Our diabetic dog’s first low-blood-sugar moment

Despite our best efforts, his blood glucose levels were often high. It’s called hyperglycemia, and is at the other end of the spectrum to hypoglycemia or very low blood sugar levels. 

High blood sugar

When a dog has elevated blood glucose, they can be very thirsty as they are trying to flush out the excess glucose. It’s a good idea to try and get them to drink lots of water. We would sprinkle a powered version of one of his favorite treats in his water to encourage him to drink more liquids.

But if it remains high, it can lead to issues like cataracts, infections and something called diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be life threatening. We later learned that his food was a big contributor to the issue.

In those first few months, we never experienced hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose levels. We had a chart handy in case it happened, which it did the night we brought him home from dental surgery.

For the surgery, he had to be put under, and the hospital had explained that the anesthesiologist would monitor and regulate Parker’s blood glucose, applying insulin as needed.

I’m always anxious when Parker is away at the vet, waiting for the phone call telling us (hopefully) that everything went well and we can pick him up later that day. 

The call came mid afternoon. Surgery went well and we could pick him up. 

The surprise of a low BG reading

That evening he was understandably groggy from the operation, medications and overall experience. He was behaving as expected.

We decided to check his blood glucose at bedtime, around 11:30 pm. I don’t remember what prompted us to do it, but he was acting a bit different than expected and we wanted to be sure he was okay.

His reading was 3.6 (equivalent to 65 mg/dL in the USA). 

This was new. And not good. 

We pulled out the reference table that we keep with his meds and sitter guide. According to the chart, he was in the orange zone, but uncomfortably close to the red danger zone. 

We needed to raise his blood sugar level to a safe zone

The chart indicated that we should give him something sweet like honey or maple syrup. We had both at hand, but what the chart didn’t say was how much to give him. Half a teaspoon? A full teaspoon? A tablespoon? There were no instructions. 

I scooped my finger into the jar of honey and swirled it around his mouth. Was it enough? Too much? How quickly would it work? Should we get ready to drive to emergency? So many thoughts were racing through my mind.

The chart said to wait 15 minutes and test him again. Poor Parker had been through a stressful day of surgery and probably wanted to go to bed and now his owners had all the lights turned up and were poking him and shoving their fingers in his mouth, which probably didn’t feel too good after dental surgery.

We set a timer and waited. It was gruelling, waiting and watching his behaviour. 

We retested him and got a 3.8 reading. It was a very minor improvement but could be within a margin of error. We talked about it and agreed to give him another fingertip of honey and reset the timer. 

Over the next one and half hours his blood glucose slowly climbed and entered the safe zone. We tested him every fifteen minutes up until about 1:30 am and, while he got a small treat after each test, I’m sure he didn’t like the experience and just wanted to rest. 

Guidance on how much honey to give

We’ve since learned that we gave the right amount. Your dog has to be conscious and able to swallow to apply honey on their cheek or gums. Merck Animal Health recommends giving a glucose source approximately equal to 1g glucose per kg (2.25 lbs) of body weight for hypoglycaemic pets in an emergency.

Here a some approximations you can use if you need to act quickly based on the weight of your diabetic dog:

• 5 lb (2.3 kg): ~ 0.4 tsp (~ 1/2 teaspoon)
• 10 lb (4.5 kg): ~ 0.8 tsp (~ 3/4 –1 teaspoon)
• 20 lb (9.1 kg): ~ 1.6 tsp (~ 1 1/2 teaspoons)
• 40 lb (18.1 kg): ~ 3.2 tsp (~ 1 tablespoon)
• 60 lb (27.2 kg): ~ 4.8 tsp (~ 1 1/2 tablespoons)
  

So many new experiences

There’s so much to know and learn with a diabetic dog, which is why we want to share our experiences to help reduce the stressful moments for other dog owners. And to help you be prepared.

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