We had a good time together. My little weirdo really bloomed, became fat and round (arguably a little bit TOO fat…), and was showing his spicy-sweet personality. He still hated the injections but in the end he was grudgingly accepting the daily routine. A thorough ear massage and regular treat certainly helped…

Chillin’ out…

In the summertime he occupied the balcony, often lazing on the doormat or dozing in a sunny spot. He could still undertake excursions out in the house’s staircase, for birdwatching and generally just being a cute annoyance. I was still in the home office during those months, and thus I could supervise him when he was strolling around. His difficulties with climbing the stairs became more and more visible. He became more and more stiff, and it was more a kind of cute waddling than walking up and down. But he was pretty undeterred and even when he was in obvious decline he still cherished those little trips. I didn’t have the heart to put him on a diet after he had probably been hungry for the better part of his life. And I was also wary about any interference with his insulin schedule.

He didn’t really like the dietary food and thus I just used regular wet food with a low NfE value, like the food from Aldi. I had reserved kibble for emergencies, and I was glad he never really dug into it since even the one from Thrive was still questionable.

Unfortunately, his drinking behavior was still not optimal, he was drinking (and peeing) way too much. It smelled less obnoxious and sweet, but I was really racing through the bags of cat litter. His eating behavior was also still voracious and his poop was often not well-formed, bordering on diarrhea.

All clear signs that he was still not perfectly adjusted. But his dosage was already high, between 5-6 units, and so there was only a small margin for errors. Sadly he was still fighting against the blood sugar measurements. Hitting a tiny blood vessel in an ear is really impossible when the cat is fighting back, and I usually had to get help.

Living the good life

Somewhat surprisingly he got along very well with all the cat sitters. He charmed them immediately with his irresistible purrs, squawks, and head bunts. On the first encounter, he was always a bit reserved and grumpy. But that never lasted very long and he quickly became a huge cuddle bug. Giving the injections was never much of a problem, the sitters quickly got the hang of it and weren’t afraid. In any case, I always left them clear instructions on how to deal with an emergency, and if in doubt just skip an injection.

He even visited my Japanese language partner Keiko. Her little daughter was obsessed with him and could read stories to him for hours, while he was peacefully snoring on the “Hubi”-couch.

So far, everything went great 🙂