Neko would have been five years old in April. That might sound young for a cat, but she had feline leukemia. We didn't know she had FeLV when we picked her out at the shelter and were just devastated when we found out at her first vet appointment. About 80% of FeLV cats don't make it past three years. This virus attacks a cat's immune system and bone marrow. There isn't really much treatment for FeLV, so after we learned that she was positive for FeLV, we just decided that we would give her the best life possible, no matter how short.
Neko did well for a long time. She had asthma, so we just gave her a pill twice a day. About once a year, she'd catch a bad cold. We'd get scared... But she always bounced back. We were starting to get cocky about her health, and recently I mentioned how excited I was for her to turn five in April because she was really beating the odds.
Neko was always sweet, affectionate, playful, and lively. She would wrestle the dogs--and win--and groom them afterward. If someone came to visit, Neko would twirl around the visitor's ankles to say hello. She was so hungry. To know Neko was to have your food stolen by Neko. She used to sit on my shoulder and literally take the food out of my mouth. She was a bit wild too at times. Despite being a strictly inside cat, she brought us many gifts. She would bring us cave crickets in bed (sometime still alive). She killed a bird and a bat that got in our house in Lynchburg as well as two lizards in Chesapeake.
Even though she came from a shelter and was taken off the street, she was so sweet. She would play gently with Eliot. If we went out, she would cry for us at the front door. If Chris or I needed to stay up late doing work or school work or whatever, Neko would be right there.
About a month ago, Neko started losing a little weight. I didn't think anything of it because she was a little heavy, so I thought we were just getting her at a better weight.... I guess that was probably the start of it all. Then a few days ago, she was acting a little slow and tired. Cats sleep a lot, so I again didn't think it was a big deal. The next day, though, she was laying around, not eating, not drinking, not using her litter box, and looking ragged. The day after that was even worse, so we took her to the vet. I knew it was over.... I knew the FeLV had gotten to her. I knew there was next to nothing we could do. The vet confirmed all of this. Bone marrow cancer. Possibly cancer in her kidney as well, but if not, definitely kidney failure. There was a possibility we could treat the bone marrow cancer, but we'd have to do a lot of tests first, and then the treatment would be a "shot in the dark". After that, it wouldn't be a matter of "if" the cancer would return but instead "when"--because it certainly would. And even if that all went perfectly, we still had the issue with her kidney. The doctor agreed that it was time to say good-bye. Through tears we signed the papers. And that was it.
I am still in shock about how quickly she went from fine to failing.
We haven't told Eliot yet. He is at his grandparents' house in northern Virginia. We had him stay with them so we could focus on doing whatever we needed to for Neko. He comes home tomorrow and I don't even know how we're going to tell him because he loved her so much. We lost our bunny about nine months ago, and he still asks about her. I don't know if we'll get another cat or not. We might, but not to replace Neko. It'd be impossible to replace Neko.
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