PJ

On Monday we received some bad news that our cat of 12 years has feline lymphoma. It is a type of cancer that can appear almost anywhere and affect a wide number of organs. The doctor told me that he had jaundice so we know that his liver is affected which is why he stopped eating. He also had a tumor in his stomach that I didn’t even know about until the vet had me feel it. He has lost so much weight lately but we didn't expect this outcome when I took him to the vet. The hardest part to take from what the vet said is that the longer we put off the inevitable (putting him down), he will just starve to death. That was tough to hear. It was also difficult to make the appointment for the next day to put him down. It had to happen in the next two days because our schedule is just crazy right now and I didn't want to think about PJ suffering any longer than he had to. This week we are getting our backyard in and having people from church over Thursday afternoon to help lay sod that is getting delivered that day. Then we have the holiday weekend and after that, we are heading to Phoenix for the week. PJ has been for the most part Craig's cat but I will miss him more than I thought. I cried the whole way home after leaving the vet on Monday. Then yesterday, Craig and I were there in the vet’s office to say our final goodbye and stay with him to the end. I was a mess!! Craig actually took it better than I expected and I took it worst than I expected. He was such a good cat for Craig and me. He has always been there when I needed companionship and was such a comfort to have during the many years we dealt with infertility. Even though he was never a "lap cat", it was nice knowing that someone else was with me whenever Craig was out of town. He tolerated the continuous pestering from the kids so well and had adjusted quickly with each move from Texas to Indiana and to Utah. We are so grateful for the time we had with PJ being a part of our family for 12 years and he will be greatly missed.