We Don't Know You

~by Venita, DCIN's founder and director

We don't know you. No we don't.

You have written to us on Facebook or through email, asking that DCIN give you money or supplies to care for your diabetic cat.

We would like to help keep Fluffy healthy, but we don't know you. We try to find out about you and Fluffy. We search Facebook and Google to learn about you. We look to see whether you and Fluffy are on an Internet forum for diabetic cats. We ask you questions. We evaluate your answers--both content and tone.

My heart aches, but maybe that's okay

All my life I've always known that I wanted to work with animals.  I used to tell everyone that I was going to be a vet some day, but life is what is and things don't always work out how you plan.  So here I am in rescue and sometimes I think it's good that I'm not a vet, what would I do each time I had to help someone's beloved furry cross to the other side.  I feel so helpless now if I'm at the clinic and someone comes out with a leash and collar in hand and red swollen eyes.

You'd think rescue would be easier.  Through DCIN I get to help people keep their beloved kitty when they thought because of finances they had no choice but to let them go.  I also get to help bring a new love into someone's life.  If I'm lucky I get follow up emails and photos and hear wonderful stories about how well things are going.

Compassion seems to be in short supply

By Jennifer Jasensky: Director of Case Management, Diabetic Cats in Need

I love my work with DCIN but what people don't know is we are very short staffed and on balance we get about one new case a week. Some weeks it can be three, other weeks none but it averages to about four per month. Recently, those numbers are increasing and it's almost ten new clients a month at times. Add these cases to the already existing number of clients, the fundraising, the transport coordination, and the fact that we are all volunteers and have jobs and family outside of DCIN, you might be able to imagine just how overwhelmed we can be at times. Did I mention we are short staffed too?

CH kitty Lilly Grace "walking" up to her
bed because of someone else's 
compassion to build her that ramp

To address this issue we had to make some changes.  Most significantly, we had to modify how we promote cats in need of rehoming. Instead of taking the information and posting it ourselves with questions and applications coming to a case manager, we now request that people post their own kitties and from there we'll share the story. The adoption is theirs to work out.  This helps DCIN because case managers can concentrate on our extensive number of financial assistance cases and not field questions on adoptable kitties.

Friendships online and offline ...

Taking time to enjoy the day

I'm not new to the internet, but in 2006 I was new to internet forums and all that would follow.  I joined the FDMB because I had two diabetic cats and I needed help learning how to test their sugars.  What I got was a lot more.  The FDMB like so many other forums is filled with passionate people who care deeply for diabetic cats and their caretakers.  That passion can lead to joy and heartache, celebrations and arguments, but through it all bonds are formed.

For me it led me to DCIN but also brought me some of my closest friends.  Some I've met in person and some I've never seen but have talked to so often and opened up so much to them that even without seeing their face I can see their love and their kindness.

Moving from Treatment to Burnout

Feline diabetes is scary when you're new to the dance. Very scary. That fear can lead to some awful decisions.

When can we play?

Fluffy has been your beloved kitty for eight years, you may have adorable stories about how you found each other and how cute she is when she's stalking her favorite shoe lace. She may even be the only set of ears for you to tell your inner most secrets to and the only set of eyes that look upon with you with only love. But once she starts getting sick and the diagnosis comes in all of that disappears and you are left with a lump in your throat and butterflies in your stomach.

You listen to the vet explain insulin and blood sugar and hear about all these changes but you can't comprehend it right now, your brain just stopped when you heard shots twice a day and new food. You may go into that fight or flight feeling you sometimes get. You choose to fight and move quickly to the internet, your friends, family, and even coworkers. You're surprised at how many people tell you to put Fluffy down. She's a cat, she doesn't want shots every day, she's replaceable, there will always be another. Wow, did your trusted companions just tell you to put Fluffy down?

Vet Bashing—Not Really Productive

By Venita Wood, Diabetic Cats in Need's Founder and Director

In the online world of feline diabetes care, DCIN Case Managers often, way too often, see experienced caregivers on Facebook and forums bashing a newly diagnosed diabetic cat’s veterinarian for the recommended/prescribed protocol. For example, the cat’s vet:

• Prescribed an inappropriate insulin.
• Wants the cat to come to the office once a week for a month or so for a dose-adjusting blood glucose (BG) curve.
• Did not explain to the caregiver that he could test the cat’s blood glucose levels at home.
• Recommends an inappropriate diet, usually a prescription diabetic diet, and sometime a prescription dry food.

I understand those criticisms. But I also have learned from being a DCIN Team Member and observing interactions on various Internet sites that those kinds of comments, especially when delivered with the gusto that some use to deliver them (“Your vet is an idiot”) don’t necessarily improve the situation for a diabetic cat or its caregiver.

Having an extra sweet kitty changes things... often for the better

After the recent loss of my little man, Fred, I started thinking back to the diabetic kitty who changed my life forever, his name was Tucker. I think it's simple to see the impact he had on me brought me to DCIN and gave me the desire to help more diabetic kitties. Then I got to thinking, I wonder how has Feline Diabetes changed others so I asked that question on DCIN's Facebook page and here, in part, are some of the replies.

Brittany:  I too have a diabetic cat, RJ, who just turned 11 last month. He became DKA 2 summers ago (when he was first diagnosed) and I was told by an after-hours emergency Veterinarian that "I should strongly consider euthanasia because diabetes is a huge commitment"... I refused to accept that answer, and brought him into his regular vet the next morning. The vet sent me home with a bag of fluids in hopes that he would start to feel better and eat again so I could start insulin. Low and behold he started eating, and I began insulin and home testing. It was a challenge at first, but now it's routine for us both and he's doing great 2 years later! He also became DKA again last summer... but pulled through again! Feline diabetes has opened my eyes to a world of cats who are written off just because they develop a treatable condition. I would like to adopt another diabetic one day when I have more space. However in the mean time I would love to take my knowledge and pass it along to others who may be on the fence about having a special needs pet.

The Story of Clide, a very special kitty

I started this post because a dear friend named Rena lost an amazing kitty named Clide on the anniversary of the loss of my own sweet boy Tucker.  I have read and re-read the story of Clide so many times and each time I come away feeling that much more motivated to continue helping specially-abled kitties and their owners and feel that another person's Clide will find them and change them forever too.

I came to DCIN full time because of Tucker; I found my way because a senior kitty who others passed by turned out to be best part of my life.  This story is about another senior kitty, equally as special, who found his way to his person and helped her find her own path.

Below is the Story of Clide, written by his furrever mom who will always miss him and will honor him as she continues the work with Clide by her side, sending her a guiding paw and still talking to her from a distance.

Clide's Story

The Little Vial That Could

This is the story of "the little vial that could," and more.

Not long ago a kitty Mom lost her best friend Peanut. Peanut had been diabetic for nine years and besides his grief-stricken Mom, he left behind a recently opened vial of insulin and some other diabetic supplies. Mom, who lives nearby, arranged to leave those items for me at our common vet. (Small world isn't it?)

When I drove to my vet's office to get those supplies, Big Head Todd and his Mom came along, to have my vet see Big Head. His breathing wasn't quite right. The closer we got, the more strenuous Big Head's breathing became. By the time we got there, Big Head Todd was hyperventilating, and after a bit of quick care, the vet techs pushed us out the door to the nearby emergency hospital ten minutes up the road.