Gigi is up for adoption

So Gigi's blood sugar levels were stabilizing out at just over 100 last week, and then started dipping regularly below 100. She wasn't putting on any more weight, but I think it was because I wasn't paying enough attention to her. Having Charlotte in the house was a distraction.  I would love on her until she seemed to tell me that it was enough, but then I would go and pay attention to Charlotte - who Gigi did not like at all. I tried several times to introduce them to one another, and Gigi was only happy when Charlotte was locked up.

Gigi got used to the routine of testing, weighing then food..
she wanted me to feed her, not take pictures

Since Charlotte needed me more, I made the decision to send Gigi back to the shelter to go up for adoption. If Charlotte wasn't here I probably would have kept her for another week or two, but it probably would have been for selfish reasons, not because she needed me.

She was less than pleased about being boxed up again, but she didn't seem overly stressed once we got to the shelter. They have her as diet restricted and will explain to the new owners that keeping her on a low carb diet will be in her best interest.  Hopefully she will be adopted quickly.

Quick update on Gigi and Charlotte

Gigi is finally producing non diabetic numbers all on her own.  She was giving me numbers that were just above 100, but last night she gave me a 94*.  She has stalled on the weight gain, I wish she'd put a little more on, but I can't have everything.  I'll be contacting the shelter tomorrow and seeing what they want to do with her. I think she is going to be limited on the food she can eat considering, but since it is available everywhere I can't see that being a huge impediment in her adoption. I would think the fact she is 12 years old to be much more so, but the shelter is blessed but a community that sees value in 'elderly' cat and while she might not be snatched up as quick as a kitten, I doubt she will be there very long, especially considering how sweet she is and how she likes belly rubs and kisses.

Charlotte on the other hand is having a few issues. Loud noises and fast movement scare her. She doesn't mind when I hold her, and she'll cuddle with me when I have my hands on her, but she tells me in no uncertain terms that she wishes I'd stop picking her up.. great big hands coming to get her freak her out.. I'm hoping that if I keep doing it she starts associating them with the cuddling she so clearly loves.

She is also started sniffling. Her eye is watering a little too. Particularly odd since she was on an antibiotic when it started. However the antibiotic was putting her off her food and causing diarrhea. In fact the diarrhea was so bad it started creating a stool ball over her anus. I was watching her on my web cam when I saw her scooting around the cage, that tell tale bootscooten across the floor, the shelves, anything. She couldn't seem to get comfortable so I left work and ran home. It was quite gross.  I wish I could bathe her, but with those two huge incisions on her I just do not feel comfortable even trying. Even if I were to try to wrap up her body to protect it with plastic or a towel, she is just not comfortable enough with me for me to think she wouldn't try to squirm out of it and end up getting poopy water on an incision.. so I cleaned her up the best I can both that afternoon and last night.  I gave her some raw food to try to soothe her intestines, some probiotics and some silver to try to ward off any cold that might be brewing (aka the sniffling)   Hopefully things will firm back up and we can work on the cuddling part more..

*this morning Gigi gave me a number over 100.. not sure what to make of that.

So apparently I just can't help myself

So I went to the shelter on Friday.  I was torn about going as I needed very specific food for Gigi, and I knew finding it with in the donated food wasn't going to be easy. I knew I could go to wallyworld and simply buy it and send the shelter the bill, but at the very last minute I decided to go anyway.

I originally went to the back where they keep the canned foods for the cats in house. They tend to put the little 3 oz cans in the foster area for kittens and the regular cans out back for feeding the cats in house. There was nothing in the back for me, so I headed towards the foster area to see what was there.  As I was headed there I was one of the shelter staff saw me and asked me if I was there to get the food that was put aside for me. I had not heard word one of this, so I said no, but I was there for food, so she brought me to where the food was.  K had gone through the donated food and set aside all of the Fancy Feast classic foods for me for Gigi.. I can't tell you how heart warming that was to me, and there was quite a bit of it too which was nice. Thank you K.

But was I was walking around I saw this..

A very small long haired tortie kitten in a cage with the name of Charlotte. The tag said she was six months old, but she only weighs 2.5 lbs. She is incredibly petite. I have no idea if was over aged or if she is just that small (like Kit was) but considering how many teeth are in her mouth I'm going with a little of both.

What you may be able to tell from that photo that something is going on there on that side. She actually had surgery to repair a wound on her side. The staff at the shelter said that the vet said that he thinks it was because she crawled up in a car looking for warmth. They closed up the wound and they also spayed her (imagine having two very large incisions on your body).

She is a little skittish, but once you get your hands on her she will sit there. Sadly she came to me with several very large mats under her chin and behind her ear. It bothers me that while she was sedated and they had the shavers out they didn't bother to take them off *shrug* Fortunately she is willing to let me work on taking them off of her.

I put her in the same room as Gigi. Gigi is very mellow and laid back and I put Charlotte in the cage to keep her from running around while her incision heals.  The first time Charlotte saw Gigi, she hissed. The next time Gigi saw Charlotte first and Gigi hissed. I've let Charlotte run around and they seem to give each other a wide berth. Maybe in a few days when healing has gotten a good hold of that wound and and she has come to trust me a bit more I'll let them hang out together.

She is here while she goes through a course of antibiotics and her wound heals, so a couple of weeks.

I just hope she lets me sleep

Ups and downs of Gigi

So we have been on a nice downward trend with Gigi's blood sugars, and a nice upward trend with her weight.  Yesterday morning when I was feeding her I ran across some kitty vitamins and I pulled them out and offered her one with out even thinking.  I had two more in my hand and was about ready to give them to her when I realized they weren't the best choice for a possibly diabetic kitty as they were 'soft chews'.  To get them to be soft the ingredient list isn't compatible with diabetics, so sadly I put the other two away (sad because Gigi really seemed to like it) and hoped I was wrong.

Last night her blood sugar reading was 200+ and her weight was down to 9lb 5 oz again.. I made the judgement call to give her just a drop or two of insulin.

this morning we got much better numbers..

And her weight was 9lbs 8oz

So it does look like she is very sensitive to carbs right now.. is she diabetic? *shrug* no idea.. but the right diet is going to be EXTREMELY important in her future

Gigi seems to be doing better

She is slowly putting on weight.  I thought she was gaining faster than she was because the second time I weighed her she had jumped from 9lbs 5 oz to 9lbs 12, but since then she went down to 9lbs 6, and has gained about an ounce a day.

Her stools are still great, no complaints there.

Her blood sugar levels have been very steady at 170ish.  still too high for my liking.. She's gone 36 hours with out insulin as of the writing of this post. I'll test her again in a few hours and if she is still holding at 170ish I'll probably give her another drop of insulin to try to tap those numbers down a wee bit.

So if we can keep this going, it looks like she is on the road to head back to the shelter to find her forever home.. paws crossed another week, maybe two if things don't go as smoothly as I hope.

There is a cat in the kitten room

Friday I had plans to go down to the shelter and photograph some kitties (which you saw yesterday). Before I got there I got an email asking me if I might be interested in fostering a diabetic. I have done this a few times, and I am not a fan any more, because there is often no end-game in it. I foster, they don't want to take it back because they don't feel they can keep to an insulin schedule. I have found homes for some that I have fostered, a few I 'fixed' so they didn't need insulin, and Miss Benny passed away while still in the care of the shelter. Diabetic cats break my heart because finding people willing to take on their special needs is so very difficult. It frightens them. Giving insulin is frightening, monitoring blood sugar is frightening, worrying about hypos, worrying about too little insulin, worrying about the right food, their levels of stress, not to mention your own.. it is not for the casual pet owner. (btw, it is only frightening until you do it, then it is really easy and not a big deal and you wonder why you were EVER scared of it. Trust me. People do not believe the learning curve while steep is very short, and every time they are pleasantly surprised at how quickly they adapt)

But if I don't do it..

My record of getting cats off insulin is pretty high, so I'm wondering with a diet change and some TLC we might just get this cat "OTJ" (off the juice) and give her a good chance for a home.

I get there on Friday and meet her. Information is very limited. Her name is "Little Cat" she is 12 years old, she has had issues with vomiting and 'gelatinous stools'. Her sugars were high then low then high, so vet recommended diet change then insulin. I check her teeth. Infection is one reason for a cat's blood sugar levels to be high. Her teeth are beautiful. I put my hands on her. She is thin. She has that 'old cat' feel, but she is purring and bright eyed.. (and she let me look at her teeth) so I packed her up and brought her home.

She spent quite a bit of time wandering around the room the first day. Getting pictures was not easy (see above) because all she wanted to do was look around. I got some low carb low plant based foods for her and she ate them like a champ and asked for more. I did not get her BG level that day, nor did I weigh her. I did offer her some raw food, which she also ate. I think 'oh this is going to be easy'

*****
I want to stop now and thank all of you for your kind words on my "Some days you feel like a phony" post. I was down on myself for not 'knowing it all' / 'catching it all' / 'having cats that don't get along' and I do really appreciate your comments. Some of them really hit home and made me feel better about things. But my true reason for posting that was to remind people, and myself, that some days it really feels like it all hits the fan, and that is OK. Like Jennifer Lawrence and her tripping on the stairs, it is fully possible to pick yourself up and continue on and continue to be awesome. You are not alone out there when you feel like.. well less than stellar.
*****

Yeah, about that "easy"...

So after I get her home and situated, I get a phone call from the shelter.. Oh, btw, she is on prenisone, so you will need to come back and pick that up for her.. I try to find out why she is on pred, and I do not get a clear answer. I ask why she went to the vet in the first place, I get the vomiting / diarrhea issue in reply. She got a dental, got antibiotics, and things just went down hill from there. She's been at the shelter a month and a half (owner surrender - couldn't afford) and in the past few weeks things started cropping up.

• so.. do I think she is diabetic.. no. Could I be wrong, yes.
• So.. how are her stools? First day awesome, then they got soft, then they firmed back up..
• is she vomiting? not really. I got one small vomit that was mostly hair.. which is understandable as she is matting up and shedding quite a bit due to the lack of proper nutrition and weight loss.

But her blood sugars are consistently in the 300s so back to the shelter for insulin (why they wouldn't give it to me the first day I have no idea, don't get me started). I didn't want to start her on insulin and then go to bed and risk there being an issue, so I started her Monday morning. I gave one last ditch effort to lower her sugars with diet alone and fed her a nice heaping meal of raw food - which she promptly decided she didn't want to eat.. so her blood sugar level was in the 400s (not an unheard of reaction) so I gave her "Little Cat approved" low carb canned food, a low dose of insulin and went off to work.

Little Cat slept all darn day. Watching a sleeping cat is about as exciting as watching paint dry..

This was the exciting part, she moved her foot

I ran home about 6 hours after her insulin shot to test her, and she was at 300 again. Not nearly low enough for my liking ('normal' is 50-100 so we generally target for 100, much lower than that artificially and we start worrying about going too low which is dangerous) and when I tested her before her dinner 12 hours after her insulin shot when her numbers should be returning back to what they were before giving insulin (as it has a 12 hour 'curve' with the lowest reading being six hours after the shot) she was 107. Two hours later she was 110 (with the variance it is basically the same reading). I've also got a feeling that something is 'off' There is no reason for it, no symptoms, it's just a feeling.

so much for easy..

No idea what is going on with her. She weighed 9lbs 5 oz when I weighed her on Saturday.. she weighed 9lbs 12 oz on Sunday, a gain is a very very good thing. She has the build of a cat who should be 11-12 lbs. She lost a little when she refused to eat the raw, but hopefully we can put that back on her.

So we'll just take this one day at a time and see what happens. I am hoping there is some sort of lingering infection from what ever was going on that caused them to do a dental on her and in a few more days of probiotics, digestive enzymes, vitamin C and a few other things will get her system settled down so her liver stops flooding her system with glucose and her pancreas has a chance to catch up.

Little Cat with the soulful eyes..

I'm thinking I'm going to change her name to Gigi.. (but we'll see if she likes that first)