Rudy left us on Sept. 25, 2008. He lived with his diabetes and enjoyed life in spite of his daily shots. In fact, towards the end of his life, the disease had almost disappeared. Sometime in the last year he developed a disease that began wasting his muscles. Perhaps cancer. We never could find an answer. He fought hard all the way up to the end. We loved him very much and will miss him always. The comments below were written when I originally posted his photo:

"Let me know when it's safe to come out from under the bed."
2006 update: Rudy was recently diagnosed with diabetes. The only sign we noticed was suddenly one day he was having trouble walking. The weakness in his legs was the clue to the disease progression. He is now getting 2 shots of insulin a day and is responding very well. Feeding him small meals of canned food high in protein and low in carbs makes him feel better also.