Kitty Heaven

[herbanjo]

Our loving cat, Macro, was laid to rest today. He'd been suffering from skin cancer for too long. Freebird built him an absolutely beautiful coffin today; the lining was made of his favorite sleeping blankie. We laid his favorite toys, his favorite "Greenies" and catnip inside. The doctor placed him in the coffin with his head resting on his favorite pillow. We buried him in our pet cemetery. Macro is already greatly missed. Now he's in Kitty Heaven making new friends and he is in no pain.

[Milwaukee]

I am sorry about that. i will pray that he go to good place and watch you with Freebird.:i_praying

[wanna_be_farmer]

Sorry for your loss. Does sound like a nice coffin and send off.
Rory

[Edward]

Sad....

I didn't know a cat could even get skin cancer. How did it get discovered?

[slipshod]

Sure is hard to take the lose of a pet. Sorry to hear about your Macro.

[lt230s]

Sorry to hear of your loss. May he have all the catnip he can handle with God.

[Dad0850]

Very sorry for your loss. We become so close to our pets. They can be more loyal than some of our closest friends or loved ones, a source of comfort and much laughter. The best thing I can say, is to remember all the good times with Macro and share them with anyone who will listen. The pain and grieving will lessen, eventually. But, you will likely never forget him. And you wouldn't want to. It sounds like he had a great life with you! You should feel some comfort in that thought.

[stanleyjohn]

Sorry for your loss :sorry1: I know how you and your family must feel.I had to put down one of my cats (sneakers) recently.Think of the good life your cat had and hopefully someday we may see our pets again.Take care! Stan

[HydroHarold]

Herbanjo, so sorry to hear about Macro but I am happy you did the right thing for him. He will always be as close as your next thought to remember and smile.

I'm going to go find my 4 and give 'em each a pet right now. Thanks for sharing. :)

[MowHoward2210]

Sorry for your loss, herbanjo and freebird.

[freebird]

Thanks everyone. The skin cancer appeared at the tip of his right ear and slowly progressed to his skull. When we noticed he had not been himself the last week I had to make the decision. A note to parents that have cats with white fur that they are prone to get this. Sunblock is recommended.
Macro was 17 years old. He had a full and happy life.

[USN_ED]

Sorry to hear about Marko. That's a tough decision when you have to put a loved one (yes, pets are loved ones) down. Our Scruffy died last Winter and we are just finishing his grave site now as the ground was too hard to work during the winter. I'm sure he has already met up with Marko and that they're both off to the races. Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair for our little furry, feathered, shelled (turtles), fishy, and scaled friends does it?

[Rodney in VA]

freebird:

Sorry for your loss. My wife and niece have 3 cats and I dread having to bury one of them. They love them so.

[JDFANATIC]

herbanjo,

Sorry about your loss. Our animals so become parts of our families.

[Jim_WV]

So sorry herbanjo, it's never easy to loose a good pet and friend, you and freebird are in our thoughts and prayers.

[Artpb]

Sorry to hear he's no longer with you. It's a tough thing to have to do, but for the best. I am going to spend some time "Sparky" tonight, in fact he's sitting here staring at me as if he knows.

[Ingersoll444]

You know.. That one of the reasons I am petless...


Had to put three dogs down in the last two years. Gunna be a nuber of years before I get another one.

[freebird]

Thanks for all the nice comments. The weather cleared today so I took a photo to show what we did for him.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o177/camaniac/macrosspot.jpg

[USN_ED]

Very very nice!!! I'm sure ole Marco is pleased that ya done him proud. Good on ya freebird.

[herbanjo]

Thanks for the kind words, friends. To elaborate a little more on the skin cancer...it appeared to us a wound that had scabbed on his white ear. The scab grew and we asked the vet during one of Macro's check-ups. She confirmed skin cancer. Eventually the "scab" grew and began deforming his ear. Last week poor Macro scratched the heck outa that ear and we awoke to blood spots everywhere he laid or walked. This past week, which was quite warm, Macro was rather listless. He ate very little and drank much less water than normal. Friday as we were preparing to leave for the vets office he stopped at his water bowl and drank the most we'd seen for awhile. Maybe he knew it was his last supper. As it turns out the vet had difficulty finding his vein because of the dehydration. She was also amazed at how the cancer had grown so quickly and started migrating across his head and at the base of his black ear. Originally it was agreed not to remove his ear in the beginning as there was no way of really knowing how far it had gone into his skull. He actually had some sort of abcess in his cheek about 6 months ago and the vet felt it was most likely a part of the cancer. Still don't know. So, yes light colored animals are more prone to skin cancer and sun screen is actually recommended! By the way, a former resident at the nursing home I worked at had skin cancer on his cheek which looked exactly like Macro's. Thanks again everyone.

[Rodster]

Sorry to hear of your loss.
Rod