Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
Last Wednesday, I had a "meet and greet" for a cat named Garfield. His shelter info said he's about 10, diabetic, possible asthma and possible pemphigus foliaceous (an auto-immune disease that can cause painful and itchy blisters and sores on the skin, most often on the face, scalp and trunk) for which he was put on steroids.
He was in a foster home (who also happened to be a vet) so I drove up there to meet him in the surroundings he was used to so I'd get the best idea of how he was. He was VERY friendly from the moment we walked into his room and he walked right up to me for pets. She had told me over the phone that he was on 2U of Vetsulin BID and was well regulated, but she did NOT home test. She had occasionally run a curve but had done blood draws, not poking ears or paws, but told me if I wanted to home test him, I could (well thank you for your permission!). He was eating DM canned and kibble (mostly kibble), had all his teeth pulled (no more dentals!) and she had weaned him off the steroids and hadn't seen any signs of pemphigus or asthma since she'd had him and thinks he was probably mis-diagnosed. He was surrendered to the shelter by an older lady soon after the diabetes diagnosis.
Before I knew she was a vet, I did say I would be taking him off the kibble but then found out she was a vet so had to bite my tongue a lot to make sure I didn't cause her to refuse to let me adopt him because I wasn't going to treat him "her way".
Anyway, after meeting him and being accepted so readily, I chose to go ahead with the adoption. She had told me he weighed about 12 pounds, so I took the carrier I'd used with Cheaser but at the last minute, threw a bigger carrier in the car just in case. Good thing I did too! I haven't weighed him yet (planning on today) but he ain't no 12lbs!!
Since it had been a long day Wednesday (I had to have a mammogram and brain MRI at a hospital about 2/3rds the way to the foster mom's house) and it was a mix of rain, snow and sleet all the way home, so I decided to give him the night off from any more new things....let him settle in a little first. After circling the house several times, meowing the entire time, he ate a tiny bit of his DM canned but mostly wanted the DM kibble, so I did give him a teaspoon or 2. He ate a little and then came in the living room, jumped up on the couch and curled up next to my feet and purred himself to sleep.
He has been a very easy to get along with kitty. He's not thrilled with ear pokes, but other than being a little wiggly, he doesn't fight it either and as of Thursday, he got no more kibble. Since he didn't seem to really like the canned DM (which they sent with him...2 cases), I gave him some Friskies pates which he scarfed down.
I tested him Thursday night before giving him his 2u of Vetsulin (waiting for Lantus to get here) and his BG was 92, so no shot for him! Friday morning, BG was 104, PMBG was 96 and this morning, he was 97. It's becoming quite clear that this "diabetic" cat may no longer be diabetic! I am betting that if she was giving 2u of Vetsulin blindly, the only thing that kept him from crashing was the kibble he was eating.
So, I guess we're officially doing an OTJ trial without ever having me give any insulin! I do plan on calling the foster mom/vet and tell her how he's doing and hoping she may ask me some questions so I can start on her "re-education".
OK, you've waited long enough! Meet Garfield!
Garfield's spreadsheet
ETA: Found a couple more pictures of him. It looks like at some point in his life, he may have been in a colony since he's been ear-tipped. Hard to believe he was ever feral considering how sweet he is so not sure about why he's ear-tipped (have heard that some vets ear-tip any cat they neuter but I've never heard of it) He also has a dark nose. I keep thinking he stuck his nose into his food and let it dry there but he's just got a dark nose!
He was in a foster home (who also happened to be a vet) so I drove up there to meet him in the surroundings he was used to so I'd get the best idea of how he was. He was VERY friendly from the moment we walked into his room and he walked right up to me for pets. She had told me over the phone that he was on 2U of Vetsulin BID and was well regulated, but she did NOT home test. She had occasionally run a curve but had done blood draws, not poking ears or paws, but told me if I wanted to home test him, I could (well thank you for your permission!). He was eating DM canned and kibble (mostly kibble), had all his teeth pulled (no more dentals!) and she had weaned him off the steroids and hadn't seen any signs of pemphigus or asthma since she'd had him and thinks he was probably mis-diagnosed. He was surrendered to the shelter by an older lady soon after the diabetes diagnosis.
Before I knew she was a vet, I did say I would be taking him off the kibble but then found out she was a vet so had to bite my tongue a lot to make sure I didn't cause her to refuse to let me adopt him because I wasn't going to treat him "her way".
Anyway, after meeting him and being accepted so readily, I chose to go ahead with the adoption. She had told me he weighed about 12 pounds, so I took the carrier I'd used with Cheaser but at the last minute, threw a bigger carrier in the car just in case. Good thing I did too! I haven't weighed him yet (planning on today) but he ain't no 12lbs!!
Since it had been a long day Wednesday (I had to have a mammogram and brain MRI at a hospital about 2/3rds the way to the foster mom's house) and it was a mix of rain, snow and sleet all the way home, so I decided to give him the night off from any more new things....let him settle in a little first. After circling the house several times, meowing the entire time, he ate a tiny bit of his DM canned but mostly wanted the DM kibble, so I did give him a teaspoon or 2. He ate a little and then came in the living room, jumped up on the couch and curled up next to my feet and purred himself to sleep.
He has been a very easy to get along with kitty. He's not thrilled with ear pokes, but other than being a little wiggly, he doesn't fight it either and as of Thursday, he got no more kibble. Since he didn't seem to really like the canned DM (which they sent with him...2 cases), I gave him some Friskies pates which he scarfed down.
I tested him Thursday night before giving him his 2u of Vetsulin (waiting for Lantus to get here) and his BG was 92, so no shot for him! Friday morning, BG was 104, PMBG was 96 and this morning, he was 97. It's becoming quite clear that this "diabetic" cat may no longer be diabetic! I am betting that if she was giving 2u of Vetsulin blindly, the only thing that kept him from crashing was the kibble he was eating.
So, I guess we're officially doing an OTJ trial without ever having me give any insulin! I do plan on calling the foster mom/vet and tell her how he's doing and hoping she may ask me some questions so I can start on her "re-education".
OK, you've waited long enough! Meet Garfield!
Garfield's spreadsheet
ETA: Found a couple more pictures of him. It looks like at some point in his life, he may have been in a colony since he's been ear-tipped. Hard to believe he was ever feral considering how sweet he is so not sure about why he's ear-tipped (have heard that some vets ear-tip any cat they neuter but I've never heard of it) He also has a dark nose. I keep thinking he stuck his nose into his food and let it dry there but he's just got a dark nose!
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. Maybe Garfield needs a buddy?!
