Ken's World - Missy's Page

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Mistletoe died of complications from diabetes on September 15, 2003. She had a great life.

Hi, I'm Mistletoe -- my friends call me Missy. I was born on January 11, 1989. I've been with Ken since I was 6 weeks old. I'm a little shy around people I don't know well. I love fresh catnip, which Ken grows for me. When Ken asked me if I miss boy cats, I just sneezed, which he decided was an eloquent yet succinct response. Although I'm disdainful of most boy cats, I think Garfield is a pretty studly dude.

Favorite Things: Dinner time, catnip, computer games (Ken's hopeless without my help), perching on the back of the couch to survey my domain, playing Pounce! in bed when Ken is trying to sleep.

Dislikes: Vacuum cleaner, door bells, strangers in MY house.

In January 2001, Mistletoe was diagnosed with diabetes, which explained her loss of 5 pounds in the preceding months (and I thought her diet was working really well!). I've had to adjust to not calling her Miss Fat Cat. Feline Diabetes cannot be cured but it can be controlled. I give her daily (sometimes twice-daily) injections of insulin, and because cats use human insulin it is inexpensive and available in any pharmacy. Even with a prosthetic hand, the injections are not difficult to administer. Okay, although I got an Inject-a-Cat lesson from my vet, I still had a few failures during the first month, when the insulin went *on* the cat rather than *in* her, but we've refined our technique and Missy has adjusted to this routine. I think she likes the attention. I feed her Purina DM cat food, which helps control her glucose level but unfortunately is only available through a veterinary clinic. A little known fact about dry cat food is that it tastes many times better if it is thrown to your kitty rather than left for her in the food bowl. The Food Toss is an important part of the feeding ritual and no cat should be deprived.