From commentor Esme:
I’m hoping the Balloon Juice Animal Rescue Network might be able to lend a hand with a sweet little lady in need of a home. On Thanksgiving Day, my cousin found a cat in my parents’ yard who was obviously in need of assistance. She’s an absolute darling love who clearly used to live with people, but has been living rough for a while now. She was so happy to be with people again, and she wasn’t even scared of the car when we took her to the vet–she was content to just sit in my lap in the sunshine and watch the cars go by as she rubbed her head all over my hands and purred. We’re calling her Gracie.
I’ve already paid to have the vet give Gracie a full work-up, so she’s had her dewormer/Revolution/antibiotic, and she’s negative for both FIV and feline leukemia. She is diabetic, so she’s going to require low-carb food and 2x daily subcutaneous insulin, but the vet thinks there’s a good chance she’ll go into remission in several months and stop needing the insulin so long as she stays on the low-carb diet. I’m not sure whether she’s been spayed, but I suspect those days are past her, anyway. She’s very underweight right now, so my cousin is on vet’s instructions to pump her as full of calories as possible, and the vet will be ordering her insulin on Monday.
She’s currently living in my cousin’s garage until we can find a home for her. My cousin is taking excellent care of her, and will keep doing so until we can find a suitable home for her, but she and I are both full up on cats already and not really in a position to give her a forever home. The local no-kill shelter isn’t able to take her because of the diabetes.
Does anyone at Balloon Juice have any leads on a home for the most affectionate lady you’ll ever meet? She probably only has a few years left, and I’d love to find her a loving home and a warm lap to pass her twilight years. I know it’s a really tough order, but I’ve also seen Juicers come through time and again, so fingers crossed.
Gracie is currently in East Tennessee. If someone’s able to take her on, I’ll be glad to pay for microchipping, and we’ll make sure she comes with some insulin and food.
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All suggestions welcome! If you don’t want to leave a comment, send me a message — anne-laurie (at) balloon-juice (dot) com — and I can hook you up with Esme directly.
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MazeDancer
What a bunch of sweetness. If you have a kitty-sized place you can make, she looks like such a good one.
Posted on Twitter. In for transport, of course.
Esme, do you want Vet $$?
Esme
@MazeDancer: Thanks for the offer, but we have the costs covered. If we’re able to find a good home and a car-transport network to get her there, we’re thrilled to cover the veterinary expenses!
cain
She is a bit too far for me and also my home is small and can barely handle Lav and Khush .. I don’t mind taking care of this girl in a her twilight years.. that was my previous cat. Loved her so much
Lyrebird
Thankful for your care Esme and cousin!
Sending good wishes for the person who needs Gracie to see this [ETA for clarity:] blog post.
Our household is not ready to have more care needs added, I am sad to say, but we hope to get there.
Anonymous At Work
I have a cat lady friend out the Nooga way but whether she can take one and settle her in with the existing cats while her mom is having issues…I can ping her if this is a LAST RESORT type deal.
eclare
She looks like such a sweetie. In for transport costs.
sab
Such a sweetie. We are full up since our two girls don’t even get along with each other or the three boys. In for transport also.
I love the rescue cat ladies. We just learned that the middle aged biker lady up the street is one. A renter moved out and abandoned the 15 unneutered cats she had been feeding. Biker lady has been feeding and gradually catching them. 11 have been re-homed. She is working on the last 5, and hopes yesterdays will persuade them to come be caught. She has been coming down the street several times a day for most of the summer trying to make friends with them. The 5 remaining are the older ones. The youngsters have all been caught and placed.
We know the renter. I can’t believe she left without telling anyone what she was about to do.
MazeDancer
@cain: Not sure there is such a thing as too far.
That’s what transport is for.
sab
@sab: yeterdays should be yesterday’s 2″ snow.
eclare
@sab: I cannot imagine moving and leaving pets behind. That rescue woman is an angel.
WaterGirl
@eclare: That’s how I got my dog AC. My co-worker’s neighbor packed up the kids and the other dog and left for California from Illinois and left AC and the cat behind.
They just drove off. Don’t get me started, I can feel the flush of anger coming on and it was many, many years ago.
AC was a wonderful dog, their loss, my gain. He had bare spots because of allergies, which I got under control. I called every. single. fucking. vet in the county to try to find where they had taken him. Apparently they never had even taken him to the fucking vet. He was much better off with me.
sab
@eclare: She was in a difficult situation. She is a single mom with an autistic kid. The landlord jacked up her rent to force her out to let a relative move in. But still, she should have told someone. The cat rescue lady only learned because she lives next door to the landlord who was upset about the cats swarming around his rental property. They like to hang out in the front yard and on the deck. The relative didn’t like it.
Maybe she hoped the new tenant would take over. Who knows. We would have tried to help if she’d told us.
eclare
@WaterGirl: Wow. So glad you got AC. And what a lesson to give kids, don’t want “it” anymore? Just abandon it.
Esme
@Anonymous At Work: Thank you, but it’s not a last resort situation—we’re fortunate to be in a position where Gracie can stay with my cousin until the right home comes along. There’s no need for anyone to take on more than they can handle.
Esme
@WaterGirl: We think Gracie may have been deliberately abandoned, too—my folks live out on a road where people used to sometimes dump dogs they didn’t want anymore. It’s infuriating.
Mama Marcia
Where in East TN? We can take her, and would love to, but restricting calories would be an issue, because of household makeup. We have loads if rescue connections.
satby
@Esme: thank you for doing this for her. I’ve just taken on a foster dog and two formerly outdoor abandoned cats. But if someone steps up and we need transport assistance I can tap into my former transport network for help. You may try asking one of the rescues near you just to host her profile on their Petfinder page, some will do that.
Esme
@satby: That’s a good idea, thanks!
eclare
@satby: How is CK Dexter Haven doing?
TaMara (HFG)
You’re good people. Weighing in on the insulin issue – we had a cat who, once we moved him to a pure protein diet, went into complete remission and didn’t have to have insulin for the remainder of his life. So I’d take Gracie’s vet’s optimism as a good sign.
I know BJ will find her the perfect forever family. I’d be up for it, but Emma refuses to let another female cat in the house, so I’ve limited our rescues to males for now. At 18, she gets what she wants.
Eunicecycle
My son adopted a cat that had been abandoned, left in an empty apartment when the tenant moved out. The apartment manager didn’t go in for several days to check out the apartment, and found the kitten. She has had a great life since but had a pretty rough start!
Skepticat
I wish I could help, but I’m overcatted and underhoused. Fortunately, BJ is the place to come for things such as this; we are a bunch o’ suckers for animals.
Years ago, I had a diabetic cat (courtesy of dry food), and testing and giving insulin weren’t at all difficult (and certainly worth it). Not even cooking boneless chicken breasts to give him and his pseudo siblings a better diet was a stretch too far. However, he went into remission after a cat sitter (herself diabetic) accidentally overdosed him with insulin. I understand remission is not uncommon in cats, and I hope Gracie is lucky too.
eclare
@Skepticat: What a wonderful story!
Kristine
Also in for help with transport costs if needed.
Poor Gracie–what a sweetie.
Esme
@Mama Marcia: Near Knoxville. She doesn’t need calories restricted—she actually needs as many calories as she can get right now, since the uncontrolled diabetes has left her so underweight. She just needs high-protein, low-carb canned food, and it sounds like there are several suitable kinds that are easy to find at big-box stores and the like.
Jess
Just want to say–you’re all such wonderful people! I woke up grinding my teeth in anger over all the folly and mean-spiritedness in the world, but now I’m feeling better, thanks to the warmth and generosity shown here! Wish I could take her, but my own elderly but feisty queen would not approve. I would contribute to transport costs, though.
cain
@sab: It’s likely she just felt bitter – she’s only human and just left. Being forced out of your home was probably very traumatizing. Not a good reason, but perhaps an explanation for their behavior.
Leslie
What a sweetheart. My current cat doesn’t tolerate other felines, but I’m in for transport costs. Thank you for helping her.
narya
@Mama Marcia: Downstairs neighbor has microchip feeders, so the cats can’t eat each other’s food. One previous cat was a bit of a nibbler, coming back for multiple passes, but Large Cat would hoover everything in sight. The chip situation solved the problem. It’s useful now because Large Cat needs meds on his wet food every few days, and Current Second Cat does not (and is also a nibbler sometimes.)
Jenny Howard
I’d be happy to help with costs. Balloon Juice adoptions are special.
sab
@narya: Wow. I did not know there was such a thing. That could ne useful.
Mary G
Promised my lung doctor no new cats even though he’s wrong about them causing my problem. Would be happy to chip in for anything needed.
Much celebration here because my dim cat has learned to use the pet stairs up to my bed. She has a mild congenital flaw in her back legs which has caused arthritis and made jumping painful. It only took a week or two of treats on the third stair and the smart cat running up and down to demonstrate. She’s decided she is the Queen of the Stairs and will sit on the top stair to keep him off.
I had been feeding them on my great aunt’s hope chest about 18 inches off the ground because putting a bowl of water on the floor from my wheelchair is impossible. I bought one of the stands that hold the bowels up, but it was still too low for me. I tried putting it on an Amazon box, but the robovac knocked it over and pushed dishes, stand, and box into different rooms of the house. So now I have it on a box full of rocks. Whatever works.
sab
@Mary G: I bought a little ( 12 inches high) chest for storage from a craft store ( Joanns) and sanded and stained and varnished it. Meant it for tax stuff storage. But when the pitbull had her surgery it was just the right height for her to climb on the bed without jumping.
Satby said bad idea. She was right. Pitbulls are extremely deteremined. Whatever they want they will want forever. Which includes Ponyo wanting to sit on my chest, and Ponyo wanting scritches for hours on end. If she was on the floor it wouldn’t matter. When she is on my chest on my bed it tilts the odds about who wins the discussion.
tam1MI
Balloon Juice turned its back on the last animal named Gracie that was in need. Hopefully this one will have better luck.