R.I.P. Simba

On Monday I had to put my 16 year old cat Simba to sleep. You guessed it, he was named for Simba just after the ORIGINAL Lion King movie came out by a 5 or 6 year old yours truly. He was an absolutely gorgeous kitty with an awesome personality (not that I am biased), and I had had him for over three-fourths of my life. He has had a slowly growing injection site tumor on his hip for the past few months but with his age, and the type of tumor's propensity for relapsing, surgery was not an option. He had been doing well, eating, drinking, meowing and seeking attention until Sunday, when he abruptly stopped eating. On Monday morning he was curled up in the garage, gasping for air and barely responsive. In a way I am glad the end came so fast, so he didn't have to suffer long, but it is never easy to lose such a good friend. We went back through photo albums and found pictures of me as a tiny child holding him upside down in a blanket as a kitty. Did I mention he had a good temperament! Luckily those pictures aren't in digital format. So instead I will share with you a couple of pictures of him, as a final way of remembering the little fuzz ball.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...bum/Simba1.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...lbum/Simba.jpg

I am so sorry for your loss - and that Fibro Sarcoma that comes from injections absolutely SUCKS! I lost a cat to that, and I've talked to my vet about NOT continuing yearly shots for my current kitties - once they get through their initial first year shots and then only doing 3 year rabies shots.

He completely supports my decision to NOT vaccinate my kitties on the normal schedule protocol and also agrees that the initial first year shots are enough to protect them the rest of their lives. The rabies are mandatory, so we can just minimize the number that they get by going to the three year shot.

Simba was a beautiful kitty, I'm so sorry that you had to say goodbye!

Thanks for the condolences. The whole situation has also made me re-evaluate my opinions on frequent/routine vaccination, especially in cats. Since I am starting Veterinary School this year, I feel like I have a better chance now of forming my own opinion on vaccine schedules through research instead of just going with what is the norm right now. Also, sorry you lost a kitty to this, it seems to be an alarmingly common thing that most people aren't aware of.

sorry for your loss, Simba was a cutie :)

What a handsome boy he was!!!! May the warm memories stay with you always:(

sorry to hear about your loss