| Canine diabetes or pancreatitis. It may be a sudden | | | | try our best to help her with this one! So we |
| event or it may be a more gradual onset - but you | | | | committed to the routine that was described to us - |
| CAN cope with a dog with diabetes and they can live | | | | monitor her meals and (her blood sugar from time to |
| long and happy lives! | | | | time) and give her insulin injections twice daily. |
| About three years back, Alex our Australian Terrier | | | | Three years down the track, she is fine and we are |
| Silky Terrier X suddenly became ill. We first noticed | | | | now both quite experienced in managing this |
| that she was missing from the house -- quite unusual | | | | condition. |
| for her! After searching high and low, we found her; | | | | Let me say at this point, that diabetes in dogs is not |
| lying outside on the cold cement - panting heavily! | | | | that hard to manage at all. Once you have |
| We were unsure why she appeared to be so hot, | | | | established the dogs base blood sugar level, it is then |
| when the temperature both inside and outside, was | | | | merely a matter of giving injections (below the skin), |
| so low! | | | | twice daily at the same time that food is given. |
| But we knew something was seriously wrong! | | | | About the only difficulty we've ever had, was once |
| A preliminary check by the Vet revealed that her | | | | when we very out quite late and had gone past her |
| blood sugar was high -- and we were told that there | | | | feeding time, which meant that her blood sugar |
| was a high likelihood of her having pancreatitis. | | | | dropped quite low. She started getting very lethargic |
| Further testing confirmed the initial diagnosis -- Alex | | | | and drowsy, Julie correctly diagnosed low sugar, so |
| did have this condition, and we now had some | | | | we stopped to buy a piece of cake, fed her a small |
| serious decisions to make! | | | | piece, just to get her levels up and within 10-15 |
| Now, if you knew Alex and how likeable and | | | | minutes, she was her usual self again! |
| intelligent she is; it was not going to be a matter of | | | | Apart from the odd hiccup like that Alex has had 3 |
| the dollars and cents, rather it was how much was | | | | great years and at times still acts like a puppy! We |
| she going to suffer and what quality of life would she | | | | monitor her food and have given her a low-fat, high |
| have? | | | | protein diet and she is thriving! |
| Initially we were told it would be quite difficult to | | | | Moral of the story - don't let your vet or vet nurse's |
| manage her condition, that medication would be | | | | negativity intimidate you! |
| expensive and that there was still the likelihood that | | | | You can, and will cope with canine diabetes, it's easy |
| we would STILL lose her! All of this came across with | | | | to manage and your dog can have years added to |
| the undertone that the Vet seemed to expect us to | | | | its life! It only takes a few minutes and a few dollars |
| have her put down. | | | | per week to keep your dog. Go ahead, I sincerely |
| However, we decided that we had stuck with Alex | | | | believe that you'll be GLAD you did! |
| through other health problems -- and that we would | | | | |