The Fainting Dog

Ever seen a dog faint?

My poor old mutt is diabetic. Don’t laugh. Just like a human, she has to have insulin injections to help metabolise her food. Human insulin – she’s resistant to dog insulin.

So that means I have to test her urine every few days to measure the right dose. Yes, that’s right, I have to collect samples of dog piss and match the colour changes on a Diastix test strip.

Last weekend she got sick and went off her food for three days. Reduced to guesswork, the insulin balance went haywire.

Heard about little old ladies who skip breakfast then pass out in the street or supermarket because their blood sugar drops too far? (C’mon, remember your First Aid?) It’s the same with dogs.

Poor old girl stood there right in front of me, wobbled, her front legs gave way and she pitched forward onto her face and rolled onto her side.

I thought she was a goner – heart attack or something.

No, she lay there breathing, and I got some honey onto my fingers and into her mouth. That got her back on her feet. Then I hand-fed her the left-over veal casserole we had had for dinner. My next day’s lunch was now inside the dog.

Next day at the vet, they found she had a chest infection and was running a temperature. That’s why she was off her food. So now she’s on antibiotics morning and night. There’s an improvement, but she’s still not a well dog.

Somewhere in there is a metaphor, but I’m not sure what it is, yet.

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