- Joined
- Oct 6, 2014
- Messages
- 803
- Points
- 148
Some of you have followed along with me and my cats over the years, and may remember Florence, she passed away on October 17th 2024 at the age of 16. I got Florence after I lost my first sphynx Lucifer, she was 8 years old when I got her and she over filled the hole I had after Lucifer, she was a grumpy, affectionate little thing, she loved nothing more than sleeping, cuddles and crisps! She would spend most her time lazing in any sunny spot she could find and right up to the end had never had a vet visit of any worry!! She was given up by her last owner as she was too old to continue breeding from..
but we had the most incredible 8 years together. I noticed one day she had some yellow discharge which was unusual so I took her to the vets and they did some bloods and the results came back less than good, they discussed doing a scan to see what the cause was, I discussed with my vet who’s been with me through my whole journey owning sphynx what I should do, I was reluctant to have the scan and put her through the hardship of tests and things, as she hated being messed with, he agreed, he said with the scan we will know for certain what it is but the outcome is very likely to be the same, and any treatment would likely be very invasive and uncomfortable for her and probably prolong her life for a very short time. I decided she should go with grace and be comfortable till the end, so I brought her home and kept an eye oute for the signs she was ready, we were pretty sure it was liver cancer. Over the next day or so she started to get very yellow, still eating drinking and the odd spots of playing, it was quite hard to imagine she was actually ill despite her colour..I second guessed my self over and over, but I trusted my gut, I had a few days off with her and we cuddled and went outside and took thousands of pictures!! She started to slow down eating, I blended all different things, bought cheap horrible wet cat food and she had McDonald’s and sausages everything against what I would normally let her eat but once I started getting happy she would eat a slither of ham I knew the time was coming, so I booked the appointment, the latest one in the day I could get just so we had a few more hours..I was still so undecided, I came home one day and she was all happy and meowing and purring and loving all over me, and we sat and she rested her head in my hand and I felt like she was telling me it was the right thing to do..that night we sat outside and in a weird stroke of luck in the uk we got to see the northern lights! The next day we just sat together all day, and then we went to my bosses house where she had some left over garlic dip (she uninvited stuck her head in the pot but who was into tell her no on her last night) she had lots of love and cuddles off my friend and they all told me I was doing the right thing, I still wasn’t sure, the next morning we just stayed in bed and cuddled and she had a tiny bit of bacon and a run outside on the grass, she was tired, in the car on the way she purred and slept in my arms, when we got to the vets the sun was beaming though the window and the vet said “what a lovely way to go to sleep with the sun shining on you” I held her the whole time and felt her tiny head go heavy on my shoulder, I covered her in tears once she was asleep and kisses and held her for awhile, it was very hard to leave her I was actually pretty numb for awhile. My mum stayed with me for a few nights, we couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at the vet saying “thank you for letting me do it” it seemed such an odd choice of words but I could understand his sentiment, I drank some wine and we got Chinese food but I couldn’t eat much, it started setting in, I went to bed and noticed on the wall her little oily footprints where she used to stretch out in bed, I went back to work which helped and then over the next couple of days it was Día de los Muertos, Mexican day of the dead, pet remembrance, Flo came back just in time for me to make an ofrenda, which brought me so much comfort and peace I can’t even explain! I also sent my little ones pictures to a sphynx page who was doing a lovely ofrenda in Hollywood forever cemetery! So that’s the story of little lady Florence, I miss her terribly and I hope she is happy I did the right thing for her, so now it’s just me and little Nancy! For now….my sphynx journey has been very expensive and had a lot of heartbreak but I would never change a single thing because the amount of love I’ve had could keep me living forever!
but we had the most incredible 8 years together. I noticed one day she had some yellow discharge which was unusual so I took her to the vets and they did some bloods and the results came back less than good, they discussed doing a scan to see what the cause was, I discussed with my vet who’s been with me through my whole journey owning sphynx what I should do, I was reluctant to have the scan and put her through the hardship of tests and things, as she hated being messed with, he agreed, he said with the scan we will know for certain what it is but the outcome is very likely to be the same, and any treatment would likely be very invasive and uncomfortable for her and probably prolong her life for a very short time. I decided she should go with grace and be comfortable till the end, so I brought her home and kept an eye oute for the signs she was ready, we were pretty sure it was liver cancer. Over the next day or so she started to get very yellow, still eating drinking and the odd spots of playing, it was quite hard to imagine she was actually ill despite her colour..I second guessed my self over and over, but I trusted my gut, I had a few days off with her and we cuddled and went outside and took thousands of pictures!! She started to slow down eating, I blended all different things, bought cheap horrible wet cat food and she had McDonald’s and sausages everything against what I would normally let her eat but once I started getting happy she would eat a slither of ham I knew the time was coming, so I booked the appointment, the latest one in the day I could get just so we had a few more hours..I was still so undecided, I came home one day and she was all happy and meowing and purring and loving all over me, and we sat and she rested her head in my hand and I felt like she was telling me it was the right thing to do..that night we sat outside and in a weird stroke of luck in the uk we got to see the northern lights! The next day we just sat together all day, and then we went to my bosses house where she had some left over garlic dip (she uninvited stuck her head in the pot but who was into tell her no on her last night) she had lots of love and cuddles off my friend and they all told me I was doing the right thing, I still wasn’t sure, the next morning we just stayed in bed and cuddled and she had a tiny bit of bacon and a run outside on the grass, she was tired, in the car on the way she purred and slept in my arms, when we got to the vets the sun was beaming though the window and the vet said “what a lovely way to go to sleep with the sun shining on you” I held her the whole time and felt her tiny head go heavy on my shoulder, I covered her in tears once she was asleep and kisses and held her for awhile, it was very hard to leave her I was actually pretty numb for awhile. My mum stayed with me for a few nights, we couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at the vet saying “thank you for letting me do it” it seemed such an odd choice of words but I could understand his sentiment, I drank some wine and we got Chinese food but I couldn’t eat much, it started setting in, I went to bed and noticed on the wall her little oily footprints where she used to stretch out in bed, I went back to work which helped and then over the next couple of days it was Día de los Muertos, Mexican day of the dead, pet remembrance, Flo came back just in time for me to make an ofrenda, which brought me so much comfort and peace I can’t even explain! I also sent my little ones pictures to a sphynx page who was doing a lovely ofrenda in Hollywood forever cemetery! So that’s the story of little lady Florence, I miss her terribly and I hope she is happy I did the right thing for her, so now it’s just me and little Nancy! For now….my sphynx journey has been very expensive and had a lot of heartbreak but I would never change a single thing because the amount of love I’ve had could keep me living forever!
