Goodbye, Lady Jane.

A little over three years ago, this adorable ball of fuzz came into our life. Sure it started out as cat-sitting for our friend John, but it soon turned
into full-on adoption. John had asked us to cat-sit while he through-hiked the Appalachian Trail, but by the time the hiking ended, Janey was so firmly entrenched in our lives that we all agreed that she was happiest with us.

After three years of wake-up meows, curling up on laps, and freaking out at her own shadow, we noticed about a month ago that she wasn't acting quite right. I had suspected a hairball, but after 2 days of nothing, I took her in to the vet. X-rays confirmed that she had a large tumor on her intestine and probably would last too long. A few days later, the vet confirmed our worst fears, an aggressive lymphoma. The vet offered a few treatment options, and after taking it over with Gena we decided to try the prednisone therapy. Chemo, we decided, is a cruelty that we ought only inflict on ourselves.

That worked, or at least it looked like it did, for a few days. Her appetite started to return and her energy started to increase. But after 2 weeks, things weren't looking so good. She had stopped eating again, an no barely had the energy to make it up onto the couch. It was time to say goodbye.

So we did. Last Monday after work, Gena and I took Janey to the vet for a last time. we both were hoping for something miraculous to occur. Instead the vet told us what we already knew, the cancer was spreading rapidly and we had some tough choices to make. We both knew what we were looking at and we took a few minutes to say goodbye. I stayed with her until she wasn't with us any more, petting her and telling her what a good kitty she is.

Now, nearly a week later, the sharp pain is fading, but the ache of missing her is still there. I still look for her in her usual places, still think I see her moving out of the corner of my eye. She's still here in our lives, even if she's no longer napping on our pillows or stretched out on the floor.