Last night I woke up to Bender making a lot of noise. He was messing with his bed. At first I thought he was cold. Then he started wandering around the house bumping into walls and furniture. I know this act. He has low blood sugar. I get up and get Bender to the kitchen. But the only problem is what do I feed him? Since I switched him to a totally home made food diet I don’t have food readily available for him because I portion out his food per meal and freeze it.
I didn’t even have carrots to give him. Just treats. Not good at all. I ended up giving Bender some of Luna’s food. Just 1/4 of a cup. Enough to get him back to normal. I waited till he was fine and we went back to bed.
But its another good reminder that if your dog is on a totally home cooked diet and you make and freeze the food. Make sure you have some thing to feed in case of situations like low blood sugar. I just made a 40 day batch of food which I froze. This weekend I need to make up a 1 meal batch of his food that I can separate into 3 small portions to freeze so I can keep it on hand for low blood sugar nights.
A small piece of bread with some peanut butter is a good thing to use if a low. Now if it a real ER some Karo and then add a slower burning carb like the bread w/pb. Karo will be quick response and be right out f the system cause of the sugar, thats why follow with a slower burning carb and protein.
I’ve been giving Bender Peanut Butter and Carrots.
Also for really bad crashes I give him a spoon full of honey to get his blood sugar up in a hurry, then follow it up with his home made food.
Hi, My dog Rooty is a miniature Pinscher. He was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I’ve notice that sometimes he will walk like he’s drunk and fall down. I was told that was because his sugar was low. I was told to give him 2 tablespoons of Karo syrup then follow with some food. If low blood sugar happens within 2 hours of his insulin shot, do I skip his insulin and give him his insulin at the next dosage time? I usually give him insulin every 12 hours. I love my dog and I am not real educated about diabetes in dogs. Your help is well appreciated. Thanks
Always consult your vet if you have questions and are unsure.
If your dog is walking around acting drunk, and falling down it usually does mean low blood sugar. If you are not sure, do a glucose test. If it is low sugar, what you are doing is correct. I use Honey or Peanut butter and dog biscuits, carrots too if I have them. And if Bender is still low after 20-30 mins I give him some food.
I try not to skip a shot. Insulin doesn’t last that long that it will last through another meal efficiently. The best thing to do is adjust the dosage. I would talk to your vet if you are not sure.
Are you giving Rooty insulin right after he eats. If not, when?
Couple of questions, what glucose meter do you use? I have an Alpha Track 2 and the readings can be all over the place and it feels unreliable.
Second, my vet said my dog would wake up in the middle of the night if he glucose got too low. Is this true? I recently had him on thyroid meds which totally screwed up his levels. He’s been high so I consulted with the vet to increase him back to his normal 24 units. I’m just worried about tonight that he may drop while I’m sleeping.
I have a 12 year old diabetic poodle who won’t sleep and walks into everything. She lays down, gets up, circles in her bed and continues this act. What can I do to help her to get to sleep
Neal,
If that behavior is unusual for your dog, then I would look into why your dog is doing that. Is your poodle’s sugar too high? Too Low? Going blind? Other issues?
-Jeff
My little guy is a 14 yr old poodle and is diabetic. He randomly has these night walking episodes every few months. Tonight is the second night, yesterday he had a seizure due to it. I’m almost positive it’s low blood sugar, he is very difficult and it’s nearly impossible to do the blood sugar testing. Does anyone know what causes low blood sugar? What’s the best way to prevent it from dropping? I just gave him some syrup and it seemed to calm him down. Any suggestions are greatly recommended, sleepless nights are rough.
Isaura,
Low blood sugar is caused by too much insulin, not enough food, or a lot of exercise. Or a combination of all three.
You will need to need to adjust these. Maybe it is giving 1 unit less insulin or just a bit more food.
Either way you will need to find a way to test your dog’s blood sugar and do a glucose curve (daily, weekly, or monthly) to get a clear picture of what is going on with your dog glucose wise. From there you can adjust.
Also insulin needs will change over time so this isn’t a one a done thing.
-Jeff
Are you giving a bedtime snack to prevent that 4 am low??