Welcome!
We are glad you are here. Toddy and I have been on a journey with Brady, our sweet, apricot, miniature poodle. We inherited him from my mother when he was 2 years old. Brady moved with us to Ukraine for Julie’s international teaching job in 2016. Brady was 8 in 2019 when he had a life-threatening episode of pancreatitis. It was traumatic for all of us. After he pulled through, we promised him that we would keep him as healthy as possible so he would never have to spend another night in a hospital. We have made it our business to learn everything we can about how to manage his chronic pancreatitis and diabetes. We’ve come a long way since he first got sick. We are successfully keeping him happy and healthy 5 years on. We want to share our experience with you so you can learn from our successes…and our mistakes. We want to help you confidently give your dogs the care they need and deserve.
We didn’t know…
In the fall of 2019 Toddy and I were living in Kyiv, Ukraine where I was teaching at an international school. Toddy had just returned from a trip back to North Carolina, where he was visiting his father, when Brady started vomiting, drinking lots of water, then vomiting again. At first, we thought he’d eaten something that didn’t agree with him, but when it didn’t stop we ran him down the street to our local vet. The language barrier was significant, but she made it clear that this was an emergency and he needed an IV immediately. So began 5 days of hell. When our local vet had him stable enough, we took him to the emergency vet where they did an ultrasound. They quickly checked him into the hospital where they put him on another IV with fluids and antibiotics. That needle stayed in until we took him home 5 days later. While he was in the hospital, I went to visit after school and just sat with him in a side room; petting him and encouraging him to hang on. Each day his chances improved until they finally sent us home with a strict diet and exercise regimen. They told us he had chronic pancreatitis that would probably be with him the rest of his life, and within a couple of months, he developed diabetes as well.
Now we do!
Since that time we have spent hours reading and learning about how to care for our dog. We had to learn what signs to watch for and what they meant. I learned to give him his shot of insulin. We learned about his food and snacks and how to test his blood sugar… the list goes on. We have made mistakes that we have learned from and we’ve survived a few crises. Right now, Brady is a thriving, healthy, energetic dog who does not act or look like a 13-year-old dog…diabetes or no diabetes. And, at our last vet check-up in the USA, we were told that Brady’s chronic pancreatitis had resolved.
We want to help you confidently care for your diabetic dog.
When we first got Brady’s diagnosis, we didn’t know anything about diabetes or how to care for an animal with this disease. We spent lots of time learning and figuring out which sites we could trust. We want to simplify that process for you. We have been successful in caring for our dog and we believe we can help. It is scary to have a life so dependent on your consistent care, but it can be done and done well. Todd and I are not super organized, disciplined people…we just love our dog, so we have found ways to make it simple.
We want to show you how to make it simple
Through this website, we want to help you avoid the confusion we felt when we were first learning to care for Brady. We will share our journey and guide you to the routines, products, and services that have worked for us.
If you ever need a hand or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and we will be more than happy to help you out.
All the best,
Toddy, Julie, and Brady
e. admin@carefordiabeticdog.com