Diagnosis:  Diabetes, blind, hypothyroid
Total amount needed per month to sponsor: $85
Currently sponsored for: $85          
Amount still needed:   Sponsored in full      
Spayed or neutered: Yes
Case worker:  

Date posted: September 4, 2002

CoCo was diagnosed with severe diabetes and was in crisis two days after I adopted her. She was also diagnosed as blind and hypothyroid. I went to see CoCo at PetsMart in Saginaw, MI after reading about her sad story online.

I like big dogs and it was on a Great Dane list that I first read about her and a Great Dane named Dixie. These were two dogs that were inside dogs until the couple adopted a baby. They put CoCo and Dixie outside for 2 years with only a piece of plywood for shelter. In March of 2002, the couple decided to adopt another baby so the husband was going to release the dogs into a wooded area to fend for themselves or else shoot them both. A neighbor stepped in and a rescue group took the dogs. Dixie was adopted right away but CoCo was a mix of Newfoundland and Lab, possibly, and had obvious problems, of which no one seemed to know what was wrong exactly, only that she ran into things and was exhausted all the time and very depressed.

She was so sweet, though. I got an appointment for her right away and the vet said she was in crisis and blind and if it were him, he would put her down. I started to cry and told him she never really had a chance and could he try to help her. He told me it was against his better judgement and it would cost me a fortune but he would try. He called the next day to tell me that she was responding very well to the insulin. He kept her all weekend. I had a glucose curve done two weeks later. I had spent all of my savings on stabilizing her. The final bill was over $800 for the hospitalization and the test.

When I got CoCo home, it was obvious right away that she had serious fear issues. She had fear aggression to my other dogs and storms made her a crazy dog. She ran into walls full force and knocked my computer down twice and scarred up her face once forcing her way out of a penned area. She is also terrified of my gentle son and of any loud noises or raised hands. I am certain she was abused. The problem lately, and why I am asking for help, is that she has become terrified of her insulin injections. She weighs 100 pounds and is tremendously strong when scared and I have wondered if I can continue to give the insulin to her as it is an increasing struggle.

I asked the vet and he told me that if I couldn't inject her, then I should euthanize her, as she would die an awful death without her insulin. He said because of her multiple fears but primarily because she HAS to have the injections, that he would recommend putting her on Prozac for a while until she learns that she has nothing to fear now. He gave me a prescription for the Prozac and called around for me and the cheapest estimate he could find for the prescription would cost me $65 a month. I already spend $56 a month for the insulin, $12 a month for her thyroid meds plus the cost of the syringes and the special diet she needs (Hill's W/D) puts her expenses so high that the prescription is unobtainable right now for me, especially as I have expensive drugs to buy for my epileptic dog and my feline leukemia positive cats need monthly cortisone shots and antibiotics.

Thank you.

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