Hello Everybody:
 
We just lost our little boy Guinness to prostate cancer a couple of days
ago.
 
He went pretty quickly.  During Christmas of 2001 we noticed that he
wasn't perhaps as "cuddly" as he had been and seemed to sleep more, but
he was up plenty and with family and all we didn't think much about it.
He certainly came running for his share when there were treats to be
handed out!
 
On January 1, 2002, we noticed that Guinness was grunting while using the
litter box.  Colleen took him in the next day, where the vets discovered
he was one sick little boy.  His prostate was huge (probably cancerous)
and had apparently been putting pressure on his bladder--which they
suspected had ruptured.
 
They did what they could to stabilize him in preparation for an operation
to remove the prostate but it was too late....he went downhill very
rapidly that afternoon and by evening had passed away while they were
trying to prep him for a catheter.  We knew that was a risk going in; they
need to gas a weasel for something like that and he was already very, very
weak.  He began bleeding in the abdomen and it was pretty quick after
that.  Guinness passed away on January 2, 2002, at about 5:00 PM MST.
 
In retrospect if he'd shown signs sooner we could have done somthing, but
he didn't.  It wasn't until his bladder ruptured that he went downhill so
quickly.  He was so weak when we found him that there wasn't much to do,
unfortunately.
 
He will be missed.....
 
Steve and Colleen
Constantly Matching Wits with Maverick, Chevy, and Merlin
Waiting on the Other Side: Ripple, Missy, Slinky, Zebulon Pike, Ranger,
Newone, Puck, Mica, Splinter, Harp, Minx, Rosie, Scamp, Taz, and Guinness
[Posted in FML issue 3654]