Crossed the bridge January 11, 2010, just five days shy of the one-year anniversary of her best friend Simon's passing. Hopefully he met her there, along with her other companions in this world, Oodles and Sassy, both of whom she loved dearly. Her early years elsewhere were very difficult, but she found sanctuary here in this house for her last 14 years where she learned how to just be a kitty instead of an inconvenience. The house is kitty-less now for the first time in those 14 years and I will find it very difficult to adjust to sleeping alone. ~ 01/12/2010

I'm getting to hate the month of January! For the past 3 of this useless winter month, I've had the heartbreaking misfortune of losing one of my closest family members, my pets. This January, 2010 I will lose this beautiful 17 y/o black Persian who has lived with me for 14 years to a metastatic form of Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Starting as just a wound on her hind leg that wouldn't heal, it spread into a nasty, bleeding sore that had already enlarged her lymph nodes by the time the biopsy report was returned. I'd hoped that amputation might spare her life, but at this point it is merely palliative, and as a result I will have to euthanize the old girl before her discomfort worsens. Through this heartbreaking trial, she was treated with every bit of gentleness by the caring staff of Stack Veterinary Hospital on Velasko Rd. in Syracuse. My thanks to them for that tenderness.
While this cancer is not related to VAS, or Vaccine Associated Sarcoma, I discovered the latter in researching the impending amputation. Please, if you are a cat lover with strictly indoor cats, acquaint yourself with this condition by researching such sites as: http://www.vas-awareness.org/
I wish I had known more about feline carcinomas before facing such a hard decision with ZhiZhi. ~ 01/06/2010


My black Persian female ZhiZhi kills the Velveteen mouse! ~ 01/14/2006