Jack’s guest post is sad, but on time – –

Wendy and I run a hospice for cats. Mostly they have feline leukemia (FELV), which means their immune system doesn’t hardly work. So we try to keep them as healthy as possible, and show them a good time, until eventually and inevitably they fall prey to something microbial. Then it’s usually us making them as happy and comfortable as we can – –

Some have lasted for years, but lately it’s been just a few months.

Our latest was Suzi, and she arrived in February. Bright as a button, she immediately latched on to our big dog Bruce, who took her as his own. They followed each other around the house and often slept together in his bed, her spooning against his stomach. If you could call it that; stretched full length she still wasn’t as long as his belly.

Suzi wasn’t much interested in our other two cats and they weren’t much interested in her. She was less than a year old after all, hardly able to hold a sensible conversation. Let Bruce have his pet kitty.

But a couple of weeks ago we saw a change in Suzi – losing weight, not eating much and sleeping a lot. She still liked to go out into the sun in the back yard though. We took her to our excellent local vet who found she had a high temperature, so was put on antibiotics. There wasn’t much improvement so back to the vet she went.

That’s when we discovered she had FIP. All cats carry some coronaviruses inside them, but if one wins the unlucky lottery, that virus will blossom into something awful. FIP is awful.

Suzi spent her last morning yesterday curled up beside Bruce (FIP does not transmit to dogs or humans) and then went on her final journey.

Our vet is great and knows what we do and when to do it, sending them over the rainbow bridge with love and tenderness. Wendy always goes if she can, and holds them and sings them their favorite songs.

We still have Molly – the queen of the house – and Momma who is FELV positive, but healthy so far. And since Suzi kinda ripped the heart out of us, we’re going to have to say that’s all for a while.

RIP Suzi. We didn’t know you long but we are grateful to have been allowed to be part of your life.