Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
I'm not even sure how to start this, but I'm going to do my best to stumble through it. (it ended up taking me 4 days)
China came to me as a tiny kitten back in 2001. My oldest son and I went to the shelter to check out the kitties and of course we both fell in love with different ones!! China stole my heart when I picked her up and she gently swiped at my nose. The 2 cats I'd adopted before her had both done the same thing when I went looking for another family member, so of course she was telling me she was mine!! My son's heart was stolen by a little gray manx fluffball that we later learned had quite a bit of British Shorthair lineage. While my son and I argued over which kitty was coming home with us, I motioned to the shelter workers through the glass "2 for 1"??? They laughed and nodded their heads, so a team was born!
On the way home, we discussed names.....I had noticed that she was very fine boned and there wasn't a single hair that wasn't white, so my first thought was that she was like fine China. Delicate and beautiful. My son, being a teenager at the time, was not impressed. He thought it was "boring". This was the mid-90's when the crack crisis was in full swing, so being a bit of a smart-a$$, I said "what do you want me to name her? Cocaine"??…..Well that wasn't going to work for me so we finally compromised on "China White"....another type of drug.
China was always her "own cat"....she did her own thing and could take or leave a lot of attention, at least for the first 12 years of her life. She did however, make sure her wishes were known!....at the top of her lungs!! Having a good bit of Siamese in her made sure of that!! Before her diagnosis, if I had to take her to the vet, she'd yowl so loud that I swear people in cars passing by thought I had kidnapped a child that was screaming their head off!
In the fall of 2012, I started to notice she seemed to be losing weight, but knowing she was an older kitty, I didn't think a lot of it. As time went on, she continued to lose weight and then I started noticing I was having to fill the water bowl a LOT more often and she was often laying close to it. She had always liked drinking water, but this was crazy! I still didn't put 2 and 2 together
Of course, being very low income, I also had the problem of paying for a vet visit.
By early 2013, she had lost so much weight and looked awful. Her coat was unkept, she was always eating but not gaining and the water intake had gone crazy, so I finally got her to the vet in May. I had already figured that she was most likely hyperthyroid since I'd had an older cat with hyperT before, but the vet came back with "she's got diabetes"!....I was floored. I knew a lot about diabetes because it runs in the family, but never even considered it.
The first vet we saw said "feed her this special food (dry W/D) and she may live another 4 months, but she'll probably go blind soon".....and the infamous "insulin is a hassle" comment. That night I hit the internet and found FDMB!! We dumped the dry and switched to low carb canned right away and gave her some time to see if the diet change would be enough while I asked lots of questions and came up with a plan if the diet change wasn't enough. Of course the diet change helped, but it wasn't enough, so after calling every vet within 30 miles of here, I finally found one who seemed willing to prescribe Lantus so off we went to vet #2. Script in hand, we started the adventure.
China took to testing easily (thank goodness!). She was always very easy to deal with but I think she also knew that whatever I was doing to her, it was making her feel so much better! She quickly gained back all the weight she'd lost (plus some) and resumed grooming and playing and acting like a much younger cat!
The rest is history....and China was one of the tightest controlled kitties here and for that, I thank the people who taught me what I needed to learn. I can't thank you enough for giving me 5+ extra years!
I miss her terribly. I keep thinking I'm forgetting to do something and then I realize why. Losing a sugarcat is like having someone perform open heart surgery and tearing your heart out. It just leaves you lost. But I wouldn't trade the joy and love I got from China for anything.
I'm blessed that she did so well and was seemingly in good health right up until the last few days.....and to vet #1 who said she'd live maybe 4 months and go blind....SHOWED YOU!!!
Thank you all for caring so much for my dear China and for all your kind words. Also for your patience while I adjust to this new reality.
China came to me as a tiny kitten back in 2001. My oldest son and I went to the shelter to check out the kitties and of course we both fell in love with different ones!! China stole my heart when I picked her up and she gently swiped at my nose. The 2 cats I'd adopted before her had both done the same thing when I went looking for another family member, so of course she was telling me she was mine!! My son's heart was stolen by a little gray manx fluffball that we later learned had quite a bit of British Shorthair lineage. While my son and I argued over which kitty was coming home with us, I motioned to the shelter workers through the glass "2 for 1"??? They laughed and nodded their heads, so a team was born!
On the way home, we discussed names.....I had noticed that she was very fine boned and there wasn't a single hair that wasn't white, so my first thought was that she was like fine China. Delicate and beautiful. My son, being a teenager at the time, was not impressed. He thought it was "boring". This was the mid-90's when the crack crisis was in full swing, so being a bit of a smart-a$$, I said "what do you want me to name her? Cocaine"??…..Well that wasn't going to work for me so we finally compromised on "China White"....another type of drug.
China was always her "own cat"....she did her own thing and could take or leave a lot of attention, at least for the first 12 years of her life. She did however, make sure her wishes were known!....at the top of her lungs!! Having a good bit of Siamese in her made sure of that!! Before her diagnosis, if I had to take her to the vet, she'd yowl so loud that I swear people in cars passing by thought I had kidnapped a child that was screaming their head off!
In the fall of 2012, I started to notice she seemed to be losing weight, but knowing she was an older kitty, I didn't think a lot of it. As time went on, she continued to lose weight and then I started noticing I was having to fill the water bowl a LOT more often and she was often laying close to it. She had always liked drinking water, but this was crazy! I still didn't put 2 and 2 together
Of course, being very low income, I also had the problem of paying for a vet visit.By early 2013, she had lost so much weight and looked awful. Her coat was unkept, she was always eating but not gaining and the water intake had gone crazy, so I finally got her to the vet in May. I had already figured that she was most likely hyperthyroid since I'd had an older cat with hyperT before, but the vet came back with "she's got diabetes"!....I was floored. I knew a lot about diabetes because it runs in the family, but never even considered it.
The first vet we saw said "feed her this special food (dry W/D) and she may live another 4 months, but she'll probably go blind soon".....and the infamous "insulin is a hassle" comment. That night I hit the internet and found FDMB!! We dumped the dry and switched to low carb canned right away and gave her some time to see if the diet change would be enough while I asked lots of questions and came up with a plan if the diet change wasn't enough. Of course the diet change helped, but it wasn't enough, so after calling every vet within 30 miles of here, I finally found one who seemed willing to prescribe Lantus so off we went to vet #2. Script in hand, we started the adventure.
China took to testing easily (thank goodness!). She was always very easy to deal with but I think she also knew that whatever I was doing to her, it was making her feel so much better! She quickly gained back all the weight she'd lost (plus some) and resumed grooming and playing and acting like a much younger cat!
The rest is history....and China was one of the tightest controlled kitties here and for that, I thank the people who taught me what I needed to learn. I can't thank you enough for giving me 5+ extra years!
I miss her terribly. I keep thinking I'm forgetting to do something and then I realize why. Losing a sugarcat is like having someone perform open heart surgery and tearing your heart out. It just leaves you lost. But I wouldn't trade the joy and love I got from China for anything.
I'm blessed that she did so well and was seemingly in good health right up until the last few days.....and to vet #1 who said she'd live maybe 4 months and go blind....SHOWED YOU!!!
Thank you all for caring so much for my dear China and for all your kind words. Also for your patience while I adjust to this new reality.
You came a long way Chris. Thanks for all you do.
