Sunday 13 June 2010

Furry Fighter Day

Today is Furry Fighter Day, in memory of my sister Stormie who lived with lymphoma for almost two years - despite being given only 6-9 months to live when she was diagnosed. Meowmie helped Stormie write a blog about her condition and treatments and we hope it still serves as a source of hope for those who find themselves having to help their pets through this illness.

Two years today we said goodbye to her, and we all still miss her terribly. Today we will remember just what a wonderful and special little cat she was - The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World. We love you Kormie xxx


Wednesday 5 May 2010

A little update - and Thank You

Well, thank you to the delightful ML for remembering our Gotcha Day. That was such a lovely surprise to receive some email from you! Yes, it was mine and Stormie's Gotcha Day...Timmy's is September the 5th, just in case anyone thought it was the same.

We didn't realise we hadn't updated since just before Timmy left us. Well Timmy left us on March 11th, it seems so far away, yet only like yesterday. He wasn't in any pain at all and it was quite tough for Mummy having to have him PTS cos he seemed so well and normal - so she had to keep reminding herself that the wound on his cheek was going to get worse, very quickly. Timmy also gave Mummy a timely reminder by scratching the scab off the morning the vet was due, causing his wound to bleed.

Timmy didn't want to go, he hissed and growled at the vet right up until he was sedated - and Timmy never hissed and growled, so it was a bit upsetting. The vet said it was most definitely the surgical spirit smells and strangers handling him in his home that made him annoyed...plus the fact he wasn't actually 'sick', so he was still full of fight and just his normal self apart from the lump. We hope that was the case, and not that Timmy had any idea what was happening. Once he was settled Mummy cradled him in her arms and then the vet sent our precious Timmy on his way. I spent the afternoon with Timmy's body and slept by him with my head resting on his - something I never did when he was alive, so I said my goodbyes to him in my own way. The vet felt we had timed things just right, which was a comfort. Timmy Tantrum is back home now, next to Stormie on the shelf. Below is Timmy's last portrait, you can see the wound on his cheek, this was taken about 30 minutes before he left us.



I have been kind of lonely since Timmy went and Mummy misses him terribly, she loved the fact he slept against her head every night. I am a little older than when Stormie left so I do sleep more in the daytime now, but by the time Mummy gets in from work I am ready to moan at her. I also have the occasional moochy moan around the house in the evenings and day when Mummy is here. Mummy has been keeping an eye out for a friend for me, but finding an old Meezer or Oriental is not that easy. We were lucky finding Timmy after Storm passed...we'll keep looking though.

We hope you are all well....and if we do happen to find a friend for me then we will let you know immediately! Much love to you all.
Castle xxx

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Timmy and Stormie will finally meet...

Well, after 7 months of living with Oral Sqaumous Cell Carcinoma it is time for Timmy to leave us.

He had a check-up on Friday and Caroline Vet confirmed that he had 'days, not weeks left'. Frustratingly to look at him you would not think anything was wrong, he is so normal and well and playful, eating and....well...just like the Timmy we have always known - apart from the big tumour growing in his cheek and jaw.

It has got to the stage where the tumour is starting to break the skin on his cheek, this morning he scratched it (it is obviously bothering him now) and he made it bleed and opened up a wound - nothing serious, but the wound won't heal now and will only get worse the more he scratches at it. According to Caroline Vet things go down very quickly once the tumour breaks through the skin, and we don't want Timmy to suffer so we have organised for Faye Vet to come to the house tomorrow at 2pm to send Timmy on his way. We feel that maybe a day or two too early is better than a day or two too late. Mummy will then take his body to the vets where they will keep him safe for a few days, and then on Saturday Mummy is going to collect Timmy and take him to the same crematorium that Stormie went to.

Timmy turned out to be such a lovely brother - we had a totally different relationship to the one Stormie and I had, but it was a good one and we became close very quickly. I am vey sad that I am going to lose another friend. We all feel totally honoured to have had Timmy in our lives for the past 18 months...but now it is time for him to meet Stormie, and also to be reunited with his First Mummy, who is now obviously calling for him from wherever she may be.

We hope Timmy was happy with us, we sure enjoyed having him around. Here he is getting a brush down on Monday night (you can see the tumour on the left hand cheek and the start of his wound, it is now about the size of a penny) and the next image is of him enjoying a chicken this afternoon...yeah, I reckon he may have liked it here...





Thank you for your kind thoughts and support...it means a lot to us, even though we hardly blog anymore we have never forgotten any of you xxx

Monday 1 February 2010

It's My Birthday! I am 14 years young!

THANK YOU everyone who has remembered that today is my birthday and left messages for me in the last post which I made some months ago, about Timmy's birthday...and a huge thank you for leaving such sweet messages on Stormie's blog today too. Today we have been thinking about her a lot, and we miss her as much today as we did when she first went to The Bridge.

So, a little update for you all....I have been very well but I am afraid Timmy had some bad news at the end of November - his mouth cancer returned, despite our best efforts to remove it with surgery in September. As you know, oral cancer is the worst cancer a cat can get, very aggressive and the success rate of beating it is very low - something like 10%. At one point Timmy's oncologist was very ppositive that Timmy could be one of the lucky ones, due to the location of the tumour and the fact it was caught early...but as it turns out not early enough.

Timmy was given "maybe two months" at the end of November - but he is still here, he is still completely normal, no signs of pain or discomfort - he just has a big lump the size of a large walnut on his cheek at the moment. He has metacam and antibiotics daily to ward off inflammation, pain and infection. He had a check up a couple of weeks ago with Caroline Vet and she said he was doing very well 'considering', and said that Timmy may even have a couple more months in him yet, although it was hard to predict due to the aggressive nature of this cancer. So, like Stormie, he is doing his best to beat the predicted survival times afforded to him.

Despite the bad news, we have tried not to let it affect us too much, and we remember all the good things; Timmy has got to a ripe old age (almost 15 and a half) and we are thankful that we found him and have been able to share time with such a character of a cat. The way we look at it is that his Original Mum (who passed away 18 months ago) just wants him back now...that way, it doesn't quite seem so sad, does it?

Not the greatest news to share on my birthday, but it didn't feel right to ignore the issue when so many of you have asked how we are. So anyway, please do not be sad, let's remember my sister and also celebrate my life and the fact that Timmy is still part of it. Here is a picture of me and Tim having a nap and then one of my favourite ones of me and my sister :)

Love to my friends
Castlepants xxx