Shadow

Shadow was a beautiful female dilute tortoiseshell (tortie) cat. I had Shadow for almost 12 and a half years, until she died at 18 and a half. In the last four years of her life, she had many medical issues that would have ended the life of another cat. But she kept going, enjoying her life despite all her problems. She survived a stroke that left her with a waddle and REM sleep disorder. She had horrible arthritis but thrived with regular acupuncture. How many cats do you know who would endure acupuncture? Shadow was the best and most gentle patient and cat. Two years before she died, she developed a chin lump that was suspected to be a horrible type of cancer. But she defied all the vets' predictions and kept going, letting me apply warm compresses twice a day to that draining chin lump till the day she died. In the end she developed cancerous lung nodules and seizures. But even those didn't stop her until the last few days, when she developed breathing issues and rapidly went downhill. She died at home in her carrier (her safe place), with my two other cats in the room. While I still feel guilty that I was not there, I take comfort in the fact that she seemed to have died peacefully and on her own terms. Shadow was quite a cat and quite a lady. I miss her every day. I will forever remember her sitting watching me with her attentive, intelligent eyes. As I told her many many times before she died, she changed my life, and I will love her forever and a day.