My diabetic dog ate cat food. Do I need to adjust her insulin?

I would wait about 12 hours after his last dose of insulin. I would also make sure he eats something before giving the insulin at that time. If you are not going to be up at the 12 hour mark I would recommend holding off the insulin until tomorrow. If you give the insulin now you risk his glucose going to low even if he just ate. Just know he may develop diarrhea from the cat food. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello, thank you for your question. I would not give more insulin to your dog in spit of getting into this candy. It is possible that by giving additional insulin we could make her blood sugar drop too low. One bout of significant hyperglycemia should not cause serious derangement of the diabetes. If there was any chocolate in these candies however, I would be concerned that your dog could experience chocolate toxicity. If there was chocolate in these candies I would recommend contacting the ASPCA Poison Control for further recommendations. There is a fee for this service, but they can help determine if additional treatments are needed. Hope this helps, good luck!

Yes, I would just wait and resume normal insulin dosing at his next meal. It's risky to try and "top off" a partial dose (if he didn't get the whole thing for some reason), so better to just pick up with his next normal dose and go from there. A single skipped or lower-than-normal insulin dose should not cause any serious harm. If the increased urination continues, then I would talk to your veterinarian as he may need to have his glucose levels rechecked and his insulin dose adjusted.

Just keep him on his normal feeding and exercise routine. His blood sugar will be elevated without the insulin but a couple days should not be that huge of a problem. What you may notice is a temporary recurrence of signs (such as excess thirst and urination), but is not life threatening. If you see him acting ill though you should take him to an ER clinic immediately.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is very unlikely to happen and I do not think that you need to worry about him having severe adverse effects from developing high blood sugar from eating too much just one time. The one thing I would recommend is that you do not give him the dose of insulin tonight unless you are sure that he is going to eat as if he gets the insulin at that time without eating, he may develop low blood sugar which is very dangerous. Good luck and I hope you can enjoy your new year festivities! Happy new year!

Hello. Depending on the insulin, yes, it is best to distribute the insulin twice a day to coincide with two meals a day. I just do not think it is appropriate to feed a diabetic dog only once a day. I believe you can get much better control if you divide his total daily calories into 2 meals spaced every 12 hours, & to give the total insulin, also divided into 2 even doses. Of course, I do not know all the particulars about your pet's condition, so please consult your veterinarian for any additional information. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Vomiting can be a sign of elevated glucose levels. If your pet has skipped an insulin treatment then this can very well be the reason why she is now sick. It is best to feed her a meal and get her back on her insulin regimen as soon as possible to avoid prolonged high sugar levels that will continue to make her ill. If she is also refraining from eating and continues to act ill, then it is best to get her seen by a vet right away because she may be ketoacidotic (high level of ketones in the body due to excessively high sugar levels in the bloodstream) and in need of emergency treatment to help stabilize her.