The story of Daisy, rescued from Cat's Protection by Dave and Jan
“Daisy is about twelve years old and we have had her for nearly three years.
She was languishing in the re-homing section of the local Cat's Protection League. As the eldest (and grumpiest) cat in the ‘line-up’ she always lost out to the younger cats when families came looking, and had been a resident for five months - much longer and she would have become a permanent resident.
She quickly won us over with her sarcastic looks and loud vocalisations of her opinion, and soon she was moving in.
But all was not well with Daisy, and after she'd settled in, she began to vomit after meals, with varying degrees of frequency. Numerous visits to the vet and even more numerous changes of diet brought us no closer to a solution, and though she was not in any obvious distress, Daisy's mystery illness bothered us. Our vet assured us that there was nothing to worry about, and that 'some cats were like that'.
Daisy's condition worsened and she began to lose the fur on her back legs and belly, became less active and eventually started to lose muscle mass in her hind legs. Our new vet immediately diagnosed Pancreatitis and we began a monthly cycle of steroid injections. Daisy began to improve - her fur became softer, she put on weight and became more active, though she didn't recover her belly fur, much to her disgust!
Forewarned as we were that Pancreatitis was often a precursor to diabetes, we were not surprised but not undaunted, when a year later, the symptoms began to recur, coupled now with a huge daily intake (and extake!) of fluids. Blood tests confirmed she was diabetic and we were soon testing Daisy's patience with our (initially) ham-fisted attempts to administer her insulin dose.
The period of transition was trying and tiring at times, but ultimately rewarding - Daisy responded brilliantly to the treatment - and though our vet was efficient and helpful, it was the mainly the advice and encouragement offered by your website that got us through the most difficult days.
Daisy's insulin is now regulated, and she found a new lease of life after we began treatment - she even re-grew a full fur coat again (just in time for the summer!) - she is, however, as grumpy and vocal as ever!
Diabetes was never going to be an easy prospect, especially with an old cat with an unknown history, helping Daisy has been hugely rewarding, so thank you again for all your help.”