[Best Viewed in Netscape]
-
Tue, 17 Oct 2000
It's Tuesday morning. The sun is shining. The birds are singing.
Leaves are blowing about as is usual for just another fall day.
But it isn't so usual when you feel like you've lost a big part
of your family...
Mandy was one of the first two kitties my hubby and I got when
we first moved in together. The first kitty was Ming, a little
suck of a siamese, who would not stop sucking on our ear lobes.
We had him almost two months when we brought home his friend,
Mandy, who would turn out to be his life long mate.
Mandy was a beautiful little red and white, semi-long haired
kitty who never ceased to amaze us. Her ability to balance
perfectly on the smallest of areas always made us hold our
breaths, as she effortlessly jumped up to these spots to get a
better view of life around her. She also had this thing about
squeezing into the smallest of spots...this would always make me
laugh as you never knew where she would turn up next.
When my hubby and I got our first ferret, she didn't seem to
mind them at all. She would play with them when Ming would not.
Later, as she got older, and more and more ferrets came into the
house, her opinion changed as the ferret's favourite game of
Ride The Kitty By The Ear, turned out not to be her favourite. I
will always have vivid memories of her running down the hallway
with ferret attached to her...
Mandy was a lover and not a fighter... Her gentle nature would
always put her into conflict with other furry house guests who
felt that she was an easy target. I recall having to rescue her
a lot. Then, her attitude changed and she started to fight back.
This I was happy for, but then she ended up in a battle she
could not win...
About two months ago, I found a lump under Mandy's jaw. It was
very hard, and truth be told, I feared the worst as to what it
could possibly be. But my heart would not let me think of
anything more than it being an infected bite.
When I got the news that she had osteosarcoma... a form of bone
cancer... I knew her options were limited. I was told that it
could be removed, but because of its placement, half her lower
jaw would have to go with it. The surgery had been done many
times before with animals seemingly living out their natural
lives. None had had the surgery at 16 and 1/2 years of age...
So here I was left with a choice... Have my old little kitty go
through a horrific surgery leaving her with little ability to
eat normally again, or to take care of her for the next few
weeks, as that is all she would have left. This cancer was a
fast mover.
I decided to let nature take its course. I felt a tremendous
amount of guilt for opting out of the surgical route... I had
spent thousands of dollars on a ferret that I barely knew, but I
wouldn't do it for a kitty that had been my companion for her
lifetime ... I knew it wasn't the same for I knew that my little
girl, who loved me more than I could ever love her, was meant to
have some dignity in her life. This surgery would be very hard
on her...
The weeks following the initial diagnosis unfolded the speed
this kind of cancer can have. Within the first week, the mass
had grown twice it's size... by the end... she had a mass that
came out the side of her jaw...
She had always been a happy little kitty, even when the ferrets
were pestering her. But by the time the decision came to end her
discomfort, she was only the shell of the sweetheart I had grown
to love.
We took her outside for the last time, to lay her tiny feet onto
the grass she so dearly loved to eat. As the dry leaves blew
about her, she took no notice as she was interested only in
having the wind blow through her now cropped hair. She had long
since lost her ability to clean herself. Her wisp of a tail,
once full with long soft hair, waved calmly as she smelled the
air. She purred and continued to show love for us as we took her
into the car.
Mandy watched as the world went by. She rubbed her face on my
arm leaving no blood like she had been for the last little
while. She settled in my arms as we silently said our goodbyes.
With her head in my hands, she left this earthly plane, to
return once again to a time when she did not have to deal with
the horrors of bone cancer. And today we return her body back to
nature, and back to God for his safekeeping.
Baby... look out for the others who'll be waiting for you...Ming
says he misses you terribly.... please watch over us all until
the time comes when we will join you... Don't be too hard on the
ferrets where you are... they just want to have a little fun.
Betty and Her Blur O'Fur
Missing Mandy... my precious little girl
But remembering you forever...
|
Click Here
Please Sign My Geocities Guestbook
Feel Free to View My Geocities Guestbook
Email me at
Please come back soon and visit us.
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page