Day 90

Tuesday, July 29

Well, by Jenny & James' scale, I now weigh over 6 lbs. - 1 1/2 oz. over, to be exact. That's pretty exciting news!

The past few days I've been kind of blah, but because they're neglectful & forgetful (and because James was gone most of the day on Saturday), Jenny & James haven't given me any fluids since Friday, so maybe that's why. I got them tonight, but I didn't like it.

Tomorrow, after my morning feeding, Jenny is going up to Michigan for her sister's bridal shower on Saturday, so James will have to take care of me all by himself. Jenny's had to do that, too, over a couple of weekends, but not for such a long stretch at a time - James will have to take care of me on his own until Sunday afternoon. I hope he does OK!

Day 79

Friday, July 18

Hey, wow, I’ve been neglecting my blog for over a month now – yikes! A lot has happened in the past month. On June 19, I went and stayed at Red Maples vet clinic while Jenny & James went to visit their families in Michigan for the weekend. When they picked me up on Monday the 23^rd I was doing great! I was affectionate and energetic, and they were both pretty excited. By the end of that week, however, I was feeling pretty lethargic and they gave me some Tramadol in case I was in pain (trying to pass a kidney stone?). That made for a worrisome few days, but then I seemed to be feeling a bit better.

Jenny took me to see Dr. Forman again on July 1. He told her that he’d been reading my blog and was concerned about how I was doing, and they had the dreaded “quality of life” conversation. Dr. Forman said that although I was doing quite well, I probably wasn’t ever going to get any better than I am right now. I could possibly go on like this for a very long time, as long as I was getting good nutrition and care. He asked Jenny what she thought my quality of life was, on a scale of 1 (fabulous) to 10 (unbearable). She thought it was a 6 or 7, depending on the day. Dr. Forman said that wasn’t very good, but that he would support whatever decision she & James made about me.

Later, at home, Jenny asked James what he thought my quality of life was. He thought about 5 or 6, and they decided to put off making any big decisions for a while.

I stayed at Red Maples again over the 4^th of July, when Jenny & James went to New York to meet their niece (James’ brother’s daughter who was born on Thanksgiving). I was a good girl at the vet’s office, but I was very glad to get home. Since then, I’ve been doing very well.

I’ve been feeling good in general, which means that now not only do I not want to sit still for my fluids, but I’m getting pretty tired of them feeding me through my tube, too. I’ve taken to hiding under the bed, so now when they’re going to feed me they shut my bedroom door so I can’t do that. Sometimes I do start to walk away while the syringe is in my tube, causing them to crawl around on the floor after me and feel disgruntled. Sometimes food or water spills out of my tube when I do this, and my “tank top” gets pretty grimy after a while.

But I’m enjoying life a lot more. I play with my catnip ravioli every day, I like to look out the window, I lie on Jenny & James’ laps more often, and I’ve started jumping up to my favorite spots again (the end of the banister at the bottom of the stairs, the ledge in the upstairs hallway, and even the top of the TV stand, where there really isn’t any room for me), which I haven’t really done since I got my tube. I also discovered that I like to lie on top of the printer. Jenny thinks my quality of life is now probably a 4 on most days, maybe even a 3. She and James aren’t sure where to go from here, but for now I’m doing pretty good, so…yay!