Jewel is her eyes and her ears.
In 2009, service dog Jewel's owner came to Labrador Life Line for help when Jewel needed testing she could not afford. Jewel was diagnosed with diabetes insipidus, also known as water diabetes. The condition causes the body to produce an abnormally large amount of urine.
2012: Suffering for over a month before coming to Labrador Life Line for assistance, Jewel was unable to concentrate her urine, resulting in a urinary tract infection. The vet said these were probably caused by a bad batch of desmospressin, which she takes to help control the symptoms of her diabetes. Her vet placed her on antibiotics to treat the infection and shortly thereafter, the Lab developed a severe case of diarrhea and began losing weight.
That was when her owner turned to Labrador Life Line again for help. Her owner was disabled and unable to work and lived on a very limited income.
Jewel could not wait for approval to be treated due to the severity of the diarrhea. Jewel was given more tests and kept overnight. It was determined she has clostridium (a bacteria that causes diarrhea and digestive issues in dogs). Depending on which specific type of clostridium a dog has, the illness can be mild to severe.
Jewel is family and is loved very much. Despite her limited funds, Jewel’s owner has taken on the monthly costs of treating her diabetes insipidus, rather than returning Jewel to get another service dog.
Thanks to the generous and continued support of our donors, we can help families stay together. Because of your donations, we can help fund Labs like Jewel and, in turn, this allows them to stay with the families who love them.