10/12/2026
In memory of darling Scarlett the cat ,a true hero. ❤️🐾
ne of the saddest days of my life was October 11, 2008. 💔 When Scarlett got ill in 2007, my family made a pact that we would never let her suffer. And with the regimen of chemo and steroids her oncologist prescribed, she rallied and lived for another year and three months after diagnosis. We diluted her meds in a drop of water and stirred it into baby food. Then we’d spoon feed it to her. She LOVED it and looked for it each morning! But after a while she developed other major health issues. There was a diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. But an intolerance to the meds meant she had to be treated with radiation. A week in isolation away from us! Unbearable! Her teeth became infected and almost all of them had to be extracted. And she needed sub-Q fluids. Amazingly, despite all of these new issues, her cancer was in remission! However, she was in excruciating pain. She was withdrawn. Didn’t want to eat. She didn’t know where to put herself. So after a week of being hospitalized for hydration, we picked her up and brought her home. The vet didn’t tell us what he thought we should do, but he sent us home with boxes of tubes and needles and fluids. I think it was his way of gently letting us know that the time had come to make that difficult decision. My family discussed it and decided to return to the vet the next day. She was only going to get worse. She had no quality of life. It was heartbreaking to watch this magnificent hero fade. But impossible to think of life without her.
When Scarlett got ill, it was seemingly overnight! She was playful and eating and just being her joyful self one day and the very next day she was projectile vomiting! I knew what that meant. There was nothing anyone could do because her intestines were so completely full of the cancer. We believe she was a victim of melamine poisoning, which was happening to thousands of cats and dogs in 2007. We’ll never know for sure. But there was no changing the outcome.
When I think back to that Saturday, 18 years ago, it feels like yesterday. I often think that if I had done things differently, she wouldn’t have gotten sick. I wracked my brain with all the “what if” questions. In fact, there was nothing I could have done. I couldn’t have prevented her illness. And she couldn’t keep fighting.
As Queen Elizabeth is quoted as saying, “grief is the price we pay for love”. And it’s true. I am still sad that I couldn’t save my precious Scarlett. But I loved her so much and I know that while she was with my family, she was a very happy cat. Letting her go was the last gift of love we could have given her. Knowing she wouldn’t have to continue suffering with pain and prodding and sub-q fluids four times a day and surgery and constant vet visits was more important than my sadness. I try to focus only on the joyful memories of life with her. There are a million of them. And Scarlett will always live in my heart. ❤️
