My name is Bonnie or as known to my friends, Bon. Michael and I are originally from Rochester, New York and now live in Fort Myers, Florida with my Angel Keishi’s little brothers KC and Milo. As Margo like to say, Keishi was my “heart dog”. She became part of my life on a beautiful sunny weekend after my youngest daughter talked me into at least looking for a puppy. She spotted an ad for a Keeshond which was described as a little bear. Both Carli and Gigi worked me over until I agreed to go so we could just look. So after this little tiny fur ball picked me as her mom, it was all over:) On the way home we named her after her mother, Keisha.

The next 10 years flew by, the girl’s grew up, we added a rescue kitten (KC – short for kitty cat) and Michael and I eventually moved to Florida so that I could take care of my elderly mother.

I still remember that feeling when we realized something was wrong with Keishi. I was panic stricken and I thought my heart would break when our vet told us that she was very, very sick and had diabetes. Her BG was off the charts the day she was diagnosed. I cried and said I couldn’t give her insulin and that I was afraid I’d hurt her. Our vet calmly pointed out that Keishi couldn’t give herself insulin and that unless I did this for her she would die. Well that was a wake up call so I asked him to show me how to do it. We left with insulin and syringes and stopped on the way home to pick up the Bayer strips and Karo syrup. Keishi was very difficult to regulate and it was a seesaw struggle for months. I developed a love/hate relationship with the scales. I’d be praying before she hopped on and would cry when I kept seeing a weight loss.  When both her vet and I thought we were losing our battle, Keishi finally hopped on the scale one day and everyone went nuts!!  Keishi had gained 1 pound!!  She continued to do well and then about a year later I found Judy’s little group (it WAS much smaller then:) Keishi and I now had a family of friends that actually knew what canine diabetes was and didn’t think we were crazy for giving a dog insulin.  This same family of friends saved Keishi when she developed a bleeding ulcer. I know I’ve told this to the group that you simply can’t expect your vet to be an expert on everything. Keishi’s vet was really on top of the diabetes but failed miserably on the ulcer. Had it not been for my SOS to the group, Keishi would have left us that week.

We were blessed to have my sweetie with us for three more years. The life expectancy of Keeshonds is 12-15 years and their breed is known for health problems including diabetes. Keishi lived to almost her 15th birthday. I think bringing little Milo home that last year really helped all of us. Milo adored Keishi and Keishi started to try to really enjoy walks and eating because of her pesky little shadow. My darling Keishi joined her friends at the bridge on February 28, 2007.  As sad as that anniversary day is for us, we smile on her birthday. This past June 5th I smiled and visualized Keishi celebrating her birthday with a great party and with her many friends.

Keisha and Milo

Diabetic Pet's Name: Keisha (aka Keishi and KeishiBear)

Breed: Keeshond

Birth: June 5, 1992

When Diagnosed: November 2002

Age Diagnosed: 10 years old

Weight: was 46 lbs went down to 38 lbs before regulated

Kind of Insulin and Amount Per Injection: Humilin N /was at 17 units 2x's a day

Food: home cooked

Do you hometest?(blood, urine and/or observation) urine test/ frequent blood tests & curves at vets until regulated

Other Health Problems? Keishi developed a bleeding ulcer in 2004/ age related sight loss and weak back legs her last year with us

Webpage of Pet: http://www.caninediabetes.org/fam.html Keishi's story is there
                             http://www.caninediabetes.org/memorials.html Keishi went   the bridge February 28, 2007

Your Location: Fort Myers, Florida

If you would like to participate in the Who am I? emails
then contact one of the moderators listed at the bottom of this email
Write an introduction, send a picture of your pet
The moderator will send you the blank questions to fill in and they will post your email for you....One will be going out every Monday Morning....This way each pet is the star for a week.
Michael will take the email and turn it into a pdf file and upload it to the file section in the yahoo group and I will turn it into an html file and put it in the who am I section of the website.

If you have missed a weekly story then click on the following url.
http://www.caninediabetes.org/whoami.html

Judy Dick
Email:  queenie@mnsi.net

Karen Baldassarre
Email:  kbal37@comcast.net

Michael Jay Smith
Email: smithmj@clearwire.net

Bonnie Iovine
Email: biovine@comcast.net

Josephine
Email: curaduk@aapt.net.au

Jane, Lee and Margo have a lot on their plates right now so the above moderators are available to do the Who am I Email?