Testimonial of a Diabetic Dog Dad
We have talked about testing many, many times. I saw this post from a dedicated Diabetic Dog Dad in my "community" last week and it was so good, I reached out to him to ask if I could use it for today's blog entry. His name is Mike and he has had Diabetic pups for the last 15 years. He is an avid tester and as a result, his pups don't have any of the "usual" complications that can go along with this disease. Mike and his wife have 3 "sugar babies" in their house right now. Can you imagine?!?!
"I know many here see me as a the dogmatic muppet who won't shut up about home BG testing. I'm okay with that. From time to time, a member will post about feeling shamed for not BG testing. That's not the intent of anyone here. Nobody started out saying "Hey! I bet my dog will be okay with my poking her for a drop of blood every day!". We had to work towards that goal, as it's very important in their long-term health outlook. Not to mention the diabetic pseudo-emergencies that will happen with our pups.
While fully acknowledging the emotions and struggles of those who have hit wall after wall in trying to test BG at home, I ask that those who feel shamed consider the perspective of those who would like nothing more than to arm them to successfully fight this disease, long term.
Imagine a scenario in which you're in a big empty lifeboat after your cruise ship just sank, and there are people all around you in the shark filled waters who won't (or can't) grab the ropes you're throwing to them. They may be able to swim for a while, but their odds of avoiding the sharks are much better if they can grab a rope and get INSIDE the life boat. As the person sitting in the boat, is there a point at which you would say it's not worth trying to get them to safety? Will you get frustrated and possibly lack understanding at times for those who aren't grabbing the rope? In our journey, that lifeboat is a meter and people here won't give up on you. The "sharks" in the scenario would be things like DKA (diabetic keto-acidosis) and hypoglycemia. One of them will probably find you unless you get to safety and stay there.
If the cruise ship analogy is too dumb to accept, just consider that we've had at least one healthy diabetic dog in our house every day for over 15 years with zero DKA incidents. Right now, we have three diabetic surrenders of varied age and size, that are tested twice every day. If we could safely skip that, we certainly would.
If you're new to this community and aren't testing yet, please let us help you get started. There are wonderful offers on pet calibrated meters and diabetic supplies that are posted here all the time. Don't hesitate. Ask for help! ❤️
The dog in the attached boat pic was our happy and healthy 9-year diabetic, Daisy, who lived to 14 years old. While we miss her every day, it was cancer, and not diabetes that took her from us. The three happy hooligans in the trail pic are diabetic surrenders that will have long and healthy lives, thanks to their BG meter and daily testing."
