Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Well, once again, mine mom has kept me away from mine diary fur muchmuch longer than is acceptable. I would trade her in fur a noo mom, but I'm not sure I'd get one any better, so I guess I'll keep this one. (Good hoomins are hard to train, yoo know.) Anyway, just wanted to report in and let yoo know I'm doing rilly well. I almost had a eye prollem about a week or so ago, but mom noticed it rilly fast and started putting goop in mine eyes right away. And, this time, I nevfur got beyond the "almost squinty" stage. Yay! I'm furry glad to have positive things to report. Rilly, ovfurall, I think thuh past year has been a rilly good one. And mom and I are celebrating because I'm SIX now! We din't think I'd make it past two, so we celebrate each year extra special. Mom sez I'm becoming more and more a lapkitty....makes us both happy. >:< Guess that's all for now! I rilly will try to drag her back here sooner rather than later next time! Maxwell

October 23, 2000
Well, again, mine mom has let waaaaay too much time pass between mine journal entries. Fur thuh most part, I've been doing pretty well. However, about three or four weeks ago, I had another ulcer. This one was different, though. It wasn't furry big in diameter but it was deep. Usually, mine are large but shallow. So this one, because it was deep, was harder to heal. So I had to go see TED again. sssigh. It seems mine usual auntie biotik (antibiotic) wasn't doing thuh trick this time. We don't know yet if it's because mine body has become used to that one or if it was just that purrticular ulcer. But mom had to go to the hoomin pharmacy and get me a different auntie biotik. This was was called Tobramycin. The other auntie was named Gentamycin. But we had to be careful to find one with no steroids in it because they do badbad things to eye ulcers. But within a few days on the new auntie biotik, mine eye felt much better! Oh! And mom found me some "happy pills", too! The new TED at thuh TED place gave her a few for me a couple months ago but she never game them to me because he scared her so bad about how strong they were and how they'd knock me out. Ha! They din't knock me out atall! She gave me one because I was hurting so bad and it made me feel soooo much better....like a cat again. They're called Torbutrol and mom made sure to get some more fur thuh next time I hurt so bad I hide in thuh litterbox. (I don't do that furry often, but sometime a guy's just gotta find a quiet place when he doesn't feel good, ya know?) Anyway, for now, everything's cool. I'm fine, mine eyes are fine, and evfurryone's mostly getting along. Well, as well as they evfur do, anyway. I tend to get along wif all of em, but alla thuh rest of em seem to haff interpurrsonal problems. I'll just leave them to 'em and go on about my day.

See ya later! Maxwell

Thursday, June 8, 2000
sssigh. Well, it's all mom's fault. Well, Callie's too, I suppose. Yoo see....Callie's hadda bladder infekshun fur a few weeks now. Mom took her to TED (Thuh Evil Doctor) and got her some Aunti Biotiks to take. Well, she took alla those Auntis and she wuz still using thuh bedroom corner fur a litter box so mom took her back to see TED again. She got a different Aunti Biotik that time but she and that Aunti din't get along. That Aunti made Callie hurk, so then she got yet anuffer Aunti Biotik, thuh one she's on now and hassta take fur two bottles' worth. Anyway....I figure, iffn it smells like a litterbox, it must be one, so I used Callie's corner spot fur mine own litterbox ovfur last weekend. Now mom hadda piece of plastic down anna towel on toppa that, and it was furry nice and comfy fur a kitty, if yoo know whut I mean. But mom, thuh obsessive worrywart, thought I must be sick too, so she hauled ME off to see TED on Monday "just in case". ACK! He said I wuz purrfektly fine but he gave me an Aunti Biotik too "just in case". Whut's wif this "just in case" bizness, anyway??? He said it wuz cause he stressed me. Of course he stressed me! He's a TED! Anyway, mine Aunti obviously din't do her job, cuz yesterday, mine eyez boff got ulcers on 'em. One's badbad and thuh other one's not quite so bad. But thuh badbad one rilly rilly hurts lots and is all goopy and runny. Mom almost took me back to TED yet again (sumfing about me hiding inna covered litterbox last night) but I wuz feeling a liddle better this morning, so I gotta reprieve! No more trips to TED fur awhile. But we're doing alla junk inna eye routine again till mine eyes feel all bedder. I'm out and about tonight and more interested in whut's going on around me, so I'm on thuh mend again. Well, gotta go take anuffer nappie....this eye bizness wears a kitty out. Maxwell

Sunday, May 28, 2000
Well, itz been a longlong time since I've been able to convince mine mom to play secatary fur me and add to mine journal. I'm sorry fur thuh long delay, but rilly, life's been kinda boring fur thuh past couple of months. I've been feeling pretty good, wif just a few minor short lived eye prollems, nuffin' to write home about. Mom's been kinda bizzy, but so whut else is new? Callie's been thuh one gettin' all thuh attenshun lately, whut wif her havin' a bladder infekshun and peein' in this corner and that of thuh house. She was supposedly onna right medicine but it duzzent seem to be workin' so she gets to go see TED (Thuh Evil Doctor) again next week. (sshhhh!!! Don't tell her!!) heeheehee! Anyway, I think I heard a rumor I might be visiting one TED or another next week mineownself. ssigh. Just cuz mine pupils are bigger than normal and don't get little when mom shines a light in 'em. sheeesh. She's sooo picky. They don't hurt and I feel fine. She just obsesses about me, I think. Anyway, she's not sure iffn she's gonna call regular TED or EyeTED but I'd just as soon she din't do either one. I'll let ya know how it goes. I promise...it won't be two months befur mine next note. I'll drag mom here, kicking and screaming, iffn I haff to. But, she's gotta go outta town next week so it might be a few days befur I do get back to update mine journal, so hang wif me, and I'll let ya know.

Love, Maxwell

March 31, 2000 - Belated Update
Wow. When I said mom was busy and wouldn't get around to updating mine diary for me, I didn't think it'd take her *this* long. She's still furry busy but I convinced her to take a few minutes to jot a note or two for me. My eye was kinda sore for a couple of weeks, but it wasn't nearly as badbad as it is sometimes. Finally, though, we got it knocked out. Inna meantime, there *is* justice in this world. Mom's had an eye infection, too, so she's had to put drops in *her* eyes! Only thing that'd be better would be if I got to hold *her* down and put thuh drops in her eyes. Oh well...can't have evfurrything in life, I guess. Seems otherwise life is finefine. Spring is here and burdies are building nests outside our windows. There's a mousie on thuh back porch whut steals birdseed. Now. If we could just get out there to...um....chat with that mousie....

Well, gotta run! Hopefully, I can drag mom back to update mine journal more often inna future.

Maxwell

March 1, 2000 - Reporting in again...
sssigh. Mom's so busy lately she hasn't had time to take notes fur me. Howevfur, Sunday night, she looked at me and said sumfing about mine left pupil being one size and mine right pupil being another size. Left one was big and right one was small. But I was feeling finefine and was playing and wasn't squinty eyed so she couldn't figure out which eye was gonna be sick. Well, come Monday morning, it was mine left eye (thuh one whut was big) that wuz all squinty. ssigh. So we're going through thuh stoopid drops inna eye routine again. I'm not feeling nearly so bad as sometimes, though...I'm still eating and playing, so it's not tootoo bad this time! Anyway, I'll try to do better about keeping yoo all updated inna good times too, but mom sez she's gonna be busybusy ovfur thuh next month so mine updates might haffta wait. We'll see. More later....Maxwell

February 11, 2000 - Mine Eyes are Fine, Now
Sorry I haven't written in a few days...we had company at thuh house and mine secretary (thuh hoomin) couldn't get to thuh pooter for a while. Anyway, mine eyes are all thuh way well now and I'm feeling finefine! I'm back to wrestling, playing chase, and snoozing in the window seat. And a fine life it is, too! Well...gotta get back to mine nappie. More later! Maxwell

January 24, 2000 - More on thuh Eyes
Well, mom dragged me in to see TED (rememfur, he's Thuh Evil Doctor, aka vet) this morning. He put stuff in mine eye and it turned GREEN! That means it has an ulcer. sigh. But I'm already feeling better than I did yesterday so thuh stuff mom's putting in 'em must be working. But since there's an ulcer, she's gonna be chasing me down even more often and putting TWO different gunky stuffs in mine eye for days 'n days. (One's the regular antibiotic stuff and the other is an ointment that helps soothe thuh surface of mine eye, or so they say.) Ah well...but it'll be better again soon! I know it will! Later....Maxwell, th

January 23, 2000 - sssigh...I spoke too soon
Well, I should've known better than to celebrate no eye problems....mom noticed last night that mine right pupil was about twice the size of mine left, and I was a bit squinty eyed. Soooo....she put thuh icky cold Aunti Biotik drops in mine eye...guess we'll be doing that for awhile again. Today, mine pupil is mostly back to normal in size, but it's doing that spasm thingy, with thuh size going small then large then small and so on. It's rilly kinda weird. I hope we caught this one fast enuff to get it knocked out without a trip to EyeTED. (TED, for thuh uninformed hoomin, is Thuh Evil Doctor, known to hoomins as vets.) More later..

January 20, 2000 - It's My Purrday!
Today's my 5th Purrday! (That's birthday for those hoomins who don't understand meowchat. Today is my fifth purrday! They say most kities who have had feline leukemia since they were babycats don't make it to age 2. So, evfurry year since then, mom and I celebrate with special joy my purrdays. And today I turned 5. Well, I don't rilly remember my exact purrday but this is thuh day that mom and I agreed to celebrate it on. It's gotta be close cause I was 10 or 12 weeks old when I came to live with mom and Callie five years ago on April 2 (my mom's purrday!). Anyway, it's been a wunnerful five years and I hope to have that many more and then some! And I'm also celebrating today because it's been almost 2 months since mine eyes have been inflamed and painful! I think it's a new record!

Well, I've gotta go but I'll write more later...

Maxwell