Mysti was my cat. A tiny petite girl, never weighing over ten pounds at full adult age. She was a stray. Someone had dumped her outside when they moved away. A friend of mine had been feeding her, she was 7 months old and it was November, beginning to get cold. He told me about her and I decided to take her in, brought her directly to the vet for her shots and named her Mystical.
She was extremely smart, I taught her how to sit, lie down, back up, speak, and sit up for treats on command. While I took care of my mother who had Vascular Dementia brought on by a previous accident, she was a calming, funny, and loving pet through it all for both my mother and myself. She literally helped me keep my sanity.
My mother died in 2014 and 6 months afterwards I found a pea sized lump on her spine. I took her to the vet where the first biopsy was inconclusive, another done two months later confirmed vaccine associated sarcoma (VAS). This cancer is extremely aggressive and there is NO cure, even with removal and chemo.
My friend had a connection to her because he cared for her while she had lived outside and really loved her and wanted to help. We decided to proceed with removal if only to buy her some time, she was only 8 years old. We opted out of chemo, it was way too expensive ( $4,000) and out of reach and didn't guarantee the cancer wouldn't come back.
We were warned the cancer would return in 9-12 months even with surgery. We felt she deserved a chance and surgery was done to remove the cancer. It was a big surgery, she had an incision the whole length of her back. The vet explained that she also had removed a piece of bone and to look for possible neurological trouble. She did very well, she jumped and played and did everything she usually did, and no effects from that piece of bone being removed.
Sadly, the tumor finally did return but 26 months later!!! We were not going to put her through any more surgeries or treatments. These tumors grow quickly, break open, and get infected, we gave her ONE 10 day treatment of antibiotics just to make her more comfortable. As expected the tumor continued to grow and she stopped eating, losing weight rapidly. She was also showing weakness in her hind legs, she would literally crawl up the side of my bed to get on it. It was so sad to see her decline and so rapidly, within a couple of months time.
After having watched my mother wither away I wasn't handling watching her decline, it was upsetting and hard to watch. So the unselfish decision was made to let her go before it got really bad and her organs failed.
So today she was sent over the rainbow bridge and I just know my mother was there to greet her. It was a painful decision and even more painful to be there to see her go but I couldn't bear to think of her suffering any worse than she was. She wasn't in terrible pain yet and it was more merciful to not let her get to that point.
The vet told me that in 30 years he never saw a cat with this last as long as she did! I know now that she fought to live because she didn't want to leave, she loved us that much. But the question will always remain in my head, why my cat? The odds of this happening are 1 case per 10,000 to 30,000 vaccinations. I like to think she was an angel sent by God to help me in my time of need, and her earthly job was done here.
She would have been 11 years old in April, she should have had more years. As you would expect it was horrible to lose my mother and then the very thing that helped me get through it. I miss her terribly, she was the best pet anyone could have ever asked for.
She was really a human soul in an animals body. I miss her waking me up every morning, cheering me up when I was down, by rolling onto her back with feet in the air and then glancing over to make sure I was watching, and being my comfort by lying on top of me in bed when I was sick.
She was so gentle she would allow my mother (with dementia) to "pet" her, which was to place her hand on top of her head, between her ears, and down the front of her face over and over! She also would walk in front of the wheelchair and lead us down the hall and into the kitchen each day to eat. She would literally walk a few feet, stop, look back to make sure we were coming, and then continue on.
She laid on my mothers bed (in picture) with her every single day and it brought my mother great comfort to know she was there. I always said she could have been a therapy pet and she literally was for us. She was a little cat with a huge heart and soul. She was my first cat, she was MY Mysti. RIP sweet girl.
Thank You to all who leave tokens for Mysti. She was very special and very loved.
She was extremely smart, I taught her how to sit, lie down, back up, speak, and sit up for treats on command. While I took care of my mother who had Vascular Dementia brought on by a previous accident, she was a calming, funny, and loving pet through it all for both my mother and myself. She literally helped me keep my sanity.
My mother died in 2014 and 6 months afterwards I found a pea sized lump on her spine. I took her to the vet where the first biopsy was inconclusive, another done two months later confirmed vaccine associated sarcoma (VAS). This cancer is extremely aggressive and there is NO cure, even with removal and chemo.
My friend had a connection to her because he cared for her while she had lived outside and really loved her and wanted to help. We decided to proceed with removal if only to buy her some time, she was only 8 years old. We opted out of chemo, it was way too expensive ( $4,000) and out of reach and didn't guarantee the cancer wouldn't come back.
We were warned the cancer would return in 9-12 months even with surgery. We felt she deserved a chance and surgery was done to remove the cancer. It was a big surgery, she had an incision the whole length of her back. The vet explained that she also had removed a piece of bone and to look for possible neurological trouble. She did very well, she jumped and played and did everything she usually did, and no effects from that piece of bone being removed.
Sadly, the tumor finally did return but 26 months later!!! We were not going to put her through any more surgeries or treatments. These tumors grow quickly, break open, and get infected, we gave her ONE 10 day treatment of antibiotics just to make her more comfortable. As expected the tumor continued to grow and she stopped eating, losing weight rapidly. She was also showing weakness in her hind legs, she would literally crawl up the side of my bed to get on it. It was so sad to see her decline and so rapidly, within a couple of months time.
After having watched my mother wither away I wasn't handling watching her decline, it was upsetting and hard to watch. So the unselfish decision was made to let her go before it got really bad and her organs failed.
So today she was sent over the rainbow bridge and I just know my mother was there to greet her. It was a painful decision and even more painful to be there to see her go but I couldn't bear to think of her suffering any worse than she was. She wasn't in terrible pain yet and it was more merciful to not let her get to that point.
The vet told me that in 30 years he never saw a cat with this last as long as she did! I know now that she fought to live because she didn't want to leave, she loved us that much. But the question will always remain in my head, why my cat? The odds of this happening are 1 case per 10,000 to 30,000 vaccinations. I like to think she was an angel sent by God to help me in my time of need, and her earthly job was done here.
She would have been 11 years old in April, she should have had more years. As you would expect it was horrible to lose my mother and then the very thing that helped me get through it. I miss her terribly, she was the best pet anyone could have ever asked for.
She was really a human soul in an animals body. I miss her waking me up every morning, cheering me up when I was down, by rolling onto her back with feet in the air and then glancing over to make sure I was watching, and being my comfort by lying on top of me in bed when I was sick.
She was so gentle she would allow my mother (with dementia) to "pet" her, which was to place her hand on top of her head, between her ears, and down the front of her face over and over! She also would walk in front of the wheelchair and lead us down the hall and into the kitchen each day to eat. She would literally walk a few feet, stop, look back to make sure we were coming, and then continue on.
She laid on my mothers bed (in picture) with her every single day and it brought my mother great comfort to know she was there. I always said she could have been a therapy pet and she literally was for us. She was a little cat with a huge heart and soul. She was my first cat, she was MY Mysti. RIP sweet girl.
Thank You to all who leave tokens for Mysti. She was very special and very loved.
Mysti was my cat. A tiny petite girl, never weighing over ten pounds at full adult age. She was a stray. Someone had dumped her outside when they moved away. A friend of mine had been feeding her, she was 7 months old and it was November, beginning to get cold. He told me about her and I decided to take her in, brought her directly to the vet for her shots and named her Mystical.
She was extremely smart, I taught her how to sit, lie down, back up, speak, and sit up for treats on command. While I took care of my mother who had Vascular Dementia brought on by a previous accident, she was a calming, funny, and loving pet through it all for both my mother and myself. She literally helped me keep my sanity.
My mother died in 2014 and 6 months afterwards I found a pea sized lump on her spine. I took her to the vet where the first biopsy was inconclusive, another done two months later confirmed vaccine associated sarcoma (VAS). This cancer is extremely aggressive and there is NO cure, even with removal and chemo.
My friend had a connection to her because he cared for her while she had lived outside and really loved her and wanted to help. We decided to proceed with removal if only to buy her some time, she was only 8 years old. We opted out of chemo, it was way too expensive ( $4,000) and out of reach and didn't guarantee the cancer wouldn't come back.
We were warned the cancer would return in 9-12 months even with surgery. We felt she deserved a chance and surgery was done to remove the cancer. It was a big surgery, she had an incision the whole length of her back. The vet explained that she also had removed a piece of bone and to look for possible neurological trouble. She did very well, she jumped and played and did everything she usually did, and no effects from that piece of bone being removed.
Sadly, the tumor finally did return but 26 months later!!! We were not going to put her through any more surgeries or treatments. These tumors grow quickly, break open, and get infected, we gave her ONE 10 day treatment of antibiotics just to make her more comfortable. As expected the tumor continued to grow and she stopped eating, losing weight rapidly. She was also showing weakness in her hind legs, she would literally crawl up the side of my bed to get on it. It was so sad to see her decline and so rapidly, within a couple of months time.
After having watched my mother wither away I wasn't handling watching her decline, it was upsetting and hard to watch. So the unselfish decision was made to let her go before it got really bad and her organs failed.
So today she was sent over the rainbow bridge and I just know my mother was there to greet her. It was a painful decision and even more painful to be there to see her go but I couldn't bear to think of her suffering any worse than she was. She wasn't in terrible pain yet and it was more merciful to not let her get to that point.
The vet told me that in 30 years he never saw a cat with this last as long as she did! I know now that she fought to live because she didn't want to leave, she loved us that much. But the question will always remain in my head, why my cat? The odds of this happening are 1 case per 10,000 to 30,000 vaccinations. I like to think she was an angel sent by God to help me in my time of need, and her earthly job was done here.
She would have been 11 years old in April, she should have had more years. As you would expect it was horrible to lose my mother and then the very thing that helped me get through it. I miss her terribly, she was the best pet anyone could have ever asked for.
She was really a human soul in an animals body. I miss her waking me up every morning, cheering me up when I was down, by rolling onto her back with feet in the air and then glancing over to make sure I was watching, and being my comfort by lying on top of me in bed when I was sick.
She was so gentle she would allow my mother (with dementia) to "pet" her, which was to place her hand on top of her head, between her ears, and down the front of her face over and over! She also would walk in front of the wheelchair and lead us down the hall and into the kitchen each day to eat. She would literally walk a few feet, stop, look back to make sure we were coming, and then continue on.
She laid on my mothers bed (in picture) with her every single day and it brought my mother great comfort to know she was there. I always said she could have been a therapy pet and she literally was for us. She was a little cat with a huge heart and soul. She was my first cat, she was MY Mysti. RIP sweet girl.
Thank You to all who leave tokens for Mysti. She was very special and very loved.
She was extremely smart, I taught her how to sit, lie down, back up, speak, and sit up for treats on command. While I took care of my mother who had Vascular Dementia brought on by a previous accident, she was a calming, funny, and loving pet through it all for both my mother and myself. She literally helped me keep my sanity.
My mother died in 2014 and 6 months afterwards I found a pea sized lump on her spine. I took her to the vet where the first biopsy was inconclusive, another done two months later confirmed vaccine associated sarcoma (VAS). This cancer is extremely aggressive and there is NO cure, even with removal and chemo.
My friend had a connection to her because he cared for her while she had lived outside and really loved her and wanted to help. We decided to proceed with removal if only to buy her some time, she was only 8 years old. We opted out of chemo, it was way too expensive ( $4,000) and out of reach and didn't guarantee the cancer wouldn't come back.
We were warned the cancer would return in 9-12 months even with surgery. We felt she deserved a chance and surgery was done to remove the cancer. It was a big surgery, she had an incision the whole length of her back. The vet explained that she also had removed a piece of bone and to look for possible neurological trouble. She did very well, she jumped and played and did everything she usually did, and no effects from that piece of bone being removed.
Sadly, the tumor finally did return but 26 months later!!! We were not going to put her through any more surgeries or treatments. These tumors grow quickly, break open, and get infected, we gave her ONE 10 day treatment of antibiotics just to make her more comfortable. As expected the tumor continued to grow and she stopped eating, losing weight rapidly. She was also showing weakness in her hind legs, she would literally crawl up the side of my bed to get on it. It was so sad to see her decline and so rapidly, within a couple of months time.
After having watched my mother wither away I wasn't handling watching her decline, it was upsetting and hard to watch. So the unselfish decision was made to let her go before it got really bad and her organs failed.
So today she was sent over the rainbow bridge and I just know my mother was there to greet her. It was a painful decision and even more painful to be there to see her go but I couldn't bear to think of her suffering any worse than she was. She wasn't in terrible pain yet and it was more merciful to not let her get to that point.
The vet told me that in 30 years he never saw a cat with this last as long as she did! I know now that she fought to live because she didn't want to leave, she loved us that much. But the question will always remain in my head, why my cat? The odds of this happening are 1 case per 10,000 to 30,000 vaccinations. I like to think she was an angel sent by God to help me in my time of need, and her earthly job was done here.
She would have been 11 years old in April, she should have had more years. As you would expect it was horrible to lose my mother and then the very thing that helped me get through it. I miss her terribly, she was the best pet anyone could have ever asked for.
She was really a human soul in an animals body. I miss her waking me up every morning, cheering me up when I was down, by rolling onto her back with feet in the air and then glancing over to make sure I was watching, and being my comfort by lying on top of me in bed when I was sick.
She was so gentle she would allow my mother (with dementia) to "pet" her, which was to place her hand on top of her head, between her ears, and down the front of her face over and over! She also would walk in front of the wheelchair and lead us down the hall and into the kitchen each day to eat. She would literally walk a few feet, stop, look back to make sure we were coming, and then continue on.
She laid on my mothers bed (in picture) with her every single day and it brought my mother great comfort to know she was there. I always said she could have been a therapy pet and she literally was for us. She was a little cat with a huge heart and soul. She was my first cat, she was MY Mysti. RIP sweet girl.
Thank You to all who leave tokens for Mysti. She was very special and very loved.
