Dear Jude friend,

Jude had a good month doing her usual Jude kind of things, which are mostly eating and sleeping (her two favorite things in the world). She also laid in a sunbeam or two, and yelled at me a few times for doing things she didn’t like (pilling her, expressing her bladder, and so on).

Jude did have 6 seizures this month, which seems to be pretty average for her. One of those seizures was a very violent one, and lasted longer than usual for her. I was just reaching for the rescue medicine, to stop the seizure, when it finally stopped on its own. The other seizures was pretty mild, and passed within about 20 seconds.

When I say a mild seizure for Jude, this is still a grand mal seizure, but she does have different levels to each seizure. At one time all of her seizures were extremely violent, so I am happy most of them are on the milder side.

One thing never changes, and that is how hungry Jude is after a seizure. Even after a quick seizure, that only lasts a few seconds, she “wakes up” from the seizure starving! I know I better have food available as soon as she is out of the seizure. Even after the seizure stops, it takes her a minute or two to get back to her usual self. Once she is back, it’s time to eat! Jude doesn’t seem aware that anything happened to her, other than being very hungry, which is good news. I would hate for her to be aware of what is going on during a seizure.

Jude did have a few baths again this month. I think she is getting better for baths, because she doesn’t complain much anymore. Maybe it feels good to get clean? I’m not sure, but I do know she is more tolerant for her baths. However, when it comes time to towel dry her, she is MAD!!!! I have no idea why, but she really hates being dried after her bath. I try to tell her that I can’t leave her soaking wet and dripping, but she doesn’t care. I dry her anyway, amongst very loud growls and protests, with a few hisses thrown in for good measure.

I can’t remember if I have ever told you this, but Jude can destroy a pill popper in about a day. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen those pill poppers that people can use to get a pill into a cat? They are kind of hard plastic, with a plunger to push the pill into the cat’s mouth. As I pill Jude with one of these tools (and remember, I have been doing this for a long time, and I am very good at doing this, and FAST), Jude bites down on it as hard as she can. Thank goodness that is not my finger in her mouth! Then, as I do the same with a syringe of water to flush it down, she does the same with the syringe. The other day, she bit the pill popper so hard it broke apart. Time for a new pill popper!! I am going to include a photo of it, so you can see how hard she can bite these things.

Jude has always done this, and I have always known she does this, so don’t ask me why one time, when a pill dropped out of the pill popper, I picked it, opened her mouth, and stuck my finger in her mouth with the pill. OUCH!!!!! We need to start a savings account for Jude, just to keep her stocked in pill poppers.

That’s all the Jude news for now. As always, thank you so much for everything you do for our little Jude. Not only do you help so much with all her medical care, but you keep her supplied with pill poppers!

Your correspondent,

Karina