Lucky
Success Stories
Lucky
MI - 2016
Lucky’s story with us began in March of 2010. My family and I decided that we would like to get another dog to be a companion to our then 12 year old Beagle named Spanky. We weren’t initially sure what kind of dog to get or even if our Spanky would like to have another dog around, especially since he had always been the only dog in our home.
We ultimately decided that we were going to start looking for another dog, and we began looking on humane society websites, local shelters, and even Craigslist. We didn’t have to look very long before we found Lucky and fell in love with him. You might not believe it, but we ended up getting him from some pretty nice folks off Craigslist. They were both going back to work full time and also had three young children, so they were afraid that they wouldn’t have enough time and attention to give to him and his brother. They were adopting both of them out to good homes, so I knew right then and there that Lucky would be great with another dog in the home.
I got in touch with his then owners and set up a time to meet him, which was just a few days later. When we got there I knew immediately that he was perfect, and had to have him. So after talking with these nice folks and finding about Lucky’s history, we decided to take him home to be ours.
We got home, and to our surprise Lucky and Spanky hit it off wonderfully. When we initially brought him home he was crated (previous owners had him crated as well), but after about a week of that we ditched it. Other than the chewed shoes or tipped over garbage cans, he did great!
Fast forward to a few years later and we then took in my mother in laws dog, Bailey. So now we had three dogs under one small roof, but they were good with each other. Another few years go by and Spanky was getting pretty old and we eventually had to let him go on July 9th, 2015. I was so worried that Lucky and Bailey would be lost without him, but after a few weeks they were ok.
Just a couple of weeks after Spanky left us, one of the other dogs started peeing in the house. It took us about a week after that to discover that it was Lucky, because my daughter caught him doing it. I initially thought that he may have a bladder infection or he was acting out because of Spanky being gone. I made him an appointment with his vet the following Monday and that is when we discovered he was severely diabetic. At that first appointment his sugar was in the high 500’s , and they should be much like ours, in the low 100’s or even a little lower. He was immediately started on Vetsulin twice a day. Over the course of a few months he went from 15ml to 40 ml twice a day, so that meant that one bottle of Vetsulin was only lasting roughly five days.
At that same time we were going through a rough patch with money and everything, and I was worried about being able to get his medication that he needed. That is when I discovered Brown Dog Foundation through a link on our Humane Society website. With their help and Lucky’s vets help, we were able to find a much cheaper insulin (Novolin N), that is so far working just as good if not better for him.
Lucky is going to be 8 years old on June 1st and with everyone’s help; he is going to live a long and full life!!! Thanks everyone for your help and generosity!!!
For more information about Diabetes in dogs, visit PetMD.com.