Welcome to the wonderful world of Jude. Please hold on tightly to the safety bars, as we will hit some bumpy roads along the way. This ride may get a little scary sometimes, but I know with the power of you, his wonderful sponsors, and Tabby’s Place behind him, we really can “make it better” for little Jude.
The second I laid eyes on Jude, I wanted to take him home and love him forever. He was tiny and helpless, but so happy! Right from the beginning, he had a purr worthy of a lion.
At first Jude did OK; he was eating, using his litter pan, and getting around on his own. I thought he was going to do just fine. I know hydrocephalus babies are very fragile, and they don’t usually make it to adulthood, but he was doing so well that I let myself believe he would be the exception. That’s when the ride got really bumpy, and really scary.
The seizures started infrequently at first, and only lasted a few seconds. Within a few days, they were very intense, and very frequent. Jude was having 8-10 grand mal seizures a day, and cluster seizures, where he would come out of one seizure, just to go into another. I was giving him medicine that stopped the seizures once a day, and then it was needed twice a day. The medicine made him very sleepy, but at least it kept the seizures away for a few hours.
My heart was breaking for him, and I wondered how much his little body could take, but I refused to give up. During every seizure, I held him tight and spoke gently to him. I told him I was here, it would be OK. We had a lot of sleepless nights. I always had one ear on Jude, so I could jump up at a moment’s notice. He knew when a seizure was coming, and he would meow frantically for me. I would rush to his side immediately. I didn’t ever want him to cry for help and no one came.
I have fostered hundreds of kittens, and many of them have been Special Needs kittens. But I was really concerned about Jude, and I had no idea how to make it better. I really thought I was going to lose him, and it tore my heart out.
Jude went to a world-class neurologist several times. They were concerned about putting him on some of the medicines that could help, because he is so young. However, we had to try; it was becoming a quality of life decision, and it was time to pull out all the stops.
Then, just as suddenly as the seizures started, they stopped! I cannot tell you how happy I was, how relieved and grateful I was, that little Jude was OK. Suddenly, he was back to normal (for him), eating, playing, using his litter pan. He was once again a happy kitten.
Jude shares my home with his new siblings: Tanzy, a paraplegic; Castiel, a paraplegic; Charlie, another Tabby’s Place permanent foster, who is a senior diabetic with FIV+ and heart disease, hyperthyroidism and IBD; and two large dogs: Accalia, a German Shepherd, and Diesel, an Anatolian Shepherd mix. Jude loves all of his new family, even the dogs. He may be the smallest member of the family, but he is already putting all the other animals in line.
Jude is extremely feisty when he wants to be, and if he disapproves of something, he will yell at you. He yells at me a lot when it’s time for his medicine. You would think I was torturing him with the screams that come out of his mouth, and it’s just a small amount of an oral liquid medicine!
Jude loves to be held, and he purrs and purrs, but try to hold him when he’s “busy” and he will yell at you. On the other hand, try to stop holding him before he’s ready and he will yell at you. Sweet and incredibly feisty, all in one tiny package. But I think it’s that strong, fighting nature that has helped him survive.
While we are still unsure of what Jude’s future holds, we are a lot more confident our little fireball will do just fine. I can tell you one thing; he will always have love, friends, yummy food, all the medical help he needs, and a momma who loves him with all of her heart.
Thank you so much for joining Jude’s family. This little guy may have a bumpy road ahead, but together we really can “make it better” for this special little guy. His treatments, medicines and trips to the neurologist will be very expensive, so we literally couldn’t do this without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.