April 2, 2011--I just found out that Tommy moved to his new home the middle of February 2011. His new Mom is a woman recently returned to the US after spending 20-odd years teaching English in American Universities around the world. He also recently got a new fur-sister. Rhea's report about Tommy from last week on Diabetic Cat Care:
I went to his house today to do a follow up BG test since he had been there for at least a month. Figured if it was still OK, he’d probably be good to go for a long time! Well, he was not only OK, his BG was 67, right in the 60s where it had been ever since he went into remission!
I’m sure he must think he’s died and gone to heaven! You should see all the stuff his “bean” has gotten for him, including a really nice, high end, Wade cat tree with nests, right in front of a big window! She calls him “Sir Thomas”! She is really in love with him, which I can totally understand as I was also smitten with him here too! He “talks’, chirps, has a loud, generous purr, and is a real “people” cat. And likes to sit in laps!
And big surprise! She had gotten another kitty to be a companion for him so he won’t have to be home alone when she’s gone! He had been so aggressive to some of my cats here (not all, just certain ones), we had promoted him as an “only cat”. But she got a kitten, about 6 months old, a beautiful muted calico little girl. She introduced them carefully and gradually and now the “girl friend” and Tommy are best buddies and run from one end of the condo to the other playing with each other and both sleep with her at night! Tommy is so playful she thinks he may younger than the 6-8 yrs that was estimated for him. I guess that’s possible since he may have looked older because of the tough life he had before and during being at the shelter.
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Update 10/25/10--Tommy has now been posted for adoption on Petfinder. His page is
here.
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...
Update 9/3/10--Tommy is moving towards being officially "off the juice." He has not had insulin since 8/26/10am, and is holding himself in the double digits, mostly in the 60s.
Tommy's bright new future began two days after having dental surgery for severe dental disease! He had four teeth removed (two were fractured) and other work done on several other teeth, including scaling and cleaning. He will still need diet control for the rest of his life, but this isn’t such a big deal as he probably needs soft food anyway after having so many teeth removed!
Tommy was probably the victim of a kind of “perfect storm” chain of events. 1) He was incarcerated in a cage after being a free-roaming stray, probably fed as he wasn’t thin, but not neutered; 2) He was fed only Science Diet dry food at the shelter which is over 40% carbs; and 3) He had severe dental disease and inflammations. Now that all three of these have been resolved, he has been able to recover back to “normal” BGs. He is now in a foster home (no cage), he gets only low-carb wet food, and needed dental work has been done. He continues to be the friendly, out-going, loving, purring kitty that he has been all along.
Rhea is still testing Tommy's BG levels regularly to be sure to catch a relapse if it happens, which doesn’t seem likely any more. Tommy has suffered from some of the "standard" upper respiratory shelter bugs in the past and does still has some noisy breathing and sneezing when eating. Rhea’s private vet says this is probably a sinus involvement related to the tooth and dental issues he had so this may resolve itself over time. Tommy has no symptoms of any URI. And Rhea believes that because his BG numbers are so good, Tommy can’t have any infection going on.
Rhea's current plans are to keep Tommy as a foster in her home, but to have him shown at one of the shelter's store front adoption locations. She will take Tommy there for store hours only and bring him home for nights and days closed. Because of Tommy's diet controlled status, Rhea hopes to have him adopted locally by someone who will be attentive to his diet. She has asked to have him taken off the DCIN adoptables list, which I have most joyously done.
Great job Rhea!!! Enjoy the rest of your very promising life Tommy!!!
***********************************************************************
Original post, 8/8/10--Although DCIN is not intaking new diabetic cats looking for homes right now, it is intaking Tommy. Why? Because he is being fostered by a wonderful member of the
Diabetic Cat Care Board. The foster mom is furblesmom, AKA Rhea. The cat is Tommy.
Rhea tells me (pieced together from various emails, PMs, and postings)---
Tommy's about half and half, white and tiger, a good size guy, but definitely not fat (weight 12.5 pounds). Exact age is unknown. He was brought into the
Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA's shelter, where Rhea volunteers, as a stray on 3/4/10. He was neutered on 3/4/10.On 5/11/10, blood work was done after noting excessive urine and diabetes was diagnosed.
The SPCA vet took a special interest in Tommy because of his personality and temperament and bought insulin for him out of her own pocket. She started him on Lantus (glargine) for about 2 months but was not getting satisfactory results, even with periodic increases in response to occasional BG curves done during the day at the shelter. About 7/29/10, she switched him to low carb wet food only and then to BCP-PZI insulin.
Within the shelter time frame, his doses came at about 8- 9 and 14-15 hour intervals. In hopes of getting his blood glucose levels better regulated by testing more frequently and dosing at more favorable intervals, Rhea took him home to foster and treat him there. If you are a member of Diabetic Cat Care (DCC), you can follow his "name and numbers" thread
here and see how his BG numbers have changed since being in his foster home.
Tommy does have a great personality, very friendly and outgoing, knows no strangers, greets everyone who comes, rubs, purrs. He seems relaxed and comfortable in his foster home--an easy going kind of guy. When alone, he’s happy to either settle down and take a nap or play with toys, especially his TurboScratcher, rolling the ball around! He would make someone a wonderful companion cat.
With 17 cats (and many of them special needs) in her home right now, Rhea is already overloaded and overwhelmed.
We all know that a diabetic cat does not have to be diet controlled to be adopted by one of those very special people who understand how treatable feline diabetes is. I have Tommy's shelter records if someone would like to see those in conjunction with considering adopting him.
Tommy needs a home. In addition, DCIN will be funding some of Tommy's diabetic supplies, so DCIN needs funding for those supplies.
As always, DCIN will help to arrange transportation to an acceptable home. Because this cat legally belongs to the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, a potential adopter would have to go through the SPCA's adoption process. The SPCA's online adoption form is
here. The shelter has no limitations on Tommy's adoption location and will waive his adoption fee.
...
Update 9/3/10--Tommy is moving towards being officially "off the juice." He has not had insulin since 8/26/10am, and is holding himself in the double digits, mostly in the 60s.
Tommy's bright new future began two days after having dental surgery for severe dental disease! He had four teeth removed (two were fractured) and other work done on several other teeth, including scaling and cleaning. He will still need diet control for the rest of his life, but this isn’t such a big deal as he probably needs soft food anyway after having so many teeth removed!
Tommy was probably the victim of a kind of “perfect storm” chain of events. 1) He was incarcerated in a cage after being a free-roaming stray, probably fed as he wasn’t thin, but not neutered; 2) He was fed only Science Diet dry food at the shelter which is over 40% carbs; and 3) He had severe dental disease and inflammations. Now that all three of these have been resolved, he has been able to recover back to “normal” BGs. He is now in a foster home (no cage), he gets only low-carb wet food, and needed dental work has been done. He continues to be the friendly, out-going, loving, purring kitty that he has been all along.
Rhea is still testing Tommy's BG levels regularly to be sure to catch a relapse if it happens, which doesn’t seem likely any more. Tommy has suffered from some of the "standard" upper respiratory shelter bugs in the past and does still has some noisy breathing and sneezing when eating. Rhea’s private vet says this is probably a sinus involvement related to the tooth and dental issues he had so this may resolve itself over time. Tommy has no symptoms of any URI. And Rhea believes that because his BG numbers are so good, Tommy can’t have any infection going on.
Rhea's current plans are to keep Tommy as a foster in her home, but to have him shown at one of the shelter's store front adoption locations. She will take Tommy there for store hours only and bring him home for nights and days closed. Because of Tommy's diet controlled status, Rhea hopes to have him adopted locally by someone who will be attentive to his diet. She has asked to have him taken off the DCIN adoptables list, which I have most joyously done.
Great job Rhea!!! Enjoy the rest of your very promising life Tommy!!!
***********************************************************************
Original post, 8/8/10--Although DCIN is not intaking new diabetic cats looking for homes right now, it is intaking Tommy. Why? Because he is being fostered by a wonderful member of the Diabetic Cat Care Board. The foster mom is furblesmom, AKA Rhea. The cat is Tommy.
Rhea tells me (pieced together from various emails, PMs, and postings)---
Tommy's about half and half, white and tiger, a good size guy, but definitely not fat (weight 12.5 pounds). Exact age is unknown. He was brought into the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA's shelter, where Rhea volunteers, as a stray on 3/4/10. He was neutered on 3/4/10.On 5/11/10, blood work was done after noting excessive urine and diabetes was diagnosed.
The SPCA vet took a special interest in Tommy because of his personality and temperament and bought insulin for him out of her own pocket. She started him on Lantus (glargine) for about 2 months but was not getting satisfactory results, even with periodic increases in response to occasional BG curves done during the day at the shelter. About 7/29/10, she switched him to low carb wet food only and then to BCP-PZI insulin.
Within the shelter time frame, his doses came at about 8- 9 and 14-15 hour intervals. In hopes of getting his blood glucose levels better regulated by testing more frequently and dosing at more favorable intervals, Rhea took him home to foster and treat him there. If you are a member of Diabetic Cat Care (DCC), you can follow his "name and numbers" thread here and see how his BG numbers have changed since being in his foster home.
Tommy does have a great personality, very friendly and outgoing, knows no strangers, greets everyone who comes, rubs, purrs. He seems relaxed and comfortable in his foster home--an easy going kind of guy. When alone, he’s happy to either settle down and take a nap or play with toys, especially his TurboScratcher, rolling the ball around! He would make someone a wonderful companion cat.
With 17 cats (and many of them special needs) in her home right now, Rhea is already overloaded and overwhelmed.
We all know that a diabetic cat does not have to be diet controlled to be adopted by one of those very special people who understand how treatable feline diabetes is. I have Tommy's shelter records if someone would like to see those in conjunction with considering adopting him.
Tommy needs a home. In addition, DCIN will be funding some of Tommy's diabetic supplies, so DCIN needs funding for those supplies.
As always, DCIN will help to arrange transportation to an acceptable home. Because this cat legally belongs to the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, a potential adopter would have to go through the SPCA's adoption process. The SPCA's online adoption form is here. The shelter has no limitations on Tommy's adoption location and will waive his adoption fee.
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