Chemo Cat is Beautiful!

chemocat
This picture is from yesterday. I’ve since taken the scarf off. That fog on the left is from the humidifier that is on 24/7 in my apartment.

So Buddy didn’t really eat much tonight. I’ll see if he eats more when I get home. I’d rather he had eaten well, but I’m not going to panic. Or at the very least not appear like I’m panicking. I didn’t break down and give him babyfood because the oncologist felt it was time he ate catfood again. He loved the Hills I/D yesterday and this morning, but not tonight.

I’ll pick up a selection of different catfoods tomorrow, focusing on whatever looks irresistible and is probably crap. I’ll get some tuna too. And some chicken to cook. (Always fun for a vegetarian.)

Tonight is choir practice and we’re working on Brahms Requiem. I’m just so glad I’ll be able to sing about death without it feeling so imminent. Even though it is, but you know what I mean. If it weren’t for this optimistic oncologist I’d be fighting tears all rehearsal long and thinking, “Buddy’s going to die, Buddy’s going to die,” and “the last time I sang this Veets died.” Something that is usually so uplifting would have been filled with doom.

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

View all posts by Stacy Horn →

7 thoughts on “Chemo Cat is Beautiful!

  1. Have you tried Fancy Feast? It almost killed me to try it, but a vet tech told us it was kitty crack, and that does appear to be so.

  2. I’m just so happy for both of you. I don’t know if Buddy can ever eat dry food, but my cat used to plow through Meow Mix at an alarming rate (I had to switch her food because she was getting too chunky), so that must be kitty crack too.

    Buddy looks so beautiful in this photo! I like his slightly saucy look-over-the-shoulder pose.

  3. I just finished “Waiting…” last night, er, early this morning, and for some reason – ok, yes, maybe because I cried over Veets, was compelled to look for a pic of Buddy. Now I know why – he’s an identical twin of my Squint. (Someone once asked if he was a “Russian Blue” and my reply was that he is my gray stray.)

    I so wish for Buddy’s complete recovery & will think of him when I have my Squint on my lap, as he is now, and later, when he’s purring, sharing blinks, kneading me, and finally, sleeping on my chest tonight.

  4. Sigh. Don’t you love the gray ones? Buddy’s on the couch now.

    I’ve been thinking a lot about Veets these days because of Buddy, and the whole timing of it.

  5. I love them all. I went back a little in your archives and found more pics of Buddy – he is beautiful and the way he wraps his arm around yours is so sweet and loving (Squint does this too).

    I found my Squint dumped in a Maryland state park where I worked in 2003, emaciated and covered with ticks and fleas. He followed (vs “replaced”) my gray Maggie – who kept me for 21 years and was “the best cat ever” – of course, until Squint. I’ll never forget Maggie – just as you’ll never forget Veets. Its sad that they are gone, but there is comfort in remembering how much they loved us.

  6. Every once in a while I read the Best Friends website and I love the stories of animals coming in like how you found Squint, and how they transformed them and found them homes. I love the before and after pictures, and know that some animal who was suffering is now being pampered.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap