When it rains...it pours...

My cat, Packet, passed away today - she had cancer.

It was only a month ago that my dog, Fudge died. He was 13 and huge and had bad hips. But, Packet was only about 12 - she was a rescue so we'll never know.

When we were looking to adopt a cat, I saw her. She was a medium/long haired cat, black, like my other cat Pixel. I picked her up and she settled in immediately into my lap, purring. She stayed there for the next ten years. She was always my cat - she slept on my back at night, sat on my lap during the day. I often though I should have called her "stalker" because wherever I was, so was she.

She even got my disease.

We had thought she had a tooth infection. Removing the teeth was going to cost $700.00, which is a lot for us right now. So we decided to give her antibiotics and see what happened. She got worse and worse. Her eye started leaking and swelling and I figured the abscess was going into her head, so we decided to remove the teeth and deal with the costs.

But, they told us this morning that it wasn't teeth after all. It was a form of cancer called fibrosarcoma and even with chemo and rads, she would likely die.

So, we let her go - snuggled on my lap as always.

It's been a difficult few months. And now, the animal who gave me the most comfort and who was always with me is gone.

Cancer took her.

But, it won't take me.