Once Bandit came to live with us, life in my home totally changed.  She was a very strong willed and stubborn pup, who only weighing less than 15 pounds but was totally the boss.  As small as she was, she always demanded her food first, always pushing my dog, Buddy, to the side.  But Buddy does love her, because he easily let her have her way. 

Bandit was always a challenge, much like a 2 year old that you cannot leave to her own devices for long, she was always in some sort of trouble.  She constantly tried to escape from the fenced in yard, even going so far as to try and bound over a 6 foot fence by getting on top of a picnic table! We always (and still do) keep an eye on her, never really leaving her unattended for more than a few minutes.  Although she has gotten older and is not as nimble as she once was, she can get in to trouble in a heartbeat.  But we love her very much.

Bandit has got to be the most loving animal I have every owned.  Even when she was a puppy, she never nipped or bit anyone (she chewed vinyl siding on the house but never people!) We always say she just wants to be touched, if you are sitting down, she just wants your hand on her.  A big mush, her size is intimidating to some, she can easily knock a small adult or child down, would never hurt a fly.  She has the best personality. 

On Valentines Day of this year (2006) Bandit was diagnosed with Diabetes.  I came home from work, walked right past a dozen roses from my husband and saw Bandit hopping and immediately said we were leaving for the vet.  She had a bad infection and upon arriving, she was weighed and the vet technician thought it was a mistake, weighing her again, she had lost approximately 35lbs since she was last weighted.  Very concerned about the weight loss they did x-rays and blood work and it was determined she was diabetic. 

My immediate thought was how would I handle this? So scared, scared that she would have to be put down, scared that I couldn’t do the injections, or keep the schedule, deal with the tests, and just plain scared that I would do something wrong that would make it worse, I searched the internet for any information that I could find.  Most of the information made me more scared.  I then signed up for the Rainbow Bridge email and this was my godsend.  Such wonderful people, who calmed my fears, listened to my irrational questions and asked me exactly what I was afraid of, addressing every one of them.  They are so wonderful, the people of Rainbow Bridge made me feel like I could do it, and I became less nervous.  In the few days before the injections were to start, I had a new outlook.  I would handle this and we are.  Our vet tells me Bandit & I are doing better than any of her diabetic patients.  We are doing wonderful. 

Even though Bandit is not yet regulated, and I’m sure we will have ups and downs I feel ok, because I know whatever comes our way, I (& Bandit) have the Rainbow Bridge people to lean on.  Thank you all.

Love Always-
Pat & Bandit