one of the good things that has happened in my life happened in 2001. even though that year a terrible thing happened to our country. actually it happened over the course of that year.
we had three cats at the time. sammy, my 12 yr old russian blue. spook, my beau’s 12 yr old bombay. and gizmo, our 1 yr old havnna mix.
i cant remember exactly what order it all started, but both our older cats got sick about the same time. sammy had developed a urinary problem, and while she was at the vet’s being examined, it was discovered her blood sugar was something like 600. it was very high, and the vet became obviously concerned. so she was put on 1/2 unit of insulin twice a day, and a low calorie ca food to reduce her from her overweight 15 lbs. yes, she was a fat kitty. but how she got that way is another blog.
about the same time as this, spook became very ill and listless. when he was examined, it was discovered that he was in renal failure due to an infection that had started in his gums. (he had some nasty teeth, but brushing them was not possible with this old warrior). he was a sick kitty, and very cold, and had lost some weight already. the vet gave us two days.
well, we took him home, and warmed him up, and decided that we would not acept this prognosis. so we began to pray over him, and my beau found a promise in psalm 145, that God gives His creatures what they desire. so we claimed it, and stood our ground. as spook began to warm up, he began to act more comfortable. he was still pretty sick, though. we stood on that promise for many days, and force fed the old cat yogurt and water. after more days, we coaxed him to eat his prescribed low protein cat food. it was work. but gradually he began to come around. the vet was totally amazed. he was so sure spook would die. we told him, no, spook would live, and declare the glory of God.
meanwhile, sammy wasn’t doing so well on her insulin. she had lost a lot of weight, and was down to around 6-7 lbs, but she had crashed on the insulin a couple of times. do you know how hard it is to measure 1/2 unit of insulin? one day we found her in her cage cold, not breathing, and she had voided. all signs of death. my beau grabbed her up and said BREATH! and she went ‘meaorw’, and we raced her to the vet for dextrose. then after that her kidneys and her liver began to fail. i was advised to put her down. huh uh! no, she would live and not die. the other vet who had come to work with our regular vet, she thought i was nuts. she told me i was prolonging the suffering. sammy got down to 4 lbs, and was getting fluids injected daily for a while, she was so dehydrated. i stood my ground. i finally decided enough fluids, she was getting so tired of it. the second vet figured i was taking her home to die. wrong. she started to improve. we finally found a food she could eat that was actually being recommended for diabetic cats…kitten food. high in protien and fat, low in carbs. she gained a couple of pounds, and leveled out.
it was a battle that went on for several months, but both cats recovered pretty well. spook never put his weight back on, but went on to live until 2004, a happy old stick cat. when he died, he died peacefully as a natural thing. he was just done.
sammy is still with us, 16 years old now. she is holding at 6 lbs, takes glipizide twice a day, right before she eats, and has no problems.
both the vets were amazed, and told some of their other patient’s owners about the miracle cats, and how we prayed and they lived. when they should have died.
they did live, and declared the glory of God. God kept His word, and gave them their desire…to live out their lives as they should.