Honey Boy

Honey Boy came to me as a Second Chance foster cat on December 16, 2007 (Saturday)-. He was diabetic and overweight, he wouldn't bathe himself, and he stank. His first glucose test was 441. Not a healthy 4 year old boy. All he wanted to do was sit on my lap.

I didn't bother with transitioning him from the dry food garbage he had been fed at the shelter; started him on Wellness the night that he got here and he showed no hesitation in eating it (or demand more at 5:00 am the next morning!). High blood sugar was his only symptom of diabetes. By Monday evening, his glucose was down to 286 on diet alone, but it was back up in the 400s by that evening. I started him on 1/2 unit of Humulin N (the insulin provided by Second Chance) the evening of 12/19/06. He was too low to shoot that next morning (235) since I didn't have any data to show how low he went the night before and I wasn't going to be home to monitor. That night, he was 286 so he got another 1/2 unit.

12/16/06
arrives from rescue shelter, starts Wellness diet--ate it no problem, so no transition period

12/17/06
given remaining antibiotic and deworming medicine--stressful. Decided to postpone ear poke until evening to increase likely of a non-stress reading. Ate the Wellness with gusto but has diarrhea. Not sure if it's from the dewormer, diet change or stress.

First glucose test....441 (499 at the vets at end of November)

12/18/06
Second glucose test 286

12/19/06
pm ps......421....1/2 unit NPH (first insulin)
+3.5.......161

12/20/06
am ps......235 (no insulin because I didn't know enough about how he responds and wasn't going to be around)
pm ps......283....1/2 unit NPH
+4....123

12/21/06
am ps....286....1/2 units NPH
+14......129 (no insulin)

12/22/06
am ps.....262...1/2 unit NPH
pm ps.....213 (before dinner)
+15.......157 (no insulin)

12/23/06
am ps.....fed, no test, no shot--dealing with Lucy's inappetance
+15.......157
+38.......134

12/24/06
+48.......155... 1 drop (about 1/10 of a unit) NPH
+2.5......66
+8........143 (food)
+10.5.....129

12/25/06
never over 140

12/26/06
+54.......140

12/27/07
+65.......122

Honey got exactly 4 injections of 1/2 unit each before he went into remission. Was he really diabetic? I don't think so. He was first taken to Second Chance when he was 2 years old after his family moved out of town and left him behind (declawed but not neutered!). He was adopted with another Second Chance cat and spent almost 2 years in that home before they returned him with diabetes. There's no way to know what caused the high glucose levels, but my experience with him has solidified my belief in a good diet and a little insulin to start off.

Within a month, he was off insulin. At that point I started urging him to bathe himself (I had been wiping his butt for him and was sick of it). So I starting using a warm washcloth to wipe down all of his fur. He liked it and was very cooperative, but it wasn't a strong enough hint. So I started getting the washclothe very wet so that he was dripping. He didn't like that at all, and had to immediately start licking himself dry. We only had to do that a couple of times and voila--a self-cleaning kitty!

Now it's July 2007 and he's lost a couple of pounds and looks great. He plays, his fur is super soft, and his glucose levels are below 70 anytime I remember to check him. On 7/15/07 he had a date with a very nice lady from Raleigh. She was looking for a declawed cat above the age of a kitten. She had just adopted a 7 year old declaw from the Wake Humane Society and wanted a companion for her (she likes other cats). The lady's adult daughter lives here in Chapel Hill, so I invited here to meet Honey instead of taking him to Second Chance (he is NOT a cooperative traveler). They hit it off fabulously. Honey purred very loudly as usual and showed off him cute play moves. He even let me put a ribbon around his neck to help him look extra handsome. I got the call today that she is filling out his adoption papers next Sunday. I will take him to her house that afternoon.

Lucy will be thrilled; the fights have been escalating. Although I will miss him, he's going to the perfect situation. A bean who wants a lap cat and another cat who likes cats. And they lived happily ever after......