Look what I got today! More pictures and the whole story tomorrow. Meant to post all about it today, but ended up playing on Twitter instead. Yep, I accomplished exactly Zip this evening. LOL!
Isn't she too cute for words? I'm in Luv!
This was always one of my favorite D.K. pictures. I've used it for a Feline Friday post before. I have some recent shots that I would like to post, but they make me cry because you can see how much weight she had lost.
I've been trying to do a Feline Friday post every since I lost D.K., but just haven't been able to bring myself to do it. She had a lump in November that was odd. Upon being taken to visit our wonderful vet, we were told it was malignant and had already spread from the area of the lump and into her lungs. When told of my dismay at not spotting anything sooner, the Vet told us that this was a fast moving form of the disease and the lump had probably not been there in a size we could feel for more than a couple of weeks.We were told we couldn't do much as far as treatment except spoil her, treat any symptoms as they appeared, and enjoy her for the time we had left. When I asked when, the Vet said we would know when it was time. After telling me that, she would receive several more visits from D.K. and I because if she even sneezed or wheezed I had an appointment and would start my conversation with "It's probably nothing... But..." She made it 6 more months.
Although she lost a lot of weight during those 6 months, she continued to eat and move about the house somewhat normally, although a little slower than before. But, then she was 12 years old! She remained bright and happy. And, surprisingly she gave us absolutely no problem taking the medicine each day that she needed. Sometimes it was one pill, sometimes two.... She seemed to know that it helped her! After having been given dry kibble for her entire life I started feeding her soft foods in any variety I thought she would like and we bought her favorite treats in quantity. I figured any food going in was good and was no longer worried about calories or her getting too heavy. Even with unlimited access to food she would go from a robust 12 pounds down to 6 before the end.
Finally on April 14 she showed no appetite for the first time... And on the 15th she stopped drinking. She quickly started to dehydrate, and I could tell she was ready to go. Her eyes no longer bright, she wanted to just stay in her favorite spot and sleep.
Early evening they gave her the shot and she peaceful fell asleep in my arms......
She was a wonderful friend who kept me laughing and entertained for 12 years. She came to me at only 5 weeks old... a stray kitty who didn't even know how to eat solid food good yet. She would accompany me when I went on the road with the circus and traveled by train all over the country and even to Mexico! When G and I got together she slowly gave her approval and then finally started to prefer his lap to mine. (Something about his sharing of ice cream and other treats maybe??) She will be greatly missed by both of us AND her little 'sister' Morgan.
Rest in Peace
D.K.
1995 to April 15, 2007
I debated doing a Feline Friday entry. But I had my camera out and DK seemed to be in the mood to be co-operative. It is a little bitter sweet right now taking pictures of her.
Why? Because late in November, just about the time I started having computer problems I took DK into the vet for a check-up. She had been coughing for a couple of weeks (I thought from a hairball and I had been giving her some over the counter medicine for that), and in the process of holding her to give her the hairball medicine we had discovered a small lump. Since the hairball medicine didn't appear to be working and the lump was a worry, I called and made a vet appointment.
It turns out that the lump is a cancer, and apparently a very fast moving one as the coughing is being caused because the cancer has already masticated to the lungs. Due to her age and the fact the cancer had already metastasized and was not localized, the vet recommended not putting her thru the surgery to remove the lump and to just treat the symptoms. As long as she appears healthy, happy, not in pain, and the medicine keeps her from coughing much we are going to go along as normally as we can.
The scary thing is that she had a complete physical and blood work along with getting her shots at the end of last Feb(2006) and was completely healthy! We always opt to take the kids into the vet and get physicals every year along with their shots just so we can be sure they are healthy and we aren't missing anything (such as a lump or internal problem). Sadly the vet told us that this kind of cancer is very common in older cats (DK is 12 ) and usually appears very suddenly.
Needless to say, my heart is breaking and DK is reaping the reward of being spoiled rotten with lots of treats and rubs. She is also taking the whole 'pill every other day' thing like a champ. We just open her mouth, put the pill in and she swallows. I think she realizes that the pill helps because if any of you out there have ever tried to give a cat a pill you know that they aren't usually co-operative.
We are hoping that with the medicine we will still have her around for quite a while, but we won't make her suffer just to keep her with us. Still, from the picture, you can see that except for a slight weight loss she seems her normal self.
Oops... Somehow I didn't copy the last line of the post off of my external program that I use to make posts. The line I missed said:
If you want to play along, take a picture of a cat and leave your link over at (sometimes)Photoblog!
The quality of the photo/crop job this week is a little weak.... my computer is giving me fits. I am completely unable to use my Photoshop Elements software. I dug out my Paint Shop Pro7 program and am at least able to crop my photos and reduce the file size to something that is web friendly {sigh} I sincerely hope that Best Buy is having a slow repair day tomorrow so I can take this thing in and have them test it. I am crossing my fingers that it isn't my motherboard, but this computer is almost 4 years old now, so it is possible {bigger sigh}.
This photo is a little washed out because I had the front door open and could only get one angle on the shot, and it wasn't the best angle! However, DK looks like she is enjoying the sunshine regardless of the havoc it was wreaking on my photo endeavors....
Want to play along? Take a picture of your cat, put it on your blog, and pop over to (sometimes)Photoblog and drop off the link!
Posts
All Comments
