Second Thoughts

So after thinking about it, we decided that the child gate in the stairway wasn't a sure enough means of segregating our cat from the girls.  When we're away, we'll close the girls up in our bedroom and just give them the run of the upper level when we're there to supervise.  As the doctor said, "an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

On the left you'll see pictures of the TDY girls relaxing in their Wisconsin quarters.  Katie, the calico, is from Korea and sustained a serious injury as a kitten on one of the runways at the air base where her Mom was stationed.  She's a bit shy but deigns to let me pet her and scratch her behind the ears at the times and places of her choosing.  She has a really sweet face and disposition and, unfortunately, feline lymphoma.

Bella is the sleek but zaftig black cat who flops on the floor whenever I enter the room, rolling onto her back so I can scratch her tummy while she kneads the air. I've known Bella since her Mom picked her out of a score of kittens at a humane society in San Antonio, Texas.  Bella has a sunny disposition but sometimes bugs her sister Katie who will, if sufficiently provoked, apply corrective action to Ms. Bella.  Bella is also notorious for stealing the covers when she sneaks up on the bed at night after I've nodded off.

By way of orientation, the girls had been staying in Illinois with two very good friends of their Mom while she is over seas.  They took Katie to see a vet when they became concerned that she might be losing weight.  Long story short, Katie was found to have a mass on her right kidney that turned out to be lymphoma.  Lymphoma is a very aggressive disease in cats and could have been fatal in a matter of weeks if not discovered and treated.  Since the two cats are inseparable, they both came to live with us in Wisconsin so that Katie can receive weekly chemotherapy treatments from a veterinary oncologist practicing here.

So far, Katie seems to be doing well and has gained back about 0.5 pounds of weight, a significant amount given her size.  Everyone who knows her is hoping for a good outcome from her treatment and at her last visit to the oncologist we were told that her tumor has decreased in size - a cause for some optimism.  Statistically, the odds of a successful remission with the treatment regimen she's on are very good.  We're all rooting for her.