Your dog was just diagnosed diabetic.
Now what?

What to expect

We don’t want to sugar coat this; the first few months with your diabetic dog can be the most challenging. Your dog’s health and needs have instantly changed, and you may have to do things that can be new, uncomfortable or even scary.

We can tell you from experience that it gets easier. Before our 12-year old border terrier Parker became diabetic, we had never drawn blood or injected a needle. The idea of doing those things made me anxious and squeamish.

Today, testing Parker’s blood glucose and injecting him with insulin is as second nature as flossing and brushing in the morning. And it takes about as long, too. 

You will get to that place. There’s a lot of help and support to tap into. There are at least 300,000 diabetic dogs in the US and Canada, so know that you are not alone.

Start with the ten basics

We suggest you focus on the things that will make it easier for you and your dog in the immediate term. We spent too much time looking far ahead and got overwhelmed. If we were to create a starter kit for people with diabetic dogs, here are the ten things we would have in it:

For blood glucose testing

• A home-made rice sock to make it easier to draw blood
• A pain-free lancing device to draw blood, like the PetTest Genteel
• A quality blood glucose monitor, like PetTest or AlphTrak
• Test strips for the monitor

For feeding a diabetic dog

• High protein, low fat, complex carb dog food
• Zero carb, 100% protein high-value dog treats
• Weight scale as you may need to figure out how much your dog eats to give the right amount of insulin

For injecting a diabetic dog

• Vial of insulin like Humulin/Novalin, Vetsulin
• Syringes designed for the specific insulin (this is important)
• Alcohol wipes for the top of the vial

Keep track of these five things

A diabetic dog needs their test/feed/inject routine to be 12 hours apart as this allows the insulin to properly do its job. You can move their schedule by an hour forward or backward each day, but it’s vital to stay within the 11 - 13 hour block between injections.

Injections typically need to be administered within an hour of the meal, so routine is highly important with your diabetic dog.

We found it helpful to write down key factors so that we weren’t changing his routine. Our vet agreed and found the info useful when Parker was having a health issue. Whether you want to use an app or table on your phone or computer, or go old school and write things on paper, we suggest keeping note of the following:

1. Time of blood glucose test
2. Blood glucose reading (make sure your device is set for the right blood glucose scale)
3. Percentage of meal eaten by weight (i.e., 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%)
4. Quantity of insulin injection (e.g., 7.0 units) and time of injection if more than 15 minutes after the blood glucose test
5. Notes (e.g., mood, vomiting, not drinking water, etc.)

How to be prepared for the highs and lows

Your vet may have talked to you about getting your dog regulated. When a diabetic dog is "regulated," it means their blood glucose levels are staying within a safe and relatively stable range throughout the day, without frequent highs (hyperglycemia) or dangerous lows (hypoglycemia). 

Regulation doesn’t mean their blood sugar is perfectly normal at all times, but rather that their insulin, food, and activity levels are balanced well enough that they’re feeling good, eating well, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding symptoms or complications.

You may experience your dog going outside of these levels, particularly in the early stages of diabetes while you and your dog adapt to the new condition. Changes in food, exercise, stress, sleep, and even weather can send their blood glucose readings out of the norm.

High Readings

If your dog has high readings, it means that they are hyperglycemic and they need to flush the sugars out of their system. Make sure they have lots of fresh water to drink and, if possible, try and get them to drink more water by sprinkling it with a bit of dust from their favorite 100% protein treat or adding a bit of zero-salt broth.

You don’t want them to be high for too long as they can develop ketones, which can lead to some serious conditions like ketoacidosis and diabetic ketoacidosis. We recommend having a pack of test strips that will tell you if there are dangerous levels of ketones in your dog’s urine. 

Low Readings

Very low readings can be dangerous. Your dog can go into a diabetic coma and even die if things go too far. When they have low readings, they often need some type of sugar rubbed on their gums, and protein/carb treats. We recommend keeping the information about how much honey to give in this linked article handy and having an easy to open jar of honey  clearly marked and available for emergencies.