Monday, worrying but hopeful.

You know, sometimes it makes me wonder. This is going to be vague for observable reasons, but if someone goes out and gets a cat or a dog, and that creature isn’t fitting their lifestyle, I find it quite ‘interesting’ how it is easy to… eliminate… the animal. Two things come to my mind here. First, things are different from one family to another, and for some, a cat or a dog is like window dressing, a convenience, a decoration, perhaps. How nice. Like all decorations, what-nots, and nick-knacks, it is quite easy to get rid of an animal that is just an object introduced into a family environment for the purpose of ‘decorating’ their household. That isn’t the way it works in our home. Our dogs and cats are our companion animals. We maintain our home for the comfort of our son, Gabriel, and our companions, who are essentially our kids and our family. Species is not a qualifier. Our family is our family, period.

I have heard of some who have a dog or cat that is no longer ‘convenient’ or that chews up a shoe, also known as “doing what puppies naturally do” and what is the response? The simple way out, of course… how about a bullet in the head, a little lead and their annoyingly inconvenient pet is dead? It’s only a stupid cat or a bothersome dog, after all. In our home, that is unacceptable. That is not ‘us.’ Anyone who judges us because of that, we say, “So be it” and “Who cares what they think?” That brings me to my second point. Obviously, emergency care isn’t free. Our cat is ill, but we are spending our money on it. Anyone who says to me, “Why don’t you just let him go? Even if you treat him, he may die anyway, and what a waste of money that would be” just doesn’t get it. Two quick sub-points, to reiterate. One, that is not how we do things around here. And two, if you disagree and think we are wasting our money, well, it isn’t really your business and it isn’t your money… so butt out.


Now that I got that off my chest, I feel a little better. Heather and I are going to continue hoping and praying. I am as German as can be, and anybody who knows me knows that I am not going to give up easily, especially when my cat greets me, purrs, and shows affection when we visit him in the hospital. When I am told to ‘just let him go,’ I think, if we do not look out for those we care about, it doesn’t say much about our human values. Does it? No matter what happens with Miracle Max, he has been a wonderful and loving friend. More importantly, his illness has helped us to reaffirm our faith and the importance of prayer. That is quite an accomplishment for him. After all… he is just a cat, so why bother? Some day, I hope that the human race can learn to share unconditional love, something that our Fuzzman has taught us much about. We aren’t letting him go without a fight and lots of prayers. God knows best, and we are following His lead.

Monday

Very early this morning, we transferred Max to the Veterinary Emergency Center in Eden Prairie. He is doing okay, but has that problem with labored breathing due to his bacterial pneumonia. He spent today in an oxygen cage, where the vets increase the oxygen content to 40 percent (atmospheric air is 20 percent oxygen at ground level). This has helped Max breath a lot easier, but it seems likely he will be on oxygen for at least another day. The doctor on this shift just called and said he is doing okay, relaxing in his oxygen cage, while they are giving him two synergistic antibiotics to cover all the possible types of infection, aerobic, anaerobic, Grams plus and Grams negative. Max’s condition is guarded but we are very hopeful, praying every day with more fervor than ever, and not willing to give up easily. Max is a member of our family, and he is worth every bit of this. Heather and I completely and unequivocally agree.