Blog Entries With Tag: dog

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

I had written a blog last year in January 2009 about a wonderful organisation that takes seeing eye dogs from 4 months to 1 year – and retrains them to provide medical alert assistance to Type 1 diabetics (Dogs4Diabetes or D4D).

This came across my desktop the other day about a 7-year-old Cardigan Welsh Corgi who goes by the name of King Tut who can tell when his owner (Marilyn Pharo) ketones are going low.  He's saved his owner a few times when she's had low blood sugars (hypos).

I still can't get over how sensitive dogs are to smell (I thought I had a good sniffer myself). To be able to smell the difference in the ketones that admit from the body is incredible!  I wonder if cats can sense the same thing?  Mine have never tried to pry my eyeballs open when I'm having a low at night (they only do this for food at 6:00 a.m. aka Garfield style).

Animal Planet is going to be filming Marilyn and her trusty King Tut at their home in Cape May, New Jersey this month and their episode will air sometime in the Fall.  So check back at this link - Dogs 101 to see when it will play (I know I want to see this).

To read the rest of this wonderful story - go to this link (or paste the link in a new browser - http://www.14wfie.com/global/story.asp?s=12534920 ).

I wish my husband would let me get a dog ....

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

Yes, the temperatures are hovering around 30 C ( 86 F ) - humidity is up - this is what a Montreal summer is all about!  All I can say is thank goodness for having central air when we need it! I've got the central air going - and I'm sitting here in the basement at my PC - cool as a cucumber - tho' I will be going out later - since I feel abit "out of touch" when all the windows are closed - with no sounds of fighting blue jays, foundation work on a house a few houses over (the dust is incredible when you go outside - another bonus with having central air - none of this gets inside the house).

The past few weeks I've been taking care of a friends dog and cat on days that she goes off on "mini breaks" as she doesn't like to leave home - but I'm glad she's getting away for a change of pace.  I thought, taking care of a dog would be easy.  Feed / take for walk / pat on the head / pick up the poop - right? Nope, not sure what my friend meant by - "only come by a couple of times" - when I saw the her dog and cats "schedule".  Luckily, she only lives one house over - so I get my bit of exercise going back / forth.

1) Food at 7:00 a.m. - heat in microwave for 45 secs - force pill down dogs throat (too easy - I just crush it up and add it to her food - gulp - gone); etc. - oh and take care of cat. 

2) Come back after 10:00 a.m. - take for walk - of course, I'm meeting up with people - and we gab, I get invited for tea or a swim - but I have to go back - as the dog isn't very socialable (just about snapped a little boys fingers off - not good). 

3) The list goes on  - my friend is a slave to these animals - now I understand why she can't leave.

Every few hours - I am over to pay a visit.  I've just never seen a dog (Peachnut) on a schedule like this - it's worse then being a child. I mean, I thought I had it bad then - with the injections / urine testing / eat your food NOW, yadda, yadda, yadda.  She gets homemade food - treats at certain times - she is one lucky dog!  The food looks like something you and I would make up for our family (chicken pieces in brown rice with carrots and beans) - I am literally drooling as I heat it up for "45 secs" - and so is the dog - do you blame her?  Anyway, the owner is coming back this evening after a few days away - and I will no longer have a companion to go with me on my walks.

The one good thing out of this, I have seen a neighbour (the tea/swim pool invite above) - and she's a Type 2 diabetic.  I hadn't seen her in about 2 years - and she was asking how I was - and that I looked healthy and younger (getting alot of comments about this lately - I think insulin should be marketed as a fountain of youth product).  She is now on Lantus at night time - along with pills - and when I told her what my BG's were in the morning - she said "mine aren't like yours they're much higher" - little bells went off in my head.  I asked her about her latest A1C - and she was amazed when I told her what mine was - but she couldn't tell me hers - so I'm thinking they maybe higher then the ADA/CDA standard of 7%.  She was interested on going to the pump - but I told her not unless she was totally insulin dependent would I recommend that.   So, now our plan is for me to come over to her house and I'll hopefully be able to help her out with her diabetes and offer some sort of advise to approach her doctor with.

Nurse FatCatAnna to the rescue again to make people with diabetes have a better quality of life!!!

Blog: Escaravage

From:

      Having diabetes isn't easy, but when you have a dog for a pet. Your sugar blood levels will be down. You will be healthier mentally. You will be less lonely and less nervous for companionship. Your blood pressure will be lower, You will laugh and smile more. You will have fewer health problems. Your will want to exercise more with your dog. So go to a dog rescue and adopt an dog or a cat.

Blog: Escaravage

From:

       How about having dinner with the dog? Your diabetic dog wants to have dinner with you. If you are diabetic and your dog is diabetic. You can have dinner with your dog. There are plenty of good foods you and your dog can eat together like hardboiled eggs, chicken, fish, brown rice, cantaloupe, watermelon,cottage cheese, apples, tomatoes, and carrots. By eating these foods, you and the dog will have good blood sugar levels. You can take care of yourself and the dog in the long run. Go for walks, take a class, and try new recipes for yourself and the dog. Remember don't feed the dog grapes and raisins. Those are deadly to the dog's health, but good for you.