After eight years with their dog, Tiger, the mom noticed that he had increased thirst (polydipsia) and increased urination (polyuria) and suspected the dog had developed diabetes. She'd taken him to the vet and sure enough, her suspicions were confirmed. The dog's health rapidly declined shortly after that. Tiger started to waste away in front of their eyes as he refused to eat, and then lacked the strength to even try.
Her son was devastated. One day, he begged his mom to buy Tiger some baby food. The boy was convinced that he could get his dog to eat it. Not wanting to discourage her son's hope, but not sure that the dog would eat the baby food, the mom went out and bought baby food anyway. After all, what harm could it
do?
With baby food jar in hand, the boy smeared a small amount of the baby food on Tiger's lips. An amazing thing happened, the dog licked the food off which is all he'd had strength for. The boy repeated the process over and over. After a good length of time had passed, the dog had eaten the entire jar of baby food.
Several days went by with her son feeding the dog in this manner. Soon, he had gained enough strength to lick the food from the boy's palm. Tiger's energy level increased and he was able to walk again. Over the next four weeks, Tiger seemed back to his usual health.
This part of my post is taken from the article itself--JAMA, July 23/30 2008 Vol 300, No.4 "A Piece of My Mind--Baby Food". Because I couldn't have paraphrased it so that you would get the same impact, I copied and pasted it here:
"...Brent commented the other day, "Tiger is a really strong dog. I don't think he will die." But the physician part of me has seen a substantial increase in the dog's polyuria and polydipsia over the past week. My prognosis is significant progression of his disease and death within a short period of time. Yet the mother part of me wants with all my heart for my son's prognosis to be the correct one. So I tell him, "You have given us extra time to love your dog."
After reading this article, all I could think was "Wow!" I'd never thought about how diabetes would affect people's lives if a beloved pet had the disease. How about you?
Take Care,
Kathleen
1 comment:
A few years after we met, my wife's red min pin, Tonee, developed diabetes. With it she also developed cataracts and became quite blind but with daily insulin shots and our love and attention she lived a couple more years. She would follow us to the kitchen in the morning to get her treat and shot. Then she'd eat, drink, and go outside to sunbathe.
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