Figgy and his sister Cassie came into our lives when they were 6 months old. Originally belonging to an old lady who could no longer look after them she had taken them to the Cat's Protection League to have them put to sleep. Luckily this charity doesn't put healthyanimals to sleep and instead they were fostered with a lovely local lady.
We went to see them with the intention of just choosing one of them but when we saw them we just couldn't separate them. So we took them both home and here they have livedfor 15 years.
Nine weeks ago Figgy appeared to have an ear infection (he was tilting his head to one side and occasionally scratching his right ear) and was treated for a week with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. As he didn't seem to be improvingthe vet suggested an x-ray. Well there wasn't much to see except a slightdifference in shadingon one side of his head. Nevertheless, we all decided it was worthdoing an MRI scanto get a clearer picture of what was going on.
When we were shown the scans it was obvious that there was a large tumour in his neck and so three days lateran operation was undertaken toremove as much of the tumour as they could. When we went to collect him they told us that thetumour appeared to have spread but they hoped that he would have at least 6 months of quality life with us.
A week later we got the results of the tumour biopsy and were told he had a malignant schwannoma. Unfortunately,they alsofound traces in his lymph nodes, venules, bone and muscle. We were then told he probably only had about 3 months.
Unfortunately, Figgy only lived another five weeks. When we brought him home we confined him to a cage in the sitting room to give him time to recover from the operation. After a week he was let outof his cage during the day and put back in at night. Laterwe let him have access to the rest of the house and let him sun himself in his cagein the garden.Very gradually though he started to have more problems with his balanceand walking and thensuddenly oneday he stopped eating.
We had already searched the internet for advice and help and joined 2 groups for people who's cat had cancer and sowe joined another groupthat helped people with"assistance feeding." Using their advicewe started syringe feeding him pureed cat food to which we addedvitamins and flax oil (a good source of omega 3). As soon as we couldwe took Figgyto our vets who confirmed that we were doing all the right things. The only change they recommended was to feed hima specialistcat foodinstead of his normal cat food.
Syringe feeding Figgy was not something that could be done by one person. So my husband Chris and I would share the job.Chris' role involvedholding Figgywhile Ifed him. (Sometimes when I wasn't very accurate the experience was evenfunny as my poor husband looked like he'd been in a paint ball fight).
Most of all I remember the experience as a very bonding one. My husband Chris had a lovely way of calming Figgy by wrapping him in a towel like a baby and looking into his eyes and telling him what we were going to be doing and why.
We manged to feed him this way for two weeks but then he started to struggle to swallow and so wetook him back to the vets. Even before visiting the vets we knew that we didn't have too much longer with our baby.Scott confirmed this, stating that the cancer had spread tothe glands in his throat and this was why he was struggling to swallow.
To ensure he had at least one good meal ourvet Scott gave him a valium injection and placed his face into a bowl of food.It had the strangest effect, he started laping up the food. In fact he ate the whole bowl full. A whole day's feed in just 10 minutes.
As it was a Fridaybefore a bank holiday we hoped that we would be able to spoil him overthe long weekend before making the decision to have him PTS. However, it was not meant to be. He never recovered from the valium injection which had made him wobbly legged. Instead heslept on his cushion all the rest of that day, neither eating nor drinking. We took him to bed with us that night knowing what we wouldneed to do the next day. The night was fullof cuddling and kissing him and listening to his long happy purrs.
We calledScott first thing the next day and spent the intervening hours hugging and loving our baby. He died in my arms on 25th August 2007 at 12.50pm, Ihope knowing how much he was loved. We miss him so much but we know he was ready to go. Although the weeks of his illness were so sad they were also such a bonding experience. Even though Figgy and I had always had such a special relationship, with our little routines of hugs and kisses he seemed to love the attention even more. He relished being brushed, an activity he was never reallykeen on, and he even let me touch and stroke his tummy, something thatusually resulted in a scratched hand.
As wehad decided to have him cremated Scott took Figgyback to the surgery where he was collected by the crematorium a few days later. A few days after thatFiggy had an individual cremation. Although we did not attend the actual cremation itself we did spend some time with him in the Chapel of Rest.
Whata wonderful experience. Never having gone to a Chapel of Rest before we didn't know we wouldget to see him again. After the inital tears it was sucha joy to be able tohold,hug and talk to him again. He looked just like he was sleeping.
After thecremationwe brought his ashes home in a wooden shaped cat urn. Atiny amount was later placed ina heart shaped necklace bought by my husband for me so Figgy and Iwill always be together. The remaining ashes now sit on thebedroom windowsill, a place he liked to sit to warm his tummy, and somewhere were I can see him everyday. (One day when I die his ashes are to be buried with me so we will never be parted).
To help remember him I have also made a scrapbook full of photos of him and his sister together, a memory box, and we have also sponsored a black and white cat called Titus who lives in one of the Cat Protection League shelters.
What can one say about Figgy?He was our best boy cat and always will be.
Yesterday (16th February 2010) our little girl Cassie went to be with her big brother Figgy. We miss you both so very much. The house seems so very empty without you Cassie. We hope you know just how much you were loved. Thank you for all your purrs and snuggles and for just being our wonderful little girl. Missing you so very much. Love Mummy & Daddy. XXX