Cami's Journey with diabetes made a difference today, in the life of another diabetic dog.  Oscar the Great Mini (Cami's boyfuriend) had a blood glucose reading of 67 at fasting this morning...

Please read Oscar's story, written by his Mom Lisa!

"Good morning everyone, mom here. Instead of breakfast (sorry) I'm going to tell you about Oscar and why we hone test and why its crucial. For those who are new Oscar was recently diagnosed as diabetic. Thanks to another page we followed that are now great friends of ours (Cami's Journey) we knew about home testing and heard about the wild fluctuations. Not everyone does but you SHOULD. Oscar has normally been in the high 200-300 range in blood sugar. He gets 5.5 units of Vetsulin a canine insulin, which has both a fast acting and linger acting component. Now why his high numbers aren't good, he still has spillover into his urine, this morning he woke up to 67. This is bad. Not coma bad, but bad. Hypoglycemic actions were taken, he's steadily increasing (70 & 93) at last 2 readings. BUT what if I didn't test? What if I didn't know and just injected him? The fast acting portion alone could have had us in trouble. This is why you test. If you have a diabetic dog and don't THIS is what you risk every time. With his readings you never would have expected that number. So please if you have a diabetic dog and don't test, LEARN. Its hard, they don't like it and neither will you but the flip side is scary and I can't even imagine what we could have seen today. Thankfully we home test. Today that could have made a difference in Oscars life."

This is why we test.  This is why we talk about the rise and fall of blood glucose.  This is why we PREACH long and loud about the benefits of home testing diabetic pets!

We made a difference today.  I'm so sorry that any dog becomes diabetic.  But this is why we talk about Cami's diabetes and our struggles to control the diabetes.  To make a difference.  THIS is why Cami was brought into our lives.  To help just one dog, makes all of our struggles worthwhile.

Mommy tells funny stories on all of us doggies!  This time it's Stella and Stormy who be getting picked on...hehehe

Read on, me Angels:

It's Mom here tonight, I wouldn't let Cami have the computer! I have a couple things I have to share and since they aren't about her, she's going to be a pouty spoiled princess!  love my Princess Cami!

Stella has apparently decided that she loves me...I mean REALLY loves me. She must since she keeps gifting me with mutilated lizards that she's caught. Right beside my toes, every lizard. Dead as a doornail with it's guts hanging out and she drops it for me and then looks up at me, expecting enthusiastic congratulations on her super amazing hunting skills!

Oh she IS skillful on the hunt! Much more agile and speedy than any little 10 year old breeder girl should be. Faster than the speed of light and that lizard is HERS. She outruns every dog in this house even though she's the second oldest! She can play forever, but is just as happy to come inside and cuddle.

But...my point being...I HATE lizard guts. No. I HATE GUTS. I don't do blood well and I sure don't do guts well. But I do thank her and tell her how wonderful she is, so she wanders off pleased as punch, looking for my next gift! **shudders**

On to my next doggie tale...

You all know that Stormy (our 14/15 year old Cushings girl) is recovering from sterile bronchitis and bronchial pneumonia, right? Well, Stormy has been on her antibiotics faithfully (and it gets harder and harder to find some way to hide those HUGE pills so she'll eat them since you do NOT attempt to pry Stormy's jaws open) and is feeling so much better! Thank God. I don't know what we'd do without our Stormy girl.

So, today at lunch time, I took all four dogs out to take care of business and instead of doing that, Stormy decided to take a little exploratory trip through the garden that is in dire need of major weeding! I'm okay with that, nothing in there is toxic to dogs, I checked!

I glanced up and she was just laying there...not moving. My heart leaped into my throat, I was so scared! I flung my flip flops off as I ran to her, calling her name the whole way...nothing...not a tiny movement...not a sound...NOTHING. I knew fear as I've never known it before!

I got to her, called her name...and the damned little brat picked her head up, looked at me with what I swear was an evil smile...and WINKED at me. I yelled at Stormy. I did. I yelled at her to get into that house RIGHT NOW YOUNG LADY!

Oh Stormy knew I was serious...she hauled butt straight to the French doors and waited patiently until I retrieved my shoes and let her inside. Much to her chagrin, I did NOT go in with her.

Since this happened, Stormy has been my very closest friend...she knows she has to make my heart melt (some more) before she's 100% forgiven for playing such a sneaky trick on me!

Meanwhile, Miss Molly and Cami have been absolutely angelic...thank you God for two angels! LOL

I have't been bery good about keeping up with my blog, I blame it on that Mommy and her lack of time lately!  I can blame her, right?  Is her fault!  ;)

Did you know that on August 4, 2014, I was the Modern Dog Magazine Photo Contest Winner for that week?  I was!  Mine Angels came together and rallied round and boted boted boted for me...AND them got they friends to bote too!

Mommy entered me in that contest a little bit before my second surgery in February this year.  Is my only contest...well, my only contest so far, that is!  I might do more contests, but we not sure yet.

Know why we entered?  To try to win so MAYBE we can get a article in that magazine someday to tell people all about why it's so important to spay and neuter them's doggies.  We want to tell people about canine diabetes too and that it's NOT the end of the world for them doggies.  It's not an easy thing to take care of but it CAN be handled...managed, Mommy says.

Our friend, Kim, from Hotdog Hill Sanctuary wrote a beautiful article about what it's like to take care of a diabetic dog.  Ms. Kim talks about what the humans have to do and how them has to do it.  She talks about what humans give up to care for us little "sugar babies" and how it's SO WORTH IT, cause the love and affection we shower on those human caregivers is just unbelievably sweet!  Ima have to ask Ms. Kim if I can post her article here.  Yes, I'll ask her!

My sister, Stormy, is at the doctor man's today.  Her don't feel good.  Hers coughing and is really short of breath so they's doing a chest x-ray thing.  Mommy and Daddy will find out later if that x-ray shows anything or not.   This house be so quiet without Stormy.  Mommy and Daddy hadn't realized how bad Stormy's cough and breathing were until they got home and them noises wasn't happening.  Mommy knew that she wasn't good...but...well, humans don't realize stuff sometimes cause we don't commoonicate wif words.

Okay, I'm going to go cuddle wif my Mommy now cause her needs some puppy loves.

How do I do it?

I'm asked so often "How do you do it?  How do you care for Cami day in and day out?"

I can tell you it's easy, but I'd be lying.  I can tell you I don't give it a second thought and I'd be lying.  I CAN tell you that Cami makes it all better and I'm telling you the truth.

I've learned more with Cami than I ever thought I'd know.  Who DREAMS about learning about canine diabetes?  Who DREAMS about learning about canine mammary tumors or dental disease?

I can tell you that the ideal blood glucose range for a diabetic dog is 150-250.  I can also tell you that with Cami, we seldom see her in that range.  We're constantly working toward that range, but the possibility exists that we won't see it.

I can tell you that Cami and I have our own routine every day.  When it's time for her blood test (pre-meal or "fasting"), Cami and I go in another room, all by ourselves.  She runs around for just a few minutes, as I ready the glucose meter and get the lancet ready to go...and then it's my kisses from Cami!  Yes, she lavishes kisses on me knowing full well the next thing she feels is going to be a pin prick on her paw!

Our girl "parks" herself down in front of me and picks up the paw she wants me to use, and then sits patiently while I prick that paw and gently massage the blood out to get just the right size drop of blood!  As soon as she  hears the "beep" of the glucose meter that indicates a good reading, she bounces off and heads for the kitchen door!  She KNOWS what comes next!  If she doesn't hear the beep, she sits quietly while I ready yet another test strip and take yet another prick at her paw.  She's such a good girl!

We've established an "injection" routine too!  The alarm on my phone that I use for Cami, plays her own special melody!  Cami knows I'll sit on the floor while she climbs up in my lap and sits down.  With syringe mixed and held in my mouth, Cami gets a two handed gentle spinal massage...she loves it! and if she were a cat, she'd purr!  It relaxes her so that the injection doesn't hurt...well, hurt as much.  She sits there and "takes it" as I tent the skin and inject!  We both try to ignore the little wince!

We carry a "Crash Kit".  When you have a diabetic dog, you have to carry a crash kit...especially if they're as unstable as Cami can be at times!  I'll pull the car to the far edge of the shoulder of a highway to test Cami...or pull off the highway into an area with nothing...just miles of grass, woods, fields...it doesn't matter where!

We don't go out to dinner at dinner time.  We don't.  That's Cami's time.  Constantly aware of Cami's schedule and Cami's needs, our lives run on "Cami time".  We don't go away for long weekends like we have in the past...when we're more comfortable traveling with our little diabetic darling, we might...only when we find places that accept dogs, provide refrigerators in the rooms and have safe areas to walk dogs.

We don't go visit family the way we used to.   Not in state or out of state.  Some are dog people, some aren't.  Cami can't go, we can't go.  And besides, how do you take one dog and not the other two? (Or other three, with Stella here?)

I've told you a lot of things "we don't do", a lot of things we've given up doing.  Have I told you about the love this tiny little 11 lb. girl lavishes on us?  The affection we're showered with every single day of her life?  Have I told you how she inspires us to do better, to be better?  Can you understand the fighting spirit in a little girl?  That spirit that hasn't allowed her to give up?

When I slow down long enough to think about all of this, there's only one thought that stands out in my sometimes overworked mind...We love Cami.  We'll continue to do what Cami needs.  Yes, we'll put Cami's needs before our own.  We'll continue to tell the story of Cami's Journey.

Our little foster, Stella, had her mammary tumor surgery last Thursday!  She is a champ and thought she was ready to rock n roll by Thursday night!  It's tough to hold her down, but we have to...Stella is having a bit of bleeding, small amounts but annoying more to her than anyone.  It's as if she's embarrassed by the drops of blood; always licking them or "worrying" at them.  Poor little girl just can't relax if she's had any bleeding from where she knocked that scab off!

So.  Well, my job this last few days has been to do one load of laundry after another...Stella's bedding has been 3 loads today alone, and that's just because I want Stella to relax on fresh bedding.

Just this afternoon, I posted in Canine Diabetes Support and Information that Cami's blood glucose has been very good for more than a week.  NEVER NEVER NEVER should I "brag" about Cami and her "blood glue"!  NEVER.  Tonight, her fasting blood glucose (just before her evening meal) was 57.  Oh I HATE HATE HATE those super low numbers!

One teaspoon of Karo syrup, 5 pieces of kibble and her evening meal...quickly!

When a diabetic dog drops low, it can be so dangerous.  Sometimes leading to loss of consciousness, convulsions and even possibly death.  

We used to struggle on a near constant basis with Cami's blood glucose.  Ups and downs and lows and highs, no "curve" at all, a mountain for a curve, once in a great while a "valley" (ideal according to the vet) for a curve.  We've had to lessen our expectations for Cami's blood glucose.  We no longer strive for the so called "ideal" numbers of 150-250.  

Now we strive for her 24 hour average to be below 350.  We're there and I've set a new goal.  Now I want her average below 300.  We're almost there on a consistent basis.

Of course, we also have to add in there that we do  NOT want to see those super lows that indicate potential hypoglycemia!  As serious as it can be to see the high numbers, it's even more threatening to see the very low ones!  

No cute, light hearted post tonight.  Stella's tired.  Cami's tired.  Stormy's tired.  Miss Molly's tired.  I'm tired.  Bill's tired.  Frank the old Siamese cat is the only one with any pep in his step and that's just strange!

I'm going to take myself out of here, take these sweet babies outside to take care of business and put them to bed so that, in spite of the fireworks currently exploding next door, we might find a relatively restful night.

Silly dachshunds!  Always a challenge with these little ones around!  Our latest in the circus of our life is Cami and Stella "tag teaming" lizards!  Oh I'm serious!  

Cami follows them slowly and kind of corners them on a patio stone...and then Stella runs from across the yard and pounces on them to make the "kill"! Do you have any idea how many lizards I have saved in "just the nick of time" today?  At least *8*.  I'm serious!

I didn't realize what was going on until Cami got a little sick on the concrete.  As I was washing it away, I realized there was a lizard tail in there.  Cami just doesn't understand that lizards are NOT part of a diabetic diet.  I realize they're protein (of sorts), but they're just not good for her!  

I chased Stella half way across our yard (nearly 1/4 acre) to get a lizard from her that she had locked tightly in those strong dachshund jaws, with all the grass and leaves that it had been hiding in!  She carried it all the way to the back door, just thinking I would let her inside with it!

Imagine my shock when I got to the door (more than slightly out of breath) and told her, "Stella, drop it!" and she DID!  Too late for the lizard, but at least he wasn't consumed.  Stella stood back and watched me as I grabbed a poop bag to pick the lizard up off the door mat and carried it to the garbage!  Oh that little one is NOT happy with me now!  I robbed her of her snack!

It's still close to an hour until dinner time for the girls so they're both laying at my feet...pouting.  They could always ask my human children how much good pouting does...none.  ;)

Today's the day for some of Cami's posts!  Oh maybe a post from Stella...or two...Stella is our newest foster, also a dog with mammary tumors.  Stella is perfectly healthy other than those tumors and a BB lodged under her skin!  Surgery for Stella is schedule for June 26!

Cami, June 14, 2014:

Hehehe! I chased Mommy away from her puter fingy this mornin cause I 'cided it's MY turn!

G'mornin to alla me Angels! And especial g'mornin to Oscar the Great Mini, my lobe! 

Know what? I like hasing Stella here! Stella and me go outside together and we wander around the yard, sometimes side by side. We goes on the great lizard hunt together, but Stella don't let me catch no lizards. Her's selfish about lizards but Mommy says Stella's lookin out for me cause I not sposed to eat those fings.

I share my toys wif Stella cause her didn't has any from when her was in that shelter. I do NOT share my Tick wif Stella. That's MY Tick. Sometimes I shares my Lambchop wif her, but only sometimes.

The really reason I wanted the puter fingy from Mommy is cause I want to wish alla you Daddy's out there a bery Happy Fathers Day. Mommy's might do mosta the work of takin care of us doggies sometimes, but Daddy's are so bery special cause they gib lobes and cuddles and comfort us when we gets scared and a whole bunch of other stuff. I lobes my Daddy.

Now for me brudders..eben though they be human and not four legged like me...

And to my human brudder Rob, Happy Fathers Day, you be a great Father to my friend, Evin! And to my human brudder in law, Steve (eben though I don't know you yet) you be a great Father to my friend, Kasey B, Happy Fathers Day! And I has another human brudder I hasn't met who is the super Father! Him's name is Hank, but people calls him Topper Hightower, I hasn't met him yet neither...Happy Fathers Day to you, my brudder!

Has a wonderful day to alla me Angels! we Lobes you a whole bunches!

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June 17, 2014:
Whew! I kicked Mommy out of her chair in front of her puter fingy! And now Stella Luna the little black and tan lunatic is under MY feets! hehehe

Well, Angels, here's the way it is. My blood glue is lookin pretty good. Mommy says it not be great, but pretty good is a big improbement! so we go wif "pretty good" for now and keep workin!

OMD Stella hadda go see the doctor man today to get her glandulars spressed! I laffed. Well, her laffed at me, so this time, I got to laffs at her! Stella came home and said "how basive that be". Ummm...yep.

Miss Molly and Stormy went to the doctor man too. Stormy hadda have a blood test fingy for her cushions dis...ummm...wait...lemmme fink a minute...diseeze. Yep. Cushions diseeze. Mommy says we find out soon about that stuffs. Then her and Miss Molly had bafs and their nails wacked off and alla that not really good stuffs.

So for about a hour, I hadda whole house to meself..well, cept for my old kitty boy Frank! But him's so quiet, might has been just me! Don't tell Mommy and Daddy, but when they's Director TB bill comes in, is going to has the Dog Channels stuff on there. Well really, why would I wanna watch elefants when I can watch dogs stead? See? I need it.

Ima has to bite Mommy's ankles. Her said they's gonna has ice cream.

Good idea. Ima go do just that. But first, I gotta tell Oscar the Great Mini that I lobes him and his Mommy Lisa and I lobes Flint too!

But mosts, I lobes alla me Cami's Angels. ***Cami kisses for alla me 1749 Angels!

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And Stella adds her own "2 cents":

June 18, 2014

Hi, I'm Stella Luna and I hijacked Cami's page so I could share some news wif y'all! 

My FM says we been getting donations for my surgery so not only did her schedule it, but her REscheduled it for earlier!!

Is not going to be July 10 anymore...That nice doctor man at Monument Road Animal Hospital is going to fix my tumors n stuffs on June 26!! This makes me a happy girl! Oh wait! I'm a happy girl no matter what...well, cept if there's thunder booming!

FM says, if you can, please call in a donation with a debit/credit card to Monument Road Animal Hospital at 904-721-2119 or send em a check at 1238 Monument Rd. Jacksonville FL 32225. Tell em it's for Stella Hightower, please cause that's my name til I find my bery own forever family!

FM says I has a youcaring also at: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/stella-luna-needs-surgery/189357


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They're funny little girls and they fit right in with Stormy the sweetest girl on earth, Miss Molly the slightly neurotic chihuahua with "big" aggression issues and Frank, the quite elderly and Frank, the anti-social Siamese cat!