July 2014 - May 2017 Almost 3 years. Thats like 20 dog years of aging!

OVERVIEW

The first and most important thing to say here is that I take full responsibility for what I did to my best friend. By trying to show my love for Lugnut by giving him all the treats a dog could want, I gave him diabetes. Plain and simple. This is no pity party, but it is also not the story of my dog and I overcoming something that was thrown at us. Too many treats caused this. Too much 'human food' caused this. Lugnut is not in charge of any of that, I am. I put this out there very bluntly because I don't want any other dog/people teams to go through this unnecessary care. I was also in denial the entire time Lugnut was EXTREMELY obese and I was killing him.

The only reason I accept that he was overweight now is because I can look back at the pictures. I don't even know how to explain it, I mean look at these pictures! How did I not accept that he was overweight?? It still boggles my mind.

DIAGNOSIS

During the family camping trip in August 2014 I noticed Lugnut being very sluggish. Normally on a hike Lugnut goes through cycles of running ahead and coming back to check on me and make sure I am there. This year, I had to keep turning around to find him. He would be 10-20 yards behind, looking at me like he didn't want to be out there hiking at all. Also, it sounds like a small thing to notice, but I did make comments to people that he seemed to be drinking a lot of water. I know what that meant in people and assumed it meant the same for dogs.

We finished out the camping trip and upon arriving home, I set up a vet appointment where my fears were confirmed. My dog had diabetes. I had no clue what this meant logistically and so I left him at the vet overnight while I did some research on what caring for a diabetic dog entailed. What I found scared me. It sounded very time consuming, very expensive, and labor intensive. I didn't know if I could do it, but I decided that I owed it to Lugnut to at least try.

I don't know if it works different for other diabetic dog owners, but for how it works with Lugnut is I give him a set amount of food and a set amount of insulin twice a day. He has to eat on a regular schedule of being fed every 12 hours. I have no idea what my feeding schedule was before, but it wasn't very good or structured at all.

I had a tough go of it at first, but we did manage to settle into a routine. It became second nature. I had it down to where I could measure food and give it to Lugnut, get a needle and the measure insulin, inject, and put needle into a sharps container in less than a minute.

That is the most important part of this. The part owners of newly diagnosed dogs need to read. Now that everything was starting to go smooth again, it was time for curve ball number 2.

CATARACTS

I noticed clumsiness and confusion, I could also clearly see the heavy blueing of his eyes. I took him to the vet already knowing what it was, but wanting confirmation. I got it. It took him some trial and error, but he has become very good at getting around. Luckily Lugnut is a very intelligent dog and he is able to map and memorize the house, the yard, sniff out nature trails and adjust to new environments very quickly. I don’t know for sure what he can or can’t see, but I believe he can see light changes like shadows. I have witnessed him running and coming to a stop when he crosses into a shaded area. He also takes high steps and keeps his neck loose so that changes in elevation and running into things have minimal impact on him.

He also has his troubles as well. While stopping to visit a friend in June of 2018 I was wrapped up in conversation and realized I had not seen Lugnut in a bit. My mind went to the worst case scenario first, and knowing that my friend had a house next door torn down I ran straight to the empty basement. Sure enough. Lugnut had taken the 6 foot fall down in. Much like a drunk in a car accident though, he must have stayed loose and taken the fall with inebriated grace. I found him wandering around the basement looking for a way out. I jumped down and hoisted him out, got a hand up and out from my friend and inspected Lugnut… He had bitten his lip… Even keeping eyes on him for days after, no other injuries.

There also came a brief period in June of 2015 where Lugnut’s right eye became filled with blood. When he would lay down the red fluid in his eye would stay horizontal. I kept waiting for his eye to fall out, but it never did. I even went to the vet hoping they would just yank it out. I have no idea what this was caused by, but it went away and has never come back.

WEIGHT

The heaviest Lugnut weighed in at was 82lbs. By the time he was diagnosed with diabetes he was 67 lbs. Currently, as of 2018, he has consistently came in at 47lbs. That means he was 35lbs overweight!!!! Close to double his natural body weight. I won't continue to harp on this as I went into it pretty heavy earlier in this write up. It's a lesson learned, and I hope one I don't have to relearn again someday.

GUIDE DOG

Minnie is a bitch. She's a female dog. Lugnut does use her as a guide dog sometimes though. Most of the time she plays her role as guide dog although I don't believe it's a role she enjoys. Especially while fetching she prefers to not be followed. She will weave between 'obstacles' in an attempt to lose Lugnut by running him into the obstacles. I have no concrete proof of this, but I guarantee it is what she is doing and it has worked on many occasions.

CONCLUSION

As I write this in February of 2019, it has been 4½ years since that August day Lugnut was given the diagnosis. That was over 3,000 needle pricks, and 11 ounces of insulin ago. I have also heard of and seen many other diabetic dogs since then. I had never heard of one before Lugnut, so I am still trying to decide if it is similar to that phenomenon of buying a car and then seeing it everywhere, or if it is a growing problem in animals as it is for humans. I have a tendency to lean towards the latter.

As I mentioned earlier, when Lugnut was diagnosed, all I could find on line was explanations of how to care for a diabetic dog and the hardships of it. To be completely honest, it almost deterred me from trying. A while back, a friend of mine, when I was explaining how easy caring for Lugnut was, told me I need to put my experience out there for others who find themselves in the boat of deciding whether to care for a sick dog or set them to sail. While there have been some tough days, I’d say well over 90% has been great. When I think back to that day when the vet laid out the choice try to care for Lugnut or put him down… and I think about how close I was to picking #2, it makes me so grateful that I chose to try. Hopefully this finds its way to at least one person’s screen that is on the fence and I can sway them to pick up that needle and stab their dog.

Experiences

Lugnut - The Story of a Diabetic Dog