Norman

The help line rang. A lady had been feeding a cat for some time. It was OK with other cats so we thought it unlikely to be a feral but yet another abandoned domestic. She had noticed recently that it had developed a "cauliflower” ear. Could we lend her a trap so that she could it and take it to the vet for treatment ?

It was Easter weekend so it was unlikely that it could be treated until Tuesday so we contacted the nearest vet (the Pines) and made arrangements for it to be admitted on Tuesday. We dropped off the trap and told the lady about the arrangements we had made.

It wasn’t long before the lady rang again. The cat was in the trap so it was taken to the out of hours vet for an initial assessment and stayed until Tuesday when it was returned to the Pines.

It was an elderly tabby and white male, scruffy and thin, between 12 and 15 years old, but very loving and very fond of his food. The vet thought he had been "on the road” for some time.

We were delighted to learn that Agnes had decided to adopt him.

He was castrated, had his ear treated, was tested for FIV / FelV (the result came back negative – we were very relieved ), was de-matted and a panel of "old cat” blood tests were carried out one of which showed a high level of sugar in his blood which meant that he was diabetic.

As soon as she was told Beverley immediately went round to see his owner taking a supply of syringes so she could show her how to inject him with insulin. Agnes managed the injections very well and Church was a very good boy seeming to realise that this procedure was for this own good.

The vet recommended he be transferred to gastrointestinal food as this might help reduce the insulin in his blood.

He will need to go back to the vets on a regular basis to have his blood sugar levels checked so that his food intake / insulin can be adjusted if necessary.

Sadly Norman and the resident cats did not get on so we have taken him in.

We are sure that with peace, quiet and good care he will settle down and become a happy member of the CLAWS family.