Greyson “showed up” as a young cat in his owner’s neighborhood. He was sporting a tipped ear, identifying him as a neutered and vaccinated feral cat from the local TNR organization, “Cat-Nip.” He was a handsome cat with long tiger-striped hair, a giant plume of a tail, and a regal face. His owner, DeNeal, had just moved into her home and fell in love with this neighborhood cat. Greyson soon secured permission to move into DeNeal’s home, and he proved to be a great conversationalist, with meow greetings, food requests, and other opinions about most everything.
Greyson always had a great appetite and was a tad overweight but otherwise healthy during checkups, vaccinations, and applications of flea control. However, in 2021 he began to lose weight and hair despite a normal appetite and parasite control. A fecal check revealed an absence of parasites. His enlarged abdomen suggested possible FIP, but an abdominocentesis found none of the yellow abdominal fluid associated with this disease. The owner was advised to return for further evaluation if Greyson continued to lose weight.
Greyson did continue to lose weight. During his recheck, he was emaciated and scored only a 2/9 body condition score (normal BCS is 5/9). One veterinarian thought she felt a thyroid nodule, a sign of possible hyperthyroidism. The owner was advised that a blood chemistry panel was required to rule this differential in or out. Greyson, however, was NOT interested in giving blood and needed a sedative for us to pull blood successfully. We were surprised to see normal thyroid hormone levels when the results returned but instead found sky-high blood glucose. Diagnosis – diabetes!
The owner was pleased to have a diagnosis and eager to move forward with treatment. She was trained to give insulin injections, advised how and when to check blood glucose levels, and taught to recognize the signs of dangerous hypoglycemia (low blood glucose). With a generous donation from Banfield Foundation Community Care Grant, we started Greyson on his way to recovery. He was an excellent patient for his twice daily insulin injections but objected to the daily ear pricks required to check his blood glucose. Since he continued to resist this essential daily test, we applied a Freestyle Libre continuous blood glucose monitor, which he wore for two weeks as we adjusted his insulin dose to his optimal level. Greyson is now back to his normal talkative, 12 pounds, handsome self with his lifesaving treatment.
Thank you, Banfield Foundation
