Goodbye Gryffin

Just under 4 weeks ago I noticed Gryffin had lost a little weight. I picked him up and weighed him, and sure enough half a kilo of him was not where it should be. I figured I'd better get him checked since he wasn't a big cat and the news was not good.

An ultrasound showed an unknown mass in his liver. The cost for operating was in the $2-3K range, and even then, it was highly probable that the surgery would be too complicated and he'd not be woken up. If by chance they did remove the lump, the average cat with liver cancer will only live for another year after the initial cancer is removed. We decided that the cost was too high for the low survival rate, and thought it best to keep him home and say goodbye our own way rather than take hm in for surgery and possibly not take him home. Especially since Austin was quite distressed about a year ago when Gryffin had to stay at the vet's for the day to hace teeth pulled (the result of picky eating that meant he wouldn't eat biscuits or hard food and therefore had tooth decay).

Sadly the disease turned him from healthy to emaciated at a very rapid rate and after he started using the whole house as a litter tay and didn't seem to realise he was doing anything wrong, we decided that perhaps his time was up. I took him in, and the vet had a lot of trouble finding a vein since he was just skin and bone with a very low blood pressure. She agreed that we really couldn't let him suffer any longer. So I said my goodbyes and brought home an empty cage, giving Austin his collar on a little toy siamese kitten which he is now snuggling in bed. "Goodbye Mog" is on order at the book shop to read to him. He's taking it pretty well for a not quite 4yr old.

We'll miss you Gryffy. Even Maddy who doesn't know you're gone will miss squealing with delight when she sees you and trying to pull your ears. Austin will miss chasing you for cuddles. Andrew will miss you curling up on his lap in the evenings when he's not at work. I'm not so sure he'll miss you climbing on him to lick his desert bowl clean when we have apple crisp or chocolate self saucing pudding, but he will miss spoiling you with the cream at the end. I will be cold tonight without you to cuddle as I dream.