Introducing Bonbon, our new long-term foster kitty…

Bonbon is a 12 year old dark tortie (with a somewhat worried expression!). Her humans surrendered her to the local RSPCA group because she was peeing everywhere and they couldn’t cope.

She was nearly 6kg at diagnosis apparently, but given the size of her frame should be closer to 4kg.
She’s been fed dry food all her life (possibly consisting mainly of Dreamies treats…) and doesn’t even recognise wet food as ‘food’. The diagnosing vet put her on a diet of Hill’s prescription dry food and prescribed 4 units Caninsulin twice a day.

Went to collect her from the emergency fosterer yesterday afternoon. Bonbon was pretty stressed when we brought her back here, and has spent most of the time hiding behind the armchair in her room. I just left her alone with water and food to let her settle down. Swapped the high carb ‘prescription’ food for much lower carb Thrive ‘premium plus’ (lowest carb dry we have in the UK.) Didn’t give insulin. My plan is to withhold that for a few days at least if possible while gaining her trust (so I can test her) and getting her onto a lower carb diet.

This morning she came out to see me when I went into the room. It seems she’s actually very friendly. I tested her blood glucose and it was 11.3 on a human meter. Not too shabby at all given that she’s not had insulin for over 24 hours. It must be that she is producing at least ‘some’ insulin of her own.

The photo is the most recent one of her taken in the shelter. But I’ll try to get some of her here soon….
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Bless you for doing this for this precious kitty, @Elizabeth and Bertie !

 

Oh Eliz! What a beautiful new baby you have and what a lucky kitty to have you! Keep the pics coming!

 

Yes!!!!! Can't wait to see more pics (or even meet her in person)... she sounds such a sweetie and I'm so happy that you're giving her this chance of a better life...

 

She’s a beauty and so lucky to have you to take care of her! ❤️

 

She's beautiful Elizabeth, I'm so glad she's come to live with you and get proper care. HUGS!

 

She’s lovely, Eliz! Glad you found each other.

 

Here's the first pic of Bonbon taken here at home. She seems to be settling in OK in her own little room.

Started her on a little insulin today as her numbers have come up, and I'm not sure she'll drop much lower from the switch to lower carb diet at this point...
I was nervous of giving the Caninsulin that came with her though as I'm not yet able to test her that often, so I just tried half a unit of Bertie's old Hypurin PZI. It was a nearly full vial only used for a couple of shots before before Bertie went into remission. It was well stored in case Bertie needed it again in the near future...
I thought given the time in storage it might well have completely lost potency, although I know from experience Hypurin can be very stable over fairly long periods. But from a preshot of 18.2 she came down to 11.3 at +4, so it looks like the insulin still works...
She's also had her first few bites of wet food. She wasn't keen on the texture at all, but it does now seem more likely that she'll be able to be transitioned to wet food in time.... Fingers crossed....
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Aww hello bonbon such a cutie.
How lovely that you found each other I know she will get the bestest of care with yourself x

 

She's awfully cute!

 

Welcome to Bonbon. She is beautiful. I used to have a tortie Burmese girl and she reminds me of her.
That is wonderful you are taking care of her Elizabeth. She is a very lucky girl.
I’m sure she will soon settle in and be very happy.
More photos please.

 

Beautiful and looks at home already. Looking forward to her progress.

 

What a lovely girl! I have a soft spot in my heart for torties. I hope you can get her on track, and learning to love a healthier diet! May she reward you with all the best of her "tortitude".

 

Quick update on Bonbon. She is now on a low carb wet diet, no dry food at all. Am really pleased for her given that the rescue said she absolutely would not eat wet food...
She seems generally happy (despite her worried expression!).
She's got better with being hometested, but it can still be a bit 'hit and miss' if she's in a head-tossing mood, so I'm being cautious with the insulin dose at this point. Don't want to get into a low-number situation with her when I can't guarantee to be able to test her...
She's getting Bertie's Hypurin PZI twice a day. Numbers not great at this point, but nice gentle flattish cycles, so hopefully we can ease her numbers down. And her clinical signs have improved. All her dandruff seems to have gone, and her coat is much improved.
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Catnip in her whiskers, haha!
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Looks great, catnip and all. Right at home she is.

 

She sure looks happy and healthy! What an adorable little girl!

 

She’s beautiful! One of my heart kitties was a tortie. She’s was ai love bug. People talk of tortietude but Tiffany didn’t have it. Torties are special! Thanks for taking her in.

 

She's so beautiful! She's in the perfect place with the perfect person.

 

Elizabeth Bonbon looks an absolute picture of health!. Those eye are just beautiful and her coat looks shiny and she looks very contented and at home. You have done an amazing job with her. She is a lucky girl.