My cat has cancer. Looking for advice

[Eric]

Best wishes, TRL. Can't say I've been through such an ordeal, but you and Oliver are in our thoughts.

[Richard_From_CHI]

My ex-wife had an 18 year old cat that died of everything failure while we were together and in all sincerity her grief was that of one for a beloved family member. It was one of the saddest things I've ever been a party to.

My heart goes out to you and I send my best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[LostInReno]

I'm sorry and I hope you are alright. My prayers are with you and your cat.

[TRL]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.  Oliver is hanging in there as much as he can.  I am definitely not doing chemo.  He hasn't been eating solid food.  Its IV and food tubes for him right now.  He is enjoying the time I take him outside and sit with him and I am going to take that as a positive.  He has a lot of shit going on inside of him so I am not expecting any miracles. 

Once again, I am hoping to listen to the show tomorrow night but I am also needing to figure out my shit for going to Poland for work on Friday.  The timing is about as bad as one can imagine but what can you do.  I'll sleep when I get on the plane.  The one nice thing was finally getting to the podcast of two weeks ago in my car driving to and from work and listening to Tom blast physical graffiti and hanging out at gas stations.  Genius idea.  Truly the best show.

[Sarah]

When I saw that you'd posted here, I was worried.  I'm so glad not to find the news I was fearing.

I'm also glad you decided against chemo; I think it would have been cruel and probably pointless.  And I'm especially glad Oliver is still enjoying something.  With animals--and people, too, probably, although I haven't faced this ordeal with a human yet--I think as long as they can still get a kick out of something, then it's okay to help them stay alive.  When all is pain and misery, then one has to help them let go.

I'm so sorry you have to go away for work.  Right now, I know all you want to do is treasure every second you have with your dear boy.

[TRL]

      I haven't had a chance to post but I let some other friends know via some message boards and email but my cat Oliver lost his fight against cancer on Sunday 7.22.07. As I was told from my parents, he died with them. They were checking on him on Sunday in the afternoon while my room mate was at work and were going to feed him. They found him upstairs and not doing well. They called the vet to try to bring him in and heard back from the vet shortly to bring Oliver in to the office. Oliver died shortly after hearing from the vet in my room at my house next to my bed. He was struggling with breathing due to the weight he gained from the fluids building in his stomach due to cancer.

I am currently in Poland for work and found out about two days ago. Its been up and down but I wanted to thank everyone who offered help. I feel very disconnected right now but I fortunately am doing something somewhat enjoyable which is volunteer teaching english at a Polish summer camp.  Its in not a very wealthy area of Poland. The nice and friendly people have made it easier at times for sure.  Its hard to really think about it too much and I have been distracting myself as much as possible.

[Sarah]

I'm so sorry, TRL.  I was half-thinking you might check in on the chat last night, and when you didn't I wondered if it was because Oliver had died (although I knew it could have been because you're in Poland right now).  I'm so glad your parents were with him; I know you must feel awful that you couldn't be there, but it would have been much worse for you, I suspect, if he had died alone.  I'm also glad he didn't have to suffer long, since it seemed pretty clear that he wasn't going to get better.

It's good you're doing something absorbing right now.  My sister, who recently lost one of her dogs, has far too much time to grieve, and it's dragging her down a lot.

Once more, with feeling, SO, SO SORRY!

[Laurie]

I'm so sorry, Tom. I know it's not easy, but I hope you feel better soon, knowing that Oliver isn't in pain any more. When you get back, maybe you can adopt a new kitty friend? I know that helped me after a proper mourning period.

[erika]

I'm so sorry to hear that Oliver passed, TL. But at the same time, I think you can be comforted to know that he died in the most comfortable place for him - your room, with your smell and your essence, etc.

Poor guy. At least he's not in pain anymore. Hang in there, TL.

[Dorvid Barnas]

Hang in there, TRL.  It's been about a year since I lost Jabba the Cat.  The vet was on his way over to euthanize her but she seemed to get the message and passed away peacefully on my lap.  Burying her in my backyard was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done, but time has transformed my grief in to gratitude.  It was awesome to have her for as long as I did.  Cats are the best.

[buffcoat]

Sorry, man, that's tough.  I'm glad your parents were there.