Jesse,
She started Levemir on September 28, 2012 and I have no idea how long she went before she was diagnoised I do know that she went nearly a year (10+ months) after she was dxed with no treatment whatsoever. But judging by the condition she was in when I got her on 4/28/2012 no one was paying much attention to her in her previous home. She was afterall a farm cat back then.
She came with no vet records from her former life other than what DCIN did to get her travel papers. Her teeth were bad, she had at some point been shot in the face and right shoulder/chest with scatter shot. She was so matted that I had to clip them off her scruff to even get to her skin to get a needle in her to give her first dose of insulin. And when I did start to shave her out I found whole dead june bugs, whole kernels of seed corn and burrs in the mats plus some of those mats had been there so long they had worn holes in her skin like deep bed sores. Plus DCIN was told she was only 5 years old, she is more likely closer to 15 than she is 5. In short she was a mess, and the way her skin was in the beginning I was seriously wondering if she wasn't a Cushing cat, but it is more likely that she was just so dehydrated that her skin was like onion paper. I thought Maxwell was a walking skeleton when I adopted him at 10.5lbs, Autumn made him look like he was in robust health in comparison.
Autumn literally had lost 2/3 of her body weight...she didn't even tip the scales at 6lbs on a frame that was clearly meant to carry much more. Her vet would still like to see her gain a couple more pounds even though she now weighs 14.5, ideally he would like to see her closer to 16lbs. But she just doesn't want to eat more and she looks great I think at her current weight so not pushing her to eat more than what she wants now.
But the biggest difference in her is her personality....there were many many times when we first adopted her that I was in tears because I was in love with her before I every laid eyes on her in person but she was so out of control aggressive that I was seriously afraid that it wasn't going to work out with her and the rest of the Fur Gang, she was terrorizing everyone. She would charge them from across the room, she would attack them if they jump up on the couch next to one of us if we were holding her etc. But after talking to Dawn Allen, she explained that Autumn was just scared that her new found good life was going to get yanked away from her, while she was allowed in the house before she was also not allowed to stay in, and she really didn't want to be an outside kitty, she wanted to sleep on the furniture, and not have to hunt for her dinner etc. She was like an abused child that had been starved and suddenly found herself at a table where there was plenty of food, and even though she had eaten all she wanted she would still stuff her pockets just encase the next meal didn't show up again. Now she is one of the most laid back kitties here, she runs to greet us in the mornings and will not allow herself to be tested until she had given both Jon and I kisses and head butts. She really is a very sweet little girl and quite a character now that her true personality is shining through.
Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
And I think you're right - she's almost there....
