Sad cat news
Those of you who know us are aware that we're owned by cats. Our count has been five for the last couple of years. The senior male is a rescue named Rico, an Abyssinian who came to us just a few days short of seven years ago. At that time the minimal records on him placed his age at about three years, but I've always harbored a sense that he was older than that.
He'd had some bad times before he came to us, including six months in quarantine with no one allowed even to touch him. Anyone who has met him knows that he is a terrifically loving cat, who adores contact with people, and who thrives on running, climbing, and pursuit of sunny windows. Despite his diminutive size he has the heart of a lion (as well as beautiful leaf green eyes).
Last year he began to lose weight, and we began giving him extra, private feedings. For some months those helped stabilize things, but then he began to drop weight again. This time, a vet found a lump in his belly, and some testing confirmed an intestinal lymphoma that was reducing his ability to absorb nutrition from what he ate. This is not a form of cancer that is a good candidate for surgical response, and while chemo could extent his life by a few weeks, it would make him feel like a sick cat for the whole time. We've been giving him steroids to reduce inflammation and improve his ability to use the food he eats.
For three months he gave signs of feeling better, and briefly re-gained some weight. Three days ago his borrowed time ran out.
Rico's still with us. As it did two days ago, chicken perked him up amazingly last night, but he can't eat very much. He's less able to move around, but when I sat up this morning he came over to touch noses with me. Josh came and slept with us last night, and I'm glad they spent that time. Josh won't have an easy time as an only Aby.
We can't tell if Rico's in pain, or just weak and fading. The vet has hours till something like 1 this afternoon, when we could leave a message asking him to come over here. So far I think that Rico will be better off if he can quietly slip away, but if he shows signs that he's really hurting, we'll try to help him in the only way we can.
We love him, and we will feel his loss deeply. We're glad we could give him a real home, with all the human love he wanted, and with the space to run and jump to his heart's content.
If you knew him, please take a moment for a kind thought to help him on his way.
He'd had some bad times before he came to us, including six months in quarantine with no one allowed even to touch him. Anyone who has met him knows that he is a terrifically loving cat, who adores contact with people, and who thrives on running, climbing, and pursuit of sunny windows. Despite his diminutive size he has the heart of a lion (as well as beautiful leaf green eyes).
Last year he began to lose weight, and we began giving him extra, private feedings. For some months those helped stabilize things, but then he began to drop weight again. This time, a vet found a lump in his belly, and some testing confirmed an intestinal lymphoma that was reducing his ability to absorb nutrition from what he ate. This is not a form of cancer that is a good candidate for surgical response, and while chemo could extent his life by a few weeks, it would make him feel like a sick cat for the whole time. We've been giving him steroids to reduce inflammation and improve his ability to use the food he eats.
For three months he gave signs of feeling better, and briefly re-gained some weight. Three days ago his borrowed time ran out.
Rico's still with us. As it did two days ago, chicken perked him up amazingly last night, but he can't eat very much. He's less able to move around, but when I sat up this morning he came over to touch noses with me. Josh came and slept with us last night, and I'm glad they spent that time. Josh won't have an easy time as an only Aby.
We can't tell if Rico's in pain, or just weak and fading. The vet has hours till something like 1 this afternoon, when we could leave a message asking him to come over here. So far I think that Rico will be better off if he can quietly slip away, but if he shows signs that he's really hurting, we'll try to help him in the only way we can.
We love him, and we will feel his loss deeply. We're glad we could give him a real home, with all the human love he wanted, and with the space to run and jump to his heart's content.
If you knew him, please take a moment for a kind thought to help him on his way.