and 13.7 for Shelby. 
Miss G began to realize that even though the 2 cats have been on the same diet for the same period of time, Jackson seemed to lose a great deal of weight, and Shelby lost none! That didn't seem right, and at the same time, Sonna and Denise, the cat sitters, observed that Jackson drinks and pees a great deal more than Shelby does. He's also been a bit lethargic, so a trip to the vet would be in order.
Turns out the little fella is diabetic. We caught it early, so hopefully he won't have to have shots, just pills and a change of diet. Diabetes is very common in cats. As total carnivores (wild cats eat nothing but meat), their metabolism doesn't deal well with carbohydrates and fiber. (The fur they ingest from grooming is all the fiber they need! Too much more causes furball digestive issues!) Because commercial cat food producers could not possibly obtain the variety of meats a cat would need to maintain a balanced diet, they add carbohydrate fillers to reduce the cost of the food and to provide certain amino acids and nutrients they couldn't provide otherwise. The high fiber diet we put them on to reduce their weight just made things worse, because it didn't provide enough protein to keep his little system balanced!
So now we're back on a prescription dietand we have to give a cat pills. (Have you ever tried to give a cat a pill?!) Luckily, it can be crushed, but that leaves us dealing with wet cat food
, which is something we have managed to avoid up until now!
, which is something we have managed to avoid up until now!To make matters worse, Miss G is off again to NOLA tomorrow morning, for her longest stint yet: 10 days! She hates leaving Miss Sonna and Miss Denise to deal with this, but what's a girl to do? Luckily, Jack lapped up the wet food like a big dog ("Doggie" is one of is nicknames because he has so many dog-like traits!) His other nicknames are Jackson Brown (because he is brown), JB (short for Jackson Brown), and JB Dude. He answers to all of them but Jackson Brown is my favorite!
RUNNING ON EMPTY(by Jackson Browne)
Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields
In sixty-five I was seventeen and running up one-o-one
I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on
Running on - running on emptyRunning on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I'm running behind
Gotta do what you can just to keep your love alive
Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive
In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own
I don't know when that road turned onto the road I'm on
Running on - running on empty
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I'm running behind
Everyone I know, everywhere I go
People need some reason to believe
I don't know about anyone but me
If it takes all night, that'll be all right
If I can get you to smile before I leave
Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes I see them running too
Running on - running on empty
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I'm running behind
Honey you really tempt me
You know the way you look so kind
I'd love to stick around but I'm running behind
You know I don't even know what I'm hoping to find
Running into the sun but I'm running behind
(c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC
