Hi folks,

Just a forewarning, I may need to take a few days off from mewling at you. I received word this weekend that my beloved cat has cancer, and that treatment is supposedly not worth the expense. My husband and I are still reeling from the news, as this cat has been with us for many, many years. My husband saved him when he was a kitten (you can read the story in a post I wrote long ago, before making this blog specifically about entertainment news and reviews–I’ve made it unprivate specifically for this occasion), and then proceeded to lose track of when exactly he did that, but we can say pretty confidently that he is somewhere between 18 and 22 years old. So yes, he’s an old cat. He’s lived a long and very happy life.

But we just aren’t ready to say goodbye.

He’s a complete noodle when he sleeps. He just loves to be close to us. Bonus Blue Sun shirt.

The vet has given a grim prognosis: a few months. It’s especially difficult to accept because of the fact that our dear Kiki is still acting like his usual cuddly, needy, and wankery self. He still spoons in my arms all night, every night, still begs for food and chows down on it when he gets it, and still jumps up onto my lap or reaches up my legs every chance he gets. We only took him in because he was a little bloated. I expected him to be like, constipated or something. But nope. 5 hours, countless tests, two vets, and obscene amount of money later, they are finally able to tell us that he has two tumors–one on his liver and one “free floating” in his abdomen, whatever the hell that means. Because there are two tumors the likelihood that it has metastasized is high, so even with removing them there are probably still other pockets of abnormal tissue all throughout his wonderful little belly.

I suppose the good news is that he is clearly not in any pain or discomfort, at least for the time being. We’ll be talking to the oncologist next week to see if there are any options for us–any at all–even though as a young couple we really can’t afford expensive vet bills.

Any words of encouragement or stories of your experiences with pet loss or sickness would be more than welcome and much appreciated. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a little taste of the wonderfulness that is Kiki. First, how he greets me when I come home from work:

Contentedly sleeping in a very odd position.

What I have to deal with when I’m trying to work.

Watching Judge Dredd with his sister, Penny. Bonus Firefly cast wallpaper.

Looking sharp in the tux he wore for our wedding.

So I’ll get back at you with the entertainment news, reviews, and commentary as soon as my brain has started to come back together from the absolute mush it is right now.

Keep mewling.

–MQ