Shadow

Our Shadow kitty has been sick for a while now, he has several big malignant tumors on his tummy. I first noticed the lumps back in March. I think it was April by the time we were given a diagnosis (they had to do a biopsy.) The vet gave him a few weeks to months to live. We were given the option to put him on a steroid to help reduce the size of the tumor and make him more comfortable. We did and we noticed an improvement in him almost right away. We were hiding the pills in kitty treats, which he gobbled right down.
Then about 7 weeks ago we ntoiced he wasnt eating much of his kitty food and he wasn't eating the treats, with or without the pills. He stopped grooming himself and once he urinated in the spot he was sleeping. Just by chance, this same week, our dog Brandi was due for her shots. So when Dave took the dog into the vet's office, he mentioned to her about Shadow. She recommended that we give him a shot of the steroid (which lasts 30 days) and see how he does after that.
He improved a little bit. We switched him to all wet kitty food. I think the dry stuff is just too hard for him to eat anymore. But he still isn't eating much. Our once 16 lb obese cat is down to 9 lbs!!!!! He has a hard time walking. He tried to rub up against my leg the other while I was preparing his food and he fell over!!
We're supposed to go out of town in a few weeks and the dilema of what to do with Shadow came up. We felt we couldn't just leave him here alone. (Normally we'd ask someone to come in every other day and check on the cat and give him fresh water and food.) We could kennel him at the Vet's office....So Dave consulted with the vet and she said that we should put him down before we leave town. :(

We have a date and time set to euthanize our dear Shadow.

We're estimating that he is about 14 or 15 years old. We don't know for certain as he was a lovable stray found in Dave's parents yard that we adopted. He's been a wonderful cat. With the exception of destroying Dave's couch, we could have asked for a better pet.
Now our dog on the other hand.............