Saturday, June 12, 2010

Chapstick and Maxie

We needed a laugh today, so we were pleased a friend passed on a story to Jan. We borrowed it.

We had this great 10-year-old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on the mat in our bathroom. We have three kids and at the time of this story, they were 4 years old,3 years old, and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loved Chapstick. LOVED it. He kept asking to use my Chapstick and then would lose it. Finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my Chapstick and explained he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer after he finished.


That year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and trying to get ready for church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys were fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I was trying to nurse my little one at the same time I was putting on my make-up. Everything was a mess and everyone had long forgotten that this was a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood. We finally had the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I was looking for Eli. I searched everywhere and I finally went into the bathroom. There was Eli. He was applying my Chapstick very carefully to Jack's ... rear end.


Eli looked right into my eyes and said, "Chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right -- their little bottoms do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. The only question to ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth!?!


And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your Chapstick on the cat's butt.

Author Unknown

And now that we've made you smile, we will update you on Maxie. Have a tissue handy.


Maxie is still alive after his surgery today, but the vet wants $6000 to insert a stent to hold his esophagus open. It was severely burned during a normal dental procedure due to negligence by the vet. Mom Laura tried unsuccessfully to find a way to borrow the money, so they are forced to choose the other option -- bring Maxie home for a few days so the family can say their good-byes and then have him euthanized within ten days. We are very sad for Maxie and his family.

Even if Laura does take action against the vet responsible, Maxie's need is immediate and it would not help him in time. There is a donate button on Laura's blog, should anyone care to make a donation to Maxie's care.

And as KC has posted on the Cat Blogosphere, "If anyone could help with an idea for a loan, please contact Mom Laura or even KC. They may be able to get the price of this surgery down somewhat."

You can read Laura's Friday update on Maxie's blog. We agree with the comment left by furkidsmom:"We hope that a miracle happens and that Maxie can get the operation."

See, Laura's apartment building burned in 2008 and her three cats were presumed dead. But Mu Shue, Lilly Lu and Iris were rescued a few days later. Mu Shue died of lymphoma and then Maxie joined the family.

Have a purring and tail wagging day.

29 comments:

  1. Thanks fur the laugh prior to getting sad and angry about Maxie -

    We aren't sure we khomprehend the need for all those green papers -

    Just like the human healthkhare system, where does greed lose out to kharing?

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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  2. We are still very sad and angry over what has happened to Maxie. The family has been through so much. We continue to purr and pray for them all.

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  3. Oh my! That was funny! Maxie is in our thoughts and prayers -- her family also....so sad....

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  4. It's so awful about Maxie. Awful. I'm just too horrified at what happened to him - this should have been a routine procedure and for it to go horribly wrong is just terrible. Poor Maxie and his family. I've just been over to Maxie's mum's blog and it really is just terrible.

    Thanks for the mother's day story about Eli, chapstick and the wonderful Jack. What treasures.

    Take care
    x

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  5. That was a really cute and funny story about the chapstick.
    The story about Maxie is just awful. It is too bad that they can't get the vet responsible to pay for the surgery. We just visited Maxie's blog. Wish we could do something. I will be glad to donate. But the operation sounds kind of scary if it has never been done before.
    Have a great week end.

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  6. That was a very funny story.
    We are so sad about poor Maxie. The negligent vet should be made to pay for the operation. We agree with Khyra though, the cost seems outrageously high.

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  7. Loved your story about the chapped bottom - I shall never think of kitty bottoms in the same way again!!
    We are so sorry for Maxie's family - Laura has gone through so much since the fire at the old apartment.
    The vet responsible should be sued.

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  8. We needed that laugh! Thanks for posting that cute story!

    We are sick about Maxie. It is so unfair that Maxie should have to go to the Bridge because of incompetence.

    Sniffie and the Florida Furkids

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  9. I am so sorry about Maxie. But for one moment listen to me. If all of us here were to put all of this energy into the power of prayer, I bet you things would start changing in all ways, the power of prayer does work. Again I am sorry about Maxie and I will be praying for her.

    God bless,
    Jodi

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  10. WE are purring really hard that Maxie gets the money for his surgery.

    We are very angry that the vet did so much damage to Maxie and is unwilling to assume financial responsibility to make it right. ~AFSS

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  11. Thanx for the laugh.

    We are abslutely sick to our stomach about what is happening to Maxie. That V~E~T should burn in hell. If that were us, I'd demand he fix my cat since it was his(her) fault! We really wish we could help, but we just had our submersible well pump replaced. Mom will she what she can scrounge up. We re purraying furry hard for a miracle!

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  12. This is so sad about what happened to Maxie. Thank you for explaining it to us in bean language-my mom was having a hard time reading kitty language.

    I so wish we would help out with the green papers. We are still broke from my $400 surgery in April and now mom's upcoming surgery this month.

    I pray for a miracle!

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  13. LOL! Jack the Cat was a saint...chapstick-ing his butt! I will never use chapstick again without thinking of this...

    I think Mom Laura should have a firm talk with the vet who did the botched dental procedure; we ALL know who should be picking up Maxie's medical expenses. I sure wish that pets had "human" rights. Isn't there some way the CB can get the word out about this vet and put some pressure or a boycott or SOMETHING? We all can donate to Maxie's fund, but this vet is still working!

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  14. Hi there, like Khyra we so enjoyed your funny story only to be very sad about poor Maxie!
    We hate that animal welfare depends on money.
    Poor Maxie.
    love
    Martha and Bailey xxx

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  15. That chapstick story was so funny. Thanks for making us smile!

    We are so upset and angry about Maxie. It's just horrible.

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  16. I still have my paws crossed for Maxie!
    Take care
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  17. That is an interesting idea using chapstick on a cat's butt. Iza does the butt scootch every couple of weeks, so I know she feels a bit itchy "down there" sometimes. (I'll ask my vet first in case there is something bad about it).

    But I'll leave it out after, in case a friend wants to use it on their lips. LOL!!!

    The Big Thing

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  18. We didn't know Maxie but we feel like we've known him for a long time..... Our thoughs are with the family. When we came by your blog, everything was written in something we were not familiar with and we had to rely on Google Translation to English. We closed your blog and opened it one more time and still it was written in same language... We wonder why.

    Hugs
    Momo & Pinot

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  19. Thanks for the smile, we needed that today after hearing about Paddy.
    We were so sorry to hear about Maxie ~ it seems so unfair ~ the most impawtant thing is saving Maxie's life ~ then sue the pants off the vet. We feel angry that this should have even happened. We are sending HUGE purrrs to Maxie and family.

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  20. Laughing and crying. Two stories to show the love humans have for us cats...we hope that Maxie will find the help he wants and deserves. We don't know what is best for him, but we hope that the right answers come and that relief comes and pain goes away very, very soon. We are sending lots and lots of purrs, Lautrec and Tiny

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  21. I wish I were made of money. I would love to help and have no idea how to. Has anyone considered a Twitter party fund drive?

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  22. That was a very funny chapstick story!

    I am still sad about Maxie's situation, I wish we could all do something to make him better.

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  23. I loved the chapstick story...thank you for sharing. The Maxie situation is just heartbreaking.

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  24. That is so outrageous about poor Maxie! Thank you for the funny story to help temper out the sad.

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  25. that is the BESTEST story i ever heard.

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  26. We agree with Eric & Flynn - that vet should be the one to pay that outrageous bill. *sigh* It's just not fair... We are purring for Maxie!

    ~Nico, Simon & JayJay :)

    ps. very funny Mothers Day story

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  27. We agree with Eric & Flynn - that vet should be the one to pay that outrageous bill. *sigh* It's just not fair... We are purring for Maxie!

    ~Nico, Simon & JayJay :)

    ps. very funny Mothers Day story

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  28. Oh my God - ha! Ha! Ha! - I didn't expect THAT ending to the story!

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  29. I agree with so many that the original, terrible, EVIL vet should have to pay the expenses for Maxie's surgery (unfortunately mistakes happen, but he is EVIL because he caused so much damage and walked away from any resposibility to make it right)...This is a terrible, heartbreaking story; I am so sad for Maxie and his family.(BTW, that was the nicest thing I could make myself say about that vet=sorry, I hate to be negative)

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