Diabetic elder-yorkie.....blood glucose testing
 

Our yorkie (Jazzie) is nearly 14 and recently had a stroke...thankfully she has all but fully recovered. As of today she is walking on all fours without assistance and eating well. She's still a little unsteady on her feet, but is doing fantastic in comparison to her recently, totally paralyzed condition. As she has diabetes and is also blind due to cataracts and has low thyroid, I am very concerned to keep her blood chemistry very well monitored. I recently went on ebay and purchased one of these blood glucose monitors that require very, very little blood to do the sampling. I figured a digital reading would be far improved from the unine strips which only tell me if things are bad, very bad or normal. My problem is that it is very difficult to get any blood sampling to use other than on her foot pads, which I really don't want to use due to the sensativity of that area to pain. If anyone could offer a suggestion: Where and/or how would be the best location and means of getting a small blood sampling for the testing. I have done some research and it appears that normal would be between 80 and 120 and mid 90's would be just about perfect. Thanks in advance for any assistance. dales53

They say you can test on the ears too but it looks like that would be equally painful. Our little schnauzer was on insulin (2 shots a day) for 2 1/2 yrs. I tried to feed him the right food, did his shots, made sure he eat something, espically in the morning and left the blood testing to the vet. You can only do so much. You are truely special to love and take care of this little angel. Our vet said we did more than most, but he was our baby and we did all we could do to help him. We lost him on Mother's day a year ago. Just do your best and thats all you can do. Bless you for what you are doing,most people would put them down. We loved him and kept him until we could do no more. God bless you and that baby.

Lady has been a diabetic for almost seven years now and I have been testing her myself for almost that long. Keeping her blood glucose so tightly under control is the reason why she is still doing so well at age thirteen. Even her opthamologist is amazed that her eyesight is still perfect since most diabetic dogs go blind.

The lip stick method is the best. Here is a great how to:

Pets with Diabetes: Lip Prick Home BG Testing

It looks terrible, but it really is very easy to do. I have always made it a very happy, positive thing with a treat afterwards so Lady is great about getting her blood glucose checked. She comes happily when I tell her it's time to "check her sugar". In fact, she usually comes when she hears me unzip the case to her meter. :D

Normal bg is 80-120, but you really don't want to let them get that low on insulin as it is too dangerous. My vet said between 100-200 is ideal. I try to keep it below 175 pre meal.

Please feel free to pm me if you have any questions or just want moral support. You can learn to home test, I promise.