Arya lived for many years with a loving family, but she had some hiccups in her own health that made things difficult for the family to manage. She’s a pure-bred pug who has diagnosed with diabetes which means she needed insulin injections every 12 hours. At first the family was able to manage the injections early on, but soon after her diagnoses a family member also fell ill and needed care that would make it difficult to ensure Arya received her injections each 12 hours of the day. It became clear, managing a new diabetes diagnosis while figuring out Arya’s levels would be too challenging for the family and for Arya’s health. They reached out to Our Companions and we were able to bring her into the fold of our Sanctuary Canine family.
We were lucky to have an open room in one of our Canine Cottages and welcomed Arya in July of 2022. She was quite sick due to her unregulated diabetes and we knew she also had some ongoing allergy issues as well. Once Arya arrived at our Sanctuary in Ashford, we noticed there were issues with her eyes and her weight was quite low – even for a little pug! Arya was in the right place to get her medical issues under control!
Arya’s left eye was bulging out and most likely very painful. At her first vet exam, it was noted her eye pressure was getting high, most likely due to glaucoma from her diabetes. Arya would need her left eye removed, but at the time her blood glucose was too low to safely do any surgical procedure. When Arya did get her eye removed, also called an enucleation, she needed to stay at a 24hr emergency vet so there were staff available around the clock to monitor her blood glucose levels and keep her safe and healthy as they could. She recovered from her eye surgery beautifully and we continued our management care for her diabetes. She also was on a regime of eye ointments for her right eye in the hopes we could save her vision. Arya’s right eye had a “black film” over it called Pigmentary Keratitis which limits her vision. We observed she saw things in front of her pretty well but of course her left side was blind.
Arya’s diabetes was top of the list now! Along with some of her allergy issues and ear infections. Due to the nature of living at the Sanctuary, we opted to monitor Arya’s diabetes with a Libre 2 sensor which is put on her back by a vet and she was able to wear the sensor for a few weeks at a time. Staff could monitor her glucose levels right from our phones! We administered insulin twice a day, of course, but it was still not quite at a managed level.
As Arya’s eye healed and her diabetes became more regulated, she started to gain more weight and a new amazing personality sprung from the little pug! Our Canine Wellness Specialist noted, “overtime… her true fun-loving and spunky personality has emerged. When she started to feel better we noticed that she lets out this ‘scream’ when she sees a person she likes.” At first staff would second guess themselves, Did I step on her paw or something?! Soon we understood, “it was her way of showing excitement – then it was a scream that you looked forward to hearing!”
If you couldn’t tell already… Arya was quite the medical case! We did a lot of Compassionate Care training so that she could learn to opt-in to her eye ointments and the occasional ear drops for any ear infections. Arya was a total champ with her insulin injections and took them without a flinch! We would give her a silicone food mat, often called a “licky mat”, while we administered her insulin. It was important we also had her on a strict diabetes friendly diet and that she ate enough for her injections.
By the start of 2023, Arya’s diabetes was not perfect but regulated enough that we were confident she was ready to be promoted for adoption! We knew it would take quite the special person to take on her strict scheduled and additional medical needs. As we gathered recent pictures for her Adoption Page, we realized Arya really had an amazing transformation from a sick, skinny dog to a perfect looking pug!
With that cute pug face and absolutely darling personality, Arya received a lot of interest but she was a bit of a tough case. Some people with the diabetic dog experience and/or enucleation experience were interested from the start, but would opt out of a meeting as the amount of care she needed settled in their brains. It’s more than understandable that after experiencing a lot of special needs, it was hard for interested adopter to adopt another special needs animal. Other people interested were unable to commit to the care and schedule, but everyone who was interested in her sent lots of love her way even if they could not take her home. And of course, Arya had tons of love and friends at the Sanctuary as we continued our search for her forever home!
We loved caring for Arya and seeing her transform in to the fabulous, jumpy, vocal, and oh-so social girl! Arya even made friends with another Sanctuary guest named Milo! We knew she was dog social in some capacity as she used to frequent daycare often in her previous home, but many of our dogs were not very dog social and her size was quite small! It was a thrill to introduce her to Milo, another dog social pup. He’s an Olde English Bulldogge so the squishy faces and size difference together would almost make your heart explode. They would zoomie around together; and Arya enjoyed going on walks and fieldtrips with her human friends. She loved her stuffies and snuggles on the couch too!
In August of 2023, we received an application from a pug-loving person who seemed to really fit as a match for Arya! She had volunteered and fostered pugs with another organization in the past, worked from home, had family support for backup, and owned an adorable senior pug herself! We had long conversations about her medical care and the applicant was very thorough in her diabetes discussions as she had never owned a dog with diabetes nor had she ever had to give injections to her previous pugs. The applicant reached out to her vet first about the diabetes, and it turned out her vet had a dedicated diabetes specialist for dogs! It was kismet but her care was still a lot to take on so we took things slow.
We set up a “Meet and Greet” at our Sanctuary for the applicant to meet Arya, and for the two pugs to meet. It was crucial that the dogs also got along. We met at Laura’s Place, a house on the Sanctuary property. The applicant came to the door with the cutest little pug who made Arya look big! The two girls seemed to form an instant little friendship and we continued the meeting with playtimes and hanging out inside. The other pug had some mobility issues so we opted for some playtime in the grass versus going on a walk. The applicant would often walk the older pug along with a dog stroller for when she got too tired.
The squishy faces and puggie noises from the two girls would once again make your heart explode! We then did a home visit with Arya to ensure the girls still felt like buddies in the home, and to allow Arya to see her new potential digs. There were also some bunnies who lived in large habitats in the home, and Arya was totally fine giving them a sniff and walking away! No worries with the home visit, but we needed to make sure the applicant felt as comfortable as possible with Arya’s medical needs.
We then scheduled a visit in the evening so the applicant could see staff administer her injections. She was nervous, and watched lots of videos on injecting insulin, would ask us lots of questions, and even joined a few online groups to learn more about diabetes in dogs. The applicant even came to give her an injection herself! She was quite nervous to do so, but once she felt how easy it was to administer, her face lit up with pure joy! It was obvious this was Arya’s person!
The applicant was so thorough in preparing everything for Arya, from her medicines to her special food and even getting a custom Christmas stocking to match her new pug sister’s! Now everyone was confident in the perfect match for Arya, and she seemed to be the perfect match for the new family!
Arya was adopted early in November of 2023 and the two pug girls started to bond right away. The applicant was very communicative with Arya’s Adoption Caseworker and the Canine Wellness Specialist. They all texted often and were available for any questions or concerns as Arya settled in to her new home life, and her guardian became familiar with her medical needs. Staff was able to walk her through any bump in the road, like providing advice on freezing her licky mat so she didn’t scarf it down too quick! We were also anxious to find out more about Arya in home life, like if she liked to cuddle!
Her new guardian had experience with the 3-3-3 rule due to her foster experience, and was pleasantly surprised by how quickly Arya seemed to settle in! 4 days after adoption, Arya brought her favorite Lamb Chop stuffie out to play with her guardian! She was super playful from then on, loving all her stuffies, especially those Lamb Chops! After Arya’s first week, her guardian let us know, “She is a cuddler!” and liked to snuggle with her at night. Arya would have some moments of not eating all of her food, and food intake is especially important for her diabetes, but we were able to provide suggestions for her food and her guardian was very prompt with asking her vet for advice. Her new home was amazing and the diabetic specialist was really fantastic about Arya’s care.
Arya met with the diabetes specialist at the end of November. “The Veterinarian is so knowledgeable! Not only has she worked with many dogs and cats with diabetes, she also has diabetes herself! She gave so many helpful tips on using the app with the Libre. She said that Arya was doing pretty good based on the Libre charts from the Sanctuary. It’s been so cool being able to scan her whenever I want with the app! So interesting seeing her go up after a meal, etc.” The app would also alert her guardian if she is dipping too low or too high.
We learned Arya has a regular curve, which is good, but her morning curves are very steep. Arya’s curves weren’t too bad but they want to make them better! Her medical needs and vet visits were just a blip in her story, as she was totally spoiled at home and with her pug sister! In February, Arya saw an ophthalmologist for her eye, and all was good! Her guardian also continued some dog training with Arya, like teaching her how to spin! The pug girls would play, run around the yard together, and go on lots of walks – often with her sister in a doggy stroller. After only a few months she said, “It’s like we’ve been together forever!” and just could not say enough about how much she (and sister pug) loves her. The feelings were clearly mutual!
Over the summer, Arya’s sister pug sadly passed away. It was very difficult on the whole family, but heartwarming that the girls got to bond together, that her sister pug was never alone, and they showed they really loved on another. As time went on, Arya seemed to bond even more with her guardian and was a tiny pug shoulder to cry on in moments of grief along with being a spunky and happy buddy to experience moments of joy together.
Arya’s life continues to thrive. She loves her extended family, she gets so excited whenever the human daughter visits, she goes to family dinners, birthdays, and even went on a camping trip! As for her diabetes, her diabetes specialist said, “Arya’s numbers could be used as an example for what she wants all her diabetic dogs to be at!” She also had her 6 month follow up with her eye doctor who said her eye looks so great, there was no current reason to come in every 6 months! So, unless her guardian notices something concerning or different, she can now see the ophthalmologist annually instead! Her guardian even started Compassionate Care training to brush Arya’s teeth. “I have always had a hard time with [teeth brushing] in the past with my pugs. I did it very slowly and with a lot of treats and now I am able to brush her teeth! I’m also cleaning her ears with a technique the vet told me about. Let me tell you – she is such a GOOD girl!”
We knew she would be treated like a princess and spoiled with love and stuffies, but the care she is receiving for her health is truly above and beyond!
“I love her adorable personality – she gets so excited for her meals that she starts spinning super fast and then looks up at me with the goofiest grin. She makes me so happy! She really is a special girl and I can’t imagine my life without her. I could go on and on about Arya!”
Arya’s mom thanks Our Companions so much for bringing her in to her life, but we are really the grateful ones that Arya found such a special home and forever person. We are so thankful to have cared for Arya, to have been able to get her health concerns on track, and to have such confidence in the care and love she will receive now for the rest of her adorable life!
