I've never been around the GST cats, other than to see them once at a nursery where their host plants were being raised, so I'm not at all familiar with their habits. Very unusual looking little cats. I wonder, when they wander off, if they might be getting ready to molt? I notice the little Monarch cats often wander away from their food source and remain still before molting. When they shake their heads from side to side (the Monarch cats do this, too), is it possible they're just trying to begin the process of shedding their skin for the molt? The little Monarch cats can spend a day or so being quite still while their molt is taking place so maybe your little cats do something similiar. My suggestion would be to leave them be and see how things go. I've read that distrubing them during the molting process is something to be avoided, if possible. Just keep fresh food close by so they can go to it when they're ready to eat again. Please let us know how they do. Mary

I have had similar experiences this year. I had found and collected over 125 eggs from the Milkweed at school and then, oh I don't recall, but a few dozen eggs from home. I diligently cleaned and fed those larvae but despite the care, I had a HUGE proportion of them die from what appears bacterial infections. I do believe our strange weather (super hot) was also part of the problem. Hubby wondered if it was just 'bad eggs' and I said it could have been that as well and I thought that I may have had a sick mama that was ovipositing, too. I figured that the eggs that were 'bad' probably came from school since the ones that made it were about the number I had collected from home (I am careful about what I release at home so chances are good that the eggs were from a mama I had released myself after having been 'checked'). It just made more sense from a statistical standpoint. On a different note⦠I conducted an experiment of sorts just this week with two larvae (one 3rd instar and one 4th instar) just to see what would happen if I withheld food. I know they should pupate early, right? Well, these two just would NOT pupate! I didn't feed them for five days. I kept thinking, "When are you two going to pupate?" They didn't. So, on day six, I put some fresh food in there. I then observed both for literally TEN minutes. All they did was climb all over the Milkweed leaves and up and down the container. There was a bit of latex on the side of the cup which it appeared they'd 'taste' then move on. It was quite interesting! I thought that perhaps having been without food that maybe they just wouldn't eat at all...I mean, ten minutes was a long time to just wander around! Then, the 4th instar took a nibble at the tip of one leaf and just kept on going. A few minutes later, the 3rd instar started nibble the stem of a leaf. Neither munched a lot but ate a total of eight leaves over the course of 24 hours. I'm still watching to see what they do! :)

Diabetics generally have increased hunger and increased thirst. Unfortunately, blood glucose readings in a blood panel can be misleading if the cat is in pain or is stressed by being at the vet. Both pain and stress can temporarily raise blood glucose substantially, leading to a misdiagnosis of diabetes. That happened to my Noddy. The only way I could confirm that his diabetes diagnosis was invalid was to check his BG here at home with a meter, test strips, and ear pricks (my housemate is diabetic, so I am familiar with manifestations and management of the disease). That was after Noddy experienced two episodes of hypoglycemia in response to the insulin the vet had me administering to him based on his diabetes diagnosis. You'll know more after the vet visit. Hopefully Max is just going through an attitude adjustment as he settles into your family. It's certainly been known to happen in my family. Laurie

Could have been hand raised. Lots of raccoons that are hand raised don't make it in the wild. For one thing, they are usually released where there are already plenty of raccoons living, and they are chased away. No place for them to go, and always on the run. Some people start to raise a baby raccoon and find out how much trouble it is, or it bites them, and they take it out in the woods and let it go. They think because it is a wild animal, it will do okay, but they don't. It is like dumping out a puppy. They have no idea where to go or where to find food. Some rehabbers will release them where they can leave food out for them....that's called a "soft release". They need that while they try to make an adjustment. Raccoons stay with their siblings or sometimes close to their mothers for the first year of their life, so it is always best that they be released with another one that they have a bond with. I have a short tailed raccoon here too. I call him "Puff". I have been trying to get a picture of him, but can't tell him from the others unless he has his backside turned to me. All I know about him is that he is a member of the "gang" that arrive every evening about 6 and commandeers the cat food bowls...before moving on to the other food that I leave out for them. There was also a big armadillo here that was missing part of his tail, but I haven't seen him for quite awhile. One of the armadillos that I raised last year is still here every night tho. I don't know if it is Henry or Edsel, but it's one of them. He is working on re-landscaping my yard. I finally got the soil improved here by adding lots of mulch, and it is full of earthworms. It was rock hard clay when I started. It seems to be to his liking. I raised him on nightcrawlers that I had to buy by the dozen.