Gone but not forgotten

[Bob Brown]

I share your pain of losing a canine family member. About 3 months ago my yellow lab Katie woke up thirsty and a bit off. I took her to the vet and her blood sugar was off the charts. A couple of sets of blood work and she was diagnosed as diabetic. The Vet suggested I leave her with him while he gave her injections of insulin and monitored her blood sugar to determine the daily amount she needed to control it. Twice daily injections for the rest of her life, but he said she should have a fairly normal life once under control. You do what you have to. It didn't work out that way. For three days and nights he gave her insulin and retested every two hours. No amount would bring her blood sugar down to even a measurable amount. The third day and night was trying the human version which can sometimes work when the canine version won't. Still off the monitor's scale. He said the answer had to be a tumor that was completely disrupting the insulin process. The only chance would be a 8 hour drive to a vet that could do the operation to find and remove the tumor, but I think both of us knew she was too weak to survive the drive, much less the operation. I had to let her go. Katie loved her ducks, but she was a grouse freak! The season for both opened 5 days ago, but I haven't seriously thought about picking up a licence yet. I guess I never realized how much of the enjoyment of bird hunting comes from the partnership with the dogs.