Pebbles and her Diabetes

I'm so sorry about posting so late. Wet weather and an expected cold front that's set to pass through here at 3 pm today was keeping me in bed this morning. I'm hurting like nobody's bizz. But on to what I promised.

Pebbles aka Gator Bait a year ago, healthy.

Saturday David and I took Pebbles to the vet to find out what I already knew. She has diabetes. But the shit of it all is that she will have to be on insulin and of course a diet. I will get on with that later here. She has never been overweight. She has always been a trim 11 or 12 lbs. The vet noted that in her file since we rescued her that she never wavered on the fat side. She's always been very healthy. In fact she and the other puppies, Spunky and Lucy, see the vet every 6 months for their heartworm shots and every 12 months for their rabies and other shots. They also get a chewable treat that keeps the fleas and ticks off them. The fleas are really bad here because of the wet weather and feral cats. They are very well taken care of and loved by us.

Sorry if this picture bothers you. But if you have a dog or cat and you see this, you need to act fast.
This is Pebbles on the left and Lucy on the right. You can see Pebbles is almost skin and bones as opposed to Lucy at a healthy weight. Pebbles is naturally smaller because she is a Chihuahua.

Well, a few weeks ago I noticed Pebbles started drinking way too much water and having to go out to urinate. Sometimes she never made it outside and there would be a puddle or 2 in the kitchen. What really alarmed me was when I noticed I could see her ribs and pelvis. I got scared last week and told David we need to get her in to see the doctor. 

Pebbles, her bones are showing. It's so sad.

They took her in right away when they receptionist saw her and how scrawny she looked. It was heartbreaking. They weighed her, which is now 8.3 lbs. and took blood to see her blood glucose and insulin levels besides the other chemistry and CBC lab tests and urine for kidney function tests. I broke down when they said she had diabetes and her kidneys were damaged from all the protein loss. That is near certain death. She isn't going to be with us for too long. I asked if it was possible to get her back up to her regular weight and keep her on insulin. The doctor said she may or may not survive. Now listen here. I have seen doctors that were proven wrong and I aim to see that through with this little girl. I asked for her to be treated as if her kidneys were fine. We went round and round about it and I won. So they gave us insulin and supplies and showed us how to inject her. The vet tech gave us a diet plan for her and a schedule for regular blood tests and such. In the meantime, I am keeping my patient happy, I hope. 

I found a few fantastic blogs and websites for diabetic dogs. Pebbles hates getting her insulin shots and I found what Joanne Becotte did for her dog Ruby was insightful. She has a wonderful blog about her diabetic dog and she unknowingly is helping me with Pebbles and her diabetes. She has a fantastic level of information that is great for diabetic animals and humans and where to find what you need at low prices. You should read her blog just for the fun of it. it is chock full of info. If you have a dog or cat with diabetes, do your homework and explore the internet. It is full of wonderful eye-opening articles and blogs out there that will help you.