Posted on 03/12/2010 10:57:53 AM PST by solosmoke
Bill Setzer lay in his bed, sweaty and disoriented.
He'd been napping. But now, his two pit bulls, Mara and Moby, wouldn't let him be.
Mara was furiously licking Setzer's face. And Moby was repeatedly crashing his 70-pound frame into the man, in a frantic attempt to wake him.
Setzer blinked. His vision was blurry. He felt lousy.
The 63-year-old Stafford man, who has Type 2 diabetes, reached for the blood sugar meter on his bedside table, pricked his finger and read the numbers on the screen: 29. A normal blood sugar level ranges between 70 and 140. Setzer took a glucose pill, which eventually raised his blood sugar level. But if the dogs hadn't woken him that December afternoon, Setzer believes he might not have woken up at all.
"I would've probably slipped right into a coma," he said. "These two guys saved my life."
Perhaps they were just returning the favor.
............ There's no indication that Moby or Mara was ever trained to sniff out low blood sugar. They were still very young when the Setzers adopted them.But their natural scent capabilities may have contributed to their efforts to wake Setzer that December day. Megan Hellmer, vice president of Bully Paws, said the public hears a lot of negative news about pit bulls. But the dogs, when raised by responsible owners, are affectionate and bright. Several of the organization's adoptees have gone on to graduate from the Canine Good Citizen program and become therapy dogs, she said.
"These dogs are so intelligent, it's ridiculous," said Hellmer, who admits she was skeptical before owning her first pit bull four years ago. "They're very smart, very, very loyal."
This, the Setzers already know.
(Excerpt) Read more at fredericksburg.com ...
Aww, poor baby. Glad she benefitted from her ordeal. Insect stings like that cause a histamine reaction. Arthritis is an inflammatory condition that can respond to antihistamine. I have no idea how that might have worked, but the answer is in there somewhere.
BTTT
thanks all for the good info you share on pups.. I am still learning with my two pups (rescues & about 4.5 years old)
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