May 26, 1998
 
Hello Everybody:
Our vet performed an autopsy on the body of Ranger, a 4-year old neutered
sable male who died on Sunday, May 24th.  We now know the cause of death.
 
Ranger died of lymposarcoma.  It had metastisized in the liver and already
killed his blood-producing bone marrow by the time we noticed anything early
last week.  There really was nothing we could have done, unfortunately.
Oddly, none of his blood work showed any signs of the cancer.
 
Since Ranger showed no other symptoms and seemed very healthy at his last
checkup, we can only assume that this came on very suddenly.  Ranger had
gained considerable weight over the winter, and this probably helped keep
him alive as the lympho began killing his blood cells.  We know nothing of
his background genetically, since he was a rescue from a ferret shelter, so
we have no idea if he had a genetic predisposition or just bad luck.
 
At least we know *why*.
 
Damn cancer.
 
Steve and Colleen, from the High Mountains of Colorado
Continually Matching Wits with Newone, Minx, Puck, Taz, Scamp,
                               Rosie, Mica, and Splinter
Waiting on the Other Side:  Ripple, Missy, Slinky, Zebulon Pike,
                            and Ranger
[Posted in FML issue 2321]