I'm spinning for Max
Last May, Max came home.
I hadn't planned on another cat - in fact, I was close to having to say good-bye to my longtime sidekick, Gus, who was 18 1/2 and in the end stages of a couple terminal illnesses. Without giving it any thought, I reflexively (and uncharacteristically) said "I'll take him home", sight unseen when staff discussed him in a meeting, worrying that there would be few or no placement options for a pretty sickly cat with lymphoma. I still have no idea what came over me, but sometimes things just work out the way they're supposed to.
Shortly thereafter, I met Max for the first time and could see why staff loved him so much. Despite being terribly sick (I will spare you descriptions of the daily vomit and diarrhea, his creepy tail tumor and the state of the few teeth he had left in his mouth), he was always happy to be held and loved everyone he met. I brought him home and thought I'd give him a few months of hospice care.
To borrow a favorite saying from a friend, I think instead of hospice, he heard "hospitality" because 9 months later he's thriving. It certainly helps that he's loved and has a nice home of his own, but the real reason Max is thriving is because the MSPCA at Nevins Farm didn't give up on him.
Most cats as sick as he was would be viewed as poor candidates to spend precious resources on, but not only did we chase down a diagnosis for him through our specialists at Angell Animal Medical Center - allowing us to know that we're treating his symptoms properly and making him as comfortable as possible - but Max also had a very involved and time consuming dental once he was stable and great follow-up care. His vomiting and diarrhea totally ceased and he gained all of his lost pounds back. He's a beautiful, happy, comfortable cat.
His one lingering symptom was his tumor on his tail, which we've watched closely. Recently, it began to become troublesome and on February 8th, the veterinary staff at Nevins Farm will have to amputate it. I'll miss the gorgeous flair that is his tail, but I'm sure he'll handle it all in stride - just as he has with every other step along the way.
I'm proud to work for an organization that would work so hard and invest as much time, energy and resources to support a terminally ill cat. What's more is that Max's story is not at all unique; there are countless cats, dogs, horses, pigs, birds and rabbits that our staff go way more than the extra mile for every day, to make a difference in their life.
So, on March 10th, I'll be spinning for 3 hours with all of those animals in mind. Please consider making a donation to support my efforts - and to help us continue to help animals just like Max every day. The MSPCA is a private organization and receives no state, federal or local funds and relies on our community of animal lovers to help us carry out our mission of kindness and care. Max is here because of people like you; thank you from us both!
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