DECATUR, Ill (AP) — When Emma’s human parents died, they left a legacy of a love for animals in the form of the Ketenbrink Foundation.
The foundation supports various animal groups and provides a caretaker and home for Emma, a 13-year-old tortoiseshell cat recently diagnosed with diabetes.
“They really loved their animals,” said Dr. Larry Baker of Northgate Pet Clinic, where Emma is trying out a Freestyle Libre sensor, a device made for humans with diabetes. The sensor is attached to a shaved spot on her back — it would be placed on the arm of a human — to monitor her blood glucose levels.
Emma’s glucose level was over 500. Normal is 90 to 120.
The sensor has a tiny needle with a tiny catheter that goes under the skin. When pressed, the needle takes the sample and is so tiny you don’t even feel it. Then you use your smartphone to read the result, all without a finger stick or in Emma’s case, an ear stick.
“It’s very advantageous,” Baker said. “It’s a lot easier. We still have to give insulin in most cases. In some cases in cats, they go into remission and don’t need insulin and there’s a special food we feed them for that.”
One of the sensors costs $60 and lasts two weeks. In Emma’s case, the hope is that by the end of the two weeks, they’ll have her diabetes under control and will know what dosage of insulin she needs without constantly checking her glucose, or possibly even be able to control her diabetes with diet. She’ll stay at the clinic during that two weeks.
Baker is on the foundation’s board, which meets every six months. The Ketenbrinks left a fund to provide for their animals, and the foundation board also chooses various organizations for donations in their name.
The Ketenbrinks loved their golden retriever so much that they took the dog to Baker’s daughter Julie’s house every day for a play date with her dog, and left instructions for Emma’s care, as well.
Emma is looked after by the Ketenbrinks’ former employee Wally Kemp, and Dr. Alison Vancouver, one of the vets at Northgate, has shaved a spot on Emma so he can give her insulin at home.
It’s sometimes difficult to be certain you’ve gotten the medicine into the cat with all the fur that’s in the way, Vancouver said.
Glucose levels rise and fall during the course of the day, especially in a place like the veterinary hospital, where Emma is under a bit more stress than she’d be at home, so taking regular readings will help the vets.
“This has definitely made it easier,” Vancouver said.