Ever thankful, DCIN in 2011 and beyond

As the year comes to a close I find myself looking back with such fondness.  Even though I lost my soul mate kitty and my sister lost her soul mate kitty tragically young, I still feel hopeful because of the people I've met through rescue and especially through DCIN.  Every day I see people join together and help others and their cats.  They will never meet these cats and probably never meet the people but when the chips are down they don't hesitate.

There have been some easy rescues, Murray who was in a municipal shelter in Connecticut and was found by his new mom as soon as we posted about him.  The Animal Control Officer who came in day and night to give him shots before DCIN was contacted.  The day we went to the shelter and demonstrated how to test blood sugar was the day Murray went off insulin.  Then to go home just two days later, I think for me the timing was perfect.  Sometimes I get tired and not really sure how to go on, but then something like that happens and it puts everything right back into prospective for me.

There's a DCIN assisted kitty named Big Boy who was on hock legs and skinny when he came to us.  He is now at a healthy weight and walking upright for the first time since his folks adopted him. A kitty in NY named Mikey who was going to be sent to a shelter who instead landed in a wonderful foster home with two people that love him dearly and while he's not been adopted yet, he's certainly being treated like a king.

A sugar cat named Jack, by his mom Sue

Jack

Please allow me to introduce myself to you fellow lovers of “sweet” cats. My name is Jack, and I’m a six- year-old Maine Coon (quite handsome, if I say so myself).  The first few years of my life were idyllic: the breeder sold me to a woman who lived in a beautiful apartment. One day, she interviewed people to adopt me; she said that I wasn’t “cute and cuddly” anymore. Really?!

That’s where my human Sue (who I call my Sue-man) came into the picture. Sue “passed” the interview and adopted me! I moved into a nice home with Sue and my sister-wife Tiffany, who was 14 years young –and the love of Sue’s life. Tiffany is a joy, who has been through so much with Sue: including the deaths of Sue’s beloved Dad and grandmother from diabetes. Which is why it’s fate that 16 months after being adopted, I was diagnosed with diabetes—and became a Diabetic Cat In Need.

Help is a two way street

I'm busy all the time posting about cats that need to be rehomed and others that need funds for serious illnesses but what you don't see are the general fund kitties that I don't post about, the ones in the DCIN assistance program. The straight forward financial help kitty, maybe a vet bill here, some help with supplies there, a little help getting insulin. Whatever the need we want to help you keep your kitty, the last thing we want is to try to rehome a super sweet kitty because someone had to make a decision between buying groceries or insulin.

But the problem comes when the help we give is not given back. What the heck does that mean? Why given back? Help is a two way street with DCIN.

A Year in Review, the Ups and the Downs

This post started out as the brain child of a woman I'm proud to call my friend, my mentor and sometimes even my boss, the woman who started DCIN.  She wanted to tell the world about the highs and lows of 2011 for Diabetic Cats in Need.  The cats we saved, new friends, growth of our Facebook page and the sad stuff, those cats who were just beyond our reach, the ones we lost, the friends who lost their cats, the not so great things we see.

But to start this post I had to do some reflection on why I was here.  I've always loved DCIN, I've adopted several cats through DCIN and they have been a constant source of love and challenge for me. But why else am I here.  Do I really want to think about that or should I continue to bury that deep down?  I still haven't decided the answer to that question, until I hit the publish button the question will linger within me.

The personalities of rescue, does this include my husband?

Today my husband Ron decided he wanted to write a blog post. He is, after all, the man behind the woman in rescue.

That got me thinking: The support that rescuers get from their significant others ... is it either black or white, hot or cold, or are their different shades mixed in there?  I think it's not clean cut - they love that you rescue or they hate it - I think there are different shades of smoky grey, muted calico and tiger stripes mixed in.

Many times I'm in this alone, making decisions that could make or break a rescue.  Do I push one more time for that cat that no one ever seems to want or do I move on to the next and hope I can help that one?  Many times I pushed and thankfully it worked, and when it did I would run out to the living room and tell Ron the entire story. My excitement was often met with a glazed-over look, either he didn't follow the "email to 'Facebook Share' to phone call saved this cat's life story" or he didn't care.  He's not a high-tech kind of guy; give him a car to work on and he's happy, give him a computer and he'll finish a short email, typed with two fingers, in about an hour.

You have HOW MANY many cats?!?

The worst question you can ask me is how many cats do you have. Why don't you just ask me my age or social security number or worse, ask me how much I weigh. Those questions may not cause me to shrink in my shoes and feel like I'm breaking some law like the how many cats question can.

How many cats do I have? My sister told me to simply say "why thank you, I have them all." Just stupid enough to make them think they've asked the question wrong and maybe change the subject.

Why is the number of cats that I have an issue to some and to others it's like they just met the bearded lady from the circus? Do people buying a 50 pound bag of dog food ever get asked "how many dogs do you have?" I don't have a dog but I'm willing to bet no one asks.

Big Pete, Sweet Pete, Only Pete

DCIN doesn't have the luxury of knowing our cats before we can adopt them out. Some rescues have a network of foster homes or even a brick and mortar location, but we don't. DCIN is really the dream of one woman who knew there was a need and she found a way.

The drawback to this is we can't tell you if a kitty will be good with your kids or not eat your goldfish, we have only what the previous owner told us, or the vet or the shelter they surrendered the kitty to. Sometimes there's no information at all, and sometimes the person can't answer those questions because they didn't have kids or a goldfish.

I wear my Cat on My Sleeve

I am rescue.

Three words, three little words that have so much behind them. They mean strength, commitment, joy, but sometimes they mean fear, horror, and even sadness.

Rescue, it's what I do, it's who I am and it's why I love Diabetic Cats in Need so much, but it's not always easy. Those three words, sometimes I feel them and know I am rescue, other times I feel like a fraud, there's no way I'm making a difference, cats are still being surrendered, things aren't changing.

The cat who brought me to eventually find DCIN is gone now, but his spirit is still alive and strong and he pushes me every day to continue to rescue, even on those days when my heart hurts and I am not sure I can make a difference.