Dear Jude Friends,

Jude had a pretty good month. Only 1 grand mal seizure so far. She did have a night of cluster seizures, which lasted about half-an-hour. I held her tight, wrapped her in a blanket, and wondered if a grand mal seizure was coming.

She stays aware of everything when she has cluster seizures, so she was not happy with me holding her, but I wanted to make sure she was ok if the bigger seizure hit. She tolerated being held by me, but she was not happy about it. Her whole body would twitch a few times, then she would growl at me, then a few more twitches, then more growling. We carried on like this until the small cluster seizures stopped, then I put her to bed so she could calm down and rest.

Jude has decided she likes having her dinner served in her favorite cat bed (no, of course, she’s not spoiled!). This can get a little messy, and she is not a neat eater, so food tends to go everywhere. So now I have to sit with her and hold the dish for her while she eats. She seems to really like this new deal she has going, and at least she will let me sit with her while she enjoys her dinner.  Jude doesn’t eat much dry food, as it’s difficult for her to eat, so she eats wet food four times a day. She does eat some dry food in her playpen at night, but she finds the wet food much easier to eat.

We haven’t been able to open the sliding door to the screen porch much lately, as it’s been way too hot.  But we had a cooler morning recently and Jude was able to enjoy some fresh air. I love seeing her scoot herself over to the doorway and smell the fresh air. She always looks so content in a sunbeam and fresh air.

Jude has a huge change coming to her life in a few days. We are moving! We bought a house, and Jude will have her very own room in the new house, right next to my bedroom.  So I can hear her, but she can have peace and her own space. She will enjoy having a place without the other cats to bother her and steal her food and toys.

I am very concerned about the move, though. Jude does not do change well, and this is a huge change. I am taking all the precautions I can to make this go smoothly for her, and hopefully keep her seizure-free. My plan is to take her playpen over to the new house on moving day, with her bedding and usual things inside of the playpen, so it is very familiar to her.

I will have everything set up at the new place, then I will go and get Jude. I will do this calmly and as fast as possible, get her to the new house, and immediately put her in her playpen for the rest of the day, while she adjusts. I will slowly let her out in her new room, and watch her closely. Her playpen is her safe place, so I will use that as much as I need to until she is comfortable and happy with her new home.

I have spoken to the vet team about increasing one of her medications (the one that helps her feel calmer) for a few days, and I will be doing that for her as she gets used to things.  Wish us luck that all goes well. I will update you all in the next update.

Thank you all for your continued support of our special little girl. We could not do this without you.

Your correspondent,
Karina