Our Beloved Tarifa Has Ascended

Loving Mickey

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I am so truly sorry on the loss of your sweet Tarifa. I so wish that I knew the right words to say to help ease your broken heart. There just are no magic words. I know the pain of losing a beloved pet all too well. I would never wish that pain on anyone. It can truly be unbearable at times.
Like others have said, you always try to comfort others on this site, so we would love to comfort you as well.
Just always remember that you gave that precious kitty a wonderful life with you. She had a warm home filled with all the love she could ever want.
She will always remain with you, tucked away safely in your heart. She has a piece of your heart as well to comfort her. I hope that one day you can think of your sweet kitty with more smiles than tears.
RIP precious Tarifa! Please watch over your loved one as she misses you so much. Let the wonderful light shining from you rest upon her broken heart.
 
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tarasgirl06

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I am so sorry for your loss. Years ago I made the same decision for a cat who was afflicted with the same type of tumor and believe that you did the best and bravest thing that you could have done for Tarifa. My thoughts are with you.
Thanking you for your kind thoughts and wondering if I could ask you if the tumor onset was quite sudden? My heartfelt condolences for your loss of your precious loved one, as well.
 

fionasmom

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Matilde was an odd rescue whose story I won't go into and I would classify her ultimately as more unfriendly then feral or semi feral. She had been spayed before she was ever brought to me, no ear tip, so I assumed that she might have been an abandoned pet. She was indoor only, usually in the same place where she liked to sit. One day I noticed her face was swollen on one side; it was not like it had been that way for months and I had ignored it or anything like that. I took her to the vet who immediately dxed squamous cell cancer. Matilde was miserable after the biopsy and I could not see putting her through anything more, especially after the vet described the course of treatment so I decided to let her go peacefully. While it certainly started out as a tiny cancer cell, I would have to say that it progressed quickly. One day she was eating, the next day her face was swollen and she was not.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Matilde was an odd rescue whose story I won't go into and I would classify her ultimately as more unfriendly then feral or semi feral. She had been spayed before she was ever brought to me, no ear tip, so I assumed that she might have been an abandoned pet. She was indoor only, usually in the same place where she liked to sit. One day I noticed her face was swollen on one side; it was not like it had been that way for months and I had ignored it or anything like that. I took her to the vet who immediately dxed squamous cell cancer. Matilde was miserable after the biopsy and I could not see putting her through anything more, especially after the vet described the course of treatment so I decided to let her go peacefully. While it certainly started out as a tiny cancer cell, I would have to say that it progressed quickly. One day she was eating, the next day her face was swollen and she was not.
Again, my heartfelt condolences for your loss. Whether friendly or not so much, she was with you, and she had to be loved by you.
Yes, squamous cell is very fast and very aggressive. Our doctor did not tell me what kind of tumor he thought it was (with no biopsy) but he said it was inoperable. The bizarre thing with Tar was that her appetite was GREAT even on that morning, and her hygiene habits were perfect -- no sign of any sickness there.
 

fionasmom

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You were a little brighter than I was in a similar situation. When they said squamous cell and biopsy I should have let her just go then.

Your girl passed peacefully before anything encroached on her well being and you did the right thing for her, however hard it was.
 
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tarasgirl06

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You were a little brighter than I was in a similar situation. When they said squamous cell and biopsy I should have let her just go then.

Your girl passed peacefully before anything encroached on her well being and you did the right thing for her, however hard it was.
Thank you, but actually IDK if that was the case, as the swelling had manifested about a month before her eye, and it was her eye that made me take her to the vet, because I hoped and prayed it was a URI and that he could give her antibiotics and maybe an anti-inflammatory and that she would be okay. I had NO IDEA that this would be the diagnosis, but once he told me, I felt I had no choice.
 

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Some of this stuff just comes out of the blue and then we have to react and make a decision. I rescued a wonderful little white cat Pangur Ban several years ago and he had a seizure. Vet thought it was a one off as he seemed to be fine...right up until it all went south and we figured out that he had lymphoma and cryptococcus from his time on the streets. I tried for about a week, he went blind in the course of that, and I let him go. He only lived with me for about 11 months.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Some of this stuff just comes out of the blue and then we have to react and make a decision. I rescued a wonderful little white cat Pangur Ban several years ago and he had a seizure. Vet thought it was a one off as he seemed to be fine...right up until it all went south and we figured out that he had lymphoma and cryptococcus from his time on the streets. I tried for about a week, he went blind in the course of that, and I let him go. He only lived with me for about 11 months.
My heartfelt condolences for your loss of Pangur Ban! This is why I work so hard every day for cats, because we can and we must bring about the time when every cat and kitten has a loving permanent home, and spay/neuter/TNR all cats except those to continue the species.
Our beloved Moti angel, also rescued from the streets, had a stroke and was then diagnosed with CRF. I learned how to give sub-Q and bought us 7 good months.
And Tarifa was adopted right after we lost a baby of less than 3 months to wet-form FIP. She came from the streets and had been a bouncing baby, full of life; I made the mistake of having the vax for her because we had lost our beloved Sun to dry-form FIP some years before, and I considered it my responsibility to do all I could to stop this scourge from affecting any cat in my care. But very quickly after the vax, she developed the classic symptoms of wet-form, and passed in her sleep the night before we were going to take her back in for care. So many times in my life, I have had to make a decision, and so many times, a decision was made without me, so to speak. No one here lives forever on this earthly plane; I am grateful that my belief system is that this is but a step on the way to a much, much better place. But it is devastating, always, to part from a loved one.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Our Tarifa came home yesterday. The finality was overwhelming. Up to that point, I was able to fantasize that she was in her corner in the office, or in her cat tunnel, or maybe in the cubby in the big cat activity center in the living room. I'd think I'd see her out the corner of my eye. I'm still going to do that, I know. Because I have a need to.
Feeling SO honored and grateful that, out of all the people on earth, I was the one given the opportunity to care for and love one of the most amazing, remarkable, sweet, silly, sparkly cats who have ever padded this planet.
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Oral SCC was what took Cabbie, my cat before Krista. From coming home to her drooling to the final appointment was maybe 1 or 2 weeks. In her case, I had her pts after her cat scores for the weekend (how much of a cat was she acting like?) had gone into the toilet. She wasn’t eating. She spent all her time sleeping under the bed. It was a sunny weekend that she should have enjoyed in her favorite spot in the sun.

I’m still waiting on Krista’s remains. 😿 And that car ride home with her empty carrier. 😭
 
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tarasgirl06

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Oral SCC was what took Cabbie, my cat before Krista. From coming home to her drooling to the final appointment was maybe 1 or 2 weeks. In her case, I had her pts after her cat scores for the weekend (how much of a cat was she acting like?) had gone into the toilet. She wasn’t eating. She spent all her time sleeping under the bed. It was a sunny weekend that she should have enjoyed in her favorite spot in the sun.

I’m still waiting on Krista’s remains. 😿 And that car ride home with her empty carrier. 😭
Putting our loved ones before ourselves in that their feelings come before ours is the most altruistic and loving thing we can do for them. I just read up on SCC and how poor the prognosis is. If there is a brighter side, it is that in Cabbie's and Tarifa's cases, we did the "right" thing by and for them. It's weird how, in Tar's case, she had a little over a week of eating very little, but then rallied and even on her last day with us, finished her entire breakfast. She normally would finish hers and then anyone else's leftovers, too, which I think she would have done even on that day if we had not gone to the vet. I have video of her washing her face and she definitely was washing her right side a lot, indicating it clearly didn't feel normal to her. And she spent most of her time in the last month and a half sleeping, curled up in her corner in the office, in her cat tunnel, on the weight bench, or in several locations in the living room at the last. But I loaded a toy with silvervine in the last few days and she played with it with enthusiasm ( which I caught on video. She played, and then she looked at me and gave me one of her famous loud Tarifa meows.)
 
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tarasgirl06

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Today marks one month since Tarifa ascended. The pain of our loss is sharp. But we must go on, day after day. Counting our blessings, trying to find and hold onto any brightness, through loss, COVID, fires, uncertainty...we were SO fortunate to have known our sparkly little Tarifa, with me over 17 years.
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daftcat75

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She was so fortunate to have shared her life—such a beautiful long and healthy life—with you. And you with her.

Do you have kitten pictures?

Can you share a story?

Personally, I find the grief lighter when I can find joy amongst the pain.

May her memory be a blessing unto you!
 
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tarasgirl06

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She was so fortunate to have shared her life—such a beautiful long and healthy life—with you. And you with her.

Do you have kitten pictures?

Can you share a story?

Personally, I find the grief lighter when I can find joy amongst the pain.

May her memory be a blessing unto you!
Well, I've shared the basics in the initial post here. I adopted her as an 11 months kitten from a friend who did rescue/adoptions out of our local Petco, after we lost a recently adopted precious little girl to wet-form FIP at less than 3 months old. So her first photos, on 35mm, look much like her later photos, as she was full grown. I'd called my friend and told her I wanted to adopt a kitten -- but I needed a kitten who would be VERY social and VERY amenable to rolling with the punches in a multi-cat home. Right away, she said, "TORIE!" which was her name with her. I went to Petco to see her, and of course, here was this full-grown cat, technically still a kitten. And I'd never met, or thought about, a torti before. But I knew she needed a loving permanent home, and she came highly recommended, so I signed her adoption papers and we brought her home.
There was never an isolation period. There were never any hisses, growls, or fights. She fit right in from the start, just like my friend seemed to think she would. And over the years of losses and adoptions, visits by humans, and the inevitable changes that life brings, I NEVER heard her hiss or growl and NEVER saw her fight. She never met a living being she didn't befriend. She was an acrobatic little monkey, climbing all of the cat furniture, flying to catch da Bird and Cat Dancer, kicking, licking and biting her catnip toys. She was very gentle! but she loved to chew on my hair from her position beside my head in the bed. She gave the sweetest love bites, too. And she'd select her favorite purple twinkle ball out of the two bowls of these, yodelling down the hall with it in her mouth and dropping it in a doorway. "I'm teaching you hunting basics, servant! Now take a lesson and emulate it!" Of course, I never measured up and neither did our roomies; but she did not lose her determination until shortly before she left us. Humans aren't the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, but she was loving, patient, and persevering.
This house is not the same without her sparkly, loud, huge little presence. We are not the same. I know she and so MANY of my beloveds are up there watchin' and that we will have one amazing reunion.
 

daftcat75

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Well, I've shared the basics in the initial post here. I adopted her as an 11 months kitten from a friend who did rescue/adoptions out of our local Petco, after we lost a recently adopted precious little girl to wet-form FIP at less than 3 months old. So her first photos, on 35mm, look much like her later photos, as she was full grown. I'd called my friend and told her I wanted to adopt a kitten -- but I needed a kitten who would be VERY social and VERY amenable to rolling with the punches in a multi-cat home. Right away, she said, "TORIE!" which was her name with her. I went to Petco to see her, and of course, here was this full-grown cat, technically still a kitten. And I'd never met, or thought about, a torti before. But I knew she needed a loving permanent home, and she came highly recommended, so I signed her adoption papers and we brought her home.
There was never an isolation period. There were never any hisses, growls, or fights. She fit right in from the start, just like my friend seemed to think she would. And over the years of losses and adoptions, visits by humans, and the inevitable changes that life brings, I NEVER heard her hiss or growl and NEVER saw her fight. She never met a living being she didn't befriend. She was an acrobatic little monkey, climbing all of the cat furniture, flying to catch da Bird and Cat Dancer, kicking, licking and biting her catnip toys. She was very gentle! but she loved to chew on my hair from her position beside my head in the bed. She gave the sweetest love bites, too. And she'd select her favorite purple twinkle ball out of the two bowls of these, yodelling down the hall with it in her mouth and dropping it in a doorway. "I'm teaching you hunting basics, servant! Now take a lesson and emulate it!" Of course, I never measured up and neither did our roomies; but she did not lose her determination until shortly before she left us. Humans aren't the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, but she was loving, patient, and persevering.
This house is not the same without her sparkly, loud, huge little presence. We are not the same. I know she and so MANY of my beloveds are up there watchin' and that we will have one amazing reunion.
Those are beautiful, precious memories. Thank you for sharing!
 
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