Hi all,
 
I usually pop down from my perch as a lurker every now and then to have a
say in this or that.  Now I need to let go of some of the pain that I've
recently met with....
 
About a month ago, I took Loki, my almost 4 year old sable male (my first
fuzzy!!!) to the vet because he had an enlarged spleen.  Given that all of
his other health signs were good and he was really active, we decided to try
and treat for a helicobactor infection in the stomach.  After almost a month
of medicine with only limited success and then an almost overnight loss of
his activity level, Loki went back to see the vet.  He was looking anemic
and had almost no activity level and actually sat totally still as the vet
scruffed him during some parts of the exam.  Usually he tries his best to
escape the scruff!!
 
She did an aspirate of the spleen and upon examination saw all the evidence
of lymphoma.  Further testing has led her to believe that the liver is also
invovled in the cancer.  I was totally stunned at her diagnosis and really
depressed by the prognosis as well.  I cannot even imagine putting him
through the horrors of chemotherapy with such a low chance of success.  I'd
rather do everything else to make his last part of life as happy, loving and
comfortable as possible.
 
Right now he is taking prednisone, but still has almost no activity level.
He perks up a bit when he is let out, but the energy burst is painfully
short lived as he can go about four feet down the hallway before he needs to
rest again.  It hurts so much to see that because only a week ago he was
still his bouncy happy and super active self.
 
I am also very concerned about my silver mitt Cricket.  She has never been
without Loki.  He was an only ferret until she came along.  Due to
circumstances beyond my control.  I'm not sure if I will have the time to be
able to acquire and train another fuzzy to keep Cricket company.  She
already seems upset by his illness because he barely plays with her anymore,
and then only if she is very persistent.  I don't want her to be alone all
day while I'm at work once Loki pass on.
 
This has hit me so hard.  I was already having some problems in my life, and
this has made it even worse.  The thought of losing Loki would hit me hard
on a good day, but now I am devastated.  My fuzzies are the closest things
to kids I will probably ever have.......
 
This message apparently died in my mail program last week, so I am only now
getting it out today (Monday).  Loki is actually showing some improvement
now after being on the prednisone a few days.  He was actually playing a
little bit on Sunday afternoon!!!  Not nearly as much as he used to but a
heck of a lot more than he had been for the previous week and a half!!  I
feel a little better now, but still have that pain in the back of my mind
that my time together with him is going to be shorter than I had hoped
for....:(
 
Well, thanks for listening all....
 
Avatar
Loki (the sable terror), Cricket (the cute one of the family) and the Rat
Pack (Anais, Belle, Illyana and Tatiana)
[Posted in FML issue 1519]