Really Sad

My oldest and best pet, Gato Pato, is sick. He has been sickly for a while now. I took all the cats in for their yearly checkups and shots and such and asked the vet to please do some extra tests on Gato to find out what is going on with him. He had been at 11 lbs. at last year's check up and was down to 8 lbs. and change this year. In addition to losing weight, he had a few bald patches showing up and he was puking more than usual.

After running all the usual blood work they did x-rays, and skin scrapings from the bald spots. Everything came back normal. But it wasn't normal. So I persisted and asked for more tests, possibly an endoscopy, something. Monday we took him back in to see what the vet thought, either more blood work or the endoscopy or an ultrasound. They ended up doing a needle biopsy of the lymph glands of his abdomen.

Friday I got the call that it is definitely a tumor. One of two possible types. Both are bad. Both require steroid and chemotherapy as treatment. There are more in depth tests being run on those biopsy samples over the weekend and the vet will call me Monday to let me know the results and the course of treatment recommended.

This is terrible news. I wish I could explain how special my little Gato Pato is. My kids found him when he was a tiny kitten in a ditch on the side of the road by our house in Argentina. As near as we could pinpoint a birthdate, he was born right around when my Dad died. And in a weird way I have always considered Gato a link to my Dad. Gato is also the only one of my pets who was around and lived with my old dog Sam (r.i.p.) and he is the last link to my Sammy. He is just a really special cat. He lived with us in Argentina, moved to Chile and lived there for 3 years, then moved to Mexico City, then up to Minnesota, and finally here to Texas. I would call him a "well-traveled" cat. He hardly ever makes a sound yet you always know what he wants. He keeps the younger cats in line with a stern look. That's all it takes.

I love my Gato Pato and will do everything possible to help him to live a long, full, happy and pain-free life. I will look for some good photos of him and post them. My wish would be that everyone have an animal live with them that is like Gato Pato. He really is the best.