Diabetic Yorkie with FreeStyle Libre

[TheJazzMan]

My 14 year old Yorkie, Bitsy, just had a very bad case of pancreatitis and almost didn't survive it. She was in the ICU at Auburn University vet hospital for 4 days before they discharged her with a feeding tube and insulin. That feeding tube was a life-saver because she wouldn't eat on her own for 2 weeks.

She's doing much better now due to diet change and daily insulin (that I'm struggling to balance), but I wanted to tell you about the FreeStyle Libre sensor that she wears. It's a little larger than a quarter and is stuck to her back with an adhesive. There is a small catheter inside that goes just under the skin and reads her blood glucose levels every minute. I use my smartphone to scan it whenever I want and it has an alarm for high and low blood glucose levels.

The sensors can be a little finicky and I've had a few that failed in less than 24 hours, but the manufacturer replaced. And, if the blood glucose is changing rapidly (up or down), you might not get a reading for 10 minutes to an hour. That sucks, especially when you're worried about a too high or too low number. But overall, I highly recommend it. I tried using test strips and that was just a disaster. It hurt Bitsy and I had trouble getting blood, so this is a much better solution.

I do have insulin questions, but I'll post them in another thread.

[ladyjane]

How scary.....that's great that she is doing better.

I didn't know they had those sensors for dogs....great info. Thanks for sharing.

Hope Bitsy continues to do well.