This is a bad day for the kittyman......
I learned when I called Lori tonight on my dinner break that our beloved 7yo Maine Coon mix rescue kitty Oscar may not be with us much longer.

He had been a little naughty with some of his litter box habits for the last couple of months, and last week Lori mentioned that she thought he had lost a lot of weight, and was not eating well. I told her to take him to the vet for a checkup, hoping that it was a urinary tract infection or such, like my little Bandit had a while back, and a couple of weeks of pilling kitty would put him right again.
When I was there this weekend though, he didn't even want to nibble much on a few scraps of the chicken we were having for dinner. And he had this sad look in his eyes. I was kinda afraid, but didn't want to say too much to Lori. I had seen that look in the eyes of my dearly departed Tigger.

He went to the vet this afternoon, and he had gone down from about 17 pounds to about 13.....
An exam revealed a lump in his abdomen, and x-rays were worse.
Our dear kitty, one of the loves of our lives, is full of cancer. It has spread to his lungs as well, explaining some of the coughing I saw this weekend.

Lori is just heartbroken, and I am rather inconsolable right now.

Oscar is the Maine Coon mix that I found for her on Petfinder, and we drove many miles to visit him and again to adopt him into a happy home. He has been with us for far too short a time.

Excuse me if I am not myself for a while.....I must give my four beloved kitties some special attention when I go to bed tonight.

I will post more when I can.

This is so cruel.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I wish I could cure Your Main Coon of His Cancer Mark, But I don't know if It's too late to do more than have Him put to sleep, You need to be strong for Your Kitty Mark.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Mark, I am so sorry to hear this news.

:(

So sorry Mark.

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Thank you SJ, Andy, and Angela dear..........

I know kitties can't live forever.........and their accelerated lives compared to ours make it more likely they will encounter health problems in a shorter period of time......

But.........this is so hard to take.......he is the most exuberant, loving kitty you could ever know. And only 7yo.......I lost my dear Tigger at 5-1/2 years, and I remember now how much it hurt.

I have my Squirrel kitty on my lap right now, and she is going on 15 yo herself...and has become so clingy that I am afraid she knows more than I do.

And to make matters worse, Lori has kinda been preparing for her eldest Calli to need help in saying goodbye too.....she is 15yo and getting frail.

So having our loving Oscar being struck down like this is so hard to bear.

I just don't know what else to say.....I just gotta go to bed with my dearest kittens and have a good cry.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Sorry to hear that Mark.

Take a sleep tight Mark. Give yourself time ok...

I'm sorry to hear that =/

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N = R x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L

Sorry to hear about kitty!

He has always been loved and that is all any animal ever really wants from us!

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Overclock with the MSI G31M3-L and Intel E8600 3.33Ghz
Intel D865GLC Socket 478 Motherboard
~How To Overclock The Eee ASUS 1005HA Netbook To 1.9Ghz~

Mark...words can't express my sorrow for you...

Take care, my friend...

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Clk2HlpSetiCty:::PayIt4ward

Very sad news indeed! Give as much kitty love as you can (as I know you always do) before they're gone. :_(

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sorry to hear about youre future loss. cancer of a loved one is always a real tough one to deal with. i can relate to youre expierence.

i have lost my last dog to cancer in her mouth. i had the cancer surgically removed twice and it kept coming back, it got to the point where it was effecting her ability to eat and drink so rather then remove it a third time and see her suffer through surgery again, only to have it grow back again and have her quality of life go down the drain, i personally put her down and buried her myself. she passed on while laying comfortably in my arms. one of the hardest things i had ever done because i had that dog for 2/3's of my life. besides my blood family, i had never known another living entity as long as i knew my dog.

now i getting all choked up thinking about it. take care of yer cat and dont be afraid to give it food it likes such as tuna, big pieces of cheese, bacon, etc. if the end is comming soon you can feed it unhealthy foods if it likes them. i gave my dog loads of steak and bacon during her last few weeks. why not...

good luck with the cat and if its suffering in pain and the condition warrants it, you might consider the option of doing the hardest thing and putting it down like i did.

I'm so sorry Mark.
It is so hard.

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BETTER THE WORLD ~ PAY IT FORWARD
...

Mark, so sorry to here about Oscar. I am sure that you are doing what you can to ease his suffering and assure him that he is loved. On an upbeat note remember the cycle of life. As Oscar prepares to move on I found 5 strays during my bike ride. Can not be much older than a few days old. Two had still no opened their eyes. They did not look to be in good shape. I watched them for several hours. From a distance so as not to disturb them or frighten their mother. They were in a creek bed near my home, so I could see them with binoculars. The mother never showed up. I have a friend who’s cat just had kittens too, so I took them to her. The mother accepted the new ones as her own. So it looks like 5 lives have been saved.

I'm so sorry Mark. I wish I could wave a magic wand.

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I can only echo all the other posts. I'm very sorry to hear the sad news.

I can only echo all the other posts. I'm very sorry to hear the sad news.

Likewise...that's tough to hear. :(

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Sorry about Oscar Mark, we are here to help you through this tuff time.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Thank you for all the kind words, my friends.

I am just drained....was a rough day to work through.

And I can't imagine how Lori made it through her day. The vet was supposed to get back to her with the results of some other tests.....but she didn't hear back from them today. Not that I can imagine anything uplifting....probably just confirming all of our worst fears.

Oscar ate a little bit today, and he really does not seem like he is suffering, but that's sometimes hard to tell with kitties....their instinct tells them not to display weakness.

Please send Lori all of your thoughts and prayers...although I am just torn to pieces about this, and it's very personal for me, it's even harder on her...it's her kitty.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

. . . from Our House - To Yours [& Lori's] - a Prayer has been issued [Charcoal says he's prayin' too]

With Regards, joanne & richard

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

Mark a prayer of comfort is heading your and Lori"s way.

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Old James