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Crazy Mama got her name because we already had a Mama (a.k.a. Little One, until she had kittens). Crazy Mama was a pregnant stray who had had kittens in someone's wood pile. Our downstairs neighbor found homes for all the kittens, but no one wanted the mother. So we took her in. We called her "Crazy", because she was so nervous and jumpy. She was really sweet, and when left alone in the room, would often go crazy playing with anything near the front door. That was her official playground, and if the toy was swatted too far, she would just sit and wait for someone to throw it back by the door. Then off she'd go again!
We had Crazy Mama for several years before she developed diabetes. At first we thought it would be so difficult to manage, but it turned out to be almost a breeze! After an initial evaluation by the vet to determine her required dose, I was instructed on how to give the necessary insulin injections. We had to test her urine once a day and check the glucose concentration. We found that the Kitty White cat litter we used was "glucose negative", so when Crazy Mama urinated in the litter box, if I was fast enough to stick the test strip in the puddle before it dried up, I could get an accurate reading without any problem. As long as she stayed in the "slight glucose" range (a 1+" to 2+" reading), then she stayed at the same dose. She took the injections great! She rarely (if ever) seemed to feel them. Insulin syringes (needles) come by the box of 100 for about $20, the insulin itself cost about $14 per bottle, which lasts about 5 months. The test strips ("Tes-Tape") was about $8 for 150 inches, which would last me about 150 days.
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When we first evaluated Mama, the vet put her on the NPH type of insulin. After just a few months, the NPH proved to be too difficult to manage; her readings fluctuated too much. We then switched to PZI insulin, which is supposed to have a longer lasting effect over the course of the day. This kept her readings much more even, and for years she did just fine. Then suddenly we couldn't get the PZI anywhere! The drugstores told us that the manufacturer had discontinued the PZI. We scrounged around every drugstore within many miles buying up what PZI we could find. When we finally used up our hoard, we had to switch her to what they said was an equivalent - "genetically engineered human insulin - Ultralente". We had a hard time regulating her properly on this insulin. About three months after we switched, suddenly her left front paw collapsed under her. A few hour later, it was her left back paw collapsed. She became completely paralyzed on her left side. We rushed her to the emergency clinic, and they couldn't explain her paralysis. Within 24 hours, she regained use of her left side again. No one could ever really explain what caused this, but we believe it had something to do with the diabetes - perhaps a blood clot was lodged someplace it shouldn't have been. It was a few months after that that she started losing her eyesight. She eventually became completely blind. We were both out of work at the time, and were able to supervise her almost 24 hours a day. The only time we ever left her alone, was for an occasional trip to the supermarket when we knew she would be sleeping, but never for more than an hour. At night she would sleep in a sectioned off area of our bedroom by our bed on her "snuggy" on the floor. Luckily whenever she woke up, she would always meow loudly so wherever we were, we could hear her and rush to help her. For the last year of her life, she lived with the blindness, and we were almost constantly by her side. She learned to adapt to it quite well, but we always felt we should be there. We wanted to make sure the other cats would not hurt or upset her. Every evening after their supper, we'd sit outside on our stoop, Jeff holding Mama, and Diane holding Binky. Mama would listen intently to the sounds of the birds and cars outside, and always loved to sniff the breeze. She seemed to be content even with all the obstacles she had to overcome. On November 1, 1994, Mama seemed to be very tired. Diane was concerned, and as soon as I came home, I rushed to see her. Within minutes, she went into a seizure. She died in my arms on the way to the vet. The doctor felt that she must have had a blood vessel burst in her brain, and that she felt no pain.
She was a sweet cat, she was a good cat, and we grew to love her even more because of all her problems. We developed a very strong bond with her because we were given the priviledge of being able to help her. She seemed to appreciate us more, instead of being upset with us for all that she was going through.
Diabetes doesn't scare us anymore.
Since we lost Crazy Mama there have been further advances with feline diabetes. We are now doing home blood glucose monitoring on our cat Biffy, who was diagnosed with Diabetes in Sept. of 1998.
Please go to this site to learn more about the treatment of Feline Diabetes. It is an introductory pet health guide.
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The music with this page is "Memories", from "Cats".
