"Sweet Pea"

Well, we've been having quite a time with my children's cats. Two weeks ago, my son's older cat "Punky" had a cancerous tumor removed from her mouth. She will have surgery soon for removal of the entire upper jaw on the one side. She is 17 years old and, actually, a very healthy little kitty. He was told by the specialist that the cancer has not spread and was slow growing. We adopted her from our local shelter. I will post photos of her when I write about her surgery. We love our pets like children!

My daughter's cat "Sweet Pea" had surgery Tuesday of this week. She had a malignant tumor removed last April from the back of her neck, and we are afraid it has returned. She had 3 tiny little bumps the size of BB's (remember those dreaded BB guns?) this time. Biopsy results could possibly be back sometime today. Needless to say, we have been praying for a good report.

She was one of 7 little kitties my friend Melanie and I rescued during the winter of 1995-96 out of some woods that backed up to a new subdivision. Someone had dumped them there to survive on their own! Maybe they thought the new homeowners there would take pity on them and give them homes, but that didn't happen! I was making a run morning and night to those woods to feed them each day for over 3 weeks, while we caught them. This was one I had spayed and tested and all shots, etc., as I had found her a home with a young girl of 18 that I met at a local pet store. Well, 6 days later, I received a call that they no longer wanted the cat. So I, being the animal lover that I am, went and picked her up.

At the time, we were living with our daughter while we were having a new home built, and I already had 4 cats of my own, and our daughter had one, also. The cats were the reason why we were living with her, as no apartment complex would accept 4 cats. Then when the "moving day" finally arrived for us to move into our new home, my daughter said "Sweet Pea" couldn't go because her "Buster" had fallen in love with her! So "Sweet Pea" had a home of her own then, and a wonderful home, too, I must add! She has been babied and pampered like no one would ever believe!

So it was absolutely devastating to us all last year when this terrible tumor was discovered on her neck. Those feline leukemia shots are to blame, so I refuse to get them for any of my cats ever again! Mine are all strictly indoor cats and are at no risk for this disease. Well, "Sweet Pea" has an incision 5 inches long with 17 staples this time. The vet said he wanted to make sure he got everything in case there were any other little growths that couldn't be felt yet. She is doing fine now and wearing her little "doggie" shirt. Last time she got her back foot in the incision and ripped it open and had to be taken back to be stitched up! So I got her a little doggie shirt to wear so she couldn't get to her incision. She wears it quite well, considering it is a "doggie" shirt!



Hopefully, this will be the end of it for awhile. She is such a sweet cat, and the vet tech said she was so good for them for all she'd been through. We will never be without pets in my family, and I, myself, have a LOT of cats that eventually will have to face some sort of illness or surgery. As I told both of my children, you just take it "one day at a time" and when the end does come, you just have to tell yourself that you gave them a better life than they'd have had without you.

I notice it's been almost 2 months since I have posted anything! When you work every day, it's hard to find time for the things you enjoy, but I am going to try to write more often from now on.