan of brown rice and keep it stored in the refrigerator. You can then just buy some frozen blocks or bags of tripe, fish, beef, lamb or chicken and each day you can simply defrost the amount needed. Then just add to this a big spoonful of the stew and rice or pasta and you have a canine feast at your fingertips! If you have a friendly butcher, you can ask them to save the large beef, lamb or pork bones which they usually have to dispose of somewhat expensively, and they will often be happy to do so for you. These bones are excellent for a dog. Aside from the nutritional value, they help tone the facial muscles, and the muscles on the head and neck, they help keep their canine instincts alive, and they certainly do wonders for the dogs teeth and breath, something which commercial dog food does not help at all in general.

Now that would be money saving also but not ideal for the diabetic dog I guess. Its difficult knowing what is best with your own made diets in conditions like this. I remember our little Lhasa after having the beef bone and ending up at the vets.... he tried burying it in the garden and ended up with a stomach full of soil. Hence they have not had any since.

marshallka

buddys_mum wrote: »

Its good that he isnt showing up any ketones, Buddy did and he has had to be flushed through. Maybe ring the vets in the morning and ask if he needs to be fed first. Ive just had to change the batteries on the scales as i could hardly read what they said earlier, and had to go and get some batteries ready for the mornings food.

Its good that you have a list of questions, just remember to take a pen to write down the answers.

Trust me you will be fine to take the blood tests, and they dont need to be done daily either. Weekly at home would be fine once he is stabalized. The keto-diastix are pretty good, as i have them too. Mainly to check that Buddy doesnt have the ketones. Trust yourself and then Wippie will feel calmer and trust you back, and the whole thing will go alot smoother for you all.


You see the red dot i have put here= . right, that about as much blood as you need to take to do a blood test yourself, its really tiny amount honest.

Wow, thanks for that buddys mum. I am just a panicky person anyway when their life is in my hands to this extent. Poor Buddy having to be flushed. I bet that was a panic for you. I thought I had bought the Keto diastix TBH but got home and they are just Keto stix. I just asked for urine dip sticks and said my mum had ran out:o. It is Ketone that is most important though I think and he is testing negative which is good. Will no doubt have something given by the vet for the first few weeks.... also I asked about buying this and that and they said not to bother yet.

I have put the pen in my envelope now also. Thanks for that. I have not left room between my questions to answer them. There will be no time for him to get his insulin after I have finished with questions lol.

So you actually weigh the food?? Its that important isn't it?. I did ring them and got a call back from a vet nurse on saturday about the food thing and she told me to feed the same for now so I have but no treats in between or scraps. Its horrible doing this although he has never been overweight. He was slap bang in the middle of a weight for a border last year and does not look any different now. It will be interesting to see if he has changed any at all?

maxdp

Hi Marshallka

I hope it goes OK today with the Vets visit. I am sure it will all be fine and tomorrow you will be feeling more confident about things. You seem to be getting lots of good advice on here it is reassuring when you hear other people are able to relate to things. Good Luck