Hello and kitty-kisses to all,
First let me say how grateful I am for the words of wisdom and comfort
everyone has shared with me since little Paassht had to leave us. I
haven't been responding to your posts because when I try to write, I
just break down. I am starting to think nothing could have given us
more time than we had. If you count the Horner's syndrome in 2004 as
the first sign, which it might or might not have been, that was 16
months ago. And after she became symptomatic in September we had five
more months. Most importantly it was almost all quality time for her.
I do wish we had tried interferon back in 1999 when we found out she had
FeLV, but it may not have been reasonable even then to expect any
benefit. She was tested after her sister died suddenly of lymphoma.
Vixen's little body was riddled with tumors and she was dead within 12
hours of the first signs of illness. I'd had them since they were
born. There was probably never any chance of Paassht "throwing off" the
virus. I talked with her current doctor today and she told me she would
have referred us to a specialist if she thought there would be any
benefit. I forgot how long she had been treating Paassht. In
retrospect the conservative approach was on target. We didn't cause
Paassht any unnecessary stress. If we had tried aggressive therapy it
could possibly have cost us time, quality of life or both. I am having
Paassht cremated and there is a wait of several days before her ashes
are returned to us...she is with a wonderful lady who takes care of each
little angel individually. I sense we will have some closure once this
is done, although early next week is too far into the future to imagine.
So finally, the good news I am writing to share. My attention has been
on Paassht so I haven't mentioned my other cats or my dog. One of my
cats, Kroger, is Paassht's mama. She tested negative for FeLV in 1999
but I wanted to be sure, so she was retested this morning. I also had
my oldest, Corky, tested to be on the safe side. Corky will soon be 16
and we believe she is in early stage CRF. They are both ELISA negative
for FeLV. We will have the rest of our gang tested in the near future
but I considered these two to be highest risk. They are both ELISA
negative for FeLV. We will have the rest of our gang tested in the near
future but I considered these two to be highest risk.
Corky: http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b298/landlimo/corky-chicago2.jpg
Kroger: http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b298/landlimo/Kroger.jpg
Becca & Angel Paassht
