Update on the pooch

So the pooch and I are a week into the new routine, and things are going pretty well all things considered. Several of the symptoms have abated and her energy and disposition seem to have perked up. She has been very good with the shots, only complaining when the insulin is too cold.

She was diagnosed last Saturday, and I made sure to stick around most of the weekend to watch for any bad reactions. If the insulin pushed her blood glucose level too low she could get hypoglycemic, which in the short term is more dangerous than the high glucose levels connected with diabetes. Fortunately there haven't been any bad reactions so far.

I have started doing some work with a friend which is great, but unfortunately the current jobsite is roughly three hours away. The pooch gets two shots a day, and this jobsite meant that I could not be home to give both shots (I've been getting home between 8:30 and 9:00). Fortunately, my friends/roomies (froomies?) have stepped in to help out when I am not around. I felt bad asking them to do it, but like friends do, they waved off my concerns. I am really glad the pooch sits still for the shots - I'm not sure I could ask them to corral her if she was a fighter. I've been taking care of the morning shots, and they've covered the dinner-time shots. I'm very thankful for their help.

The doctor at the veterinary clinic has also been great. He has called twice in the last week to check in on how the pooch and I are doing. Rather than pepper him with questions over the phone, I stopped by the clinic today. I had done some online research, but I wanted to touch base with the doctor to make sure what I had found made sense to him. The next step is to start checking her blood glucose level on a semi-regular basis. We first need to do a baseline day of testing to see how her glucose levels change throughout the day. Based on what we find, we may need to adjust the insulin amounts or schedule.

So the options are to have the pooch spend the day at the clinic, or for me to do it at home. I am planning on doing it myself because I think she would be much more stressed to be at the vet all day. So I need to pick up a meter and some test strips, and then hope that she is as cooperative with the blood draws as she has been with the shots. Thinking good thoughts.