Annie Update...

So, I haven't posted anything for a while about Annie. That was because I didn't know how things were going to turn out.

Last Friday, I thought Annie was a goner. She wouldn't get up, wouldn't eat. So, I called the vet closest to me, whom I had never been to, and they told me to bring her in any time. I carried her in expecting to have her put down, but the woman doctor told me, "Let me do a quick $12 test to check something." She whipped out a needle and drew a tiny amount of Annie's blood, then tested it on a human glucometer. "This dog looks just like a dog I have in the back right now," she told me, "who is simply diabetic."

Diabetic?

She told me that a dog's blood sugar is the same as a human's, running 80-120 for average.

Annie's was 400.

The vet told me that it presented very similar to kidney failure. The blindness was caused by the diabetes in addition to Cataracts Annie already had. She was not able to control her urine because she had a urinary tract infection from all the sugar in her body. Everything was explained.

Let me tell you, I was a mess when I took her in. And I dared not hope, just in case she was wrong and I would have to do it all over again.

The vet kept Annie and put her on IV fluids for several days, and began her on antibiotics for the UTI and insulin for the sugar. I checked on her on Tuesday, and I was amazed to find her with her head up and tail wagging when I called to her. It took a while to get her sugar down, it's still around 300, but the vet said you couldn't drop it too fast because that would cause its own problems.

I picked her up friday, and she walked out under her own steam.

The best part is, she can see. Not great, but certainly better than last week. The drawback is, I now have to give her two shots a day to keep her sugar down. I checked with the vet, and they do take boarders over the weekend, so if we do take a trip or something, I have a place I can leave her. When I asked her where I needed to get the insulin, she told me just go to Wal-mart. Same with the needles. The dogs use the same insulin as people do. Isn't that crazy?

What a tumultuous week. This has been weighing on me heavily. I'm still kind of waiting to see how well she recovers, and if her quality of life is acceptable. So far, I think she's doing good, but she could be better.

I'll keep you updated.