Our Sweet Diabetics

Careen (MW)

November is Diabetes Awareness Month – but not everyone may be aware that cats, too, can suffer from diabetes.

Nikki and his Shadow  (KN)

There are two types of diabetes in cats. In Type I there is a decrease in insulin production, and therefore blood glucose concentrations are high. In Type II diabetes, glucose levels are high because cells in the body do not respond appropriately to insulin. In both types, the body cannot access the sugars needed, even though there is plenty of sugar in the blood, because insulin can’t transport the sugar from the bloodstream into the cells that need it.  Type II is the more common variety, and though it cannot be cured, it can be controlled with injections of insulin, and in some cases, with dietary management. 

Mojo is one of our larger cats  (BC)

Currently we have five cats with diabetes at the Sanctuary: Luke and Careen in the DoubleWide, and Nikki, Blaze and Meepos in the SingleWide. Two other cats are watched: big Mojo lives in the offices, where we can control his diet; his diabetes is currently in remission, and as long as we don’t let him overeat, we can probably keep it that way.  And newcomer McGregor (in next week's blog) came into our care with possible diabetes, but also seems to have it in remission – we watch him carefully for signs of recurrence. In his case, elevated blood sugars may have been a sign of stress.

Nikki holding court - look at those big
polydactyl feet!   (KN)

Nikki Sixx-Toes was diagnosed diabetic when he came into our care. He was a semiferal cat, wary about being handled, and the pen where he was living did not allow the med-staff to treat him without additional stress to his system. Reluctantly, we brought him inside and caged him – and unlike most feral cats, he grew to love it, and the attention it brought him. He got lots of fussing in his enclosure near the staff office, and received visitors with regal enjoyment.  Four years later, his throne has moved to be the papasan chair on the deck, where he is attended and guarded by his girlfriend Shadow.

Shy Meepos (KN)

Also on the deck, but usually hidden away, is fellow-diabetic Meepos, whose condition is of more recent diagnosis. Meepos has been with us for more than eleven years; he was trapped as a feral on Mitchell Island in the company of his buddy Bossanova, and the two of them were initially pretty shy, and took great comfort in each other. Meepos was initially the friendlier of the two, but never became as sociable as Bossanova – he will emerge and accept gentle attention if it’s quiet, but he prefers to stay out of the way. His is late-onset diabetes – most of his time with us, he’s been fine, but he’s not an active boy, and between his inaction and aging, his system quit processing blood-sugars properly.

Blaze (MW)

Sweet Blaze is the sister of fellow-tortie Toes, who lives in the front courtyard. The two were separated when Blaze developed skin problems and was brought inside where she could be treated more easily. She can usually be found on the shelves backing on to the big cage, and loves to have attention so long as she can remain in her own space. Like the other diabetics, she’s something of a chonk – it’s hard to balance the need to give them extra food at the same time as they get their insulin injection, with not overfeeding them. Their extra is mostly protein, with a few treats, but with so many cats around, there’s no way of stopping them eating more of the crunchies that are out for the cats who prefer to graze. With food and insulin every 12 hours, they have no reason to be hungry, though, or to raid the crunchie-bowl.

Luke (BC)

In the DoubleWide, Luke is the younger of the two diabetics. He is part of the Tuxedo Club that hangs out on the deck, and he has also suffered from dental problems, which have necessitated occasional caging while he heals. He’s an active and social cat, both with humans and with other cats, and just loves attention – which makes it much easier to give him his doses.  The other diabetic in the building is Careen. Careen was an outside cat for some time, and shared cuddle space with sweet Willow in Pen 5. When we recently noticed her changed habits in terms of eating and peeing, she was brought in for testing, and remained caged for a bit longer. As an outdoor cat, there was some discussion about her release – she’s friendly and handleable, but trying to find a grey cat on a dark night to give her insulin could well be a problem. However, Careen decided that having been moved into the DoubleWide, she might as well stay in warmth and comfort. She can usually be found peering down from the cage-tops, and her one bad habit is that when it’s meds time, she moves herself to the most inaccessible spot, and takes some coaxing to come and enjoy her special plate of goodies (and the minimal needle prick that goes with it).

Careen on the DW cagetops (BC)

Diabetes in a cat is a long way from being a death sentence, and doesn’t need a vet to do the injections; the insulin needle is very fine, and the dose is very small – the only disadvantage is that the cat-parent needs to schedule their activities in order that the dose is regular. And getting special plates of food – they must feel as if they are being treated as the royalty they consider themselves to be.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

Farewell, Bossanova

Having been away for five weeks, I was looking forward to resuming my Sanctuary cat blogging. But the planned one is on hold – usually I prefer not to write about cats when we lose them, but some of them are just too iconic not to memorialize.

Bossanova (KN)

In January 2012 a couple of adult cats were trapped on Mitchell Island – an area that is sometimes a dumping ground for unwanted pets. We didn’t know if the two came as a pair, and it became evident that though they enjoyed each other’s company, one was a stray who liked human attention, and the other we thought was more likely a feral.  The latter was given the unlikely name of Bossanova – a chonky unneutered male, about four years old at the time, this boy was no graceful dancer. He came to us with a crumpled ear, probably the result of a burst haematoma, sometimes seen in cats who scratch at their own ears because of mites or some similar problem. And he was one of those cats who was pretty unnerving for inexperienced volunteers, hissing and lunging when anyone approached the door of his cage.

(MW)

But it takes more than that to put off our cat-whisperers, and Bossanova progressed from accepting scritches with a back-scratcher, through cautious petting to full-on belly-rubs. It’s possible that he had had human contact, and what we had been seeing was extreme fear-aggression rather than feral behaviour. Whatever his background, there is nothing as magic as having an initially angry cat accept your caresses.  Once reunited with his buddy Meepos, he relaxed happily into mutual grooming sessions.

Bossanova & Meepos  (CF)

It was decided to relocate the two of them to the Single-Wide. Both took the usual scared-cat route, and got themselves high up and out of the way. The SW deck has an upper shelf that runs all the way around, and Bossanova took over one corner and refused to come down. With an adjacent litter-box and obliging volunteers who brought him breakfast in bed, he decided he was set, and for most of the following year, he remained in his corner. He didn’t object to human attention – but on his terms. Early on, we established that his treat of choice was chicken, and he learned that I usually carried a baggie of tidbits when I visited. It got so that he would hear my voice, and I would find him perched hopefully on the edge of his shelf waiting for handouts.

(KH)

Gradually the lure extended itself; he would venture down the ramp to chest-height, then all the way to the floor. He felt less secure there; he interacted better when at eye-level, and the back of the couch became his favourite place. In time, he would venture to the couch seat, to a paw on the lap, and finally to lap-sitting – though the focus was always the food. Weekend visitors were always amused when I called and Bossanova would come down the ramp for attention. He enjoyed being petted and fussed; when scratched at the base of his tail, he had a lick-reaction on his front paws or on the ramp in front of them.

(JS)

All of us who have spent any time in the Single Wide will miss this gentle boy – the pleading eyes, asking for treats, the progress from fearful to friendly, the way he would perch on the back of the chair in the main room, so as not to miss anything being handed out. For Kim, Bev, Justin, Joanne, Margaret, Michele, Martyn, Debbie and many others – the room is a little emptier and our hearts are a little heavier. Bev tells me that she carried him around the other day for a while and he enjoyed that – we’d never have guessed, when he came to us, that he would be such a cuddle-bug. 

Rest well, sweetest boy – you were well loved in our care. 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Claire Fossey, Kim Howe, 

Karen Nicholson, Justin Saint, Michele Wright, 

Bossanova

Like Meepos, Bossanova was trapped on Mitchell Island in February. Unlike Meepos, Bossanova has proved much harder to sell on the whole idea of trusting humans.

Bossanova photographed from the safety of neighbour Meepos's cage

Even after the "animal care staff only" sign came off his cage, Bossanova was one of the few newcomers I've ever felt nervous about approaching to so much as refresh his water or top up his kibble. He wouldn't even give me a chance to open the door before he'd start glaring and hissing. I heard talk of him lunging at people.

And then recently I started to hear that he'd had his chin successfully rubbed from a safe distance with the help of a back scratcher. And then Ann shocked me by claiming that if approached slowly, he not only could be patted with bare fingers but actually liked tummy rubs.

I wasn't entirely convinced I'd be able to safely replicate her results, but Bossanova himself convinced me that it was entirely possible. He even let me document the process.

Meepos

Meepos was trapped on Mitchell Island in Richmond. When he first arrived at the sanctuary in mid February, it was hard to tell whether he was feral or tame. Before long, though, he stopped leaving any doubt that he was indeed quite tame.

Now he's gotten comfortable enough with us that he likes nothing more than to wriggle upside-down in his cat bed while getting his tummy rubbed. 

I hear he could be a bit nippy at times when he first started allowing pats, but he might have gotten over this. So far I've had nothing but hand-holding and kisses from him, and the only claws he's showed me are from kneading the air as he purrs.