This is KatMa AKA Susan who is the human Mom of Sasha the Cat. Her Paw-Paw AKA Murray and I are beside ourselves with worry as our little darling begins chemotherapy on Monday. Sasha has Feline Lymphoma.
Sasha was an abandoned kitty who cried all of the long, cold Montreal Winter of 1995. I searched and called but could not find her. Then in May of 1995 she heard me talking to a neighbour and came bounding across the street! I was so frightened--she could have been hit by a car.
Sasha jumped on my lap, gave me her lovely pussycat smile and started to purr. I was in love. July 18th that year Sasha had five beautiful kittens. We, with a neighbour, took care of her. She "boarded" with her babies at the neighbour's home. The neighbour built a safe place under the balcony for them and I fed her and got medical attention for Sasha & her babies. Later I found forever homes for her five kittens; when they were 8 weeks old, they went to forever homes. The neighbour and I shared Sasha; I had a key to her garage where Sasha slept at night in the laundy room. The Winter of 1995-96 she stayed indoors in the laundry room.
That January I had pneumonia and Murray went over every morning and night to feed her and spend time with her. He fell in love. These living arrangements worked fine right up until June 1996 when some bratty boys tried to steal her. That was when I realized my husband, Murray was 'in love' with her. He brought her into the house and said "that's it; she's an inside kitty now"
Although Murray and I lived with my dog and my three cats -- he never had a cat and was afraid of them. When Murray and I began seeing each other in 1984, he had his dog, Chuckie and I had my dog, Bobby. On September 21st 1985 my kitten Tiggy [whom I call The Best Cat in the Universe] came into my home. Tiggy was the birthday gift to my son, Mark who wanted a cat. Tiggy arrived exactly one week before Mark's 11th birthday. Later Princess joined us and then Paddy Paws, a lost cat found by Bobby the Dog. Paddy was about 4 when Bobby found him Labour Day 1986--now Mark and I had one dog and three cats! Murray and I were 'an item' and we knew it was just a matter of time before all of us would be a 'blended' family.
Sadly, Paddy Paws had acute renal failure in January 1996 and it was so quick that he died two days later on January 16th. I was stunned and could not function. That very same year on September 9th, Bobby the Dog who was 17-1/2 years old went to Rainbow's Bridge to be with Chucky and Paddy-Paws. It was so, so hard that year.
Sasha was a big, bright ray of sunshine in our lives. Tiggy didn't think so. Princess wasn't sure of this interloper either. Tiggy and Sasha never became friends. She had known hard times as an abandoned cat -- dogs and other cats were enemies. Bobby tried no end to win her over but Sasha just could not trust another cat let alone a DOG! Princess liked to stay away from the cats but she loved Bobby the Dog. Princess loved her people too...but not her cat siblings!
My darling Tiggy went to Rainbow's Bridge on September 5, 2000 -- shortly after his 15th birthday which was on August 17th 2000. I still mourn him -- the cat who absolutely stole my heart. He was a wee five-week old kitten when he captured me; he thought I was his Mommy. To our great sorrow Princess [who was one year younger than Tiggy] went to find Tiggy, Bobby, Chuckie and Paddy-Paws on October 4th 2001.
Our Sasha, whom we just adore, will begin taking the drug Chlorambucil AKA Leukeran® GlaxoSmithKline. She will have one dosage beginning Monday every second day for a total of 12 doses. According to her doctor and the consulting oncologist cats tolerate chemo very well [apparently better than humans] and this particular course of chemo is well tolerated by domestic felines. We hope they are right and that our little girl will go into remission.
Pet Lovers in this Forum -- please focus or pray for our darling Sasha and for Murray and I to be strong for her. Thank you.
Photo of Sasha and her five kittens:
Sasha, February 2005 taken by my sister, Carol
Sasha, July 7th 2005 by me -- on our bed:
In the above photo you can see pictures of Mark on my night table. The eleven-year old boy who wanted Tiggy for his birthday is a grown man now; he will be 31 in September. Mark is an astro-physicist doing post-doctoral work at JPL-NASA-Caltech in Pasadena, CA
Susan, Sasha's KatMa
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