Penny's Story
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Penny's Story |
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| We just had our 13 year old female Dalmatian
diagnosed with Diabetes. She is on Humulin N insulin shots twice daily. We
are feeding her at 6 am and 6 pm. The vet recommended keeping on her
regular diet of Science Diet R/D, mixed with a little gravy and chunky
meat from 1/2 can of Pedigree Chicken or beef, also mixed with home cooked
chicken or turkey. (We have another Dalmatian that I began to cook for
back in November to keep weight on her). This seems to be quite a treat
for both of them. After reading stories on the web, we are counting our blessing SO FAR. Penny became lethargic and since she has been on Rimadyl for a couple of years for arthritis, we took her to the vet within 2 days to get her blood tested. Our first scare came when the vet said she may have Cushing's disease. It turned out that it is diabetes. Our mid-day urine testing is going great; my lifting her hind end while she urinates to get my sample does not even phase her. The insulin shots have been quite another story. The first couple of ones were non-events, leaving my husband and I thrilled that this would be so easy, seeing that we are both a little "needle phobic". She quickly caught on that the lifting of her scruff meant a needle prick was coming and there came major problems. The last several days have been horrible with my husband coming home from work to restrain her while I injected the insulin and much stress to all involved....she even began to growl and attempt to bite us several time (never part of her personality). I have read several websites today, determined that this will NOT be her fate twice a day....stressed out. We have much relief tonight in that a simple hot dog cut into four treats kept her occupied while I very easily injected the insulin, following with the final treat. I can't tell you the relief (it was accompanied by tears of relief). Penny has been with us since shortly before we were married and we know the day will come, but it is hard to imagine our lives without our two Dalmatians and two cats (our little clan). Thank you for providing stories of people treating their pets for diabetes; I attribute this to our success tonight of the easy insulin shot.
Contributed May 2001 |
