What are the risks of increasing my diabetic dog's insulin?

Question

I'm a Registered Nurse with an 11 year old Maltese w/ type 1 DM. Since diagnosis, we have incrementally increased 2x daily NPH injections, based on 24 hr blood glucose curves done at home with an Alphatrak meter, results of which have agreed with fructose blood tests with a vet. Frequent vet visits have been very expensive and I'm considering continuing to up his dose up based on periodic 24hr curves. I'm familiar with Somogyi effect detection, are there any other precautions, or max dose limit? Pet's info: Dog | Maltese | Male | neutered | 10 lbs

Dr. Dayna, DVM, CVA · Accepted Answer

Most dogs with uncomplicated DM do not require any more than 1 u per kg. Actually when I start having to increase to much over 0.5 u per kg I start to worry about occult infections I might be missing such as UTI or dental infections. Also, Cushings disease is common in small dogs and that can also make DM difficult to control. So I would visit with your veterinarian about the upper limit of their comfort level in your insulin increases. That way if you approach that level you should go in for an exam and possibly other lab work. That is probably how I would handle it, but of course all veterinarians are different and yours may have a different (and possibly better) recommendation! Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

What are the risks of increasing my diabetic dog's insulin?

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