Sarah was supposed to be with us only a short time-- a couple of months at most. The shelter who had called to ask us to adopt her -- or at least take a look -- said she had some serious ailments, could hardly walk, and was very elderly.
That was over 3 years ago. As soon as we'd gotten her settled into the family of special needs dogs and cats who live with us, we took her to Massachusetts for a full work-up at Tufts. An MRI showed a neurological disorder, and other tests identified other problems (e.g., high blood pressure). The medical help she received enabled her to live an active life in our home, and things went well until a little over 4 months ago when Sarah was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer. Monthly chemotherapy treatments administered by an oncology specialist gave her an additional 4 months of very high quality life. She did well until the last 24-48 hours when her condition became suddenly worse and we lost her.
The years that we knew and loved her, Sarah was a frail cat in her 20s whose joy in living seemed to overwhelm her physical limitations. She would identify favorite places that were seemingly beyond her abilities -- such as a chair or couch in the sun room -- walk slowly over to it, pause, collect her strength, and seem to will her body to leap up to where she wanted to settle for a while.
She made special friends with the dogs. During her last days, when her neurological problems and weakness made it hard for her to groom herself, her friend Milagro, a dog with a heart problem, would come over and lick her head and neck, then settle down beside her.
She was a wonderful lap cat. She'd drape herself over your lap, relaxed to the point of hardly moving, luxuriating in endless cascades of purrs.
Goodbye, Sarah. We were so fortunate to have you in our home and our lives for 3 years.
Please follow this link to see Sarah with 2 of her dog friends, Emma and Annie.
Please follow this link to see Sarah on her favorite pillow.
Please follow this link to see a final photo of Sarah.
Please follow this link to the family of special needs dogs and cats who live in our home.