Petco Foundation Grant--Boo

Boo Wants a Home for the Holidays!

Black. Strike one.
Diabetic. Strike two.
FIV+. Strike three.

Poor Boo. By all counts, it looked like he was out.

Boo is a loving black beauty surrendered to be put down in late 2012 due to diabetes. The Midwestern vet could tell there was something special about him and decided to save him. As they began caring for him, they discovered he is FIV+. In an instant, his chances for finding a loving, compassionate home became very slim.

 

Boo is a sweet soul!

One of the clinic volunteers reached out to Diabetic Cats in Need (DCIN) about Boo. We at DCIN fell in love with Boo's personality and helped transition him to Lantus insulin. We worked with the vet techs to get him on a low carbohydrate wet food diet to better control his blood sugar. Unfortunately, Boo was stressed by the venous blood draws and it was difficult to find the proper insulin dosage to keep his diabetes regulated.

DCIN publicized Boo's story all over the web, even as we worked behind the scenes to improve his health. We blogged about him, complete with videos of his sweet, shining personality and shared him on Facebook. After weeks of posting, a DCIN friend stepped forward to take Boo into foster care.

It took a few weeks to get Boo from the vet's office to his foster mom. They wanted to make sure he was stable before leaving, but the stress of being in the vet's office was interfering with regulating his diabetes.

We managed to get him released so he could fly to his new home in Virginia and made travel arrangements. An experienced DCIN foster family in Chicago cared for him overnight.

Boo with his kitty friends at his foster home.

According to Boo's foster mom, he is “seriously the easiest cat that ever existed.” From the moment he came home, he has been anything but finicky. He quickly adjusted to (and even seemed to enjoy!) his raw food diet. He integrated with the household cats almost immediately with no problems. And best of all, since leaving the vet’s office, he has not needed any insulin!

Boo--The easiest cat that ever existed.

Now Boo enjoys a few hours a day in an enclosed outdoor kitty play area with his new brothers and sisters. He had been excessively grooming to the point of losing fur, and now he has a thick, lush, shining coat. As FIV is a disease spread by biting, his foster mom watched him closely for several weeks. However, he turned out to be quite the lover boy and has been no problem at all.

At DCIN, we are proud to help cats like Boo find loving homes. He is the poster child for many disabled and sick animals: sweet, affectionate, easy going, and easy to love. We will continue to work hard to make sure special cats like Boo find good homes. Diabetes and the conditions that sometimes accompany the disease don’t mean a death sentence.



Boo wants a forever home. He would love to be home for the holidays!