About Cherish & Pandora: Cat Behavior & Diabetic Cats

Cherish first came into my life in June of 2007. She ended up at a local municipal shelter and upon arrival, it was determined she was feral. She had three kittens with her.

At that time, I was on the shelter’s daily release list for cats that could be transferred to limited intake shelters. The day I picked up Cherish was quite an eventful day, as I also picked up three other moms with kittens, due to a panleukopenia outbreak.

Part of the transfer process included fostering cats. Sometimes cats would only stay one night, and other times they stayed for months. With feral moms, we would typically try and foster them to see if they were indeed feral. We would also work with the kittens to socialize them for adoption.

In this case, all of the moms needed socialization, especially Cherish. She was a feisty little firecracker when I first met her. With all her might she would lunge at me, fiercely trying to bite. After we got her into the carrier, I knew I was up for the challenge. 

I had some experience with feral cats when I first started in cat rescue back in the late 90’s, at that time we mostly did TNR work, so I only worked with a small number on socialization. The memories of Chevy, Smokey and Sketcher stayed with me through the years, how they learned to trust. 

Reflecting on this memory, I knew I could help Cherish as well as the other moms. As it turned out, only one of the moms was truly feral, and that was ok too. Not all feral cats want to be domesticated, just like not all feral cats are truly feral, which ended up being the case with Cherish. 

When we got home, it didn’t take me long to realize that Cherish had issues with small spaces. I first tried her in the bathroom, but she was having no part of that. Once I set up the adjoining bedroom and opened the door, it was clear this was much better suited for her.

As I got the kittens moved in and set up, Cherish sat on the other side of the room watching me intensely, hissing and growling. But she never lunged at me. From her behavior, I was also able to determine that she was not going to be an under the bed kitty. This told me she still had some confidence in her external world.

It was also clear Cherish had lived in a home before; she understood toys, even though she wasn’t playing with them. She also appreciated soft beds and blankets. I even caught her watching birds outside on the patio shortly after her arrival. 

Despite my efforts with soft beds and blankets, Butters, the true feral mom, lived in the bathtub with her kittens until I could get her spayed and then locate a safe barn home for her. This happened frequently over the years, and I discovered that there are many people who are dedicated to giving these working cats a safe place to call home. 

Working with Cherish was an experience that impacted me on a deep level. Although I had worked with feral cats before, it was not in the same context. The kitty’s back in the old feral cats’ days had been living outside and one day they just decided to move into the house and stay. 

With Cherish, I was able to glean a lot more insight by observing her behavior. Even at a distance, I was able to start identifying specific ear twitches, tail flicks, and how she carried her body at rest and when active. It gave me insight into what she needed and how she was feeling.  

Recognizing this connection to their behavior is how we can understand our cats better and help them live a more peaceful life. Many cats actually do not mind a hectic household, multiple cats, or even dogs and children. As long as they have what they need to feel safe and secure in their environment. 

Now that is not true of all cats though, there are plenty of felines that prefer the quiet life of solitude and serenity. But even these kitty’s can get their paws in a tiss and stop using their litter box. When a cat acts out, they are expressing their needs – in the only way they know how. 

For Cherish, she didn’t like being confined to small spaces. Now she did enjoy a good box or cozy cube bed, but she always had a way out, a ninja like escape route. It was walls or barriers that caused her angst. And that was an easy issue to solve for her. 

For some cats it may be one thing that causes them to act out, or it could be several issues that need to be addressed. They may express their disdain with aggression, being scared and hiding all the time, or they may stop using the litter box. The key to working with cats is helping them find their safe space, their place of inner confidence and security. 

Throughout my cat rescue career and with my own cats, I learned a great deal about cat behavior. Over the years, I worked primarily with aggressive cats, towards humans, other cats and pets. I also worked with cats with tricker issues like destroying furniture, household items, and the big one, litter box issues. 

The key to working with cats is patience. It can take time to get to the root of their issues, but it is worth the effort. Once that nugget of wisdom comes to light, helping them regain their confidence and security becomes easy and effortless. Whether you have one cat, multiple cats, or have multiple issues, I can help you cherish your kitty again. 

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Pandora first came into my life in January 2008. She had been brought into a vet clinic as a stray and they were looking for someone to help her find an adoptive home. What first started out as temporary fostering took a turn when she got a bit too playful and ended up breaking her hoc joint. This is not a typical injury for cats and it requires surgery.

After the surgery it took her time to recover and during this time we really bonded. It was clear that she needed to stay. I am grateful I kept her for so many reasons. 

At the time, I did find it interesting that she didn’t have any medical conditions like my other cats. During those earlier years, I had a soft spot for special needs cats and would often take those kitties in. That did change for Pandora as she got older.

In 2018, Pandora became very ill, right after Clyde passed away, our sweet Siamese boy. She was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, and we started medications for her. She rallied back and was doing quite well. Things changed in 2019, when Bonnie passed away, our twin flame Siamese girl. Pandora again, got very ill and during these vet visits, she was diagnosed with diabetes. 

It was tricky to navigate as she was never fully regulated. The first year, I was never able to stop testing her twice per day and record the findings. At that time, we were trying to determine what her “normal” glucose reading was, since despite our efforts, we could not get her close to 120, let alone 80.

Through this process, accompanied by journaling her readings, and regular weekly and bi-weekly glucose curves, helped me develop a deeper understanding of this disease and how it impacts our cats.