Doggy Dash 2012

We have registered to walk again in the SSPCA's 2012 Doggy Dash. The picture above was from last year's event, when we had freak rain storms in June in California and it poured the entire time the dash was going on. However, it was still tons of fun going out there, walking in the rain with your pup and thousands of other animal lovers and their pooches. However, since it rained so much we weren't able to stay very long afterwards to check out the vendor booths and see what everyone had to offer. Hopefully this year it wont rain and we can spend the whole afternoon there. They had tons of fun contests and events that we missed since, as you can see from above, someone was not pleased about being in the rain that long.

Wordless Wednesday

Kita likes to dress up

Happy as a clam

One thing our doctor told us when we first found out about the diabetes is that we will be much more focused on Kita's happiness and attitude than on a number. As long as she is acting like herself, is happy, and eating we will consider her stable. When we get a glucose curve that is more stable and a bit lower, we will consider her to be under control.

Basically, as long as there is gas in the tank, we will keep on trucking.

Feelin' better, going places

Now that Kita has been feeling much better lately, we have been taking her more places again. We usually like to take her lots of new places, for socialization and so we don't have to be away from her for so long. Here are a few of the places she has been lately.

The flea market. We took her to the local flea market/farmer's market. She walked around for hours (and got carried for a while) while looking for hidden gems.

Toys r us. We have taken her to two different ones and they never mind her and even the employees say hi to her.

Kita likes going to see family and party. Doesn't matter whose house or why. She likes partying.

Wordless Wednesday

Clothes

So it's no secret our little princess likes to dress up.She wears costumes and dresses for special occasions, naturally. But having a senior dog means clothes have to serve more of a purpose then just being cute. Many times, especially in winter, she needs to wear sweaters and jackets with t-shirtd under them to keep warm when we go places. As she ages, we notice she gets cold easily and with her arthritis, we try to keep her warmer during the night to help with achy bones in the morning. We have tried to put blankets on her during the night buy she usually walks around and changes spots during the night and her blanket falls off. We try not to put sweaters on her over night since they could become tight around her neck during the night and becomes uncomfortable. Usually we put her Snuggie on her during the night because it is not tight around her neck and she knows how to wiggle out of it if she gets too warm.

Glucose curve

Yesterday we took Kita in for her glucose curve testing. It was an 11 hour appointment, so I dropped her off after work, went home to shower and change then we went to pick her up. They had us bring her in before she ate or got her morning shot so we could have the first sample drawn and then she got a sample drawn and tested every two hours after that. The glucose curve basically gives us an idea of if the dose we are using for the insulin is working and gives you a rough idea of how much to go to next. Also, its nice because it tracks the glucose levels throughout the day and so you know when her lowest points are (typically afternoon time). After seeing her chart the doctor said it needs to go lower by about 200 points (we are in the mid-400s during the afternoon right now). So we are upping it by one unit of insulin every dosage. We are going back for another curve in about a month.

Luckily, they said she was a very good girl during the visit. They put her in a high up kennel so she could watch everyone and she LOVES people watching. They said she was just hanging out and watching everyone and watching some other dogs get their dental work done (which will be our next mission after we get her glucose levels more stabilized. But the doctor said she has lost three pounds and is very happy and healthy looking other than the glucose levels! Small victories make all the difference right now.

Cloudy eyes

Once we got to the doctor and got our diabetes diagnosis, another thing the doctor talked to us about was cataracts that are starting to form in Kita's eyes. The most common and easily noticeable symptom of cataracts are the eyes become very cloudy looking, a whitish-green. Cataracts are also very common in diabetic dogs. Our doctor explained to us that it is so common in diabetic dogs because the sugars are getting trapped in the lens. Diabetic dogs also have a very high rate or going blind from their cataracts. Typically, 75% of all diabetic dogs fully loose their vision to cataracts in the first year of diagnosis. It is very important to keep an eye on their eyes during this year to notice any changes. While cataracts surgery for dogs is available, it can be costly. However, cataracts surgery typically has a much higher success rate on diabetic dogs than on other dogs. (In the surgery, they replace the damaged lens with a plastic or acrylic lens.) It is also important that with the cataracts you watch that the lens does not become detached or dislodged from the eye. If that does happen, the lens could slip and block other fluids from moving around in the eye and cause glaucoma, which will create a feeling for the dogs like having a constant migraine or severe headache.

Authority

So, since our quest for new food was short (we have a medically prescribed diet) the quest for a healthy treat began since Ms. Picky McPickerson is very particular about her treats. We used to feed her squishy treats since she was not a fan of crunchy treats, but with the diabetes that had to stop. (Soft treats are MUCH higher in sugars than crunchy treats.) The first thing I thought was that I would make some, but right now, starting a new position in my company and school makes it hard to find time to bake treats. Also, since she only gets about 5 treats a week, my recipes make far too many treats for that and she would never consume them in time. So, we hunted for a crunch treat that she would like but was healthy for her. While this quest will be never ending really, this is the first stop the treat train has brought us to.

Authority brand treats. They are healthy and you can pronounce pretty much everything on the label (except I'm not scientist so the vitamins and minerals added are a tongue twister for me). Each treat has a different 'main function' based on the treat flavor. We are going with apple and oatmeal and pumpkin and turkey first. Actually, first first is pumpkin and turkey. Turkey and pumpkin treats are high in calcium and have lots of antioxidants for her immune system. When I first opened them they smell a little cinnamon-y but she really likes them. Kita usually gobbles them up. We haven't opened up the apple and cinnamon ones yet but she had apple flavored treats before and enjoyed them and she likes oatmeal so we have high hopes for those treats.

Difficult

The past few days have been difficult. Running away while I get the needle. Not eating her food unless I feed it to her on a fork. Or mix it with lots of old food, which I don't really want to do. We got her to eat some meat flavored baby food the other day, but again, we don't want to get in that habit. She seems to be most difficult in the morning as opposed to the evening. Maybe its because by night time she hasn't seen us all day and doesn't mind. While in the morning we usually spend an hour laying in bed together watching t.v. or reading before getting up to eat. Hopefully this difficult stage will pass soon.

Easy days

There have been some easy going days lately on the diabetes front as Casa de Kita. Next Wednesday we go in for our glucose test to determine a baseline glucose level for Kita and see if we need to up our insulin dose. However, we have seen great improvements in her behaviors. She has had a lot of her puppy energy back. She wants to play when I come home and run around the house. When we were leaving my mother-in-law's house she started running down the street. She was running across all the neighbor's lawn's with a big smile on her face, looking behind to see if I was still following her. The lovely, blissful life of Kita.

All brand new

Today was our first day of all new food. Since Kita is so picky, our doctor suggested to mix her old canned food and her new canned food for the first week slowly changing the mixture from mostly old food to mostly new food. So today was our first day with all new food. I was worried she wouldn't eat, because she cannot skip meals, but happily she gobbled it all down with a satisfied smack. A big relief for me since I was worrying dinner time would become a big thing.

Also, she is doing good with her shots today. I don't know what it was about the other day but she looked back and saw us with the needle, let out a bloody murder screech and tried to run off. All day yesterday and today she watches me do it and doesn't even flinch. The life of a pampered princess.

When shots get hard

The past day and a half, shots have been hard. She has been noticing more and fighting us a bit. She tries to run away or gives us an unapproving growl of displeasure lately. We are planning, on bribing her. We are going to associate a treat with the shot. We are going to try and see which she likes better, a treat before or after the shot.

What ways do you bribe to give shots?

The Detox

This is how Kita feels right now.

We just finished going through the house and finding any hidden treats and any unconsumed ones and bagging them up to give away to family and friends. She is not pleased right now. And I must admit, I never noticed how much she had until I had to gather it all and sort through it. One day we will feel comfortable enough to start giving her treats and a little bone goodie here and there, but until her glucose levels are more stabilized, we want to keep her eating only her diabetic food. And then I will have to start researching weather it will be healthier to make our own treats or to purchase all natural whole grain treats from the store.We will probably have to do a mix for a while because she is pretty picky and not apt to new foods.

Also, we are hoping by this weekend or early next week she will be fully off of her old food and only consuming the new diabetic food. We have been mixing it for now because of the pickiness but she is scarfing it down more heartily so we will try just new food soon.