Maxi's Story
Maxi came into our lives the summer of 2001. She was seriously underweight,
unsocialized, and sick with every parasite in the world, including heartworm.
We set to work getting this little dog healthy. She desperately wanted
a family, so the socialization was a snap. She started out at 8 lbs. and
ended up at 17 lbs. She still has a few quirks. During the past six months,
she has finally started to warm to my husband. She will take food from
his hand, which she would not do previously. We have to put a diaper on
her when we take her in the car. She is terrified and she urinates. Before
food was carefully rationed because of her diabetes, she would hide food
around the house, which broke my heart wondering about the abuse she suffered.
Maxi lives with a male Westie mix named Toby, a Siamese cat named Pywacket
and various outside "yard cats".
About six weeks ago, Maxi had surgery to remove several skin tags. It
was uneventful and all her labs were normal. We went back in two weeks
to have her sutures removed and everything still seemed normal. Then I
would find her drinking water at every opportunity, and I was filling up
the water bowl constantly. There was a day with no appetite, and a few
incidents of vomiting. Then she became incontinent. I decided it might
be a bladder infection, so I took her to the vet. I told her doctor the
symptoms and he ran a blood glucose. She was at 450. She stayed in the
hospital for a week. It was all about getting her to eat. She does not
like canned food that is molded to the shape of the can and you have to
chop it up before serving it. Now she has dry food with organic chicken
broth.
Maxi and I get up at 5:30 every morning and I go out with her to catch
her urine. Then I match it and log it in her book. My husband makes breakfast
for both dogs (Toby eats what Maxi eats). Maxi gets her injection and then
the dogs have breakfast. We repeat the process at 5:30 in the evening.
Maxi is a treasure. She knows her schedule (if I am rolling a vial of insulin,
she will go to my husband who holds her when she gets her injection). She
fully cooperates in her treatment.
Toby, is now on Maxi's schedule. When she receives her injections, Toby
comes to me expecting his injection - which consists of the capped syringe
I used on Maxi. I rub it on his back and then he is ready for breakfast.
We had to start this because he was so jealous of the extra "attention"
Maxi was getting.
Warm Regards,
Barbara, Maxi, Toby & Pywacket |
