Day 150 – October 9th 2008

Yoda RIP

{Oct 20th '98 - Oct 9th '08}

I have been putting off updating the blog for well over a week now. I came back from Vancouver to an all-day powercut and Yoda (my favourite cat) being diagnosed with a terminal illness.

From about age 2 Yoda has always had wheezing issues. Later it was diagnosed as asthma. I know – asthma in a cat!

Well, we had noticed his breathing had been getting gradually worse and thought – maybe it's time to get him that asthma inhaler – again I know, a cat with an inhaler!!

But when they x-rayed him to check for anything else, he had fluid in the pleural sac around his lung – and a suspected tumour which was hard to see because the fluid obscures the x-ray somewhat. Some milky yellow fluid was extracted from around his lung (ick!) and sent off for analysis. But a preliminary look while at the vets suggested cancer. Which is what it turned out to be.

We decided NOT to do chemotherapy which would have meant twice weekly trips to the vet for 25 weeks, lots of blood tests, chemicals, injections etc. And no guarantees – especially on a 9 year old cat. The best case would be remission for two years – but most live another 4-6 months only. That's not fair on Yoda and would totally stress him out.

And 2 days after taking him in for asthma, he was having trouble breathing and barely moving so we had him euthanised. I've never had to make that decision before. It was VERY VERY hard. Thankfully, one of the great things about living in a small community is home visits by the vet, so he was euthanised at home in front of the fire with Duncan and I there. Thanks Sacha (our vet!).

Now I just miss his hassling presence, miaowy face and little furry body. I really thought Salt Spring would be good for the kitties, open space, clean air, lots of mice to chase. Sadly Yoda won't get to experience it – but he did have a very good, spoiled and very loved life. Yoda RIP.