Luna

An Update on Luna

Luna on the sofa

We wanted to give you all an update on Luna and her health. But first, she wants to say hi to everyone.

She is definitely lower energy, though still very affectionate and every so often has a burst of energy and runs like a kitten. She continues to walk with a bit of a limp. Her appetite is good, though she now prefers wet food almost exclusively. It’s hard to tell changes in the cancer area – it doesn’t seem any worse, but it wasn’t good to begin with. Overall, she is better than she seemed over Labor Day weekend, when things seemed measured in days. Days have now turned to weeks. As long as she continues to seem happy and content, I am content to make sure she stays that way.

And she still gives of herself. In the midst of this perennially busy season and the current stresses, I broke down early on Saturday amidst depression and fatigue. Luna recognized this and came over to set with me and purr loudly, groom me and give head butts. She is the sweetest creature I have ever known, and I hope we can enjoy a bit more time together.

CatSynth pic: Luna and Roland JP-08 Boutique Synthesizer

Luna and Roland JP-08

Today we have a special treat, as Luna poses for a CatSynth pic with the Roland JP-08 “Boutique” synthesizer. It’s “cat-sized”, but for humans it’s also a good size for an auxiliary synth and easy to carry to gigs alongside the Nord or Moog. It also brings in some Roland Jupiter sound to the repertoire.

As for Luna, she is continuing to do better since her nadir at the beginning of the month. She is eating well and active, though she does still walk with a bit of a limp. Nonetheless, we get to spend some good time together, including in the studio.

An Update on Luna (and myself)

Luna close-up portrait

Luna appears to have bounced back from the brink. She is eating regularly again, which an improvement from just a week ago. As a result, her energy and vigor have increased and she is moving around like normal.

Luna walking on the sofa

Her energy is still not as high as it was a month ago, but it is a great improvement over last weekend. And while it doesn’t change the fundamentals of the cancer and its seriousness, it does suggest that we will have some more time to enjoy together.

Luna’s small but significant improvements have helped me as well as I continue to recover. Things are starting to feel normal again. Indeed, look for some more music reviews in the coming week, now that I have resumed attending concerts. And we will get back to more of our regular “CatSynth pic” posts after a break this past week.

In the meantime, thank you everyone for your continued purrs and thoughts.

Purrs Needed for Luna

Luna on her pillow.

The news from Luna’s checkup this Friday was not good. After a couple of months where the cancer seemed to be in check, it has increased again. And she has lost considerable weight. This was itself pretty distressing, though I decided that we should continue the medication in the hope that is slowing cancer down. Over the weekend, however, she has seemed to go downhill. She has become very lethargic, and she has mostly stopped eating crunchy foods – though she still devours her wet food with a fair amount of enthusiasm.

On Saturday night, she seemed to be in a bad state, lying down next to me and refusing to budge – it almost felt that she was saying goodbye. She has rallied a bit since then. Under the theory that her eating problems and lethargy might be caused by nausea, I reintroduced the nausea medication on a regular basis. It will take a few days to know if nausea was in fact an issue. But it seems there is more going on that that – since mid-day today, she has started to walk with a bit of a limp. Though she does get up and move around, and even reasserted herself on her throne. And she can still project that modern elegance.

Luna looking artsy on her throne.

I have to prepare for the realization that we are in the twilight of Luna’s life. It could be a few months, it could be a few days. The goal is, as it has been all year, to give her the best quality of life I can for as long as I can. But I do feel somewhat powerless in that regard. I care for her, talk to her, and comfort her, but can’t fully understand what she is experiencing. And my own health issues over the past month – recovering from major surgery and its effects – have left me wondering if I missed warning signs that could have helped her because I was so focused on myself. I know Luna has been invaluable to me during this, even up through today providing love and comfort.

Luna providing comfort.

Through all of this, she hasn’t stopped purring loudly, giving me head buts, and kisses, and lending a paw like she did in the picture above.

We at CatSynth are not really the praying type, but we are the purring type and welcome your purrs and healing vibes for Luna. ❤️

An Update on Luna (and myself)

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Luna has been doing well with her current treatment. The pill-based chemotherapy has brought the disease to a standstill so things aren’t getting worse, and it hasn’t caused her any noticeable side effects. And she has been happy and healthy otherwise. She plays, basks in sun spots, and particularly likes curling up on soft surfaces like the blanket in the photo above.

As was the last about a year ago during her initial treatments, I am also recovering from my own medical adventures. Nothing that would cause concern, but it has required a lot of rest and a lot of patience (which has never been my strong suit). Luna’s health, vitality, and affection have been tremendous comforts as I recover. We truly help each other.

CatSynth 10th Anniversary!

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On July 19, we hit a major milestone: 10 years since our first post. And we celebrate as always with some stats:

2,982 Posts
14,031 Comments
4.7 comments per post
1088 Cat-and-synth pics, videos, etc.
430 Reviews, gig-reports, and related posts

In some ways, the blog activity has declined a bit since it’s height in the early 2010s. Much of the activity has moved over to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And more recently, we are looking to the future via our mobile apps – there is much more coming there in the not-too-distant future. Additionally, I find myself balancing time spent writing blog articles with an increasingly busy schedule of musical performances and such. All good things in their own way.

We are a bit late to celebrate this year due to some major personal and medical priorities on my part (all of which are going well, but also beyond the scope of this forum). It isn’t the first time our blog anniversary has gotten caught up in other things. Last year we missed the 9th anniversary entirely as we coped with Luna’s cancer diagnosis. And our first anniversary came amidst a major downtime for the site that took a week or so to fix.

As always, here is the photo of Luna that started it all on July 19, 2006.

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Luna hasn’t aged all that much, retaining her youthful appearance. And that beanbag chair is still a favorite of hers. It’s where she hangs out in the studio, and over the years we have taken major photos of her with it.

The studio has certainly gotten more crowded over time.

Please join us in celebrating 10 years of CatSynth, and looking forward to many more!

An Update on Luna

Luna napping

We got some unfortunate news the week after Luna’s visits to our regular vet and to our specialist. There has been a recurrence of the skin nodules, and possibly another mammary mass as well :(. This is not good news. But we will continue to do what we can for her. Our plan at this point is home chemotherapy for as long as needed, with the goal of arresting the growth of any cancer, and possibly shrinking it. It’s more “calling a truce” and keeping her healthy than aggressive attacks on the disease.

Luna herself is happy and healthy otherwise, her usual sweet and affectionate self. I am glad to see her enjoying life and seemingly unaffected by the disease. The goal is to keep her that way and have lots more time together. The complication right now is that it comes at a challenging juncture with my own medical issues – a story for another time – but we will make it work.

Thanks as always for your continued thoughts and purrs.