Do I Shoot??

Thought I’d share an experience Ella & I had the other day, I know that many of you fellow diabetic dog owners have had similar experiences and can relate! As much as we love and care for them, life is going to happen and we learn that we can’t always watch what they’re doing every minute. A few weeks back a friend who had just moved into a new house and had invited some friends over for a barbeque. I know they have three dogs and none of them are diabetic. I decided to take Ella as she always enjoys the company of other dogs and thought it would be good to get her out of the house! Once Ella and I got there, I put her down and I guess you can say that we both started to mingle. I had my eyes off of her for about 5 minutes but noticed she came back up the stairs from the basement. I asked my friend the owner if there was any dog food out that she might get into, and sure enough she said that there was some food left out for her dogs down in the basement. I went down to the basement and saw the dog bowl…empty. Couldn’t be positive, but Ella can be a little Miss Piggy, so I just hoped for the best and - that she wasn’t the one that emptied the bowl! We drove home; and soon it was feeding time. Ella walked next to her bowls, looked up at me, and started to get sick. She threw up 3 times, all in a row (sorry – I know it’s kinda gross!) and looked up at me like she still expected to be fed. So, what do I do? Should I feed her and give her the insulin shot? Should I feed her and not give her the shot? Remember, 12 hours after her last injection her bg levels would be high. But..she threw up and now her stomach was empty. I decided to just give her some plain white chicken cubes and skipped the shot. She slept through the night and thankfully didn’t get sick again. I checked her levels in the morning and yes, they were high, but I was expecting that. I fed her breakfast as usual and gave her a shot. When I checked her levels at dinner time, she was back to normal. It’s tough constantly having to keep an eye on our diabetic dogs! I’ve walked Ella and turned around to find her with a frozen Eggo waffle in her mouth. This dog can smell a half-eaten chicken bone from a mile away. She’s sneaky about it, and knows if she gets caught she’ll be in trouble, yet she still takes the risk for the in- the- moment reward! I hope this little story helps. I’ve read that it’s better to skip the shot when in doubt, than to give her too much insulin and watch her bg levels drop to the danger zone. Always remember you know your dog best. Trusting your instincts and experience with managing his/her diabetes when faced with situations such as this will help you decide what's best when navigating these situations.