2/23 Max

[Max & Lori]

No change, if anything numbers are worse. Just in case anyone wonders where we’ve gone, I’m not going to post anything else anymore. I may pop in and check on other kitties as I usually do. I’m discouraged and nobody needs to keep hearing all that. I especially want to say thank you to @carfurby (GA) for encouraging me every day. I need it to keep going and it’s very helpful. It’s really hard to love something so much that you practically lose yourself trying to help the situation. I worked in healthcare, yes, but I’m far from knowing anything about what we are going through here, so I came here to learn and be encouraged. I have learned a lot from reading other posts, but we all know ECID. I’ve certainly never had a cat like Max with so much going on, but he’s the sweetest kitty I’ve ever had. Thank you to those who stopped by to help us so many times. It helps to know someone cares about Max other than myself. I don’t know if it’s just me, but sometimes it gets to be just overwhelming emotionally. Normally I consider myself strong, independent person but this has simply broken me. Thank you again my friends who have been there. Best wishes to you all.

 

[Adrienne & Molly (GA)]

We all get discouraged, all I wanted was to get Molly's numbers good, or for her to go in remission. But that never happened, but I did all I could for her. I found a lot of support on here, even when Molly was diagnosed with cancer. I was emotional and I understand how you feel. Just seen the orange kitty Max and thought I'd comment, take care!

 

[tiffmaxee]

I understand the emotional roller coaster. Take a break but know you can come back here as often or seldom as needed. We care. We will always be here for you.

 

[Amy & Herman]

The emotional toll is hard to shoulder - you've done so well for your furbaby, everything you can - take comfort in that. We are always here for you.

 

[Max & Lori]

Thank you both. It's been a rough week and I'm searching for answers that I just can seem to find. It hasn't helped that being stuck in the house under quarantine and being sick was added to the picture. Whether it's his tumor, or if his dose is too low or if it's too high? I've looked for interventions like regular insulin that I wondered would be helpful. Not sure if that's the right thing to do or not. I've exhausted myself getting up testing and feeding every hour trying to catch a big drop that might be causing the bouncing. As much as I've learned, I feel like I know nothing, because I simply don't know what to do. He doesn't seem sick at all. Waiting and seeing it get worse is completely overwhelming. He was doing so well and then it all came crashing down. I don't know why. I'm not going to keep rambling on, I'm just defeated, but thank you both for everything you've helped us with. Elise, for being there so many times and Adrienne, for all the info you gave me on camping with a kitty. I really appreciate it.

 

[Max & Lori]

Thank you too Amy. I miss reading posts from you and Herman, but I am so happy for you both.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Take care of yourself first Lori. If you need the sleep, reduce the dose for a bit and see if you can avoid those late nights while you recover. The bonus, it'll answer that niggling question "is the dose too high?". Many a time I was exhausted I lowered Neko's dose for a few days so I could get sleep and be at my best for Neko. You can't continue on tired all the time. My hardest lesson was learning how to take care of an FD cat (with acro post SRT) and having a life myself.

Another realization I came to at one point was that there was nothing more I could do to help Neko go OTJ. It was up to her and the tumour response. At that point I got less focused on the need for always green, and focused instead on under renal threshold has much as possible. Remember, as frustrating as they are to see, those short bounces aren't hurting Max.

We care about you and Max. We'll be stalking your spreadsheet. Please stop in occasionally and give us an update. In my early days here, we had a lot more people who would post maybe once a week, with a Caturday update.

 

[carfurby (GA)]

It's so hard to deal with all the ups and downs. Max is lucky to have you do everything you can for him. We'll be here if you need anything. I hope you can rest and recharge. Sending prayers.

 

[Max & Lori]

I can’t thank you enough @Wendy&Neko for everything you’ve taught me. I know I’ve probably asked more than my share from you than most, but I am thankful for the time you have given to us. I probably will have questions for you every now and then but I’m just going to try to pull myself back together once more and hope Max can hang on while I do that.

 

[Karen&Rocket]

Sending big hugs to you, Lori. It's so important to take care of yourself too. So many of us here understand how you feel. And please give Max a few dozen smooches from me.

 

[Max & Lori]

Karen, thanks so much. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Your story about Rocket and the pictures are just beautiful.

 

[Adrienne & Molly (GA)]

Thank you both. It's been a rough week and I'm searching for answers that I just can seem to find. It hasn't helped that being stuck in the house under quarantine and being sick was added to the picture. Whether it's his tumor, or if his dose is too low or if it's too high? I've looked for interventions like regular insulin that I wondered would be helpful. Not sure if that's the right thing to do or not. I've exhausted myself getting up testing and feeding every hour trying to catch a big drop that might be causing the bouncing. As much as I've learned, I feel like I know nothing, because I simply don't know what to do. He doesn't seem sick at all. Waiting and seeing it get worse is completely overwhelming. He was doing so well and then it all came crashing down. I don't know why. I'm not going to keep rambling on, I'm just defeated, but thank you both for everything you've helped us with. Elise, for being there so many times and Adrienne, for all the info you gave me on camping with a kitty. I really appreciate it.

I forgot, I gave you advice on camping with a kitty. My mind has been elsewhere. DH and I are looking forward to camping this year. But also dreading the fact that Molly won't be here to enjoy the camping season. If you do go camping with your kitty. Share some pictures for me and tag me. I always like to see cats camping, Molly always enjoyed it.

 

[Max & Lori]

I forgot, I gave you advice on camping with a kitty. My mind has been elsewhere. DH and I are looking forward to camping this year. But also dreading the fact that Molly won't be here to enjoy the camping season. If you do go camping with your kitty. Share some pictures for me and tag me. I always like to see cats camping, Molly always enjoyed it.

I definitely will Adrienne. We love camping too. We mostly like to go out to the Outer Banks of NC, which is only a couple of hours away. My son and his family are moving to New Hampshire though so Max will have to learn to travel a long ways! He didn’t like camping at first but I think he will the more he goes. This is a picture of him relaxing on his dad’s chair in the camper.

 

[Adrienne & Molly (GA)]

I definitely will Adrienne. We love camping too. We mostly like to go out to the Outer Banks of NC, which is only a couple of hours away. My son and his family are moving to New Hampshire though so Max will have to learn to travel a long ways! He didn’t like camping at first but I think he will the more he goes. This is a picture of him relaxing on his dad’s chair in the camper.
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That's cute, we always took Molly's scratch post ( perch) with us, when we went camping. Molly didn't like travelling in the truck. But once she was in the camper she was happy.
Max looks like my parents cat Oscar.