Dear Jude friends,

What a month it has been! An eventful, frightening, stressful month. Where do I begin?

First, Jude went to see the neurologist for a recheck. All went very well, and the neurologist was very happy with Jude’s progress. He cleared Jude to be neutered the following week.  I dropped Jude off at Tabby’s Place with the vet team for his neuter and said I would be back later for him (it was my day off).

From there, things got really crazy!

First, the big news: Jude’s a girl! I know…didn’t see that coming! When Jude first arrived at Tabby’s Place, she was not in the best health, and the shelter where she came from had said she was a boy. We should have rechecked that, but early on poor Jude had so many issues, we were just focused on keeping her alive and getting her healthy. Her name is still Jude; luckily she had a name that also works for a girl.

She woke up from her spay just fine, with no issues at all. A couple of hours later, the vet team told me I could bring her home. As soon as I got her home, I put her in her playpen and gave her something to eat. She seemed a little wobbly, but quite alert, and enjoyed her food. Less than 15 minutes later, things got really bad.

Suddenly she was having a grand mal seizure. I picked her up, wrapped her in a towel and held on tight. It passed, but about 3 seconds later, another one hit. By now I had Denise, our senior vet tech, on the phone, and she had me administer rescue meds to stop the seizure. The meds stopped the seizure, but even then Jude’s poor little body was twitching and trying to go into another seizure. I jumped into my car and raced to Tabby’s Place. Denise and I watched her for about an hour, listening to her heart, monitoring her vitals, making sure she was OK.

Denise placed an IV catheter in Jude’s arm, so I could give the rescue meds easily and quickly. There was nothing we could do but wait, so I took Jude home, set her back in her playpen, and climbed in with her. Our vet, Dr. Collins, doubled Jude’s anti-seizure medication to try to get things under control.

That was a very rough night for little Jude. I sat with her the whole night, and every time the meds would start to wear off, she would go in a seizure. I was right by her side and gave her more rescue meds as soon as she started the seizure. It was a long, stressful night.

The next day, I took her to work with me, and Denise and I watched her the whole day. She had one seizure early on in the day and needed more rescue meds. Denise spoke to Jude’s neurologist, and he had us give Jude an extra dose of her anti-seizure medication midday, to try and raise the levels in her system.  Even when she wasn’t having a seizure, her whole body was twitching and trembling wildly.

By the time I got her home that night, Jude had been seizure free for several hours, although her whole body continued to twitch and tremble. For over 24 hours now, her body had not rested. She couldn’t sleep, even on the rescue meds, because her body would not let her. I thought my heart was going to break in two. I wanted to make it all better for her; I wanted to fix her; but there was nothing more I could do. I was so afraid I would lose her.

Around 9pm that night, I placed Jude into a round bed with sides, gently pet her, told her I loved her, and told her it was going to be OK. She did a deep sigh, looked up at me, and then fell fast asleep. She hadn’t slept in over 30 hours. Suddenly her whole body relaxed, and all the tremors stopped. It was unbelievably wonderful to see her so peaceful and content.  I checked on her constantly that night, and each time she would open her eyes, look up at me, purr for a second or two, then fall right back to sleep.

The next day, I took her to work with me again, so I could keep a close eye on her. She slept the whole day, very peacefully. By that night, I told her she had to try to eat something. She had completely refused food. I got into her playpen, where I was starting to feel like I lived lately, and gently syringed her some food. She took it well and seemed to enjoy it. After I got a good amount into her, she fell fast asleep again.

The following day, Jude was feeling more like her old self, but she still couldn’t move around without help. I supported her near her food bowl, and she happily ate all her food. She was quiet all day, and slept a lot, but was eating well again.

Finally, the following day we turned a corner. Suddenly she could move around again and even went into her litter box without help. Her feisty side is coming back, and she’s back to yelling at me if she doesn’t want to do something. She still can’t move around quite as well as she could before all this happened, but she’s 80% back to normal, and it’s less than a week since the surgery. I think in one or two more days, I will have my old Jude back, and I couldn’t be happier.

Yesterday, for the first time since this happened, I let her scoot around the bedroom for a few minutes. She did quite well and seemed happy to see her friend, Castiel. She even gave him a head bump.

I am so happy, relieved, thankful, grateful, and exhausted! I was so scared I would lose her, but she is strong, determined and brave. She is such a little fighter, and she was not going to give up. I am so lucky to share my life with this incredible girl.

I can never thank you enough for your support of Jude. We literally couldn’t do this without you. With the power of her sponsors behind her, Jude will always have all the medical care she ever needs, and all the love in the world.

Your correspondent,
Karina