I have a diabetic dog. She hates giving blood(so we had to go to the hospital to test her) but she loves her insulin shots, because she goes absolutely bonkers over pate. We had issues giving her insulin at the start but i created a small ritual.
I noticed that in the doctor, she kinda freezes(or at least doesnt try to escape) while she is on the examining table. So i replicated that at home. I am using a giant mousepad(so that she is comfortable and wont slip) on a table and then i put her on the table. We spread some pate on a plate and give her the insulin shot(using an insulin pen) while she is licking it. Twice a day, every day for the last 3 years or so.
If you want to change your injection times, you can do it slowly over a few days/weeks, so you need to schedule your changes.
She is 15yo now. Diabetic dogs can live for many years with no issues. Be aware that diabetes can amplify some things. She had a skin wound that even the doctor thought was some super aggressive cancer(it looked bad) but it turned out to be nothing and it just healed normally.
Her energy levels will fluctuate over the day. Because the insulin is slow release, her energy will be at the lowest at the midpoint between the shots. We havent had any issues with low sugar, though it is something that you need to keep in mind.
Also her eyesight is mostly gone, because of diabetes(maybe because we failed to reach her ideal insulin dose fast enough because of the inability to take blood samples at home).
We never give her pate outside of the insulin injections. She is like the borg, she quickly adjusts to things, so we dont want her to adjust. For example, she let us take blood samples for 24hours once but never again.
I have a diabetic dog. She hates giving blood(so we had to go to the hospital to test her) but she loves her insulin shots, because she goes absolutely bonkers over pate. We had issues giving her insulin at the start but i created a small ritual.
I noticed that in the doctor, she kinda freezes(or at least doesnt try to escape) while she is on the examining table. So i replicated that at home. I am using a giant mousepad(so that she is comfortable and wont slip) on a table and then i put her on the table. We spread some pate on a plate and give her the insulin shot(using an insulin pen) while she is licking it. Twice a day, every day for the last 3 years or so.
If you want to change your injection times, you can do it slowly over a few days/weeks, so you need to schedule your changes.
She is 15yo now. Diabetic dogs can live for many years with no issues. Be aware that diabetes can amplify some things. She had a skin wound that even the doctor thought was some super aggressive cancer(it looked bad) but it turned out to be nothing and it just healed normally.
Her energy levels will fluctuate over the day. Because the insulin is slow release, her energy will be at the lowest at the midpoint between the shots. We havent had any issues with low sugar, though it is something that you need to keep in mind.
Also her eyesight is mostly gone, because of diabetes(maybe because we failed to reach her ideal insulin dose fast enough because of the inability to take blood samples at home).
We never give her pate outside of the insulin injections. She is like the borg, she quickly adjusts to things, so we dont want her to adjust. For example, she let us take blood samples for 24hours once but never again.