My faithful pooch has been diagnosed with diabetes the poor sod. I have just started injecting him twice a day and he seems to be responding well but I am told that his camping and beach days are over. Anyone else had experience in this department.?

My dog as a kid had diabetes for about 5 years, until the last year or so it was fine so long as we managed it well. Certainly able to go to the beach though with camping it might be tricky to store insulin.

I have fantastic memories of the period after it was diagnosed so don’t feel like you’re losing your friend.

Speak to your vet re the Insuvet pen. Licence re the insulin appears to be different and is ok as long as stored between 2-25 C so may negate the need to have a fridge to hand when camping.

If well controlled most dogs can still lead a good active life.

From a recent experience of travelling with drugs that needed to be kept cool it is not a ‘impossible’ as it first seems, but it does need a bit more thought. If you use campsites you already have to check the site is dog friendly, now you need to check that they have a freezer block service. Even if they don’t you might find the site owners willing to store the insulin in their own fridge (I can think if two site owners who would do this for their regulars)

You should also check out electric and gas camping fridges. We had one for camping in the 80’s and it made a huge difference to what we could buy/cook. I bet they are more efficient/better now

There are also cars that direct the aircon into a storage box or glove compartment (VW Passat?) so as and when you change car you could try and get one that does that

Good luck!

I have a diabetic cat – his life is no different to how it always was – he is free to roam and do his own thing. We would have a problem if he decided not to come back for more than 12 hours but then, things die of all sorts of other issues. I met someone else with a diabetic cat who had been on insulin for 2 years + and she said he was no different to how he had always been. I have also met someone with a diabetic horse.

I think we find it a bit intimidating and harder to adapt to medication issues than the animals do as they have no preconceptions or hang ups.

The injecting etc is worrying for about the first fortnight, then you get used to it and stop worrying about it so much after that.

As long as you can find somewhere to store insulin its no worry to take your dog I would think. Why is someone suggesting he can no longer camp or play on the beach? It could just be suggested for his initial adaping time when there is an increased risk of a hypo? It takes the vet a while to get the dosing correct.

Someone put medical care of pets into perspective for me once – said that I should worry less as the illness the pet has as it might not be the one that kills it anyway – other diseases, road accidents etc. Every day we humans go outside or even get out of bed we face some risks and so do pets. We could keep our cat indoors just in case he wanders off and gets lost/looses an insulin dose. But you have to think ‘would I want to live like that if I was the cat?’ So we let him out and he has higher risk of problems or death, but he has a fun life and thats better than a miserable one.

Dog insulin might be a little different but it’s never stopped me from camping or playing on the beach. Recommendation was always to keep it refrigerated but we used to just keep it somewhere reasonably cool, I did not die. For short trips, a wee thermal wallet could help.

Our pooch was diagnosed about 18 months ago. She is doing really well now that we worked out she also had high triglycerides that were preventing the blood sugar coming under control.
Insulin twice a day, fish oil, niacin and diet dog food and she is leading a normal life. Not been away from the house with her beyond day trips, but would imagine taking a cooler along it would be fine.
Depending on how old your dog is (our is almost 7) keep an eye out for cataracts, our pooch developed about 6 months from being diagnosed. She had eye surgery in Dec of last year and is like a puppy again. Plenty of exercise is good, just keep a gel or some honey handy in case they overdo it and get the blood sugar too low.
It does require a bit of planning but not any more life altering than having a great dog around anyway!