O.C. got her name because she was supposed to be an [O]utside [C]at. That was a long time ago. O.C. was a 1988 model-year cat. Although she did spend quite a bit of time outside (much to the chagrin of the wildlife she killed), she was an indoor lady for the last several years. "O.C." was a flexible name: [O]bviously [C]ute, [O]bnoxious [C]reature, or any number of other things could be fit to those initials.

One of the more interesting things about O.C. was that she was diabetic. She was also, consequently, known as "diabetakitty." When she was about 8 years old she started losing weight and we didn't know why. After a trip to the vet it was determined that she was diabetic and was literally starving. She immediately began receiving insulin injections. Every day after that, O.C. was injected with Humulin U (the same stuff human diabetics use).

So, many of you are wondering how exactly do you give a cat an injection (sounds like it'd be at least as much fun as giving them a bath or other medicine)? Actually, it was pretty easy. O.C. was injected either as she was being treated to special food that she REALLY liked or just as she was getting onto the bed for her daily lovin'. She was pretty good about it. In fact, she came and reminded us when it was time.  At bed time O.C. could be depended upon to be hovering about and possibly meowing to remind us that she wanted her shot... and boy could she hear the sound of the butter compartment on the fridge being opened (that's where her Humulin was stored).

O.C. was a good friend. She liked to climb into bed to get petted after getting her shot. She's was pretty particular about it too. Only the man of the house would really do for petting. She was quite demanding. She reminded me of the cat from those Pepe Le Pew movies. If you tried to pick her up and hold her, she'd struggle like that poor cat and pry herself loose... snuggling came on her terms alone!

The other cats didn't really like her. Maybe it was her dandruff (a side effect of her diabetes) or maybe it was just her. She's was a fairly old gummer (literally, she also had to have quite a few bad teeth removed). For whatever reason, Binkle really didn't like her and some of the other cats weren't very civil either. Oh well, what did they know, silly cats, she's was a nice girl.

O.C. was a very good cat and is very much missed.  Unfortunately for her she had a combination of things that caught up with her.  However, she did live a good life and had several extra years despite being diabetic.  We really miss our "diabetakitty."

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