What could be sweeter then a diabetic pet?
mini-schnauzer, date of birth 6/10/92)
Ten years ago my eleven-year-old daughter decided that she wanted a
puppy, it did not matter
that we had two dogs outside she wanted her own. We took
a family vote and I was voted
down three against one. My daughter, son and hubby all thought
we should have a housedog.
Mind you I love dogs, but thought the two we had outside were
enough. My daughter really
wanted a Yorkie, but we ended up with a mini-schnauzer named Kirby
(after the Minnesota
Twins player Kirby Puckett). When I first saw Kirby I thought
he was the ugliest pup I had
ever seen. But you know what he stole my heart immediately.
As I had predicted, I soon
became the caretaker of Kirby. My daughter discovered boys and that
was the end of taking
care of the dog. Kirby was about 7 years old when I discovered a lump
growing on his
hind leg, had two different vets look at it and said don’t worry about
it if you ever have him
put under we will take it off then. Finally had it removed and
was discovered to be mast cell
cancer. He has had about 4-5 surgeries at last count to remove
the cancer lumps, we will not
remove anymore the surgeries are to hard on him. This, however;
is when the diabetes came
into play. He was put on a steroid to combat the cancer and ended
up getting diabetes.
He was first diagnosed in September of 2000. I remember it well,
I called vet and gave his
symptoms peeing a lot and drinking a lot of water, vet thought he had
always been Cushnoid
but brought him in and discovered diabetes. It has been a battle
royal ever since, he has
never truly regulated, more of a brittle diabetic. My vet still
thinks he is Cushnoid but tests
come back inconclusive. I do not home test, wish I could, but
can’t bring myself to do it
to the dog and he is highly sensitive anyway. Hence, we go to
the vet quite often and I am
sure we are one of his best clients. Seriously, I have a sup
er caring vet and trust him
whole-heartedly with Kirby’s care. Kirby went blind within
6 months of diagnosis and
we chose not to have cataract surgery because of all his other health
problems. Most
people don’t even realize he is blind, he does really well. We
live each day to the fullest
and take this disease one day at a time. There are so many ups
and downs but I truly
couldn’t have survived without the www.petdiabetes.com
site.
I have made so many friends and it has
been truly a wealth of information and support.
Thank you Judy for this wonderful list!
Mary and Kirby
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