Niki, I am so sorry you lost yet another kitty, and so many in five years. How many have you had in that time altogether? I know you mostly take the little ones, but were all those you lost kittens when they came to you and young when they died? Do you have very many who have made it more than a year or two, and are they ones who came as kittens or older cats? What do they usually seem to go from - the same things, or all different things?
I just wanted to see if we could all look at everything and see if there is any input that could help you have them longer, because I feel so sad for them and you everytime you lose one. My friend Claire has had ten over the past 10 years. One one went to her as a kitten, along with the mother (all but one of her kitties have come from use - she used to live in Columbia, SC but for the past four or five years has been in LA). I know that the kitten lived only a few months, and we know she was born with leuk. The mama, Camelia, was probably a year or less when she had her, and she lived just one year (probable thymic lymphoma), although it was a good year and she actually seemed fine the day before she had to be pts. Amelia was about 9 months when Claire got her, and she lived only 5 or 6 more months. She looked symptom-free when we sent her, whereas Camelia was thin and she and her kitten both had slight URI. Amelia was spayed first, but we didn't spay Camelia - wanted Claire to fatten her up first, etc. She never did fix her - kept waiting because of what happened to Amelia. I had the same fear with Belle, whom I still have - she didn't get fixed until she was 20 months or so, but if she ever went into heat I didn't know it (she must have been very, very quiet about it - I suspect she never did). Belle became diabetic for a while shortly after her spay, but eventually recovered and seems fine at the moment at almost 4 years of age. Claire has had better luck with most of her other kitties - Gabe, her first leuk pos. rescue, lived several years after diagnosis (had ups and downs and she even made a couple of appointments to let him go, then next day cancelled and he went on a good while longer each time). I think Gabe was an adult when rescued. Buster lived about 15 months after diagnosis. He was about 10 months old, and had a runny eye when I rescued him, but otherwise appeared healthy. I believe he had kidney failure, possibly as a result of lymphoma. I still have his sister, who is not positive and perfectly healthy. Claire got Beatrix from me in Oct. 1994 - she was maybe a year or 18 months at the time, and she still has her, more than 7 years later - no symptoms. Lives mostly separate from the others because she doesn't like other cats much. In addition, Claire still has Rico and Marie-Cher. Rico was four when we sent him, and Marie-Cher about one year - she's had them both for almost four years, and both are still healthy. Maybe Jackie Lugo, if she's still on the list, has some input on whether those who get it at birth or very young have little chance of living very long - I know you have quite a few, Jackie, and often yours, like Niki's, are young ones. Debbie, are you still on the list? What do you think?
