C is for Cancer

[caption id="attachment_1805” align="alignright” width="199”] Super Cat[/caption]

Thomas is dying.

He has a tumor in his spleen that will kill him. There is no cure. We can have his spleen removed, put him on chemo and hope for the best but at most we are looking at is 2 years with Thomas. We don’t want to put Thomas through all of that since there is no real happy ending.

We have decided that we will make him comfortable, make sure he isn’t suffering and will put him to sleep when the time comes.

This is hard. Thomas is currently sitting on my lap while I type this. He always does this. It helps me write. I am going to miss it.

Thomas has been part of our lives since we lived in Fort Collins. He is our first pet. He is the best cat I have ever known. I am having a hard time imagining not having him.
This is not the first time that I have lost a pet. I have lost many pets over the years, mostly because I have had many pets over the years. Most of them were gerbils, snakes and birds; there was a memorable ferret mixed in there as well.

This is the first time the pet has been my pet. Thomas is my cat. Sure he started out as both of ours but at some point Thomas and I formed a special bond. We hang out together all the time. He loves to sit on one side of the couch and give Sarah dirty looks. He then looks over at me with adoring eyes.

He lets me carry him everywhere and anywhere. I dusted the TV with him once, I am not sure why, and he loved me for it. He comes a sleeps with me at night. He runs to me when I get home. He is my cat.

And soon, he will be gone.

Every creatures life has a beginning and an end. Some of us are lucky enough to find other creatures that enrich our lives. Thomas enriched our life. He still does. He was our first adult choice. We chose to get a cat. And when we did that we promised that we would do what was best for him no matter what. And we have.

Unfortunately cancer sucks. And it sucks hard. Thomas has between now and 6 months before we will need to put him to sleep. All I can think about is how I can have as much time with him as possible. How do I show him how much I love him? How do I let him know that we are doing what we think is best for him?

I have no answer to those questions. I know that I would never do anything to hurt Thomas. And because of that I have to think that whatever we decide to do is the right thing.

Please keep us in your thoughts. Please think happy thoughts for Thomas. Please be patient with us. It may be a rough year.

[caption id="attachment_1806” align="aligncenter” width="300”] Oh yeah, We are the coolest[/caption]