Living with Diabetes - The Story of Sheena the Yorkie
I would like to tell you about my Yorkie, Sheena. Sheena is 7 years old and a very good dog.
About two months ago Sheena started to urinate all over the house. I could not understand this because Sheena would never go in the house, and then I noticed that her collar was real big around her neck, then I really took notice to her and I realized that she had lost a lot of weight. I took her to the vet just to weigh her, and she had lost 5 pounds in about a month, like I told you before she was overweight, she weighed about 15 pounds to begin with.
So I made an appointment with my vet for him to examine her. I took her to Dr. Magazu of Swedesboro Animal Hospital in Swedesboro, New Jersey. I have been taking my dogs there for about 15 years, he is the best vet and a very caring person. When we went and I told him what was going on with her, his first concern was Cushing's disease, but to be sure he did a blood chemistry on her and when that came back there was more bad news. Her blood sugar was way up which could mean she could be diabetic, but first we did another test for the Cushing's disease, and that came back borderline, so we checked her blood chemistry again and it was still very high, so Dr. Magazu suggested that we start treating her for the diabetes.
I thought to myself how in the world am I going to do this, I have three sons and now I have a sick dog whom I love. I thought god forbid if this happened to one of my kids I would have to learn to give shots to them so why not the dog.
So off to the vet to learn how to monitor her and how to give her insulin shots. Every morning I have to check her urine sugar to see if I have to decrease or increase her insulin. She usually gets 2 1/2 units of insulin, she just lays there like a champ for me and lets me give her the shot, she only get one a day.
She is slowly getting back to herself, she still might have an accident in the house, but I try to put her out every 15-30 minutes or so. For her long term I will have to do this for the rest of her life, but she is worth getting up early for, and making sure she is eating on a schedule. It has only been a week since I started so it is slow going right now, hopefully things will get a little better in a couple of months.
ADVERTISEMENT
Family Pet Services®. Coyright 2004. All rights reserved.
