GOLDEN GIRL
Cleo, stunning and engaging
Ravaged by cancer in 6 weeks
Fast-growing tumor behind nasal passages
Pressing into her right ear, nose, later her right
eye
Cleo's will was strong but cancer’s more
powerful
Possessive to a fault
She owned me, not me, her
Cleo was mistress of my home
Very frustrating when she would not permit
other females
Except for her mother in our domicile
The way she tilted her head, curled her lip
Like she was Elvis reborn in a cat, looking in
my eyes.
Poor girl!
Spunky to a fault
What will we do without her?
Beautiful …
Golden silky hair became unkempt
Weight fell from her frail body like autumn
leaves
Left with no choice
Hope gone, my heart bereft
Want to hold on to her purrs and love
Feel her head pushing against my body
Her rough tongue licks my hand: I pet her
Her scent still on the shirt I wore Friday
Unable to purr, nor eat, the tumor grew fast,
blocking the way
Higgins thought AMC could remove part of the
tumor
As they also mistakenly thought when they
assured me
She’d be the better to try, 50 - 50 chance, after
all,
Higgins already tried and failed but believed
they’d succeed
Never listen to vets when your gut dictates a
different route
Not sure if they wanted to help her or wanted
young interns to learn
Lessons learned too late
Can't hold back fate
Learned a few more peaceful days
Not surgery trauma choices
Anesthesia wrecked an already starving soul
striving to survive
I regret not continuing using subcutaneous
water
Combined with finger feeding baby food
Instead doctors installed a feeding tube
Made her gag even worse than before
Doctors almost convinced me her tiny
Shrinking body could handle radiation fine
Sure glad I didn't listen, only wish I hadn’t
Let them put her small shrinking body through
surgical trauma
Can’t forgive myself, made her suffering worse
Let interns learn and experiment, when
In the end, everything they did at AMC made it
worse,
Kind of like our government
Letting go of Cleo was the hardest thing I've
ever done.
There will never be another Cleo
Knowing Cleo’s out of misery is no consolation
Miss her love, her energy, her beauty, her
excitation
Flame point Siamese with deep blue eyes; visualize
her exotic look,
Feel her strange personality
Cat fanciers classify Flame point Siamese as “Exotic”
Even though Cleo clearly is pure Siamese,
through and through
Brushing Cleo’s fur made her purr loudly
Helped reduce cat hair in environment
Lay awake; want to feel her body press against
mine
Want to stare into her eyes, Cleo lying on her
back staring back
Stretching her small slim body, her limbs
against mine
Urging me to stroke her and moving to let me
know where
Purrs so loud I wondered how she did it
Gone forever, she lives on in my heart,
Try to cope with loss, and remember
Visualize Cleo
With her mother, Starr, and bossy Sphinx Davie
Starr screaming for Cleo
Inseparable in life
All of us bereft, confused
Miss her warmth
Cleo, … gone!
Life cut short, 9 years’ soul
Mercy, mercy, please...
Cleo would have been 9 years old December 27th. I was
forced to put her down as the tumor pressed on the back of her throat and no
food or water could pass. It was growing fast and had already grown into her
ear and infected it. Then it spread behind her left eye.
First The Humane Society had seen her and thought it
was an ear infection. Then when I brought her back they thought it was a cold.
When I reported that the back of her throat was completely closed, they sedated
her and tried to reach the tumor thinking it was a polyp and they reported it
was too deep and they could not reach it.
I should have listened to my gut when my urge was to take
her home and let her rest giving her fluids subcutaneously, and baby food
and nutriment on my finger. Instead, on the advice of doctors who suggested she
see specialists at the Animal Medical Center, I took her there for a consult.
They said they thought they could get the polyp and that there was a good
chance it was not cancer and that they would insert a feeding tube. I thought
the feeding tube would be in the stomach but it was placed in her throat, which
only aggravated her gagging reflex. After a couple of hours of anesthesia and
experimental work, they saw they could do nothing and from only looking doctors
were able to report it was a very fast-growing cancer. When she came home she
was much worse from the entire trauma. I would have had to put her down anyway but
she would have had a few days in peace with her mother, pictured below next to
her.
The tumor grew very fast and was invading every organ in
every part of her head.
God Bless Cleo! May she rest in peace and may the next
birth be blessed.
