From: diana@wetware.com (CatWoman )
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: End of an Era
Date: 20 Dec 92 17:29:26 GMT
Organization: Castle WetWare MouseCatcher
Originator: diana@wetware.com

Well - add Farewell to Chaplin in your thoughts.  I don't 
remeber if I've said anything about her - I know I haven't
posted much lately about my cats; I've just sent mail to Feline-L.
Here's the background:

Last September I took a few days vacation and my mom and
drieux and I went to Lassen; then my birthday party - so
I was gone from the house for the better part of two weeks,
and had just let the cats run free - filling up a feeder when
I was around.

When I finally was back for a few days in a row, I noticed 
that Chaplin's fur looked "clumped" - she had a lot of dead
fur that hadn't been washed out.  I called Janet out, and
she gave her a thorough check-up - including her mouth and
teeth - said she might need her teeth cleaned, but didn't
think they were that bad - no evidence of bad teeth or gum
problems.  She suggested petromalt and that sometimes as
cats get older they do look raggedier...

I started brushing Chaplin, and got the loose fur out, and
her coat looked good, as did she.

Between Thanksgiving time and a BAD flu/cold/bronchitis attack
at the beginning of December, I can't say when I noticed that
she was again not taking care of her coat - and this time there
was a distinctive smell like abcess, and the white parts of 
her were turning sort of yellow and greasy/sticky.

Our annual appointment was on the 12th, so I didn't call the
vet immediately - but when she came out, she again looked in
Chaplin's mouth, and this time found a lesion under her tongue.
I scheduled a biopsy for the 19th - then by Monday changed my
mind and called off the biopsy - even though Janet has been 
very careful to say she can't be sure without the biopsy, her
first reaction was that it was "squamous cell carcinoma", a
fast growing cancer in a region that is not responsive to 
chemo/radiation.  Since even if it HAD been benign, it would
have meant Chaplin was spending time with stitches in her
mouth, I opted to try and treat it with anti-biotics (on the
off-chance it was an infection), and just let her live until
she could not "live".

As it turned out, my instincts were right - she had lost the
quality of life by Friday night (the 18th), so a biopsy would
have just been moot.

I switched her to canned food for the week, and she was able
to eat more, but she drooled as she ate.  She has always been
a fiercely loving "pet me HARD, NOW, MORE - now go AWAY!" cat,
and she spent the last week cuddling with me under the covers
as she hasn't done since she was very young.  By Friday, I 
could see that her front "wrists" looked like skeletons - and
when Biscuit practically stood on top of her, she just lay 
there.  Only a week earlier, Biscuit would have been slashed
open for getting so close.

I had Janet look at her when she came for Muffin, and said 
that the lesion HAD grown in the week.  So I told Janet that
it was time to take her.  Janet anaesthetized her before
giving her the fatal injection, so she would be relaxed -
and while she was anaesthetized, Janet checked the lesion,
and said that it had already invaded a good part of the 
tongue and lower jaw - something my instincts had told me
had happened.

Chaplin was 14.  Not a great age - but certainly a respectable
one.  Of the cats that are "mine", she has lived the longest.
I had a rather bad track record before she came along of cats
who either got killed or had to be put down at about 4 years...
She survived my ex-husband - who I think may have abused her
(hence the reason she had not cuddled since she was young); she
got happier when I got my ex-housemates, and had come to seem
to be actually happy to see drieux.  At one time I thought I
would have to have her euthanized because she was just so 
unhappy - but she never ran away, and always would purr for
me when we were alone.  She never accepted other cats after
M'n'M succumbed to FUS (at a time when current treatments were
unknown).  I got her FOR M'n'M - when she was a kitten, we 
lived where cats could go outside fairly safely - and he would
bring mice back for her, and taught her to hunt by turning 
them loose in the bathtub...

I'm going to miss her - but I do know it was best - she was
not "Chaplin", and since we can treat our animals humanely,
I was able to give her a good life, and a dignified end.

Diana
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats