Resilience

Meet Griffin, our resident "old man" who was diagnosed with diabetes and has suffered numerous related health problems since his diagnosis this past winter.  I was thinking today that I could perhaps learn a lot about grit from our two cats, Griffi in particular.  With three cats in our house (in 2014) we had the occasional furballs and full litter boxes.  It was not until Keira and Griff's brother Logan passed away suddenly in July that we realized there was even anything wrong with Griff.  Logan had mastered the art of grit.  He literally was not sick a day in his life. laid around more than usual Saturday morning, and by dinner Saturday I knew he had to go to the ER b/c he could barely stand, meow, or open his eyes.  We were devastated by his loss and so were Keira and Griff.  

Keira bounced back within a few days, but Griff began to urinate and spray on random things at random times, the water dish began to empty within hours of my filling it, food began to appear in regurgitated piles all over the house, etc.  We took both cats to the vet b/c we were unsure of which one was doing the vomiting and such.  Both had their first UTIs and Griff was found to have very high levels of blood sugar, which took nearly six months of prescription food to regulate back down to a safe level.  

Since being diagnosed, Griff has been treated for countless recurrent infections.  His sugar levels have been precarious at times, to the point that we didn't know if he would be able to make the move to NJ.  Luckily, he was a trooper.  It has taken him over a month to start to feel comfortable in our new home, despite all our best transitional techniques.  Through it all, he has held tight to his resilience. He his affection and spunk have not waivered, which means that he does every (naughty) thing he sets his mind to and then curls up in my lap or arms, purring contentedly.