It's mostly a Brix Update

(don't worry we are watching him like a hawk)

Hi all!

We hope you are happy and healthy out there!

Brix Update

I’ll start off by saying that Brix is doing amazing. If you are just catching up, Brix was in the hospital a week ago and was discharged last Saturday. Though his symptoms don’t all fit an FIP diagnosis, it’s what the vet team is going with, and he is on antivirals for 41 days.

After he came home, we were asked to “rest” him for a couple of days. Out of an abundance of caution, we rested him for five. His first couple of days back he was much quieter and more subdued. He had an appetite, which was amazing, but he wasn’t really himself. He was still snuggly and cuddly, but he was content to slowly wander around the house.

I’d say by Monday evening he was back to his normal self. He has been bouncing around his cat shelves, sleeping up high in his hammock, and zipping around on the floor chasing things. He is back to leaping onto the counters and being annoying by trying to steal food. It’s so heartwarming that he is annoyingly trying to be a food thief again, because it’s another sign that he is back to being himself.

That doesn’t mean that Kris and I aren’t worried. We are watching him like hawks, looking for ANY change in behaviour or breathing that might be a sign that he is sick again. Every little movement that doesn’t feel quite right has us doting on the little cat. So far, so good. Brix is doing just fine.

This week he will be going in for a checkup, likely closer to Friday, as we want to make sure there doesn’t appear to be any fluid building up in his lungs. Today we took science photos, and Brix did great for a cat. It’s been a while since we’ve had to get a cat to pose with a dog, and Brix is still a kitten, so we were super impressed with what we got. All those early days of having him wear things and get treated paid off, because his lab coat and glasses pictures are so sweet you’ll need an extra shot of insulin.

If you zoom in you will get diabetes

The Rain

I feel like I’ve mentioned before that where we live in Canada is extremely dry. We do get rain—it’s not like we live in a desert—but for the last few years we have had less than usual and have been in drought conditions. This June has been the rainiest June we’ve had in many years. In fact, the last time it was even close (and it still wasn’t this wet) was the year Norbert showed up in the creek and began building his dams.

Good looking folks. Jason is here also.

I took the dogs down to the creek today in the rain, and our little creek is flowing rapidly! Bernoulli didn’t get to swim because I had the dogs in their rain gear, but the main pool is easily three times its normal size and depth. Everywhere the ground is saturated, things are growing out of control, and the dreaded Canadian mosquitoes are out in full force. If you don’t bathe in DEET, you won’t have any blood left. It’s a problem.

The Dogs

Bunsen, Beaker, and Bernoulli are all doing well. Thursday was the last day for Beaker and Bernoulli at Waggles daycare, and I’m sure they will miss their friends. We had an awesome walk in the rain on Saturday with the Waggles pack, though we got picked apart by swarms of mosquitoes.

Bernoulli is going this week for his full neuter, as we have now waited the two-year time frame that is highly recommended for giant-breed male dogs. Waggles has been super kind, bending their rules and allowing an intact male, but many of the other things we want Bernoulli to do simply don’t allow it. If you remember, Bernoulli had a vasectomy, which was a middle-ground compromise with Waggles, allowing him to continue training in groups and attending daycare, but other courses don’t allow it.

We have no desire to make little Puppanoullis (though can you imagine how adorable they would be?), so it’s the logical next step. If the rain ever lets up, we are starting dock diving ASAP with both Bernoulli and Beaks.

Though we have retired Bunsen from doing a ton of stuff on social media and at public events, the big guy still comes on walks and LOVES working. Kris and I are hopeful to get out to the mountains next week for some hikes that Bunsen can enjoy with us. I think his days of climbing a mountain are over, though I’m sure he would push himself to do it

Bunsen running through green fields! AWE!

!

The Summer Projects

Kris and I are taking this summer off from writing a new Texts From Bunsen book. The last version didn’t sell well, and that’s okay! Each book is a compilation of the texts from the year, and I feel like folks maybe see each book as too similar.

We do have the Mooseleg Toy, which should be arriving for us to ship out in mid-July (there was a delay, which I mentioned in the last Substack), and we are really hoping to start the Brix stuffie presale. We have something really fun that it will come with, and we are working on a donation option for folks who don’t want the stuffie themselves but would like it to go to someone who could use it.

We are thinking of a double donation, where the stuffie can be donated to the CACAC, and then the profit we would have made could go to the fund at Cedarwood Pet Hospital for families who need financial support for their pets.

Our Summer Holiday

Finally, for the first time since Bunsen came into our lives, Kris and I are going on a long summer holiday. We are heading out to Nova Scotia for nine days in August. Don’t worry—Waggles will be watching the doggies, and Kris’ friend Amy will be house-sitting and cat-sitting our little Brix.

I have never been farther east in Canada than the tundra in Manitoba, so this is a first for me. I have been to the east coast of the USA a few times, but within my home country, not so much. I’m super excited.

Well... we all are.

Though I’m not sure HOW I’ll get over missing the dogs and cat so much.

Thank You to the Community Again

I took a second to check out how things are going this week on our social media channels. We have passed a major milestone of over 1,000,000 followers across our platforms (which is insane!), and our Substack has grown a HUGE amount. Paula, our moderator on The Paw Pack (our Patreon-like community), was happy to welcome a bunch of new members there too!

Kris and I do this social media thing because it’s super fun, and we LOVE making people smile while teaching a few fun facts here and there. It’s incredibly rewarding.

When Brix was so sick last week, the blanket of a million people wrapped around us and made us feel less alone. In the dark of the ICU, watching Brix fight for his life, it was not lost on me that hundreds of thousands of people were pulling for him.

Not all pets made it home that week. All around us, calamity and chaos raged in the pet hospital. We saw your comments saying that you were praying for Brix because your own pet had died and didn’t get to come home. We read those comments and cried with you.

Kris is Catholic and said prayers to the patron saint of cats, Saint Gertrude. I am not religious and put my faith in the science and skill of the vet team. Perhaps it was both faith and science. Perhaps it was neither but dumb luck. Perhaps it was cosmic chance.

What I do know is that we are lucky, and I hug and kiss my little cat every single day for all of you.

Yep. That’s what happened when I got to hold Brix in a waiting room instead of the ICU. Thanks Kris.

Talk next week.

Oh, Happy Canada Day to our fellow Canadians and July 4th to our neighbours to the south!