Jackie has diabetes

Some sad news - Jackie has not been feeling very well lately. He is now 16 years old, and he has become fussy about eating - which is VERY unlike him, and he has been peeing inside a lot. He has always been a dog who peed inside - which didn't bother me too much because I tend to be pretty lenient with the dogs - they've all had tough lives - so I let them do what they want to do - just as long as he didn't pee on the carpets, I just cleaned it up.

But lately he's been peeing about twice as much as he normally did - and he could be 2 steps from the door and he'd just let her fly - and then continue outdoors. Something wasn't right. And I was pretty sure that he'd also lost the last of the vision in his good eye because he was starting to really bump into things - and he had stopped going up and down the back stairs outside - and I was having to carry him up and down.

So last Saturday I took him to his vet - she thought maybe it was Cushings disease because his hair is thinning all along his back - so she took some blood and said she'd call me on Monday and put him on antibiotics.

I got a call on Monday morning, and his liver enzymes were somewhat high - but his sugars were REALLY high - possible diabetes - could I bring in a sample of his first urine in the morning the next day. I said "okay".

Tuesday morning I was unsuccessful because he decided that his first urine of the morning was going to be on the carpet next to the back door - and I couldn't suck it up fast enough - but this morning I picked up that carpet last night - so I was able to suck up enough from the kitchen floor - which is where he let it fly at 6:30 this morning!

And I got a call this morning confirming the fact that Jackie does in fact have diabetes. So I am going to have to start giving this little dog 2 needles a day.

I'm going to go in on Friday to learn how to give Jackie insulin. For those of you who don't know Jackie - he is not really a dog who likes to be messed with too much. And he is a HARD biter. In the last little over 2 years I have been blessed to build a beautiful relationship with him. He now trusts me. And I am so worried that trying to jab him is going to ruin that relationship.

I can't muzzle him twice a day. But I've been told that without insulin he won't last too long. So I'm going to have to poke him twice a day somehow - without him noticing. I'll do it somehow. He has had such a hard life. And right now he's having a rotten time.

I also got confirmation that he has indeed lost the last of the sight in his good eye too, which is heartbreaking. I feel so bad for him. If a dog can be depressed - I think he's depressed about that. He seems to stand in the middle of the living room and try to listen for things around him. Poor Jackie. I hope things pick up a little bit so he can have a little bit of a good summer - it would be nice if he could make it to 18 or so. That would be nice.