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Old April 22nd, 2011, 11:45 AM
cderocco cderocco is offline
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Location: Edmonton, AB
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Newly Diagnosed Diabetic Dog

My dog, Barney, was just diagnosed as Diabetic a few days ago. He is ll years old and otherwise healthy. Today was my first day of testing and injections. The injection went well, but the testing with the Glucose meter did not go well at all. He cries every time I try to prick him and when I finally did draw blood it was not enough to register on the meter. I attempted this 5 times and gave up, is there anything els I can do to calm him or test his blood sugar. I don't want to torture him by trying over and over again.

Any information you can offer would be helpful, I am a little stressed by all of this, but determined to figure it out.

Thanks
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Old April 22nd, 2011, 12:19 PM
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pbpatti pbpatti is offline
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Hi cderocco, glad you found us, by my name you will know who I am, maybe go to the introductions also so everyone can say hello... as I told you there are a lot of very knowledgeable people here and I hope someone can come along and give you some advise.

Oh, and by the way we allllll like to see pictures of everyones furbaby so please post one of your sweet Barney. patti
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Old April 22nd, 2011, 10:32 PM
the gang the gang is offline
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if you need help i would only to happy to help, my little guy passed in jan he was diabect for 6 yrs, you can also send a email off to me ... where are you testing and what type of glewcometer people or animals??

Last edited by hazelrunpack; April 22nd, 2011 at 10:50 PM. Reason: cderocco, chk your PMs, pls.
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Old April 23rd, 2011, 07:57 AM
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mikischo mikischo is offline
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Hi, cderocco, and welcome to the forum.

My gang was a very devoted mom to her dog, Dakota, who had several issues including diabetes. She has a tremendous amount of experience and will help you any way she can. I believe you have a PM on how to reach her.

Your dog will pick up on your feelings so if you can try to stay calm and relaxed yourself your dog will likely be calm too. If you try to turn it into a pleasant routine followed by a favorite treat he will learn to associate it with good things.

I don't have any personal experience with dealing with diabetes in a pet but I will provide you with links to an excellent website that has been recommended by others on this forum:

Some picture tutorials on blood glucose testing:

http://www.caninediabetes.org/bloodtesting.html

A webpage with links to all kinds of useful information on diabetes:

http://www.petdiabetes.com/

Again, welcome to the forum and, yes, we would love to see pics of Barney.
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Old April 23rd, 2011, 09:35 AM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cderocco View Post
He cries every time I try to prick him and when I finally did draw blood it was not enough to register on the meter.
Where are you trying to test Barney from? The ear, lip, or somewhere else? What kind of dog is he?
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Old April 23rd, 2011, 02:54 PM
cderocco cderocco is offline
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I am testing on his ear.
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Old April 23rd, 2011, 05:31 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cderocco View Post
I am testing on his ear.
You may need to warm up the ear beforehand. Try rubbing it vigorously for a couple minutes, or else make yourself a rice sock by filling an old sock half full of rice, which you can warm up in the microwave for 30 secs or so (depends on how much rice you use, so start with less time and work your way up to something warm, but not hot). You can fold the rice sock around the ear for several seconds at a time until the blood flow increases.

Also, are you using a lancet device or doing it freehand? If using a lancet pen, you may need to put it on the highest setting at first, if you haven't already done so. Some people have better luck using the device freehand, poking at an angle on the inside of the ear, just along the edge. I personally prefer using a device (I have a diabetic cat). You need to use a fair amount of pressure with it though. Most people first starting out don't press hard enough. Put a folded Kleenex on the other side of the ear so you don't poke through to your finger. The Kleenex can then be applied to the poke hole to stop any further bleeding and prevent bruising.

There really should be very little pain with this procedure, so likely your pup's crying is more because he senses your discomfort, as mikischo mentioned. Treats will definitely go a long way to help the process. Even if you don't get any blood, give a reward and act like his participation in this is the best thing ever. He'll eventually look forward to have his blood tested.

What meter are you using?
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