Muffin was my 16th birthday present. She had a funny name for a 70 pound Malamute Collie cross. She was an outdoor dog by her choice - she was afraid of slick floors. She was increadably healthy for the first 10 years of her life. Shortly after Christmas in 2003 I noticed that her nose was dry and a little crusty. I took her to the vet and got a keratin cream for it - the crusties diappeared in a week or so. In Febuary I was starting the yearly ritual of brushing off her winter coat when I realized that she had lost alot of weight under her winter coat.
Being 10, I was terrified that she had cancer - so I rushed her to the vet. After blood tests came back from the lab the vet said she was a diabetic. Her blood sugar was somewhere above 600 (normal should be around 100). She had to stay at the vets office for 2 days so they could get her sugar down and find the right dose of insulin. When she came home we still did not have the right dose, so I checked her urine sugar
3 times a day for months adjusting her dose of insulin up every couple of weeks until we finally found the dose that actually controlled her sugar. I had to give her 2 shots a day about 32 units per shot. We changed her diet - suprisingly to a diet dog food (high fiber, protein).
She regained the 20 pounds that she had lost, but had lost her eyesight while we were adjusting her meds. She adjusted to her loss and still insisted on spending most of her time outside. Barking at the front door, until I relented. She even learned to count her steps so she didn't fall down the steps on the porch. 2 years after her diagnosis she was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Once treated for the thyroid problem she was energetic again. She would even go jogging with me again. Then she had a fall, I was concerned she had twisted her back so I took her to the emergency vet. The X-rays revealed that she had a tumor on her spine and had lost an entire vertebra. I had to make the heart breaking decision to put her down. She survived so many shots with her quiet temperment, and the last three weeks of her life she was so happy. I will always miss my sweet 'little' Muffin.
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