A furry D-companion

Petey, the T1D three-legged Terrier mix. Image from kold.com

When I was eight years old, I had lived with Type 1 diabetes for a year – but didn’t know of anyone else living with the disease. I also wanted a dog, because, well, I was eight, and dogs are fun.

Madalaine Hembraugh, an eight-year old living in Arizona, had also had been living with T1 – in her case for four years – without knowing anyone else with D. So I can only imagine her reaction and her surprise when her mother brought introduced Petey to the family home. Petey is a Terrier mix who had been neglected and abandoned. He also has Type 1 diabetes.

According to a TV-news and print story by Tucson News Now, Petey was found abandoned in front of the local Humane Society when Madalaine’s mother, a veterinarian, took her in. In the “feel-good” TV news story, the girl and her dog have become best buddies.  The two support each other, and Madalaine even “teaches” Petey how to live with diabetes. They test their blood sugar together. They share insulin (I wonder how insurance companies view that practice).