Louie
 

In no time Louie was house trained, could sit, stay, shake, speak, lie down and fetch a ball. 
Not to mention catch a ball (or treat) in mid air.  What a talented boy he is! 
He will entertain himself for hours lying on his back and juggling his favorite “Buddy Glow Ball”.  Louie loves going for walks and running in the park. 
And I can always count on him to snuggle up right next to me at night. 
He has definitely taught me the true meaning of friendship, loyalty and love.

In July 2002, I noticed Louie was not acting like himself – drinking excessively and even a couple
accidents in the house.  I immediately made an appointment for him at the vet.  I was so 
unprepared for what was to happen next.  When the vet diagnosed Louie as being diabetic, 
I felt as though my world had just come crashing down on me. 
I thought, “My God, I’m going to lose my best friend.” 
The next couple of days were filled with countless tears and feelings of confusion. 
What was Diabetes? 
What does that mean for Louie?
 Was he going to die? 
I knew I needed to educate myself about this disease,
after all, Louie is my world and I need to take care of him! 
That’s when I found  www.petdiabetes.com and  the Rainbow  Pet Diabetes Email List. 
The website gave me the tools I needed to properly take care of Louie and the
Email list has provided me with a tremendous amount of knowledge and support. 
Louie and I are forever indebted to this wonderful group of caring individuals. 

Louie was officially diagnosed with Diabetes on July 9, 2002. 
At this time he weighed 130 Lbs., was eating Purina Dog Chow 
and I was instructed to begin giving him 30 units of Humilin N bid. 
The following week we lowered his insulin dosage to 28 units bid and switched his food to 
Purina Fit & Trim.  We continued dropping his insulin dosage by 2 units bid until we reached his 
current amount of 24 units bid.  I have also switched his food to Wellness Super5 Senior, dry 
and he’s currently weighing in at a healthy 100 Lbs. 
In September, I began home testing his bg levels. 
This, surprisingly, has gone very well. 
Louie is extremely cooperative. . .but that could be because he knows he gets a treat when I’m done!  On November 8th, we made our first trip to the eye specialist. 
He has diabetic cataracts in both eyes, but is currently able to see pretty well. 
They told me that he is a good candidate for the surgery when the time comes. 
We continue to visit the eye vet monthly and pray for good news. 

Whatever this disease throws at us, 
I know we will be able to tackle – thanks to Judy, for providing us with this super website 
packed with information and a phenomenal network of supportive friends. 

Danna Eberly & Louie
Hampshire, IL

Louie's Cataract Update
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 08:14:20 -0600 
Thought I'd update you on Louie.  Things didn't go as well as planned.  All
his tests and such came back with good results, so she wasn't planning to find
severe inflammation when she got into his eye.  She started with his left eye
(the worse of the 2), and it was terribly inflamed.  She struggled with her
decision and ultimately chose not to perform the surgery on his "good eye",
the right one.  Her fears were that when she got into that eye, it too would
be severely inflamed and she didn't want to risk that.  Due to the issues, he
also was not given the lens implant so his vision will not be great, but he
will at least be able to see again out of his left eye, which he already does.
Her recommendation is to hold off for a few weeks, continue to give him
anti-inflammatory meds and do the 2nd eye.  There's more details, but I don't
want to ramble on.  As you might have guessed, I'm really disappointed, but I
appreciate very much her decision and I'm just glad my boy is home.

He absolutely HATES this collar.  Louie's always been very jumpy when it comes
to bumping into things and/or if something falls, etc.  It scares him to
death.  So this darn collar, in addition to his grogginess, is not going very
well.  We've made a little progress this morning, but not much  And he didn't
sleep more than about 15 minutes last night.  He refused to lay down with the
collar.  He's absolutely petrified.

Thank you so very much for the well-wishes and prayers for my boy and me.  We
both appreciate them a ton!  I'm going to head back upstairs now and sit with
him.  Hope all is well with everyone.

Danna Eberly

Here's a picture of Louie the night before 

One of him today.  Poor baby.  Thanks everyone for the kind thoughts. 
Margo, I'm going to the store to buy a clear collar today. 
Hopefully that will make him feel a little more sure of himself.

On Jan 17, 2005 he had his left eye removed due to glaucoma caused by retinal detachment?  
I just thought some people might find it helpful to see this.  I know we’re not the first to undergo this 
procedure, but we also won’t be the last.  And maybe it will help that next person make the decision.  

March 28, 2005 
Just thought I'd share a picture of Louie post-surgery.  Such my beautiful boy!  :-)

Louie's Photo Album

Danna & Louie Until One Has Loved an Animal, a Part of One’s Soul Remains Unawakened. -Anatole France Christmas 2004 The Beautiful Brat Danna and Sweetheart Louie   Danna visiting Judy and KitKat in Florida in 2005

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