Sad News

Our Vet Dr. Pallai has been wonderful this week. He has been calling to check on Tammy frequently and when she was no better by Tuesday evening he told me to bring her in for another exam and more tests first thing Wednesday. It's not good. Tammy has lymphocytic leukemia.

Tammy is four years old and a real sweetheart. When one of our cats, Bella, passed away a few years ago Stephanie took it hard. Bella was her baby. So for Stephanie's birthday that year we went to the shelter to let her pick out a kitten, which is how Tammy came to be a member of our family. We immediately took Tammy to Dr. Pallai for a check-up and her shots, he's been our vet for years. Shelters test for rabies but not for feline leukemia, which is very contagious, but there is a vaccine and I've always had our cats vaccinated for it.

Sadly Dr. Pallai informed us that Tammy was leukemia positive. Probably her mother, who was a stray, had it. We were aware that meant that Tammy would live a short life but since the disease wasn't active we, as a family, made the choice to keep her in the hope that whatever time she had would be as pleasant as we could make it. Despite everything we'll never regret that decision, Tammy has enriched all our lives in so many ways.

Stephanie did a great job raising her. I should really say Stephanie and Dax did. Dax is our dog, a lab/pointer mix. Tammy was eight weeks old when she came to us, an adorable little bundle of love. Dax's maternal instincts kicked in and she treated Tammy as if she was her pup. They've always been the best of buddies and one of the sweetest things I've ever seem is the two of them cuddling and grooming each other.

Sadly Tammy's time is now limited. She feels pretty rotten but is not yet in any pain so we'll keep her as comfortable as possible and take things as they come but the knowledge that we will, at some point, have to let her go is devastating nonetheless.