Max, Mitchell and Winnie 

In May of 1993, my husband Sal and I got our first dog and my very first pet of any kind, a girl Yorkie puppy named Winnie who we promptly fell in love with.  I read somewhere that dogs live longer with a companion so one day in early September of the same year, Sal found an ad in the paper for a four month old male Yorkie.  He called the number and went to take a look.

I got a phone call and I knew something wasn’t right.  Sal quietly said, “I don’t know what to do, this dog doesn’t look like a Yorkie.”  At the same time, Max was standing right on top of Sal’s 
big old work boots looking at him like “please get me out of here”.  Sal reluctantly offered the 
man less than he was asking and the man grabbed the money.  It turns out that this man was 
in the middle of a divorce and got a puppy to cheer up his small children for the summer. 

Max came home in a tiny cat carrier.  He was tall and lanky and had very dark coloring. 
His ears were packed with dirt and he was starving and hunched over.  This wasn’t the 
perfect little Yorkie I wanted as a companion for Winnie, but she really liked him.  In fact, 
she latched onto his ear and pretty much tormented him those first few months.

We tried to crate train Max since we both work and this had worked out very well with Winnie.  But Max didn’t like the crate at all.  Every night, I’d get home from work and find Max freaking
out in the crate and covered with everything you can imagine.  He absolutely needed a bath every single night and it was pretty disgusting.  I didn’t think we could keep him, I mean I was 
still new to owning a pet and this was not my idea of what it should be about. 

One day I was watching Max try to play with a little blue ball, I’ll never forget how sweet
he looked with his big lanky front legs trying to hold the ball that kept slipping away 
and his puppy butt up in the air.  I started to cry and I knew I could never give him up. 
So, I put up a baby gate and kept him and Winnie in the kitchen and guess what? 
No accidents and no crate ever again for this little boy! 

I was totally in love with this oversized dark colored special Yorkie and he knew it. 
Over the years, if we have loud arguments or if I’m upset, Max is in my face giving
me kisses and he won’t stop until I’m calm.

Max was diagnosed with Diabetes 6/18/02.  We had him on humulin U, but this wasn’t right for him. We tried and tried, but weren’t able to home test so we finally took him to a specialist hospital on 7/25/02 and he stayed there for a couple of days.  He was experiencing somogyi, very rapid highs and lows in his bg readings.   He's now on N and we’re still working on getting him regulated.

We were told when Max was diagnosed that he had small cataracts.  We took him to an eye specialist on 7/24/02 for a baseline in the hopes that, once the diabetes was regulated, we could have the cataracts removed.   We were told that Max did not have cataracts, but Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) and that he will go blind from this gradually over the next one to two years.  Max also has dry eye and needs drops twice a day to control this condition.

Max went totally blind on 8/18/02, he had developed cataracts very quickly.  My heart was broken watching him bump into things and look so confused.  I sent out a message and got lots of encouraging responses and advice from people who have gone through this.  It really meant everything to me to have loving caring people supporting us and Max.

We were finally successful at home testing on 8/20/02 ~ we tried the ear and Max slept
through the first attempt.  It’s not always easy getting blood from him, but this is the best 
spot we could find and I’m so grateful for the person who suggested it and for the home
testing instructions on  www.petdiabetes.com   The flashlight trick really helps.

It’s been a little over two weeks since Max lost his sight and every time I start to feel too sad,
he does something to pull me out of it.  It’s like little miracles that make me smile so that I can 
put on my cheerful voice for him.  When I thought he’d never play again and found myself crying,
I looked over and there he was chewing on his favorite fuzzy duck.

So, we’re all adjusting, but the main thing is to get Max’s diabetes under control 
so that we can keep this special boy with us for a long, long time. 

Thank you !!!

Anne, Sal, Max (dd), Winnie (ndd) and Mitchell (ndd)
Lakewood, NJ
Email: amf5@optonline.net

I do not feel that urine testing is completely useless ~ it does show a pattern, but it should
not be used to adjust insulin dosages because it doesn't tell you exactly where Ludwig's bg levels
are at any given time. It's important to get the strips that test for glucose and ketones. 
If ketones show up, it's a problem.

I'm not an expert at this but it sounds like our dogs are pretty close in both age and weight. 
Max was turned 9 in April and was dx in June of this year.  He weighed 21 pounds before
getting sick and now weighs 15.5 pounds. We're on our 2nd internal specialist.  He got dry
eye right away and needed cyclosporin drops.  He went completely blind two months
after being dx.  He has had serious eye problems, but with the help of a very good eye vet 
we've gotten this under control.  And he's adjusted pretty well.

We could not get Max regulated on commercial dog food.  We started home cooking in
November and it's made a huge difference.  He stays awake after eating and his bg levels 
do not fluctuate as much.  I wish we had started this sooner.
 

He's on 5.5 units of N twice a day after meals

I have checked with Max's internal specialist on each change in his diet and supplements.   
I think it's very important to check with your vet before taking any advice.

Anne & Max (dd, dx 6/18/02, blind 8/18/02) & Winnie (ndd) & Mitchell (ndd)
 

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