Dear Jude Friend,

Jude had a good month, for the most part. She is still having a lot of seizures (she just had a seizure a few minutes ago, as I write this).  She had 11 grand mal seizures, and she also had 2 days in a row that she kept having cluster seizures. Cluster seizures are not full-blown seizures, as they are small, and Jude is still very aware of what is going on (which is not the case with a grand mal seizure). During a cluster seizure, she twitches and her legs jump and spasm, but she is still in control and can move around freely. The cluster seizures usually last about a half hour for Jude and then they pass and she is back to normal.

We did manage to get blood work done on Jude recently, so we check the levels of her medications to find out if she can get a higher dose. One of the staff members came to my house to help me get blood from Jude, so Jude didn’t have to leave her home and travel to Tabby’s Place, which always causes her a lot of stress, which leads to more seizures. We are waiting on the results of the blood work, and I hope it shows something else we can do to help her.

A few weeks ago I was searching everywhere for Luvs (Jude’s mini-me playmate). It was nighttime, and it was time for Luvs to get her bladder expressed. I searched everywhere but could not find her. I was getting concerned and was looking in places I had already searched— but still no Luvs! I finally found her in Jude’s playpen—with Jude—curled up happily near her sister. That is the first time I had seen Luvs do this, but now she does it all the time. Once it is getting dark, Jude goes into her playpen for the night, for her own protection (plus she really loves her playpen), so Luvs has decided she will just go and visit Jude in the playpen. At first, I thought Luvs was going in there to steal Jude’s food and treats, but she isn’t—she just wants to nap close to Jude. Jude doesn’t mind Luvs being there at all and she seems to really like Luvs.

Jude had some loose stool again, and just recently started some medication to help. Hopefully, it will help soon, and Jude can have fewer baths. She has had at least 15 baths this month! She tends to poop, then drags herself through it, which is lovely! So she needs a lot of baths to keep her nice and clean. Just this morning I saw her pooping, and I was right there, so I cleaned her butt and cleaned up the poop. I thought she was done, so I left the room. When I returned about 20 minutes later I could not believe the mess I was seeing! Jude went right to the bath, and I scrubbed her room clean.

For the last 2 nights, as I am going to bed, I do my usual thing… I go and tell Jude I love her and give her some pets. This is usually met with a low growl, but for the last 2 nights, she lifted up her chin and actually leaned her head into my hand for more pets. I was so happy!! It is very infrequent that Jude will seem to enjoy pets, so I make the most of it when it happens.

That is all the Jude news for now. Thank you so much for caring about Jude, and giving her your support.  It means so much to all of us.

By the way, if you enjoy stories about our cats, you may enjoy our blog, where we post at least three times every week.

Your correspondent,
Karina