Lily's Story

I know this isn't about cooking but I had to share it as it's part of my life and maybe it might encourage others to give a feline Leukemia cat a chance at having a good life, no matter how long it is....

Lily 

It was Christmas Eve 2011 in Florida and my husband went into the garage and opened it up to clean the litter boxes for our 3 remaining cats, we had just lost Momma, a Siamese cat that we had loved and taken care of for 20 years and we were devastated by her loss.  As Tommy was cleaning the litter boxes a tiny, little orange fur ball came running up to him out of nowhere and rubbed up against his leg. She was so tiny, cute and friendly. He couldn't believe it.  My husband grabbed her up and brought her inside to me and we fell in love with her immediately.   She purred in my hand as I held her for the first time. I felt the weight of losing Momma just fall off my shoulders and I knew this little fur baby was going to be part of our family. She was a miracle of sorts, our little Christmas Angel. I set her up in our master suite and gave her some food and water. She was so happy and content. I was afraid that our other cats would hurt her since she was so tiny. We have an older cat that is very aloof so I wasn't worried about her and Lily. Though we do have 2 big boys that weigh in in at 12 and 21 lbs. The biggest is Sammy, our Maine Coon, he is a lover but he doesn't realize his strength or that he is huge. So we had to keep them apart.  Spot is much gentler but 12 lbs is pretty big when you only weigh a pound or two. Plus, her being a stray I wanted to make sure she didn't have some illness she could spread to our boys. So they played underneath the closed door. Lily was very playful even as a tiny, tiny kitten. She would put her paw under the door and play with Sammy and Spot for hours. The boys loved the new game and wondered about this new little kitten.

Spot & Lily

Sammy , Terry tortoise & Lil

After the holidays I took Lily to her first vet appointment to get tested and checked out. They drew blood and said that we would get the results in a few days. We kept the cats separated from Lily, though they played under the door every chance they got. It was so much fun to watch these big boy cats melt for this little orange Marble tabby baby girl.  Well the days went by and then the phone rang that rocked our world. The called to tell us that Lily had Feline Leukemia. How could this tiny, playful and healthy looking kitten be so sick with Leukemia? We just couldn't comprehend it. The Vet told us it would be best to put her down right away which felt like someone punched me in the stomach. My heart sank and the tears came. We were so in love with Lily that we couldn't consider putting her down.  So we researched about Feline Leukemia (FIV) and asked friends and another vet about it.  One of our friends had a cat that had it and lived for 9 years and the vet said that some cats never really get sick but will carry it and that Lily maybe one of those lucky ones. You never know. So we took that chance on Lily and prayed she wouldn't get sick. We monitored her every day.  We made sure our other cats had all their shots then we introduced Lily to our 2 boys. You could see the boys realize that this little kitten was what has been playing with them under the door for the past month as they accepted her eagerly. She soon became the leader of their little pack. It was amazing to see these big brutes being so gentle and playful with her. She stole their hearts immediately just like she did ours. Lily was our little angel.

Lily playing with Sammy

As the days went by Lily grew stronger and more loving. She would run around the back yard chasing Sammy and Spot to the point that they were exhausted. Then one day Lily was introduced to the lizards by Spot and she would chase the lizards around till finally she caught her first lizard. It was game on every morning and evening to the point where we would refer to it as  Lily's Lizard Patrol.  She seemed perfectly healthy and very happy and to this day I am so glad that we brought her into our family. She took control of the boys and even our Tortoise (Terry) would follow her around.  Lily had a very strong and fun loving personality and she would make these funny faces that would cause us to laugh out loud. She had a jealous face that tugged at our hearts when we would show too much attention to one of the boys and she had a happy face that made me want to smile, too. She was definitely a gift from God. I have never had a cat like her before. She wasn't afraid of people and would come right up to our guests and even let them hold her. We gave her a collar with a bell on it so we could always tell where she was and she would prance around with that bell just jingling away. The boys were her protectors and guarded her when ever she went outside. They were loyal and they truly loved Lily.

She is one of the few cats that I have had that loved to be picked up and loved on. I am having a hard time writing this as Lily recently became sick and it all happened so fast. One weekend she was running around chasing the lizards and the boys and then a few days later she refused to eat and would go lay down. The next day I took her to the vet and told him that something is wrong with Lily. She won’t eat and she loves to eat but she was drinking water. He said he needed to run some blood tests and he would call me tomorrow. 
 Oh no! Here we go again with more tests and waiting for the results. She was still getting around that day and during the night. The next morning I got up and she was lying in the middle of the hallway. I bent down and petted her and she purred and purred so much so that I sat down with her in the hallway and loved on her.  She tried to get up but fell over. I stroked her to calm her down but inside I was crying and shocked  that she couldn't get up when the day before she was getting around just fine. Now, she could hardly hold her head up. I gave her some droppers full of water and this Nutrition Gel the Vet gave me the day before. But she just laid there limp.  I stayed with her all that morning and afternoon because as soon I would get up she would whimper and whine.  I called the Vet that morning and the nurse said he would call me back shortly.  Well he didn't call back till after 4 pm and he told me her tests came back and her Hematocrit was a 2 and her RBC were a 7. So that meant there was nothing we could do and that she was dying and she was probably suffering because her brain wasn't getting enough oxygen and her body was giving out on her. He recommended for us to put her down as that was the most humane thing we could do for her. I looked at her and picked her up and held her close and she was purring and whimpering at the same time. My heart broke because I realized then the Vet was probably right. It was time to let go of our sweet Lily. How do you let go of someone that you love so much? She was such a big part of our lives in so many ways.  My husband and I cried and held our sweet girl close then we took her to the vet as her whining and crying was getting more and more and she couldn't lift her head at all now. We had to let her go. She was one month short of 3 years of age when she passed.  It was so quick and I am glad she didn't suffer for long. she was only sick for a couple of days. 
So now our sweet Lily is at the rainbow bridge playing, eating and I hope chasing some lizards again.  At times, I swear I can still hear her bell run through the house.  Our boys seem so lost without her here to keep them in line. Btw the boys are still Feline Leukemia Free. She didn't infect them and they played all the time. 
We all miss Lily so very much.  May God bless her and take good care of her till we can see her again

  

Lily a few months ago

Sammy watching over Lily a few weeks before she passed