Roscoe - a Letter from Mom Cyndi

The colors of the Italian flag represent Faith, Hope and Charity... let us one and all have faith in Roscoe's ability to fight this... hope that he will soon be well... and offer charity by sending our prayers and our thoughts to his family for a fast recovery... Your friends at Zoolatry

On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 4:49 AM, opus and roscoe cats wrote:

Dear friends, It is with a very heavy heart that I send out this email. I knew and feared this day would come, unfortunately it same sooner than expected. Though the boys are old in cat years, I had hoped they would stay healthy for many more years to come. In just a few weeks they will celebrate their 13Th birthday.

Since spring, we have noticed that Roscoe was losing weight. At first we didn't think much about it because he and Opus had been put on diet cat food to help with their "fluffiness". But soon we saw that Roscoe was getting too thin while Opus wasn't losing any. We took him to our vet, but she was on vacation. The vet on call told us that he was a bit thin, but that with the hotter weather it was normal for cats to eat less and lose weight. She told us to keep an eye on him and bring him back if he got any thinner. Otherwise, she told us to return in the fall when the weather was cooler to see how he was doing.

Yesterday when we left the house, Roscoe was his perky, talkative self. He even chased the belt that was hanging off my husband's bathrobe. We were gone ALL DAY, returning home at 7pm. I knew something was wrong when his sweet face wasn't at the door to greet us. We found Roscoe on our second floor terrace where we keep the litter box. He was laying on the ground next to his litter box with his chin on the floor and slobber on the side of his face. He was awake, but wouldn't sit up or walk.

I worried about what kind of medical care the boys and I would get when we moved to Italy. I am relived to say that Roscoe's vet is wonderful. The office was closed for the weekend, with nearest pet emergency room an hour away (and that isn't even a 24 hour one). Our vet left her dinner plans and rushed to the office where she performed many tests.

Roscoe's urine came back fine, but she said his eyes were sluggish, his body temp was too low and he was slow to respond. She also said that he was dehydrated. An ecograph showed that he has what might be a tumor growing on his kidney rendering it useless. The second kidney was unusually large, perhaps because it has been doing all of the work. Oddly though, his blood work came back looking perfect. There were no signs that his kidneys are not functioning enough (for now).

He was given an iv with fluids and also some vitamins. Since there is no 24 staff, Roscoe was sent home with us. I placed his doggy bed (yes, I said doggy it was his Aunt Muffet's bed) with a blanket in the bottom of a laundry basket. I place the laundry basket on our bed and I sat with him all night. Once he drank some water and twice he has gone to the bathroom. I had to carry him there as he is not able to walk. He is not interested in eating at all. But he isn't meowing in pain or crying and he even purrs from time to time when I love on him.We are all very worried about him. Opus is out of his mind. At 5am, he started walking around the bed room meowing. He doesn't want to be held, but he doesn't know what to do. Occasional he goes to Roscoe's bed and licks him. When he isn't in bed with us, he is always near by, never leaving the room. Opus has always been a sensitive cat and he understands well that something is terribly wrong.

Our wonderful vet made a house call this morning, even though it is Sunday morning! She came by to give Roscoe another bottle of IV fluid. She also did a quick neuro check, which showed that there are some problems. Tomorrow he will go back for a Eco/Doppler test which will show more clearly what is going on inside. And then we will know just what we are up against.

I can't even begin to tell you what these cats mean to me. We in the blog community love our pets and, to many of us, they are our children. Opus and Roscoe have gone through a lot with me. For many years it was just the three of us. They slept close to me when I was sick and carried me through a few heart breaks. When I moved to Italy four years ago, I didn't come alone. That has meant the world to me, that we came here together. Opus and Roscoe are a living part of my American life that are with me to Italy.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. This is just another reminder of how fragile life is. As soon as you are done reading this, grab your loved one (furry and human), hug them and let them know how much you love them. Thank you all for being our friends- Love, Opus and Roscoe's Mom, Cyndi