Category Archives: Our Cats

Charger Has Cancer

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This morning it became official. My much loved Bengal cat, my birthday cat, Charger will die of cancer. He suddenly had a bunch of subdermal lumps, three were biopsied — tomorrow a ultrasound scan to see where the cancer originated and then we start a plan for giving him a decent quality of life until we send him over the Rainbow Bridge. I cry as I write this.

He was born Feb. 10 2001 to an unprofessional breeder, sold at 6 weeks to a family who — when they didn’t want him anymore — advertised in the PennySaver to get rid of him in 2002. I saw the ad on my birthday, David called, and the next day we saw him at their house and I fell in love with this big beautiful scared cat and we took him home and he has slept by me ever since then.

My birthday cat, my Valentine cat, Charger I am going to treasure the time we have left together.

Nine Years, Ten Cats

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Today is the 9th anniversary of the day Panther came to live with us (nine is a special number for cats, the way ten is special for humans). Since he is First Cat, this is also the anniversary of the beginning of cats being part of our family. Dates before this are considered B.C. (Before Cats) and after this C.E. (Cat Era).

Panther is still sleek, beautiful, black, and very special, as befits a cat who was able to call out to me telepathically as I walked through the county shelter, probably just days before they would have taken him out of this world. That’s pretty special indeed, because as cat listeners go, I’m pretty much deaf.

Panther is by far our oldest cat but still manages to get a twinkle in his eye and chase Jennifur around the living room every two or three weeks :-)

A Tail of Two Kitties

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Today at work one of the pet groomers came to me and said she had a small kitten that needed a home, would I like to see her?

I was on lunch break, so I asked her to bring the kitten (who was kenneled in our grooming salon). Everyone at work knows I have cats. OK, read "sucker for hard luck cases" :-) But where did you get her and why can’t you keep her…? Questions and more questions.
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It Coulda Been Worse

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In the last few weeks, we’ve noticed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to tell Nightstar and Panther apart. While it’s true young Nightstar has put on weight, she really wasn’t stocky like Panther. On the other hand, Panther seemed to be shrinking. So off he went to our wonderful local vets.

We were warned that the test results might show anything from diabetes to kidney disease, based on their observation that he had lost 2 pounds in 2 months. We were worried, because he’s our oldest (and first!) cat.

Well, today we found out he has diabetes, and apparently we “caught it” before things got really bad. So we’re learning all sorts of new stuff and learning to give insulin shots (or “jabs” as they call it in England), and Panther is going to have to cut down on soft drinks and candy (only kidding!). And chances are he’ll be able to keep living with us for a long time, as long as we take care of him properly.

If you find yourself having to deal with feline diabetes too, we’ve found some really good resources at VeterinaryPartner.com and FelineDiabetes.com.