Churchill and Polly

Jesse at the U of M Vets

Our beatiful Border Collie-Black Lab mix, Jesse, was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago. Maintaining his health and energy is a constant challenge. Fortunately, he loves to be outside, and he loves the cold. However, summer and heat present challenges.

This spring he developed something of an appetite. His fructosamine checks showed him to be just out of the 'good' range for his diabetes maintenance. So it seemed a good time to follow up on a suggestion made by his holistic vet, Dr. Heather Evans, which was to check in with a nutritionist at the U of M Hospitals, named, ironically, Dr. Julie Churchill.l

So last week Jesse and Polly spent an afternoon at their beautiful campus, adjascent to the State Fairgrounds. A team of student vets, plus Dr. C and a tech, took down detailed information on Jesse and his eating habits, while Jesse cowered in a corner, overwhelmed, it would seem, by the number of coats in the room.

Nonetheless, he accorded himself very well when asked to do a blood test -- even though he was exhausted from the exam and long discussion process, he hopped up and jogged out of the room. He seemed to realize that all this was being done for his benefit.

Now there are more questions to be answered, and a day-long glucose curve test to be given by his regular vet, Dr. Bruehl, at North St. Paul Animal Hospital. Subsequent to that, Dr. Churchill and her team will give an analysis of what they believe the best diet would be for Jesse and how to best administer it.

For Dear Murphy

My sister's dog, Murphy, who was an amazing Golden Retriever with a great sense of humour, was diagnosed with cancer last month and had to be put down. It was a terrible shock to her and to all of us, as he seemed to be full of life and have many healthy years ahead of him.

We must cherish our companion pets each day, as we have no knowledge of how much time we have left with them.