Parenting a Chronically Sick Pet: A Journey of Challenges and Triumphs

Taking care of a pet with a long-term illness can often add another level of stress and commitment to being a pet parent. In this episode, I interview fellow pet podcaster Julie Marty Pearson to explore caring for special-needs pets. Discover the challenges and triumphs faced by pet parents like Julie when our furry friends receive unexpected medical diagnoses.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn about the silent struggles and victories of caring for pets with special needs.
• Explore the sweetness and challenges of managing a diabetic feline, Charlie. 
• Gain insights into recognizing cues indicating potential health issues in pets.
• Hear the tough decisions pet owners may face, from veterinary expenses to re-homing considerations.
• Understand why surrendering a pet with special needs to a shelter or rescue strains on shelters ill-equipped to care for animals with medical conditions and rescues that are already overwhelmed. 

This candid exploration is balanced by the resilience and love that define our bonds with these special animals. Join us and discover the joy of adopting, fostering, and loving a pet with special needs.

Shoutout's in this episode:
The Story of My Pet podcast
Podcast Your Story Now

 Big changes are coming soon to Starlight Pet Talk! 🚀 We’re excited to share that we're evolving to bring you even more engaging content and fresh perspectives. Stay tuned for new features and exciting updates that will enhance your listening experience. We can’t wait to reveal what’s next—keep an eye out for more details! 

Chapters

• 0:00 Living With a Pet With Diabetes
• 11:16 Challenges and Solutions for Pet Care
• 20:02 Dedication to Pet Care
• 32:52 Caring for Special Needs Pets

Transcript

Amy Castro: 0:00

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if your pet had special medical needs? Well, in today's episode, we're going to talk about just that with somebody who is living it every single day, from navigating medication schedules to embracing the moments of joy. We're going to uncover the challenges and the rewards of this unique journey. So stay tuned. You're listening to Starlight Pet Talk, a podcast for pet parents who want the best pet care advice from cat experts, dog trainers, veterinarians and other top pet professionals who will help you live your very best life with your pets. We also share inspiring rescue and adoption stories from people who've taken their love of pets to the next level by getting involved in animal welfare. My name is Amy Castro, and I'm the founder and president of Starlight Outreach and Rescue and a columnist for PetAge Magazine. I've rescued thousands of animals and helped people just like you find the right pet for their family. My mission is to help pet parents learn all the ways that they can care for, live with and even have fun with their pets, so they can live their very best lives and their pets can too.

Amy Castro: 1:04

Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk. I'm your host, amy Castro, and my guest today is Julie Marty Pearson. She's a proud fur mom, podcaster and coach who is passionate about helping women share their stories through podcasting. She started her first podcast which is how I found out about her called the Story of my Pet, to tell pet stories from around the world, and now focuses on advocating for animal rescue, fostering and adoption, podcast your Story. Now, julie's second podcast is focused on telling personal stories, sharing important discussions and inspiring women and tips for new and growing podcasters, which I know. As a new and hopefully growing podcaster, I will learn from that as well. But Julie's here today specifically because I want her to share her story, so I'm turning the tables on her a little bit. So, julie, thank you so much for being here.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 1:53

Thank you, Amy, for having me. I'm very excited to be here and talk about pets.

Amy Castro: 1:58

That's right. And actually, julie and I met in person at PodFest Expo and that was my first. Was that your first podcast? You'd been to one before.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 2:07

That was my first in person. I've been to the one online before, but I'd never been in person and it was great, I loved getting to see everyone in person.

Amy Castro: 2:16

It was awesome Like nothing. Like running into a bunch of other people who are podcasters if that's your passion, and then to find that one other person that I ran into that was a pet podcaster was pretty amazing. So we decided to get together and collaborate on a couple of episodes here. But in talking, obviously we could talk about so many different things, but I thought that when you mentioned your kitty cat and her diabetes, that talking about what it's like to live with an animal that has a special medical need would be something that people really needed to hear Kind of selfishly from my perspective as a rescue person, because people are very often looking to re-home an animal like that because they either can't afford it, they can't manage the schedule, whatever it might be, or just because it becomes overwhelming, I'm sure, when you have a medical issue with your pet. So could you start off just kind of by telling us a little bit about your kitty and the kitty's medical condition?

Julie Marty-Pearson: 3:07

Yeah, you know, I have one currently who has a medical condition, and I have had another one prior that had one that we had to manage, and so I've learned a lot about how to be flexible and all of that. But ultimately for me, you know, I'm not a human mom, I'm just a firm mom and those kids are my family, and even if I had human kids, they'd still be my family. That's just how I treat them. So I understand people can get in situations where it's really hard, but for me and my husband it's always been about giving our pets the best quality of life for as long as we can. And so our oldest cat currently we have three Our oldest cat, charlie.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 3:46

He was a rescue himself. He my sister found him in my parents backyard. He was probably only about two weeks old, he was barely had his eyes open, and so he was my first bottle baby. I had never done anything like that before. I learned on my own and almost got a divorce with my husband over bringing him home. We already had two at the time in an apartment, but it's as it happens he and my husband became best buds. He started following him around like a little duckling as a baby. So you know we're very bonded to him.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 4:21

Charlie's a great little cat but he's always had, you know, a little bit of phobia, as he gets startled very easily, doesn't like people. So, as you can imagine, taking him to the vet is an endeavor. Yeah, he definitely goes full feral when he sees the crate come out. So when he started having some issues, I want to say now, gosh, at least three or four years ago, maybe a little longer, we always know something's off with him when he starts going to the bathroom outside the litter box. That's kind of like his behavior, that he lets us know something's wrong.

Amy Castro: 4:53

It's just everybody who's listening. That's what we always say. The first thing if you've got a cat and it's not using the litter box, always check the medical issue first.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 5:00

Absolutely, because I've learned through the now gosh six cats I've had in the last 20 years and I've also fostered a couple times that cats innately get what the litter box is and that's where they go, like that is not, that's pretty, you know they get it as kittens, they pick it up super fast and so when they're not using it and there hasn't been other some big life change because you know when you move and things like that, you know they're like oh, I'm going to get Cats needed time to adjust but nothing like that had happened. So we knew something was wrong, right, and so he becomes so feral that that first time we took him to the vet to start doing all the tests they actually had to sedate him because they couldn't get to him. He has a vicious bite and he will just lock on and not let go.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 5:47

So you know, we tried to make it as easy for him as possible. We even tried to give him some light sedation at home, like it is water, and he's too smart for that. As soon as he smelled that water he knew something was wrong. So that tells you a little bit about Charlie. He's very smart. And so we realized through tests, blood work and they also took urine, that he was diabetic and I'd never had that in an animal before. I've dealt with kidney disease. I've dealt with the epileptic dog as a kid, you know. So I knew things happened but I'd never dealt with that. I probably didn't know.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 6:21

But at that point that cats got diabetes and you know that was something that they could have and manage. So we started doing insulin. So that was a little weird for us because you, you know, with your cat at home you actually have to give them the shots yourself and their regular needles and you just grab their skin and give them a quick shot. So it was definitely an adjustment for us. And and with insulin you have to give it, you know, a certain time every day. He has to have it every 12 hours. So we had to kind of build that into our own schedule. Luckily for me, since the pandemic happened I've been working from home, so that made it a little bit easier. And you know I I do travel for work. I'm also a dog sitter sometime. So you know my husband really has taken over taking care of that. Charlie is his baby, for sure, so he's gonna do what he has to do. So Over the last three or four years with Charlie, we definitely keep an eye on him.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 7:17

You know, signs are if he's drinking a lot of water, okay, something's off, we might need to get his insulin checked again. Or if he starts not using the litter box, again, you know what's going on. So there have been times over those three or four years we have to take him in and they, you know, get draw urine and do blood work to see, and so a couple of them. So we've had to adjust the amount of insulin we're giving him. So it is definitely a maintenance thing where we have to keep on top of it. We have to notice the signs of his behavior is changing. But ultimately we made the decision that if that's all he needs is a couple shots every day and that will make his life be longer, then we're gonna keep doing it and it and luckily for us, you know he's been going on at least four years now of insulin and he's doing great.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 8:01

You know he is getting older, he's almost 15. So he's a little skinnier. You know sleeps a lot but that's not uncommon for cats his age. Yeah, you know he's kept his appetite and all the things. You know he's active. He loves to go outside in our backyard with my husband when he's gardening and lay in the sun. So he's a happy, mostly healthy cat and Insulin is what he needs to keep doing that. So we chose to keep giving him that and right. It's made us feel good, that it helps and it keeps him going and it's given us a lot more time with him. But I will say there have been some challenges.

Amy Castro: 8:38

That's what I was gonna ask about, because I have to say you're, you know, I know you're an experienced pet mom, and so for people who are listening, who maybe aren't, and for my perspective it's like well, you make that sound super easy, like it's no big deal.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 8:51

It doesn't have any impact on your life.

Amy Castro: 8:53

Just pop them with a couple of shots a couple times a day and all is golden, but I know it's more than that. So what's? What are the challenges of their hurdles and how has it impacted your life?

Julie Marty-Pearson: 9:03

Well, I would definitely say the first challenge was getting. I do make it sound easy, but giving a cat a shot is not that easy when they've never had it happen before and you know they might be a little triggered from having been at the vet and all of that. So yeah, it did take some time for Charlie to get used to us doing that and also for us. Like you know, it's hard the first few times to stick a needle into your pet.

Amy Castro: 9:28

You're like am I?

Julie Marty-Pearson: 9:29

hurting you like this is a little scary, but you know it's. It's such a small amount Ultimately in the needle that it goes super fast and a lot of times we'll catch Charlie when he's sleeping. He doesn't even realize he'll pop his head up like what did you just?

Amy Castro: 9:42

do so you know they had they adjust, we adjust.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 9:47

So that was definitely the first hurdle. I would say the next hurdle for us was cost. So many people hear about on the news and all over about how expensive insulin is, even for humans, and you know humans have insurance, but insurance people and Pharmaceutical companies still it costs a lot to get insulin and for people diabetes you need it and you have to have it. You know new every month and so that was an education for us to realize how expensive pet medication is. So the the bottle of insulin we get is three hundred dollars.

Amy Castro: 10:21

Wow, that's a lot. Yeah, how often? How long does that last?

Julie Marty-Pearson: 10:24

Well, I mean with humans. They say you know you shouldn't use it beyond the 30 days. Our vet said that they've, you know, had people use it longer and it's been okay with pets. They've never seen any issues. So we've been able to use it as long as we can because you know he's getting a very small amount twice a day. So it does extend it for a few months for us. So that does help. That's good.

Amy Castro: 10:45

Yeah, but it's still a lot. No, based on the animal too. Is that you know a bigger animal might need a bigger dose, or one that? Has more Severe symptoms might need more insulin. I know nothing about diabetes, thank goodness, I guess.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 10:57

But yes for sure. So with him, he did start off with like one milliliter and I think we're up to two and a half or three at this point, and you know that's over several years. As you know His, the diet, the disease has progressed with him and he's gotten older. He has needed a little bit more at different times, but you know it still does stretch out. But I will be very honest. You know I haven't been working full-time since the pandemic.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 11:21

I started my own business, I started a podcast. You know I do a lot of part-time jobs here and there. There have been times my husband's like what are we going to do? We got to get his insulin, and not only do you have to buy the insulin but you have to buy the needles. So you have to. You get a box of they're just normal needles you could use on a human, and so that's, you know, another 20 bucks a month to get the needles that we need.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 11:43

So and then there's, you know, every six months or so, to get him to the vet to check his levels to make sure everything is still going well. So it definitely is. You know, takes a dedication to do that and we have had to really, you know, work out budget-wise being able to continue to afford that. And so I do get it when people say you know, my, my pet's been diagnosed with this disease and I just can't afford the medication or the treatment. And I've worked and volunteered in a shelter myself, so I've seen those examples of pets being surrendered because of that. Or, unfortunately, where I live, people like to just leave their pets on the streets.

Amy Castro: 12:25

And eventually they end up at the shelter.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 12:28

Yeah, I know California, texas are very common in the overcrowding in shelters and, unfortunately, animals being dumped.

Amy Castro: 12:36

So I do know that happens. Yeah, I want to say something too along that lines of the dumping is a whole another ball of wax, but you know, when, when people call us for you know whether it's a behavior issue with an animal like you know my dog's biting my kids and all my family members. Or you know an animal with with diabetes that's 12 years old when it's diagnosed. You know, one of the questions people really should ask themselves is why would somebody else adopt this pet?

Amy Castro: 13:03

Because that's the challenge that we run into whether we take a pet in and we find out it's got a special medical need, which it's just always. It's one other factor where it's like okay, I'm now eliminating 80% or 90% of the people that might have adopted the cat if it was healthy, and it makes it difficult for a rescue to be able to take in an animal like that. So I think to your point of figuring out a way to make it work, and I realize not everybody can, but don't be too quick to decide okay, I need to now give up my pet, because you know your pet may be worse off. You know there may be better options than giving up your pet. You just need to maybe get creative, or I don't know.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 13:43

it's a challenge, yeah, I think that people think well, it's a shelter, that's what they're for, it's like. Well, that's what shelters were not built for that. Shelters were kind of built to be that in between place that your dog gets lost and you find them. They weren't built to be in a shelter for who knows how long until they can find somewhere else to go Right and rescues.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 14:03

Like you, you have limited resources. You can only take on so many animals, so many pets and so many medical conditions. And I think what you said was important. It's like, well, if it's hard for you, for your pet that you've had for so long and taken care of, to be able to take care of this medical need, do you think someone's going to come in a shelter and see two cats and there's one with something that's going to cost them a lot of money to take care of and one that isn't? That automatically isn't going to be a good thing. And the other thing I've seen is when they surrender or you know an animal's been found on the street so they don't know the medical history. So they're coming into a shelter and they may not find out for a while that this animal has this need. So you're also putting the pet into a situation where their medical condition can worsen really quickly because they're not being taken care of at all. Yeah, you know, even no matter what the situation is, I've seen pets, especially dogs, because that's what's so overcrowded. I can say this so people understand a little better.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 15:01

In California, cats are considered free roaming, so they're not considered strays when they're on the street. That's because we have huge feral cat populations in a lot of areas where I live and LA all over. So you can't just walk into a shelter in California with a cat and say, here, I found this on the street. They're like sorry, we can't take it. Cats are free roaming the shelter. I know in my area we have two shelters, a city and a county, and they're both unfortunately, kill shelters because they have limited capacity, right, and so they can only take in a cat if it's hurt or injured, if it's injured or sick in some way. Or of course they take in kittens when they're underage and can't take care of themselves, right. So that does limit it in terms of cats.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 15:49

But I have seen in terms of dogs, I've seen so many owner surrenders and also found on the street where their dogs are much older you can tell just by looking at them that they're a senior dog and they I've even seen one through the dogs can't even walk and they bring them into a shelter and I think they sometimes people think, well, I'll take the shelter and they'll take care of it, but you don't realize the suffering that can happen in the shelter. First of all, they don't understand why they're there. Why am I in this place, why I'm in this loud, scary place. Shelters are crowded, are loud dog sparking all the noise. They're put into a cage. If they've been in a home, it's very different for them and it's very traumatic. And you know and I know, there are very specific cases where things happen. But you know I've seen animals suffering in shelters just because they don't understand, they don't know why they're there, they're scared, they're in the corner, they're afraid of every noise, and so it is hard.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 16:48

But I what I would say to people it's if you're facing a medical issue with a, with a pet, and you're not really sure what to do in terms of cost or how you're going to manage, it is, first of all, research, learn from other people who have had the same issue. You can find people oftentimes on social that have gone through it and you know, look at the rescues and nonprofit organizations for pets in your area. I know where I live. We have a pet food pantry where you can get donated pet food to help ease with that cost and there are some rescues and organizations that will help you pay for medical costs. I know someone who had. Yeah.

Amy Castro: 17:28

I mean we will do that. We can't do it forever per se but, I mean that's such a good point.

Amy Castro: 17:32

If you're getting your food from a pet food pantry, then that money that you would have spent on food you could put towards that medication, and it's Right.

Amy Castro: 17:41

I think what happens with people sometimes is they don't.

Amy Castro: 17:44

And I know I've run into this a lot because in my business I work with veterinarians in addition to working with lots of, you know, working with a vet, with our rescue is that people don't want to admit that they can't afford it and so they would, whether it's pride or embarrassment or a combination of both.

Amy Castro: 18:01

And sometimes if you just say to your vet, you know, hey, I don't know how I'm going to make this happen. I mean, I don't expect my vet's going to give me a discount, right, but they might have some resources, they might have some suggestions, they might be able to do some things. I mean, we've even done some stuff in the rescue where it's like, okay, you know, sometimes you can stretch, like you said, the medication, maybe I can let it go past a certain date, or maybe I can give three quarters of a pill instead of a whole pill, and that would be better than nothing. And so you know, just be honest with your vet and ask for their guidance in that situation, rather than just what we do. Sometimes we nod, we smile and we walk out and say there's no way I can make this happen.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 18:38

Yeah, and you know, one thing that I learned is not only did our vet try to help us, but my pharmacy tried to help us. Oh wow, like she tried different coupons to see if it would work for a pet. You know they want you to get what you need to take care of yourself, but also your pet. And you know, recently I was going to say is because there have been changes to pharmaceuticals for diabetes medications because of laws put into place that the last time I bought insulin it was only $75. Well, when I heard about all of that in the news that you know they're going to lower the prices for people for insulin and you know they're not going to allow them to keep marketing it up, I thought, oh, that's so great, but I just assumed that wouldn't impact to me. So when I went to the pharmacy and she's like 75, I was like wait, is that right? That's a huge difference.

Amy Castro: 19:27

That's a huge difference?

Julie Marty-Pearson: 19:29

Yeah, so you know. You never know what's going to happen and the thing is you won't know unless you ask. So I think what you said is so important Let your vet know. You're not sure how this is going to work. Are there any ways that you can adjust things? But also talk to pharmacies, call different pharmacies. I know sometimes like a Costco pharmacy is going to be a different price than a, you know, a CVS or something else. You just never know until you try. And I, you know the pharmacy themselves tried to look up different options and see if different things would work. So there are ways to do it.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 20:02

It's really just about trying to do what's best for the pet within your means and you know that's made look different for different people. I totally get it. I would have 10 more pets if my husband didn't say no to me. But he says no to me because he knows we already have extended ourselves to the limit we can in terms of taking care. We have three cats, one of whom is Charlie with diabetes. We also have two tortoises. My husband has a myriad of other things scorpions, tarantulas and such that that's his, that's his, he deals with that?

Amy Castro: 20:36

I don't.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 20:37

Yeah, but you know you do have to know your limitations. And it's so hard for me doing the podcast, having worked in the shelter for a short time, and I volunteer and help send the all the all the things around social media, media, trying to get people to adopt that. You know we can only do so much ourselves as individuals and that's okay. But we, we must dedicate ourselves to the pets we do have so that we can give them the best life and we're able to do what they need. And sometimes it's hard, trust me, you know there have been times where we're like I don't know how we're going to buy insulin right now. But you know we make it work and we do what we have to do. And you know we know at some point Charlie we're not going to have them anymore and we won't have that expense and we're doing our best to keep him as long as we can, as long as he's happy and healthy and, you know, hasn't had any issues in addition to that, so right.

Amy Castro: 21:59

You had mentioned when we talked before, because I thought I was the only one that didn't get to go on vacation with any other family members. You know, even when my husband was alive, and especially when my daughter was off at college, it's like no, we can't go on vacation together because who's going to watch all these critters? And now, obviously, living on a rescue ranch, even with my daughter and I, you know, we can't go on a trip together. So we tend to take separate vacations and I was surprised when you had said you kind of have to do that with you and your husband as well. And that's another whole, other level of dedication to the pet. It's not just the financial, it's the impact on your lifestyle, absolutely.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 22:34

My husband likes to say that's why he can't go anywhere, but I think a lot of times he likes to have a reason. But yeah, so you know there have been times when my extended family, my mom and my the rest of my family wanted to go on trips, and I go, but my husband doesn't, because we do have a lot of pets to take care of. Now a lot of his pets could probably go, you know, a few days without him and we could get someone to come in and take care of the cats. But we know Charlie is not comfortable around any people besides me and my husband. He's never really been a social cat Since we've had him. We just don't have a lot of people in our house a lot. So the idea of not only some other person coming in to feed him but to be able to touch him and give him a shot twice a day, we know that's just not possible because it would be more traumatic to him than good.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 23:25

So you know, so you might give him a nice bite, like he meant to, right, yeah, or you know he's a hider, so if he can find somewhere to hide, they just probably wouldn't see him for a few days. So we know his limitations in that way, and it's just. You know, what we've had to say is, if one of us is gone, the other one has to be here. And for my husband he says that's fine, I'll be the one here.

Amy Castro: 23:46

You know he has a full time job trip with your mom and your sister, or whatever.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 23:49

Anyway he has a full time job, he has a regular schedule. He doesn't have a lot of time to travel himself, just because you know of his job, and so he likes his routine. He gives Charlie his shot in the morning before he goes to work and he gives them another one at night before he goes to bed. So you know, that's just the decision he's had to me. Now I want you to know I would love for my husband, I, just to be able to drive to the beach for a day, and I'm sure we could do that if we, you know, really wanted to, and all of that. But for now, that's where we're dedicated is to be able to take care of him. And for my husband, he's okay with missing a few trips, because he'd rather make sure that Charlie is okay, and that's just what works for us.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 24:30

That may not work for everyone and it's not too hard. You know I have been a pet sitter. It's something I've done often on since the pandemic. I started because a friend had adopted a puppy while they were quarantined and then they started traveling again. So I've helped with different animals. I've had dogs I had to give pills to. I even had a cat that I had to give some shots to and I'm like oh, that's fine, I can do that. I've done it before.

Amy Castro: 24:56

I own pet yeah.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 24:57

So you never know, there you may be able to find someone that has done it, whether with their own pets or pets they've taken care of. So it's always great to just search and look. You might be able to find someone, if that's you know a roadblock.

Amy Castro: 25:11

We actually brought this up when we talked about we talked a lot about over the holidays about traveling with pets, bringing pets to people's houses, leaving your pet should you board your pet? And one of the things that Dr Zoo who's my vet? Had mentioned andI hadn't even necessarily thought about this or it slipped my mind is that ask your vet if one of their vet texts I mean who's who better it already knows your pet and has that experience handling animals to take care of your pet for a few days. A lot of them do that on the side, so worth checking. And even if it's not your vet, it might be you know another vet's office in your area, so that's worth checking yeah.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 25:46

No, that's a great option. Like you said, they're used to handling pets. They're used to giving medication. Those are things that you want because you know they're going to treat your pets right in that situation.

Amy Castro: 25:56

Yeah, do you feel like you and your husband have a special bond? Not to say that Charlie's better or anything, but do you feel like you have a different or a special bond with him because of the dedication that you've had to put into caring for him? And I think it's okay. It's you know, unlike with human children, I think it's okay with your pets to admit you like one best. Now, just kidding.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 26:18

Yeah, you know it's so funny. I always, I always say one, your pets will find you, the pets you're meant to have will find you. That's what Charlie did by crying for help in my parents' backyard. And everyone called me because I'm the cat lady in the family. And also, you know, when you hand raise, when you bottle feed a baby, you know and they're reliant on you in that way and you teach them how to go to the bathroom and use all those things, you become very bonded.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 26:45

Not to say I haven't been bonded to all of my pets, but he was the first pet we got together after we were married. You know, there's a lot of things like that Like he was the first official Marty Pearson, even though my husband had been around my other pets. You know that was our pet together and honestly, you know, at the time we found him I was in school and had to go out of town one weekend a month and I remember the first time I left him I was so worried because we had fought about me even bringing Charlie home, and so my husband agreed to take care of him. I come back and it's like I didn't exist. Who are you, lady? We're best buds over here. Now we don't need you anymore.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 27:26

So you know they all have a special place to us and everything. But when it comes to my husband and Charlie, they have a bond that started very early. They have their own little language. I'll hear them from another room having a full conversation with each other. Both sides are speaking and you know literally when I say he followed my husband around like a little duckling, he did. He would walk around our apartment and there came Charlie and I'll be sitting in bed and my husband will walk by, and then I see the top of Charlie's tail. He's following.

Amy Castro: 27:56

Where's he going, where's he going, where's he going?

Julie Marty-Pearson: 27:59

Yes, we've always had that bond with him, I think, but more so, you know, when they're sick and you want to make sure they're okay. I definitely worry about him more than my other two cats. I'll always be like are you okay? Why are you sitting like that? What's wrong?

Julie Marty-Pearson: 28:15

I probably am a little over-worried, but I would say part of that is also what we call like anticipatory grief. I definitely know in the last year he's slowing down more than he has before and even though the insulin still helps and he's still eating I've seen the shifts that I know because of other cats I've had. He's getting older, he's getting to a point and so I think sometimes the worry of what's going to happen or what's to come is even more difficult than actually losing them. So I'm very aware in my own head that I have those thoughts and I have to kind of manage that. So I would say in that way we're definitely very close to him now because we're really paying attention to him and you know, every day we're like are you okay? Are you getting what you need? So definitely.

Amy Castro: 29:01

I just suspect that you guys have gotten him to 15. I mean, 15 in a healthy cat is pretty darn good in a lot of instances, but with a diabetic cat I mean that's just a testament, I think, to your dedication. Does anyone ever think you're crazy, like to the, because that was the thing I wondered. Like I know people think I'm crazy with the stuff that we do with animals around here. But does anyone say, like maybe when you're family, when you're like, oh, we can't both come on this, you know, family trip because we have to stay with the cat.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 29:31

Yes, I definitely get comments. I would say my immediate family get it, because growing up I was always the animal girl Like I didn't want to go play with babies, I wanted to play with the dogs and cats, so they're not too shocked by it. But definitely when I talked about having a diabetic cat and what we do for them, people are kind of shocked that we are doing all of that for a cat and it's like, well, he's our family, we're going to take care of him. But also, I think recently I posted something about him saying you know, I think it was national love your pet day or something and I posted about him and talked about his diabetes and someone commented saying I didn't even know cats could have diabetes. Oh, wow. So you know, a lot of times it's just your experience, your own personal experience, that you don't realize what people at pets are going through. So I thought that was really interesting because I was like, yeah, of course they can get diabetes, just like a human, just like, you know, dogs can too. So yeah, I've definitely had people make comments.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 30:29

But you know, eight or so years ago I so I live in Bakersfield, california, which is a couple hours north of Los Angeles and I was actually working at a university in in the Los Angeles area, so I would go down and stay there on campus during the week and come home on the weekends. And at the time we still had one of my other cats, jack. He was actually my first kitten ever. I adopted him as an adult my first pet as an adult from a local shelter as a little fluff ball, and so as he got older we realized he had kidney disease and so he had to have a special diet, and so we had a hard time separating him from the other cats to make sure they didn't eat his food, because it was pretty yummy.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 31:12

So I was, like I said, working in LA so I was gone during the week. So I decided Jack was a pretty social cat. I had taken him around a lot as a kitten so he loved people. So I decided I was going to take him with me. So he drove to LA with me each week, got to hang out with me and my little on campus apartment and then I got to feed him his special food as much as he wanted, didn't have to worry about the other cats stealing it.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 31:37

And you know that was a huge bonding experience for us. I was already very bonded to him because it was just him and me for over a year before I brought in any new pets. So we were already pretty thick but traveling together. You know he was there waiting for me when I came home at lunch and at the end of the day and we got, he got to just get all the lap time he wanted. And so you know, in that sense, having a kind of a special needs cat and getting to be in a situation where I could spend that extra time with him was amazing and so important.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 32:11

And once he was gone, you know I think about those moments a lot and I'm so glad that I was able to give him not only give him that that he could be able to live and have what he needed for his medical issues, but just because I got to have all that time with him and you know when you're taking care of them and you're getting that one on one time, it's nothing like it.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 32:33

So, yeah, when I lost jacket was really, really hard because it's like I had done everything I could for him and I'd even I'd even given him IV fluids in the end, trying to help him, you know, just to be able to be what as best as he could. I think he was a hard one for me because he was so attached to him. So I could say that sometimes, in that sense, we get to the point where we are willing to do whatever we can do for our pets and sometimes the hardest part is realizing when it's time to let go and to give them peace, and no matter what we could still be doing, you know, maybe they're at the end. And so I know with I think because of my experience with Jack, I have that in the back of my head with with Charlie.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 33:16

I know where I get to that point where we can't do anything else anymore and that I try not to think about it too much. But you know, when you are putting in that time and that extra effort and going through what we've gone, gone through to be able to take care of them, it is something that you know makes it that much harder when they do get older and their condition worsens and things like that. So, yeah, yeah, but it's okay, that's normal.

Amy Castro: 33:42

Yeah, it's the normal, the normal life cycle. So, just to kind of start wrapping things up, any final and I don't care if you want to give advice or a final thought or you know something to leave our listeners with. You know, I always like to think about it from the standpoint of either, you know, encouraging somebody to keep their special needs pet and do and do what it takes, or possibly even consider taking on a special needs pet.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 34:09

Well, what I would say to anyone, either with the pet they have that this becomes special needs, or they're considering fostering or adopting a special needs pet, I would just automatically say to them do it, it's so worth it. But More specifically, I would say that you don't, you know, you don't realize how much you get in return when you have a pet that you're able to help in that way. Like we have said, the connection you build, the reciprocity of love and affection you get from them because they know you're taking care of them, for me makes it all worth it. But also realize, if you're, maybe, if you're considering fostering or adopting a special needs pet, which is so needed because, like we've said, it's so hard to get fosters and adopters for for animals that have special needs, even something like we've dealt with with insulin. You know it's not that hard for us to just remember we said you know, set an alarm at these times, give Charlie a shot, we're good. It literally takes two minutes to put the insulin in the syringe and give him a shot.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 35:11

So what I would say to anybody considering it is just try it, talk to other people that have dealt with it, say you know how was this was. Is this manageable? Because in the end you're you're giving the pet something that they need and you're you're going to feel the reward of it no matter what, and it's worth it to do the best you can for your pet and in the end, what you get back in return is so much more than you could ever imagine to just have that love and connection with the pet. So I just encourage everyone to do the best for their own pet and consider the older pets, the pets with medical conditions that can be maintained. You know, charlie is full of life and makes us laugh and comes up to me for snuggles and I wouldn't give that up for anything.

Amy Castro: 36:02

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, julie, thank you so much for being here and sharing your wisdom and your story and Charlie story and your husband story. We got the whole, we got everybody. Yeah, well, you know it is a, it's a family effort. You know when you, when you have a spare with any, any pets, but certainly with a pet with special needs. So I really appreciate you being here with us today to tell us all about it.

Julie Marty-Pearson: 36:28

Thank you for having me. I appreciate being here and be able to share my Charlie with all of you.

Amy Castro: 36:33

Awesome and we're going to go ahead and put a link to your, to your podcasts up on our show notes because I think all of you all if you want to hear more from from Julie and hear more stories that she has collected because she's she's been doing this podcasting thing longer than I have you know we definitely want you to check out the story of my pet and if you're interested in podcasting, if you're a pet person that's out there, her podcast podcast your story. Now you know, get get some knowledge there as well. So thank you all for listening to another episode of Starlight Pet Talk. If you are considering getting a special needs pet, I hope that this helped convince you to to consider that and please share this if you've got.

Amy Castro: 37:13

If you know somebody that's had a pet that has recently been diagnosed with a medical issue, share this episode because I think Julie shared with us some great ideas and some great resources to make that whole process more manageable. Thanks for listening to Starlight Pet Talk. Be sure to visit our website at wwwstarlightpettalkcom for more resources and be sure to follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app so you'll never miss a show. If you enjoyed and found value in today's episode, we'd appreciate a rating on Apple, or if you'd simply tell a friend about the show, that would be great too. Don't forget to tune in next week and every week for a brand new episode of Starlight Pet Talk, and if you don't do anything else this week, give your pets a big hug from us.