The Story of Zeke and his Dog Diabetes

This is the story of my 13 and a half year old extremely cute dog Zeke.   It took many years to figure out what breed of dog he is. I could always see some beagle in him.  One day I had him in the car and the girl working at the McDonalds drive through commented that he looked like a pug.  When I got home I looked up the cross of a beagle and a pug and it looked exactly like Zeke.  The designer breed of dog is called a Puggle.  I was so glad to finally learn what type of dog he is.

Zeke is diabetic and is doing well on Vetsulin and other pet meds. He was a stray dog that my dad found in 1997. Zeke has been with me since he was 6 months old.  The dates are out of squence as I am converting the content from a website to this blog.


I took Zeke to the veterinarian in July 2007 because he was drinking excessive amounts of water and urinating in the house. He was also waking me up at night to go outside. This is a common diabetic dog symptom. Zekes' glucose levels were in the 400s' which is very high since they should be under 140. The veterinarian put him on one shot a day of 14 units of Vetsulin which is a textbook dose based on his weight. Vetsulin is made in the Netherlands.

I would learn over the next several months that getting the right dose for your dog with diabetes is an exercise in trial and error. The dogs need for insulin can change at any time without notice. Dog Diabetes is something that your dog can live a good life with if you and your veterinarian can control the dogs blood sugar levels.

I tried to research diabetic dog food but Zeke has always been a meat eater. At his age we thought it would be difficult to switch his diet. The vet started Zeke out on one shot of 14 units of Vetsulin once per day. After two weeks of still high blood glucose levels the shot was increased to two doses of 10 units of Vetsulin twice a day. Zeke began drinking excessive amounts of water and waking me up at night to let him out so I increased the second shot to 14 units and he was fine.

Over the last 3 years I have learned alot about diabetes in dogs by reading online and by especially from the veterinarian. Zeke has been on doses as low as 8 units and as high as 15. The veterinarian always thought it was Zekes system reacting differently but now with the Vetsulin announcement I suspect that part of the problem was the inconsistent strength of the vetsulin medication. To monitor him I was taking him to the veterinarian about once a month to have his blood glucose tested.  Now the vet checks Zekes blood glucose level every couple of months. Currently I am testing his urine several times a week with Bayer Diastix urine glucose test strips which I purchase online from Hocks Pharmacy in Ohio. They have the best prices I have found and since I am in Michigan the shipping time for Ground is only 1 day and Hocks shipping cost is very reasonable.


For the past year and a half  Zeke has been on 2 shots a day of 14 units of Vetsulin It can take alot of trial and error to get each dogs dosage correct. The diabetic dogs need for insulin can change at any time without notice. It is important to watch your pet closely and report any changes to the veterinarian.