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Muffin & Misty - 1993 Muffin came to live with KoKo and I on December 05, 1987, KoKo's 8th birthday. She was a rescue from a family that neither cared about her nor cared for her. I wasn't sure at first how KoKo would take to the intrusion of another dog into his formerly "lone dog" existence but my boy did not disappoint me. Muffie walked through the door that night, barked once and that dear gentle giant got off the sofa, she jumped on and that was the end of my worries! From there on in, Muffie was boss! Muffin was diagnosed with diabetes on August 15, 1992, 3 months after KoKo went to Rainbow Bridge. This was a terrible blow - I couldn't face losing both in one year. We were both heartbroken when he left and in hindsight, I wonder if the diabetes were not the end result of the grief she felt at losing him. She was taken to the emergency veterinarian one Saturday in August, 1992, when she could not eat, was vomiting, and screamed at a touch. doG was smiling on us that day because the Island View Veterinarian Clinic was on call that weekend. Initially the warning was "it might be cancer" so when the test results indicated diabetes was the cause of her distress, it was a relief. There was no question but that this condition would be treated and she was put on insulin immediately and regulated in a short period of time. She developed cataracts within 6 months although it was felt that she retained light perception. Because of her age - estimated at 12+ - her veterinarian, Dr. Geoff Hampton of Island View Veterinarian Clinic in Fredericton, N.B., advised against restorative surgery. She coped very well with her blindness and several times went "walkabout" on her own initiative while I frantically had the neighborhood children helping me look for her! In 1992 the information available to diabetic pet owners was limited but we have come a long way since then. I approached Dr. Hampton about the possibility of doing home BG testing for Muffin but he advised against it and as a result, we continued with urine testing. I kept a strict log of the glucose and kettle readings - dates and times tested and the each reading, as well as notes as to possible reasons for fluctuations in glucose and ketones and when Muffin had blood work done, or the fluctuations warranted a visit to her veterinarian, I took this with him. He said it was very helpful. The chart resembled this:
Muffin was on Science Diet Maintenance which she hated. She would only eat it if I heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds before presenting it for her inspection. If I didn't heat it, she wouldn't eat it. At the time the consensus was that a strict diet of the same foods had to be maintained but now we realize that so long as the pet is regulated a nutritional diet of varied foods is acceptable. Muffin did very well for 3 years after diagnosis and then suddenly began failing in late September, 1995. She had 2 hypoglycemic episodes in September and in early December her kidneys started to fail and without the administration of large doses of phenobarbital, she was constantly seizuring. Rather than see Muffie endure a poor quality of life, my little Fraggle was euthanized on December 12, 1995. Her spirit rests with her friend KoKo's in a peaceful grove of trees near Beaver Dam, New Brunswick, Canada
While Muffin was living, there was very little first-hand information available in treating diabetes in pets and the only assistance I had in dealing with her diabetes and related problems was her veterinarian. There were many occasions when I needed information but it wasn't an emergency requiring a call to him. When I went on the Internet in mid-1996, I gave a good deal of thought to setting up an E-mail list specifically for diabetic pet owners to provide help and support in coping with this disease. As a result, on December 15, 1996, one year following Muffin's death, I sent E-mails out to "test the waters" to establish whether or not there was a need for an Internet group dealing with pet diabetes. The response was instantaneous and overwhelming. The Muffin Diabetic Pets E-mail group went on line officially on January 01, 1997, and we haven't looked back!
Our commitment to fighting
diabetes in pets
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