And so it was.
Whatever “this” was, it hit hard and fast. There were 2 or 3 days of Sheldon clearly not feeling quite right – but he played, ate, groomed, and bothered us for “brushies.” Then that Sunday morning, I woke up, went to check on him – and his nose was white. I checked his gums: white. I flashed back to the roller coaster ride we had with his sibling, Tuxedo. Only Tuxie developed anemia when he was 2. He had several miracles along the way, beat the odds, and after a seven-year fight, Tux went into remission.
The difference between Shel and Tux wasn’t just age at onset. Sheldon’s bone marrow biopsy indicated his bone marrow was “ineffective.” Red blood cells simply weren’t making it out of his bone marrow. This is not typical in IMHA. The vets were all quite …guarded in prognosis.
After blood work, ultrasound and bone marrow biopsy, when his HCT dropped to 8% the following Thursday, Sheldon got a blood transfusion to buy him time for immune suppression to work – if it was going to. What it bought was a few days at home, to say good-bye to his brothers and sisters, to curl up in bed with us and be loved on before he let go of his body. :heart2: :heart2:
*******************************
I found TCS because of the kittens that turned up in our yard the spring of 2002. Lazlo and Sheldon were the first two feral kitties we brought inside full-time. Laz came in first. We brought Shel inside 10 days later, as kittens should be in pairs to play with and keep each other company. :rub: Here's that story. :lol3: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/9727/we-rescued-another-one
The funny thing is, we thought Lazlo was going to be first in everything: he’s in remission from large cell lymphoma, given 4 weeks to live at time of diagnosis in 2011. And yet here we are. We had just over a week to wrap our minds around the notion that we were going to say good-bye to Sheldon first. And we never really did. We refused to give up hope that Shel would get his miracle, too. It’s finally sinking in that we will never be able to pet Sheldon again. :Wings:
Sheldon was … he was so many things. How can words honor such a cat? He was so sweet, so silly, so loving, so jealous (LOL), so gregarious – he was just so big for such a little package. Shel was our Ambassador kitty: he was amazing with the foster babies. He was our comedian, and we miss his antics terribly. He was named after Sheldon Kornpet in the (1979) movie, the In-Laws. As Vince said throughout the movie, “What a guy!” That was our Shelly – what a guy. What a guy!!!!
Shel, we miss you. We love you, now and forever. You stomped on our hearts, and you earned your wings, baby boy. Soar far and wide. Find my daddy, and explore the ether with him! He may not have been a “cat guy,” but he loved everyone and everything that was good and beautiful – and that was you, Shel. You will both be forever in my heart and never far from my mind. :heart2: :heart2: Your daddy misses you terribly. Please purr for him in his dreams. :heart2: :heart2:
Shelly..... :sun: :heart2:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fly free, Shelly. April 2002 - March 11, 2015
Whatever “this” was, it hit hard and fast. There were 2 or 3 days of Sheldon clearly not feeling quite right – but he played, ate, groomed, and bothered us for “brushies.” Then that Sunday morning, I woke up, went to check on him – and his nose was white. I checked his gums: white. I flashed back to the roller coaster ride we had with his sibling, Tuxedo. Only Tuxie developed anemia when he was 2. He had several miracles along the way, beat the odds, and after a seven-year fight, Tux went into remission.
The difference between Shel and Tux wasn’t just age at onset. Sheldon’s bone marrow biopsy indicated his bone marrow was “ineffective.” Red blood cells simply weren’t making it out of his bone marrow. This is not typical in IMHA. The vets were all quite …guarded in prognosis.
After blood work, ultrasound and bone marrow biopsy, when his HCT dropped to 8% the following Thursday, Sheldon got a blood transfusion to buy him time for immune suppression to work – if it was going to. What it bought was a few days at home, to say good-bye to his brothers and sisters, to curl up in bed with us and be loved on before he let go of his body. :heart2: :heart2:
*******************************
I found TCS because of the kittens that turned up in our yard the spring of 2002. Lazlo and Sheldon were the first two feral kitties we brought inside full-time. Laz came in first. We brought Shel inside 10 days later, as kittens should be in pairs to play with and keep each other company. :rub: Here's that story. :lol3: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/9727/we-rescued-another-one
The funny thing is, we thought Lazlo was going to be first in everything: he’s in remission from large cell lymphoma, given 4 weeks to live at time of diagnosis in 2011. And yet here we are. We had just over a week to wrap our minds around the notion that we were going to say good-bye to Sheldon first. And we never really did. We refused to give up hope that Shel would get his miracle, too. It’s finally sinking in that we will never be able to pet Sheldon again. :Wings:
Sheldon was … he was so many things. How can words honor such a cat? He was so sweet, so silly, so loving, so jealous (LOL), so gregarious – he was just so big for such a little package. Shel was our Ambassador kitty: he was amazing with the foster babies. He was our comedian, and we miss his antics terribly. He was named after Sheldon Kornpet in the (1979) movie, the In-Laws. As Vince said throughout the movie, “What a guy!” That was our Shelly – what a guy. What a guy!!!!
Shel, we miss you. We love you, now and forever. You stomped on our hearts, and you earned your wings, baby boy. Soar far and wide. Find my daddy, and explore the ether with him! He may not have been a “cat guy,” but he loved everyone and everything that was good and beautiful – and that was you, Shel. You will both be forever in my heart and never far from my mind. :heart2: :heart2: Your daddy misses you terribly. Please purr for him in his dreams. :heart2: :heart2:
Shelly..... :sun: :heart2:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fly free, Shelly. April 2002 - March 11, 2015
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