My dog's diabetes isn't controlled. How to find a specialist vet?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

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  Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on

  Hello, sorry to hear about Ike. Glucose curves are helpful to determine how effective the treatment for diabetes is. Unfortunately, there isn't one prescription that treats all pets equally as different pets need different doses or even different types of insulin to control their blood sugar. Its likely that Ike just hasn't reached a well controlled point. However, you can always discuss with your veterinarian about obtaining a referral to see a specialist in internal medicine whom manage complicated medicine cases like Ike's may be. Besides diabetes, there are other diseases which may make the successful treatment of diabetes challanging and include things such as cushings disease. Speak with your veterinarian about obtianing a referral to see an internal medicine specialist for Ike. Hope this helps and best of luck.

  

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  Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on August 1st, 2017

  That value is within normal range, so that's good; however you cannot judge if a pet is being managed well with just 1 reading. I would encourage you to discuss doing a glucose curve with your veterinarian to get a full picture of her diabetic status. This involves taking blood level readings every 2 hrs over the course of 12 hrs (if possible). Also the vet will likely want to get her Fructosamine levels (takes her blood sugar levels 2 weeks prior and is not affected by stress). Stress can lead to false high blood glucose readings, especially in cats, which is why we often use Fructosamine as a more accurate management tool. Here is also more information on the glucose curve and tons of info on diabetes in cats. http://www.vetsulin.com/vet/default.aspx is another key factor when managing diabetes, and I usually recommend either Purina DM (top pick), Royal Canin Glycobalance, or Hill's M/D which are all prescription brands, expect for the Purina.

  

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  Answered By David Darvishian

  Veterinarian

  Published on August 15th, 2017

  Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Cassie. A few possibilities exist. One is her dose (units) is too low or she is not responding adequately to the insulin (may need another type of insulin or may be having some insulin resistance). I would advise taking her to your veterinarian so that they can evaluate her and take a thorough history including how you handle the insulin, what she eats, etc. They will probably want to perform a glucose curve to see if the dose is too low or other things are playing a role such as insulin resistance or a change of insulin is in order. The curve can determine all of that. Again, this disease is challenging but I feel that your vet can make sense of all of this once a thorough history and glucose curve is performed. Good luck with Cassie.

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful