FVEAP Note: T.C. gave Charlotte 10 years of wonderful love and purrs. In return, in addition to her love, she gave him her committment that she would do everything possible to help him when he became sick. Despite all the efforts, T.C. went to the Rainbow Bridge in early February. Here is the backgound to T.C.'s story:

"TC has been suffering for months without a definitive or accurate diagnosis. He does have a bowel obstruction, and I don't know yet whether it is cancerous or even if it's a tumor yet.

What was found from the very start of the preliminary exam by the specialist, was that TC has a very bad heart condition, and is nearly in failure, and all the subcutaneous fluids he's been getting for his kidneys, which is another chapter in this unfortunate real-life story along with the bowel problem, has been nearly killing him by putting too big a load on his heart! A little while back, I even asked his regular vet if TC's problems were in conflict with one another (meaning you treat one and it makes the other worse or decompensate), and remarkably she said, "no, IBD, Inflammatory Bowel Disorder and kidney failure do not conflict. If he had a heart problem, they would, but he does not have a heart problem.

Looking back is always clear--you have the conclusion, and you can think back and put the pieces together. Another example: His vet would listen to his heart with the stethoscope, and would sometimes say something like, "calm down TC, it's OK, your heart is racing 'cause you're scared." But she didn't recognize the symptom that is called a galloping heart rhythm, which indicates, I think she said Cardiomyopathy and an enlarged heart. TC is a large cat--well, a large frame now anyway. He's down from 14 lbs in Sept. to 9 lbs now!

It has been torture to watch him suffer and waste away before my eyes. TC and I are both exhausted. Today he's going to have the mass in his bowel looked at and biopsied, and in two more days of torture, I'll get the results of whether it is cancer or not.

My poor sweet baby. TC and I have had 10 good years together, full of love and laughs--his playful antics have always delighted me, and I've missed that so much. It's as though TC, for all intents and purposes, has been gone for months now, and I desperately want my baby back!" FVEAP Note: Later, after many tests and treatments, Charlotte wrote: "T.C.'s biopsies came back with a bad prognosis: In addition to having cardiomyopathy, and limited kidney function the treatments of which work against each other, the biopsies showed severe inflamatory disease of the duodenum, and the blockage in his colon as a type of sarcoma, a malignancy. The internist and the surgeon felt that, while they could operate to remove the tumor, that it would be putting him through a lot of trauma and it wouldn't cure the cancer.

Then, late last night, his colon with some of the tumor prolapsed again, and after spending some time alone with T.C. at the emergency clinic, I decided that T.C. would come home with me, rather than go through the repair of the prolapse, general anethesia and all the discomfort of staying in a cage on I.V. fluid, and a collar, etc. I couldn't bear to put him throught anymore. T.C. hadbeen letting me know in no uncertain terms, for about a week or so, that he was fed up with medicine, needles, vets and procedures.

He was snuggled in my arms in the exam room, and that's when I decided that T.C. wanted to be with me at home, and not traumatized anymore. So, I took him home, we got settled, and he spent the night purring and snuggling in my lap while I sat up in bed. This morning I called around and found a husband and wife vet team whose practice is doing house calls. They came over late this afternoon, and while T.C. was in my lap, they gave him a sedative to put him to sleep like a pre-op. Then they administered a shot that stopped his heart.

It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but the circumstances and T.C. dictated it. I took my cues from T.C. more than the vets, and that gives me some peace.

I am full of grief and miss him terribly. I have him here still. I'm going to clean him up some more and wrap him in his favorite blanket and lay him in his favorite basket. I need to get a box that it will fit into, and I'm going to bury him under my loosely layed flagstone patio."

FVEAP Note: Finally, Charlotte wrote “T.C. was buried as planned in his basket with his toys and catnip wrapped in his favorite “blanket,” which was a hand-woven shawl that I gave him to snuggle in. He’s surrounded by metal and stone to keep the critters out. On top of the flagstone is a Chinese garden stool that was in the living room that he used to hide under-as only cats can do-sticking out all over-when we played chase the ball down the hall.

“I celebrate that wonderful sweet face and bright eyes he had before illness changed him, and I grieve for the loss of that sweet face and bright eyes that used to engage me every day in play and conversation, and that I miss so much now! I wanted so desparately to make him well and to return to being the big, vital, beautiful sweet friend and companion, who I love so very much!”