My name in Molly
I am an Old English Sheepdog. The photo is of me now aged three
years. I love to run and play with the other dogs in the house, Barney
aged 3, Oscar aged 20 months, and Lukass aged 18 weeks. (They are
all Old English Sheepdogs). I always have a ball in my mouth - all
the balls in the toy box belong to ME! I am however, Blind and Diabetic.
How I became diabetic is another story, I wasn't born diabetic. I have
canine diabetes type II (early onset). I was very poorly but now
I am really well and fit and enjoy life. It's all thanks to a good
diet and routine and a good vet with the patience of a saint!
She was originally in a rescue and going downhill fast. All I could
think was that I wanted her to die in a loving home and not in a kennel
(The diabetes we think, was caused by abuse and stress). She was
in a terrible state, our vet wasn't optimistic and asked me what breed
she was supposed to be! She has pulled through and I am very proud
of her she is so brave!
Molly's Insulin Therapy
Molly uses her insulin quickly (all diabetics are different).
She needs two injections a day 12 hours apart and her food is given at
the same time to make sure that the food and the insulin peak at the same
time. Molly only needs 2x 7 i.u. injections of insulin per day (Insuvet
Lente) which is really good for her bodyweight. She doesn't need
snacks in-between meals.
Playtimes, rest times and feed times are exactly the same each day.
Molly's Diet
All diabetics need lots of fibre, the right sort of fibre is very important.
Soluble fibre is better than insoluble, so we use vegetables. The
fibre should also be in a form that the stomach can use. A good juice
extractor does this perfectly and by removing most of the water you also
reduce the bulk. We researched and experimented with all types of
fibre until we found what suited Molly best. Molly has 2 meals a day each
comprising 6 ozs. of fresh vegetables ( 2oz broccoli stalk, 2oz swede.
2oz carrot) plus 6oz Skinners Meal and 11/2oz fresh raw mince meat.
The veg. are put through the juice extractor and the whole meal is fed
warm by mixing the Skinners with warm water (to a solid form - not wet
or sloppy) & then adding the veg. & meat. Skinners is ideal
because it is high in carbohydrate and low in fat. Afterwards Molly
has a piece of carrot.
Molly's Home Blood Glucose Monitoring
Now that Molly's diabetes is stable we do our own blood glucose testing
at home should we need to do so. Last Bank Holiday Molly got over
excited with visitors and became ill. We were able to test her blood
sugar and then ring the vet for advice. Thus avoiding a trip to the
vet. We also have regular Fructosomine tests done at the vet. For
the blood glucose tests we use the Roche Accu-Chek Advantage meter, we
don't use the 'pen' because it doesn't go deep enough so we use the lancet
by hand with a quick stabbing action on the top inside of the ear flap
(taking care not to go right through the ear!). It works very well
for us and Molly doesn't mind.
Best Regards Julie and Mollie
A very important update on Molly on June 12, 2001
This is a very difficult mail to write. It is really good news
- I think!
We went to the eye vet today for the first time (Molly has been totally
blind
since we got her). The vet was so excited over Molly, he said
she has a very
rare AND unusual type of cataract! Not one that you would
associate with
diabetes. We were there almost two hours whilst he examined and
re examined
her eyes, poor Molly. He put some drops in and wanted me to look
through his
gagetery. I'm afraid I don't DO eyes (anything else but NOT eyes!)
.
Anyway, I looked through because he was so excited about it all!
I will
explain as best I can what happened: he told me to look
for a colour and I
found orange. Then he told me to look some more into a hole and
then I could
see through a hole and to the blood vessels at the back of the eye!
We did
this with both eyes, the left one I could see a tiny bit of scar tissue
(damage to the retina) which shows as white (through the equipment).
He said
that as we could see in that in theory Molly should be able to see
out, given
the right drops! At this time Molly could certainly see something!
He said
that we won't be able to tell for about four days and then we must
work out
if she can see and what she can see.
This willl be quite a challenge as Molly is very good at being blind!
Anyone who has a blind dog in their family will understand that last
comment!
If the drops don't work or she doesn't see enough we can opt for surgery.
It
sounds as though we have nothing to lose going for the drops option
first.
This afternoon at the vets I too was excited. But now I am trying
to piece
together the information and understand it. And, I'm tired, I
normally start
at six am but today I started at five am the hour has made a lot of
difference!
It has been hard for Molly too, the vet wanted to take lots of photos
which
took forever two rolls of film, he didn't charge because he said he
wanted it
all for his personal records because she was such a rare case!
As to be expected, all this has played havoc with Molly's sugar levels
straight away. What with the journey and the consultation it
has sent her crashing.
I think my sugar level is getting low now too! I know really
that it is good
news for Molly but there is so much that I don't understand and I need
to
understand to make sure that I do the right thing for Molly.
Julie, Molly and the boys
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