Cross-posted at Florida Netroots
For those of you who don't already know this, I use the screen name "meowmissy" because I adopted a beautiful tuxedo colored kitty from the Humane Society a couple weeks before I started getting involved with blogging, which at the time was primarily here at Daily Kos over three years ago.
Isn't she gorgeous?
When I adopted her, the good folks at the Humane Society told me that she was about six years old. They also told me a sad story about how her "parents" couldn't take care of her anymore and that they'd brought her out to various sites (they take adoptable animals to pet stores and other public places), but nobody ever showed any interest in her and so they keep taking her back to the shelter - they had her for nine months. Being a sucker for a sad story and having recently lost my beloved cat Angel to cancer, I scooped her up and took her home.
She's a little over 9 years old now, which is considered "mature" for a cat, but with plenty of life yet to live.
This past weekend I took her to the Vet for her semiannual check-up. I knew she had lost some weight and wasn't eating as well, which I attributed to her not liking the new food I bought for her, but otherwise didn't suspect anything was wrong.
Monday evening I got a message on my answering machine from the Vet, she got the bloodwork back and we have something important to discuss. When a doctor says that it is never good news.
Missy has been diagnosed with Diabetes.
I was a bit of a wreck that night, but I've pulled it together. The following day I read as much as I could from a very informative site my Vet recommended felinediabetes.com, picked up Missy's insulin from the pharmacy, and took her to the Vet's office so that I could be shown the proper way to inject her and discuss her care.
So far, so good. She's eating better. Giving her the injections is actually quite easy - way easier than giving a cat oral medications. She still bats my nose with her paw in the morning letting me know its time to get up. She still greets me at the door when I get home at the end of a long day's work.
Financially, I've got everything covered. I'm a consummate saver. Even as a child I held on to every piece of change I could get my hands on, so I have an emergency stash to take care of all of her needs. Spiritually, I could use some well wishes on Missy's behalf.
Thank-you.