hi piper,

ARFCOM is very powerful and i hope it helps your health improve.

you have to know that walking out of the vet hospital today was really hard for us.

no one wanted to leave you alone like that when you are very sick and very scared.

you should know that for the last 5 years you made our lives just that much better.

we want you to come home soon and we'll continue to make your life just magical.

your sister misses you tremendously.

please get well!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Jedi--best wishes to Piper and his family. What ails him? Looks like he's doing pretty good, and looks like he's being a model patient.

P.S. Wow, your cats live in a cat paradise!

thanks for your kind words.

piper is a female short hair domestic, and unfortunately she is not well at all.  she's in big trouble right now -- and the fact that i pride myself on being able to fix ANYTHING (one way or the other), it's killing me that i can't fix this.  on monday or tuesday she may come home from the vet hospital with the aid of some "stabilization" medication but this will be a very temporary band-aid put over a very permanent problem -- feline lymphoma -- in this case, cancer in her kidneys.   after a short period (TBD, ~days/ weeks) her kidneys are going to have a harder and harder time maintaining systemic renal function.  my wife and i want just her to be comfortable for a bit at the home she lived at for 5 years, to spend some time with us and with her sister, but we are not signing her up for a chemistry set treatment protocol which will simply add a month or two and possibly have very adverse impact to her quality of life.  

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/cancer/lymphoma.html

we don't know when she leaves us yet, but it is now a 'when' and not an 'if'.  this, unfortunately, i have come to accept.

i would not self-identify as a "cat person" but piper is really the sweetest little animal -- one that brought us tons of joy.  she never put a foot out of place and never failed to take quite an interest in whatever project i was working on.  practically every night she came to see me, wherever i was in the house (surfing ARFCOM again? lol), to sit up high on me and listen to/feel my heartbeat.  and for my wife, for so many reasons, piper is a tiny little miracle bundled in a 8 pound package of complete and utter joy.  

the arrival of any sort of cardboard box was treated with great enthusiasm, after the introduction of a hole via a pocket knife piper would camp out in the box and have a look on her face like she had just won the lottery.  the simple things really made her.

part of me is incredibly sad but part of me also knows that piper, through complete serendipity, came to be us for 5 GREAT years and everyone benefited from that arrangement.  

ar-jedi

I know just what you are going through. I am a cat person and a dog person. We've lost a few cats to cancer, and now my pup is on her second round of chemo. She's only 7. Life isn't fair, but sometimes it seems like it really isn't fair

Even as an equal opportunity dog/cat person, I still categorize individual cats as great, meh and not so great. Based on your photos Piper sure seems like one of the great ones!

Damn.....REALLY sorry to hear that.

Five years is far too little to have a good animal. I have three cats that are going on 4.5, all from the same litter and I almost lost the one that likes only me last year. He got really sick, but pulled through. It's going to be a sad day when the first of these three go.

Sorry to hear of your and your cats problems.
To be truthfull I am more of a dog guy than cat type but when a persons pet (which is of course part of the family) is in trouble it tears up the whole household .
Sorry .
I Trust that you will know when it is time

So sorry about your baby, we've been through this many times over the years. Thank you for all the wonderful pictures of Piper, makes it easier to think good thoughts and prayers for all your family, incl the four legged ones.

on wednesday 18 september, piper left us for a better place for her.  her last day was not her best day, but it was not her worst day either.  we did get some quality time in and had a walk around the yard, scanning for garter snakes and keeping a sharp eye out for chipmunks.  for 5-1/2 years "pipes" brought my wife and i a lot of happiness, and as i noted above the simple things gave her so much joy.  just spending time sitting on the windowsill or screened porch looking out on the world was a good day in her book.  and her enthusiasm for participating in whatever project i was working on was palpable.  we were proud to have her in our family.  during her sick period her littermate callie went out of her way to stay by her side and provide much needed support.

piper, we miss you tremendously and your sister will carry on just as we will but our world is a better place because of you.  sweet dreams buddybaroo.

ar-jedi

I have never seen a house so "Jackson Galaxy Approved" as yours is.

RIP Piper.

Sorry about your loss.  I am going through the same thing now.  We just lost our 14 year old cat to cancer on 9-24.

So sorry for your loss...    It looks like you gave each other, 5 1/2 years of joy and love.

Good night and godspeed, Piper.