Has anyone ever had a cat or dog who would wake you up in the middle of the night due to a low blood sugar? I had heard of an organization in California called "Dogs For Diabetics."
My cat is 15 years old and anytime I have a low blood sugar in the middle of the night, she will jump onto my bed, spring onto my chest and nudge my face with her nose or her paw to wake me up and meow constantly. She has done this on three occasions, and my blood sugar was low each time I got out of bed to check it. She would even follow me downstairs and sit with me while I drank orange juice.
That is truly Awesome! I cant say that I have had any experience like that before but I also dont let any of our pets in my room while I sleep. :/
I have seen/heard about animals doing similar things. Recently there was a show that had a dog that could detect when his owner was about to have a seizure. Also there is both a cat and dog that have a keen sense when someone is about to die. Very cool stuff.
I have a 12 week old puppy, and I was contacted by a service dog company about training her to be a Diabetes Alert Dog. She will be too small to be a full service dog (one I could take everywhere with me), but they told me I could train her for when I'm at home or sleeping. I'm going to put her through regular obedience school first, then start training her to detect low blood sugars.
I'm hoping it goes well! She's a bit feisty so I'm hoping she's trainable :o)
I have a 12 week old puppy, and I was contacted by a service dog company about training her to be a Diabetes Alert Dog. She will be too small to be a full service dog (one I could take everywhere with me), but they told me I could train her for when I'm at home or sleeping. I'm going to put her through regular obedience school first, then start training her to detect low blood sugars.
I'm hoping it goes well! She's a bit feisty so I'm hoping she's trainable :o)
[/quote]
C,
Congrats on your new puppy!! All dogs are trainable in obedience. Some take a little longer to learn and require a lot of consistency from their caretakers/parents (I don't like using the term "owner".) But have patience with her and she will do great!
Thanks! Training has gone extremely well so far. She hasn't been to class yet, but she's learned "sit" "stay" and "drop it". She is eager to please, so I think she will train well.
I have two cats that live with me and my younger brother at our apartment. They were both abandoned and I hand raised them from kittens. They seem to act the same way if i have an insulin reaction or go into shock while I am sleeping. Tigger and Mittens even have gone as far as waking my brother up when my sugars were so low I could barely move. I guess that is what they call karma. Dogs and cats are very intuitive creatures. That and I think its the bond your form with them early on.
I rescue cats. And I have 6 of my own. I have one, I rescued and bottle fed. I noticed she has licked me non-stop on a few occasions while asleep. Each time, my blood sugar was low. I cant prove it, but I am 98% sure that she knew and was going to wake me up no matter what. She doesnt normally do behave this way, so with that noted, I do think some of them will just naturally come to your rescue.
My little girl Sheltie Biscuit has woken me up a few times when I was very very low, towards the beginning of my pregnancy. She normally sleeps next to me on my pillow, but she would start pouncing on me. The night before I found out I was pregnant, I had a hypoglycemic seizure and while my husband went to get the glucagon, she was standing on top of me and licking my face like crazy. Every time in the middle of the night when I am low, she follows me down to the kitchen, but sometimes its hard to tell if she justs wants a Milkbone =)
I got my dog - Madeline - when she was 8 weeks old. Since she's been 4 months old, she's been sleeping in the same room with me. She just turned five and is my shadow. She sleeps next to me and when I wake up w/ low blood sugar she follows me into the kitchen and stays by myside. At first I thought she just wanted my peanut butter, but she only follows me when I'm low and not looking for late night munchies. She also stays by me when I'm sick and also follows me into the bathroom when I have a stomachache. I think animals just know ..
I am interested in what service contacted you. I would like my dog (one year old Shar Pei) to be trained for low blood glucose detection. Can you provide more informaton? Thanks, Chris
Hi! Our cat is 15 years old and has always cried, scratched, and bitten me until I wake up when I've had severe lows during my sleep. I can honestly say that he has helped to save my life many, many times. We got him when he was just days old because he was abandoned by the mama cat and was the only survivor in the litter. We never trained the cat to do this. The cat just sensed it naturally.
