Welcome to Sylvia's

"Photo Friends"

This is the special place at Sylvia's Kitty Condo where we are pleased to be able to share with you some of the very special furry friends who we have met along the course of our dear girls journey. As our "extended family" of friends grows, so too grows the love which fills our family's hearts.

This regal empress kitty is Molly, who after a brave battle with the sarcoma monster has made that heartfelt journey across the Rainbow Bridge. Dear Molly was truly the "Princess" in her family.  While looking forward to that glorious day when they and their dear Angel girl will once again be reunited in the land of love and comfort, Molly's family is helping to spread the "word" about VAS.
We're very sure that Angel Molly is looking down upon her family from her heavenly cuddle spot, SO very proud of her family's efforts towards helping to prevent others from having to share in the heartache associated with this terrible disease.
Molly's Mom composed the following heartfelt tribute to their dear Angel girl, reflecting upon some of the priceless memories that their family shared together.

"In December of 1989 I went to the local Humane society for a "sister" for our male tabby, Toby. When I went into the cattery, this adorable gray tabby rolled over and extended her paw. When I took her out of her cage, she purred instantly. I believe it was love at first sight. I waited a few days to name her and decided on Molly.

 When I took Molly home, she hid behind furniture for about a week, but slowly she began to trust her new environment. She has always been a "scaredie cat" and has never warmed up to anyone except me and my husband. She always remained small and until the day we put her down due to VAS, she looked like a young cat. She never had a thick coat, but her markings made her the cutest cat I had ever seen. Her intelligence was obvious. You could hold conversations with her and she talked to many of my friends over the phone. She loved my jewelry and would hunt for my diamond pendant when I was lying down knowing it had fallen to the back of my neck.  

Molly always slept with me, either between my legs or snuggled right next to me. If she wanted attention she would walk over me and meow loudly. If that did not stir me from my sleep, a few licks with her tongue on my eye lid would do the trick. She was obviously a female in her taste as she would only play with pink balls. She loved to chase the flashlight spot. She adored cat nip and would roll in it until completely coated. She knew we loved her as much as anyone could and when the time came to end her life, she protested loudly. 

The hole she has left is immense and no other pet could ever replace her in my heart."

This majestic furry friend of our family is Missy, who after a heartfelt battle with the sarcoma monster has now journeyed to the land of love and comfort.  Missy was truly blessed to have a loving family that never lost focus on their dear girl's "comfort" and "quality" of life.
Dear Missy was an active girl, who while spending most of her time indoors, just loved to venture outside to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.  
Even on the day in which Missy was preparing to make her heartfelt journey across the Rainbow Bridge, her loving family made sure that she was able to spend some quality time outside as she prepared to embark upon the next part of her nine lives journey.
Please include Missy's family in your daily thoughts and prayers in the hope that with each and every passing day, they find comfort in remembering the lifetime of loving moments that they and their dear girl were able to spend cuddling together.

This precious posing fur baby is Emily, a very special friend of ours who with the loving assistance of her family has now set forth upon the next part of her nine lives journey.
Even while dear Emily was bravely facing the difficult battle against the sarcoma monster, she and her family were truly blessed in making sure not to miss out on each and every cuddle moment that they were able to enjoy together.
Please say a special prayer for Emily's family in the hope that their hearts soon begin to heal from the devastation of having had to say "until" to their beloved Angel girl.
Emily's Mom composed the following furry bio for her dear girl before she crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, so that we could share with all of our animal loving friends just how their hearts and lives came to be joined as well as their dear girl's heartfelt  valiant battle against VAS.

"Emily came to my family in 1998 as most of our animals do—as a stray. She was found during a rainstorm under a bush, covered with mud and fleas.  A neighbor brought her to my mother and told her, “God wants you to have this cat.”  Mom disagreed but she ended up with the cat anyway and then Emily made her way into my home from there.  Emily has lived in many places—Tyler, TX; Austin, TX; Chapel Hill, NC; and Dallas, TX.  She has the most gentle, loving, affectionate nature that we have seen in the dozens of cats who have lived with us over the years.  She is basically an indoor cat, who enjoys going for walks along the sidewalk when supervised. 

Emily went to the vet in December 2000 to get her yearly vaccinations.  The vet gave her shot in the flank, near her spine.  In May, she was having some digestive problems, we took her to the vet and were told that her food should be changed.  A month or so later, a lump appeared but stayed small for weeks.  We took her to the initial vet, and she wanted to remove the mass.  Luckily, my mom had taken her and decided she needed a second opinion.  This vet did a biopsy and recommended we go to an oncologist.  We took Emily to a board-certified surgeon first, and they recommended a hemipelvectomy along with chemo and radiation.  We thought we would just take her home at that point, but we decided to go to our appointment with the oncologist later that week.  She was more optimistic, and we decided to give Emily chemo treatments (carboplatinum).  Our goal was not to cure her—we thought that was impossible—but to extend her life while she was still happy and relatively healthy.  Amazingly, the chemo shrank the tumor to the size of a peanut.  Only one other cat the oncologist had treated had responded so well.  Optimistic, we took Emily to the surgeon who was also amazed by her progress, so we made an appointment for a lumpectomy and an MRI.  We were considering taking her to A&M for brachytherapy (iridium beads inserted into plastic tubes—an alternate form of radiation), and the MRI was required.  The MRI showed that the tumor was really a baseball size tumor in my 5 ½ pound cat.  Knowing the margins would not be clear, we removed the tumor and hoped for slow growth and decided against the brachytherapy.  The surgery was done on Halloween 2001, and almost two months later, the tumor is already very large. 

There has been some good from Emily’s struggle.  Both of the primary vets who initially saw her have changed the way they practice.  One selectively vaccinates, not recommending shots for some cats, and the other vaccinates as low in the leg as possible.  And we have met many wonderful cat people, like Jeff & Coleen and the people on the VAS support email list.  And Emily has had 3 ½ happy years that she might not have had if she had remained under the bush in the rain much longer."

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