For Sylvia

I lost my little girl on Monday. Stewart and I are heartbroken. We had to let her go, though we didn’t want to. She was suffering. To try to keep her with us, would have been selfishness on our part at her expense.

My baby developed a tumor under her tongue. Not unusual for a cat her age, she was almost 16. Our vet was pretty sure it was squamous cell carcinoma.

Sylvia wasn’t a good candidate for biopsy. She had thyroid disease and a heart murmur. The vet felt she would survive the surgery, but afterward would likely go into cardiac arrest because of the murmur.

We were with her when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge and for a time afterward. I will bring her cremains home.

It took me a couple of days until I was able to write this. I need to for all you pet parents like us.

I wasn’t knowledgeable of the symptoms she showed in time to be able to get her treatment. I want to make you aware so you may be able to prevent losing your cat or dog.

You should check your pets’ mouths periodically for growths and other unusual changes. I understand with some of our babies doing that would result in us losing some digits. If that’s the case, feed your fur children hard treats for tartar removal especially if they primarily eat soft food. If they allow you to brush their teeth, do it.

My little girl started to sound like she was grinding her food when she ate. I thought it was related to age. I was wrong. Be aware of unusual sounds and unusual head tilting when your pets eat.

There is no consensus on the causes of mouth cancer in our pets. There are risk factors. Second-hand smoke is a big one. It’s no surprise that smoking is detrimental to humans, and it’s also detrimental to our pets. Flea collars are suspected as a possible cause as well as other environmental factors, age, and heredity.

If my experience with my Sylvia can save at least one pet, she won’t be gone in vain.

As always, Happy Writing.