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Thank you all for the quick replies.

Marianne, I have tried to keep her consistent, but this is just not working for me at all, what she will eat one day, she wont eat the next. This all started a little over a month ago. I had her eating every 12 hours, I was feeding her 1 1/2 cup Orijen, a high protein food, I would add 1/2 cup chopped broccoli or green beans and a little rice and barley. I was pretty new at this so I think I was giving her too much rice, her readings were always in the 300's, this is when I increased her to 15 units, nothing changed with the food at all and she hit a low of 20, she was falling down and acting weird, so I gave her Karo.

They first started her on Baytril, she still had a UTI the entire time she was taking it and her BG's were all over the place, then they switched her to Chephlexin, right at the end of her taking these is when she stopped eating every 12 hours, then her UTI came back with a vengance and they put her on Cipro. I totally understand how bad it is to switch foods everyday, or to give her things with sugar, but if I don't she will starve to death. I have only resorted to this because I had no choice. She did have an abdominal ultra sound, the only thing they saw was an inflamed bladder becasue of the UTI, they ruled out Cushings, tick disease, heart worm. I am sure their are more test's they could run, but I feel that I am being ripped off by some of these Vets. They have done a urine culture, glucosemine test's. I also test her for Keytones a couple of times a week, always negative.

These fee's are insane, the first time I brought her in, when the dx her, they kept her for 2 days and charged me $1000, this didn't even include the food and insulin and needles, 1 week later I had to leave her for the day and that was $500, a follow up blood curve. They said she was doing ok, they never suggested home testing, just said I needed to bring her in 1 time per month for a curve. They had her on 11 units of vetsulin twice per day, I figured for $500 per month I could find a closer and cheaper Vet.

I took her to the new Vet with such promise, I told them that she had been sleeping a lot and wasn't herself, her BG's were really high, so the second idiot Vet lowered her Insulin to 5 units twice per day, here he is telling me that her BG's are out the roof, and he lowers her insulin?? I didn't know any better, so of course a few days later she is so lethargic, bg over 500 according to Vet, they have me leave her there and did all the same testing the other Vet did, thyroid, heartworm, all of the same stuff, even though I had given them ALL of her records from the first Vet. This ended up costing me over $1000, he had me raise her to 7units twice per day, I discussed home testing with the Vet and he told me that home meters DO NOT work and that I would have to bring her in for curves, I went and bought one anyway and read all I could about home testing. When I didn't bring her back, he called me and yelled at me and said home testing was not an option, I told the Vet that he ought to do some research before making that statement, I never took her back.

Dawn, I use the one touch ultra mini, I find the higher her BG the more inaccurate it is, the lower her BG the more accurate, I have only tested my one touch against the Vets Alpha Trak (the newest vet) her meter seems to be 40-50 higher than mine, I know this isn't an exact science, but it's all I have, and using the Keytone strips. When I increased her insulin, I did it slowly, by 1/2 units.

Right now her curves are all over the place because her eating is all over the place, we are just winging it here, until she starts eating. I have tried everything, broth, tuna, you name it, I have tried it. I probably need to get some labs done and compare those to my meter. I was just so happy she ate today, I waited about 2 hours after I fed her and gave her 13.5, she was about 200 after the 80, but yes, the Karo raised her pretty fast, I was just worried the food wouldn't kick in and she would crash. I am sure I have missed something some one has asked.

As soon as I have a better grip on her eating I can do a curve that will be accurate. Her blindness has been really hard, she really isn't handling it as well as I thought she would, she is very sad and crashed into things a lot, we have cut back her excercise cuz she can hardly make it, her legs are weak, but we do still walk her. I do give her insulin in the scruff, she is fine with that, she hates the poking though, I do it on her callus on her leg, she tolerates it.

I wonder still if there is something else wrong, of course now that I have lost my job and can barely afford the vet bills, I know if I took her in, they would just do all of the same crap, that is what they all do. I know I am negative, I am trying not to be, but I have been taken to the cleaners, and not one of them give a damn about me or my dog, only my money.

Hi Dawn, yes I would give her insulin with little food, like you said about 5 units, I have to start doing this because if I don't, she goes much too high. I haven't before but I know it is time to change something, of course depending on BG. It is an ugly cycle and it's wearing me down, and her too. The 80 I used was adding about 30 points to the meter, when she is low like she was today I figure the meter is off by 20-30, maybe even lower. I know she was low this morning because she didn't eat much last night, I fed her 2 little cans of this soft food from Safeway last night, her BG last night was 390 before food, so after the 2 cans I gave her 13.5 units, so I expected her to be low today.

I was out of town for 2 days and my Husband was taking care of her, he isn't near as patient as I am and he couldn't get her to eat anything, so he fed her some toast and hamburger mixed with a little rice, he said she didn't eat much of it, he tried all of the kibble foods and she wouldn't go for it, he never even tried the soft food, why I don't know. So when I got home last night her BG's were near 400.

I think part of my confusion is that I know dogs will resist food when their BG's are high, but she hasn't even been eating when they are low, and we have seen much lower readings this last month than ever, but that is becasue she isn't eating much, on the days she does eat, we do give her the full amount of insulin. So I feel helpless, now we have lower readings, finally and she wont eat, then they sky rocket. The ups and down may be causing this too, and I really think it is the medication too. I had to take a couple of days off, I have been so stressed out, hand feeding her, force feeding her and getting down right frustrated. It seemed she didn't want any of the kind of food she actually needed, I could get her to eat meat, but she needs the fiber, and that is what she wouldn't eat. I would even mix that powder fiber in cottage cheese, I tried the pumpkin, but not gonna have it.

I know exactly what you mean by acting like it's my food, I do the same thing, I even feed her in her bed, or on the couch, whatever it takes. I am up in the morning making her eggs, my Husband thinks I am nuts, he loves her as much as I do, but doesn't have the touch.

Mandy is totally on to me when I add a little something tasty to the food, she licks the good stuff out and leaves the rest, she's really good at that. I actually did buy the Novolin from Walmart, much cheaper. The strips for the One Touch are pretty expensive, but the Reli On Meter seems too far off to me, and of course those are the cheapest strips, the Reli On is accurate when she is low, but when she is high, they can be off by 150. My sister had gestational diabetes and she just had her baby, so she gave me 100 strips which really helped us out !!

Since Mandy didn't eat until about 10am today, I am going to wait until about 9:30 and feed her again, if she eats good I will give her the insulin, but I did not give her insulin until noon today becasue she was at 80, so I waited. Do you think that will be ok?

Hi Johanna, I have always given her the insulin in the scruff, this is how they showed me. I am going to ask my vet to run some labs and compare, and yes, I know I am probably off. Mandy has never been a picky eater, but the food she has always been on, she will not eat at all. It isn't the food, it's her. If you could see my food supply, it's pretty big, I have been in denial, thinking "oh, it must be that food" I have tried them all. I could feed an army of poochies over here.

The last month nothing is normal, I am in survival mode here. I know I need her to eat every 12 hours, but that is not an option here in my situation, I really have just resorted to getting her to eat at all. So yes, I have got to find a food that works and do everything I can, but she is making this impossible. For a solid month I put food in front of her every 12 hours, sometimes 5-6 different kinds, bowls everywhere, food everywhere, you should see her, she bolts the other direction and hides, I go get her, sit her down put more in front of her, sometimes I will hit on something and most of the time not. I have been known to stuff food down her throat, I hate doing this to her. But it's that or starvation. But all through this period she has been on the antibiotics, so I stopped giving them to her 2 days ago and she ate good today, maybe just maybe this will be the end of this nightmare. But I have to get her Bg's under control before the UTI's come back, because then this vicious cycle will start again. My husband just took her for a brisk walk, this will help bring her bg down a bit, but she wont eat again until 9:30-10pm.

I will read through the links, I have read so much but still have confusion and have even consulted with a specialist, she is one that suggested the Cipro. Keep in mind, most Vets here in Colorado do not advocate home testing, I have been screamed at saying that it can not be done, I do know better.