This story, unlike most here has a happy ending. It is about my cat, Sharkey. He is one of 3 cats, the other two are close to my wife. Sharkey is the only one that is at all close to me. Some months back my wife, Candy noticed that he was drinking a lot of water, which of course meant a lot of extra urine in the litterbox. I took him to the vet and found out that he was diabetic. We started him on insulin, giving him a shot with 3 units each morning and evening. He seemed to be doing well, then in January I injured my leg and was out of action for a month or so. One Saturday morning he vomited before his breakfast. I thought that was odd, how could he have food in his stomach after 12 hours? I gave him his shot and fed him, but for the first time in his life he wasn’t hungry. I finally coaxed him into eating a little. All weekend he wouldn’t eat, so I didn’t give him any insulin, fearing that he might go into a diabetic coma.
Monday morning I took him to the vet and he had bad news for me. Sharkey’s sugar was VERY high, he was dehydrated and worst of all, he had a lot of ketones in his blood. This was very dangerous. Without critical care around the clock care he probably wouldn’t survive. The place that does that charges about $200 per day and it would take 2 or 3 days to restore his blood sugar, ketones and electrolytes to normal.It was a very difficult process, using a short acting insulin and several blood tests per day to monitor his progress.

Having been without a paycheck, there was no way that I could afford that. The vet said I should consult with my family about putting him down.
The vet suggested giving him fluids under his skin and trying to see how he did at home, but didn’t give much hope that it would work.
I took him home and started giving him 4.5 units of insulin. His appetite returned as soon as we got home. The next day I took him back in and while his blood sugar was still very high, the ketones were down significantly. He gave Sharkey more fluids and we adjusted his insulin up a little more.
Well, he is doing much better now,the ketones are gone and his sugar is returning to normal. I’m SO happy that I didn’t give up on him and that Sharkey didn’t give up on life.
The photo is Sharkey cleaning Haley’s ear.

Darwin from IN

Dear Mark,
We had to put our wonderful dog,Mocha, to sleep last night. She was such a friend to us. We had her for 16 great years.
We read your book two months ago, and were so touched. Our hearts are breaking right now, but I hope with time the deep aching will go away. Mocha will always be in our hearts. My girls are devasted, they grew up with her.
Thank you for your inspiring story about Sprite.

Sue from MI

Thank you for introducing us to Pepsi and Sprite. I’ve been owned by many dogs and cats. I know you pain because i’ve had to put mine down. Wondering if I done the right thing. Thank you for letting me love your pooches and grieve with you over Sprite. I believe we will all meet again in a better place and with each thought and memory Sprite will live on for years. Thank you again for your book and letting us share your “all” of your family.

Autumn from NJ

I saw her on the Internet. A special needs dog named Makayla. Her home was a kennel at a shelter in Tamarac, Florida. I ended up driving an hour and a half to see Makayla. At the time I couldn’t understand why I was so compelled to travel this distance for a dog.

Makayla’s special needs title was factored on her having only three legs. The only background information they had on her was that Miami Animal Control had found her and her dead puppies, the victim, they assumed, of an alligator attack or a more heinous crime left untold.

A few months later I would discover why she came into my life. I found out I had stage 3 breast cancer, a shock to say the least. I was up against a year of treatments, losing my hair, fertility and the life I knew. I now realize Makayla was there to show me that she had a resilience to bounce back from her past. She proved to me that you can go through any hardship and come out happy, and you have to find the strength to face any obstacle that comes your way.

Makayla has been with us for two years now. The joy that she brings to our lives reminds us that shelter dogs need to be saved, and in return they just migh save us!

T from FL

I wrote yesterday about the dogs I have had and lost growing up. I now feel compelled to write about the dog I almost had.
I am a teacher at a school that is set off by itself. In fact it and another school are the only buildings on the road. One day I looked out the window and saw an adorable dog wandering around our parking lot. I watched this dog for a while as students were being dropped off for breakfast. The dog would try to follow the students and would then follow the parents. When no one was in the parking lot she wandered around siffing at the garbage cans. I couldn’t figure out how the dog got there. (more…)

My dog’s name is Spankey he is a working dog for the deaf. I got him from international dogs for the deaf in Henderson co. Three months after Spankey came to live with us, I was taking a nap in my room my husband Todd had been working a lot of hours and had fallen a sleep on the couch I woke up to spankey doing his job he was worning me that the smoke alarm was going off. My husband was so tired he did not hear it and I am unable to here it. He got me up and my husband and we got out of our apt in time Spankey saved our lives that day.

Wanda from NV