Hello.... I had hoped never to write this message... believe me, we tried everything to avoid it.. we wanted him to live, and be healthy again, but it wasn't meant to be... <cry> Thursday (Thanksgiving) Zorro took a major turn for the worse. We had kept up with his regular feedings (he stopped eating solids wednesday night) and his medication, plus lots of attention and love... but he got progressively worse. It didn't start getting really bad till about 1:00 am when he could no longer walk even one step without falling down. He couldn't even drink on his own, I was giving him water through a dropper. He would cry and cough every time he needed to move... it hurt him so bad, it ripped our hearts out. He couldn't even walk over to go to the bathroom on his own, so we helped him go to his corner and hold him up so he could have his dignity... We tried everything... honey, minerals, Timmy's Tonic super food (which is what we have been giving him for the past few weeks) everything... but his breathing was worse again, and his little heart just couldn't pump his blood around. He had an already scheduled appointment with the vet for 10 this morning (Friday) but we figured we would be there when the vet's opened.. we couldn't get ahold of him at 3:00 am. We stayed up with Zorro all night... poor little guy so in pain.. It was wrenching our hearts out... part of us knew that nothing could be done at that point, but we didn't want to give up hope... 7:00 rolled around after a long night of tender care, hopes, prayers, etc... and we drove the 45 minutes to the vet... We had to wait a bit for the vet to arrive, but when he did, he told us what we already knew.. the cancer had grown.. his chest was so stiff, it wasn't fluids anymore, it was that *and* the cancer. Zorro was in pain, and he was terrified. Even if we operated, it was 90% chance he wouldn't survive that, and if he did, he wouldn't live beyond a few days anyway... his circulation was that bad. The vet even cried.. We stayed with him to the end, petting him, kissing him, and singing him to sleep till he drew his last at 9:11 AM, Friday morning. The mercy shot was the only humane thing to do... he was ready for it, and accepting of it. It was the hardest thing Ive done in my life... We miss you Zorro.. <crying as I write this> You will always live in our hearts... Song & three sad fuzzies wondering where is the little guy... (pictures of Zorro and a memorial will be on my site soon, I'll write when it is) [Posted in FML issue 2506]