There are days that Bender’s insulin/shots/food do too good of a job and make his blood sugar way too low. Last night was one of those times.
I heard Bender get up at 5:30am last night and go out to his food bowls in the sun room. I heard him poke at his food storage box and at Luna’s food bag. He’s gone out there at night before when he was hungry and been able to open his food storage box and eat to his hearts content. Which makes for messed up sugar levels. So at this point I just listened.
I heard Bender get some water and make his way back to the bedroom. But he was acting strange. I heard him sniffing and bumping into things. Taking it slow. He came into the bedroom. Went to his bed. Laid down. Got back up and started sniffing around, bumping into things. Going from one side of the bed to the other.
At this point I called him over. He came over but was confused. Sniffing around, wasn’t focused. I got up and went to the bathroom to turn on the night light to see him (didn’t want to wake my girlfriend). He was swaying back a forth a bit, confused and was acting like he was trying to find some thing.
I took him out to the sunroom and gave him some food. After about 3 mins he was back to normal. Alert and responding. Back to bed for him. I stayed up for an hour till I was content he was fine.
It’s a scary moment. But I always remember what my vet said to me long ago. If you dog is acting drunk (Not really responding, confused, swaying). His blood sugar is low. Give him some food. If he is really not responding, super confused, falling down). His blood sugar is really really low. Give him some honey, rub the honey under his lips. Or give him some frozen OJ slightly warmed up so it isn’t totally frozen..
Just the opposite if his blood sugar is too high. He will probably be super lethargic. Will probably respond slightly but won’t be peppy, panting a lot, drinking a ton of water. Check his blood sugar levels, give him some insulin, and call the Vet.
Either way, too high or too low of blood sugar will result in a coma. I can’t say how high. Bender has been over 500 before more than several times for hours on end. My meter stops at 500. But even over 300 is bad. Your dog will be different. The important thing is to watch for the signs and take the right action.
Thank you for posting this. Tonight my diabetic dig has been falling down, swaying & whimpering. I believe her blood suger is low, so I will try honey, thanks soo much!
Lou is almost 9yrs old. Malteese, sweet, happy…well adjusted. That sounded good didn’t it….Here we go, Lou is a diabetic, he has puppy pee pads for the day and is a good boy to use them. I’ve noticed when he gets his Advantage II flea treatment he starts acting really odd, will pee in the weirdest spots like he’s so confused, stair at the wall, walk into the screen door…and its upsetting because he trys so hard during the day. Anyone recommend another flea control?
Peggy,
I would ask your Vet what they recommend. Especially since your dog is having a reaction to Advantage II.
Jeff
Low blood sugar is much more an emergent situation than somewhat high blood sugar.
Low blood sugar can quickly lead to death if it gets too low. The honey or Karo syrup on the gums is the quickest way to reverse low blood sugar. It should be followed up with some food with complex carbs so that the carbs do not break down too quickly, this will help maintain the blood sugar level.
Be alert to dogs that may have a tendency to vomit if they lose their food after they have been given insulin, their blood sugar can drop rapidly.
Abby is a 12yr old min pin
diabetic, there are times she jumps like someone just shot a gun beside her, then she starts acting like shes lost, confused, completely blocks me out and I know being blind don’t help her!!! Help please!!!
Hey kim ford. How is you mr min pin doing? I see your post is almost a year old. I have a 13 year old min pin that is bkind, diabetic, pancreatic and has heart trouble. She was falling down tonight and actin drunk and confused and found this post. Thank goodness. Some food seems to have done the trick.
Ruby also jumps and is scared so easily now, for ruby is from being blind. Every noise scares poor thing. We have to carry her around a lot as I’m sure u are familiar with.
Hope all is well.