My beautiful Maine Coon kitty, Don Juan de Marco, aka Marko, became very ill recently. He is only 3 ½ years old and well loved even by my oldest children, who are allergic to cats. First Marko lost his “meow” and then his breathing became very labored. After testing and biopsies, it has been confirmed that Marko has a lymphoma in his larynx.
Recommended treatment involves chemotherapy. Here is where the struggle between the ears begins….he is a cat, how much do you spend on a cat? How much is too much? Doesn’t he deserve a chance? How important is his quality of life?
When I am challenged with a decision to make, I have three categories – Yes, No and I need more information. The first vet thought I should send him on his way to heaven, the oncologist urged me to seek more information. I went back and forth between my feelings and the practicalities of life. I decided to live in hope.
Whether it is a cat life or a human life, those of us who are the stewards of a living being have a responsibility to do our best. I have resolved not to let Marko down. I was sharing this while driving to the Montreal airport with my brother, the doctor, who is an esteemed palliative care specialist. At the point when I said, “I have to give him a chance, because when I had Hodgkin’s decades ago, what if someone put me to sleep?” My very funny brother said, as we turned onto the next highway, “well then I’d be going straight instead of making this turn”. Humor is, after al, the best medicine.
After one month of chemo, he is talking up a storm – Marko has his “meow” back, and apparently this type of lymphoma responds well to chemo. Marko has the love and prayers of all the many people who join me for dinner meetings at my home. I am grateful for my friends who know that an animal is a family member and that prayers do heal.