Many of you knew my cat, Timothy. Yesterday Timothy went to the Rainbow Bridge. What can I say except I’m sad, sad, sad. I miss him.
But I had an extraordinary gift of time with Timothy (aka Timbo, Tim, TimMan) that I would not have had were it not for the very disease which killed him – diabetes.
I’ve had Timothy since he was a tiny kitten that arrived on a truckload of hay with his sister, Alfalfa, (get it – Timothy and Alfalfa – hay) at a local feed store when we lived in Santa Cruz.
My very favorite cat, Penly, had turned up missing and I had peppered the town with lost posters. Preston was buying hay when the owner said “Hey, your wife is sad about loosing her cat. How about taking these 2 kittens home that we found in the hay that arrived this morning. That should make her feel better.” Funny how some people think a pet can be so easily replaced. But he was right in that those cute babies couldn’t help but bring the first smile in days to my face.
Even though Timothy and Alfalfa were raised in our house since they were itty bitty babies they have each always had somewhat of feral streak and a lot idiosyncrasies. For example, Timothy used to sleep precariously perched on the top of our open bedroom door in Santa Cruz. Yes, that little 1 and half inch wide ledge – like that was the highest place he could possibly get so he was making the best of it. I don’t know how he didn’t fall off as he slept.
Timothy and I had a falling out of sorts several years ago when he was stricken with a pretty bad case of conjunctivitis that just didn’t want to clear up. He required eye meds 3 – 4 times daily but I was really lucky to get them in twice a day. Timothy would bolt whenever he saw me coming with that little tube of medicine. On a follow-up visit to the vet I got a stern lecture in non-compliance and was severely warned that the sight in that eye was at risk if I did not start medicating him not 4 times, but 6 times daily!
I tried locking Timothy in the habitat attached to our house. He paced like a lion – back and forth, back and forth – wailing the whole time. He escaped. I tried a cage. You would’ve thought he was being tortured. The house was out of the question; he was a chronic sprayer and would climb screens to try and get out. I tried putting him in the Adult Habitat thinking the larger space and other cats might calm him down. No go. He escaped every chance he got. He hated seeing me come with his medicine. I was now the bad lady like the proverbial teenager who hates his mother.
At one point, I just gave up – I had done my best and what would be would be with his eye. Timothy moved under the Cat Trailer. I rarely saw him – we most definitely had a badly bruised relationship. But he befriended some of the volunteers who thought he was just the sweetest, nicest cat. They should have tried to do the eye meds and see how long he liked them!
Amazingly that darn conjunctivitis healed up on its own and the eye was perfectly fine.
About 2 years ago a couple of volunteers noticed Timothy had lost weight. I managed to secure him and get blood work done. The diagnosis was definitively diabetes. He would require insulin twice a day. Of all my cats, why Tim, the cat I could hardly even catch?
We constructed a large cage in the middle of our cat room in the house. I put a tall cat tree in there and tried to outfit the cage with as much hiding places and comfort things as I could think of. Timothy did fairly well in that cage. At night I would let him out to mingle with our other cats as they were locked in their habitat at night. We started to repair our broken relationship and he began to like me once again. We reached an agreement that if I would let him outside during the day he would come back in at night to be locked in to receive his evening and morning insulin injections.
Timothy was my first diabetic cat and he had a stinker of a case. From the beginning his glucose and insulin dose was hard to regulate. I learned more about diabetes in cats then I thought I would ever know. Things like glucose curves, ketones, Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Somogyi Effect.
Our agreement worked great until one weekend about 6 months later when we had overnight company. We must’ve partied too loud and too hard. Timothy could not be found for about 3 days. When we found him he was seriously ill. Jann and I rushed him to Loomis Basin in the middle of the night. I wasn’t sure if he was going to survive the trip there. He did and they pulled him out of a severe case of Diabetic Keotoacidosis. Of course, we financed the completion of the new doctors’ lounge they were constructing at that time.
We knew that we could no longer take chances with Timothy not being available for his insulin injections. Besides, now he was gold-plated!
The room that I used to use for my office before we put the addition on our house was slated to be remodeled into a guest room. Timothy took priority over any potential guests and the room became his. A large overstuffed chair and other kitty-friendly furniture was moved in as was a large cat tree in front of the window. Bird feeders were strategically placed under the eaves so he could watch them from his perch. We were fully prepared for Timothy to “trash” the room but that would’ve been OK. As long as he was secure to get his medication and be as happy as possible.
But, then a miracle happened. Timothy became domesticated. At 13 years of age he stopped spraying, he no longer wanted to go outside, he slept with us, he became a lap cat. He loved me once again. (He and Preston were always “buds”).
His room was always his sanctuary when strange people came over. When he heard strange footsteps or voices in the house he’d run to his room and cock his ears towards the voices or footsteps. When we had company we would usually close his door to make him feel safe. Some people came to visit him in his room. You knew you were a special friend if he was on his perch and not under the chair when you came into his room.
He actually looked forward to his insulin shots because it meant he would get his very favorite treat – Temptations. We would just say “Tim, time for a poke” and he’d run down the hall to his room, jump on his perch and wait for his shot and 3 or 4 savory Temptation treats. He was so every patient when I had to do hourly glucose curves which meant I had to prick his ear to draw a drop of blood every 1 – 2 hours. He never complained or tried to get away even if my first poke didn’t draw blood.
Having a diabetic cat is without question a commitment and not easy. Especially with travel it can become even more of a challenge. But Timothy had a team of caregivers available for those times when Preston and I were both away. Evenings out always had to be time-sensitive to him getting his shot. Sometimes, that was a good thing – it was easy to duck out of a boring party. “Oh, so sorry – gotta go, Tim needs his insulin”.
Even though Timothy looked wonderful and gained weight his diabetes was precariously under control and he remained a challenge to keep regulated. He went back to Loomis Basin several more times for several days each time and we were always checking his glucose.
On Wednesday of this week I knew something wasn’t right. I did a urine dipstick and it showed ketones. We immediately went to the emergency room. I just assumed that it would be like those other times and the good doctors at Loomis Basin would get him right and he’d come home in a few days. That night Jen, Courtney and I went to visit him at about 10 pm. I was shocked to see how much he had deteriorated in the past 7 hours. Thursday morning Preston, Jann and I went to visit him and I knew in my heart this time was different then the others. The life was not in his eyes. It took me a few more hours of soul searching to come to terms with the goodbye.
It’s ironic but this very devastating disease of diabetes gave us a wonderful gift of time with Timothy. Of course, it’s always too short but I am grateful and happy for the memories I have of the little kitten who, with his sister, popped out of a bale of hay and the beautiful, lovely cat he grew into.
Much gratitude to Timothy’s team of backup caregivers; Jann, Justine, Jen and Peri
And, thank you Loomis Basin vets, Dr. Marcia Smith and Dr. Olivia Petrunich for the wonderful medical care you gave him.
But I had an extraordinary gift of time with Timothy (aka Timbo, Tim, TimMan) that I would not have had were it not for the very disease which killed him – diabetes.
I’ve had Timothy since he was a tiny kitten that arrived on a truckload of hay with his sister, Alfalfa, (get it – Timothy and Alfalfa – hay) at a local feed store when we lived in Santa Cruz.
My very favorite cat, Penly, had turned up missing and I had peppered the town with lost posters. Preston was buying hay when the owner said “Hey, your wife is sad about loosing her cat. How about taking these 2 kittens home that we found in the hay that arrived this morning. That should make her feel better.” Funny how some people think a pet can be so easily replaced. But he was right in that those cute babies couldn’t help but bring the first smile in days to my face.
Even though Timothy and Alfalfa were raised in our house since they were itty bitty babies they have each always had somewhat of feral streak and a lot idiosyncrasies. For example, Timothy used to sleep precariously perched on the top of our open bedroom door in Santa Cruz. Yes, that little 1 and half inch wide ledge – like that was the highest place he could possibly get so he was making the best of it. I don’t know how he didn’t fall off as he slept.
Timothy and I had a falling out of sorts several years ago when he was stricken with a pretty bad case of conjunctivitis that just didn’t want to clear up. He required eye meds 3 – 4 times daily but I was really lucky to get them in twice a day. Timothy would bolt whenever he saw me coming with that little tube of medicine. On a follow-up visit to the vet I got a stern lecture in non-compliance and was severely warned that the sight in that eye was at risk if I did not start medicating him not 4 times, but 6 times daily!
I tried locking Timothy in the habitat attached to our house. He paced like a lion – back and forth, back and forth – wailing the whole time. He escaped. I tried a cage. You would’ve thought he was being tortured. The house was out of the question; he was a chronic sprayer and would climb screens to try and get out. I tried putting him in the Adult Habitat thinking the larger space and other cats might calm him down. No go. He escaped every chance he got. He hated seeing me come with his medicine. I was now the bad lady like the proverbial teenager who hates his mother.
At one point, I just gave up – I had done my best and what would be would be with his eye. Timothy moved under the Cat Trailer. I rarely saw him – we most definitely had a badly bruised relationship. But he befriended some of the volunteers who thought he was just the sweetest, nicest cat. They should have tried to do the eye meds and see how long he liked them!
Amazingly that darn conjunctivitis healed up on its own and the eye was perfectly fine.
About 2 years ago a couple of volunteers noticed Timothy had lost weight. I managed to secure him and get blood work done. The diagnosis was definitively diabetes. He would require insulin twice a day. Of all my cats, why Tim, the cat I could hardly even catch?
We constructed a large cage in the middle of our cat room in the house. I put a tall cat tree in there and tried to outfit the cage with as much hiding places and comfort things as I could think of. Timothy did fairly well in that cage. At night I would let him out to mingle with our other cats as they were locked in their habitat at night. We started to repair our broken relationship and he began to like me once again. We reached an agreement that if I would let him outside during the day he would come back in at night to be locked in to receive his evening and morning insulin injections.
Timothy was my first diabetic cat and he had a stinker of a case. From the beginning his glucose and insulin dose was hard to regulate. I learned more about diabetes in cats then I thought I would ever know. Things like glucose curves, ketones, Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Somogyi Effect.
Our agreement worked great until one weekend about 6 months later when we had overnight company. We must’ve partied too loud and too hard. Timothy could not be found for about 3 days. When we found him he was seriously ill. Jann and I rushed him to Loomis Basin in the middle of the night. I wasn’t sure if he was going to survive the trip there. He did and they pulled him out of a severe case of Diabetic Keotoacidosis. Of course, we financed the completion of the new doctors’ lounge they were constructing at that time.
We knew that we could no longer take chances with Timothy not being available for his insulin injections. Besides, now he was gold-plated!
The room that I used to use for my office before we put the addition on our house was slated to be remodeled into a guest room. Timothy took priority over any potential guests and the room became his. A large overstuffed chair and other kitty-friendly furniture was moved in as was a large cat tree in front of the window. Bird feeders were strategically placed under the eaves so he could watch them from his perch. We were fully prepared for Timothy to “trash” the room but that would’ve been OK. As long as he was secure to get his medication and be as happy as possible.
But, then a miracle happened. Timothy became domesticated. At 13 years of age he stopped spraying, he no longer wanted to go outside, he slept with us, he became a lap cat. He loved me once again. (He and Preston were always “buds”).
His room was always his sanctuary when strange people came over. When he heard strange footsteps or voices in the house he’d run to his room and cock his ears towards the voices or footsteps. When we had company we would usually close his door to make him feel safe. Some people came to visit him in his room. You knew you were a special friend if he was on his perch and not under the chair when you came into his room.
He actually looked forward to his insulin shots because it meant he would get his very favorite treat – Temptations. We would just say “Tim, time for a poke” and he’d run down the hall to his room, jump on his perch and wait for his shot and 3 or 4 savory Temptation treats. He was so every patient when I had to do hourly glucose curves which meant I had to prick his ear to draw a drop of blood every 1 – 2 hours. He never complained or tried to get away even if my first poke didn’t draw blood.
Having a diabetic cat is without question a commitment and not easy. Especially with travel it can become even more of a challenge. But Timothy had a team of caregivers available for those times when Preston and I were both away. Evenings out always had to be time-sensitive to him getting his shot. Sometimes, that was a good thing – it was easy to duck out of a boring party. “Oh, so sorry – gotta go, Tim needs his insulin”.
Even though Timothy looked wonderful and gained weight his diabetes was precariously under control and he remained a challenge to keep regulated. He went back to Loomis Basin several more times for several days each time and we were always checking his glucose.
On Wednesday of this week I knew something wasn’t right. I did a urine dipstick and it showed ketones. We immediately went to the emergency room. I just assumed that it would be like those other times and the good doctors at Loomis Basin would get him right and he’d come home in a few days. That night Jen, Courtney and I went to visit him at about 10 pm. I was shocked to see how much he had deteriorated in the past 7 hours. Thursday morning Preston, Jann and I went to visit him and I knew in my heart this time was different then the others. The life was not in his eyes. It took me a few more hours of soul searching to come to terms with the goodbye.
It’s ironic but this very devastating disease of diabetes gave us a wonderful gift of time with Timothy. Of course, it’s always too short but I am grateful and happy for the memories I have of the little kitten who, with his sister, popped out of a bale of hay and the beautiful, lovely cat he grew into.
Much gratitude to Timothy’s team of backup caregivers; Jann, Justine, Jen and Peri
And, thank you Loomis Basin vets, Dr. Marcia Smith and Dr. Olivia Petrunich for the wonderful medical care you gave him.
