Steph. Since there is a decrease in circulation of the blood to your extremities, oh yes, you do feel colder. And your skin is much drier too. Which includes your eyes being dryer and needing more lubrication or they feel very gritty like sand in them all the time.

I think that Boy may be colder, but also his extremities may be losing sensation. In humans, it has to do with nerves not feeling so much. Like NEUROPATHY. Which progresses from the toes up gradually and can eventually lead to loss of sensation in the legs. Or fingers and hands, for that matter. In human diabetics, we cannot tell when we are injured on our feet or legs, so I am always afraid to walk barefooted.....might be a needle or a piece of glass, or a pinecone sticker, or even a stonebruise. I wear gloves, I wear eye shades, I wear socks and long pants when I work in the garden.

Boy might not actually FEEL that he is cold, but his feet could be losing sensation. If there are cactus thorns I'd be sure to keep him away from the cactus plants. Infections are very difficult to heal because of poor circulation.

Is his pen sheltered from the wind? Is his house turned so he can see the house and be sheltered too? He may be trying to keep an eye on you.

wow, so much to think about for him! I wish i'd asked sooner!
he does go into his house quite often. For a time he was in there every night - even with his 'helmet' on! could be that then the bottom of the house was cooler and felt good because it was warmer out. Now that it's chilly at night he is sleeping on his rug - scrunched up.

that does help to understand some things about his 'feet' tho. sometimes they are bent back - but he always straightens them out when he stands up.

I'm gonna have to get out there and cut a piece of rug to put in his house tomorrow for tomorrow night. It's not as chilly tonight as it was last week tho.

I'm going to buy him a few yards of fake sheepskin fabric. It's one type that he doesn't tear up within a few days. and it's washable!

I'm going to buy 4 yds - 2 for each of them. Girl has lost so much wght/body mass that she looks like a bony frail lady. It might help keep the chill from her on really cold nights this winter. We usually get our coldest weather in Jan/Feb. Hopefully I'll really have heat this yr for once!

It won't be toasty tho because it's difficult for me to sleep that way. I have more body weight to insulate me than girl does also.

Steph, another thing about diabetes in humans, it makes your hair thin out. So if you brush Boy or Girl and discover a lot of loose hair, or more than ever before, that could be another factor contributing to loss of body warmth in a dog.

I thought about that last night and signed on today to tell you.

While diabetes might not kill me outright, it causes so many things to go wrong which can kill me....like kidney failure because of sugar in the urine, and you do get very thirsty.

Providing Boy with a lot of water to drink is a good thing, because the water helps flush out the sugary urine, and will therefore serve to lower blood glucose levels. My friend who is a nurse says when folks come in to her clinic with high sugar levels, they set them down with a gallon of water and they have to keep drinking water to lower the blood sugar level. When my sugar might be high because of eating something not on my diet, I drink LOTS of water, and watch closely what happens. I've decided personally, that the pleasure of a glass of wine or a dessert is just NOT WORTH the way I feel afterward, nor the worry of it being the last straw for some body function. Diabetes is a very invasive disease. Stress is a contributing factor too.