1992-2007

Our cat, Bacardi, started having seizures a couple weeks ago. We took her to the vet for tests, but they couldn't find anything wrong. The vet thought maybe it was a brain tumor, but he couldn't be sure without a $1500 MRI. We decided against the MRI and just assumed it was a tumor. The prognosis for brain tumors in cats is not good.

The only option for treatment was a medication called Phenobarbital twice a day. There is no guarantee it will work. I had a trip planned to go home to visit my mom, so we decided to put off the treatment for a week until I got back. But Bacardi didn't make it that long. She had two really bad seizures while I was gone, and Tracy did an awesome job taking care of her. One of the seizures was pretty bad, and she didn't really recover from it... even with the help of an emergency vet visit and hefty dose of medication. They said the tumor must be very agressive. Tracy had to have her put to sleep. It was very hard to do... especially since I couldn't say goodbye to her.

Bacardi has been a constant for us for 15 years--living with us in seven different homes in four different cities. She was a healthy, independent cat who taught Benson a lesson or two about seniority in the family. We miss her very much, but are glad that the tumor was aggressive and she didn't really suffer. I guess it is kind of a mixed blessing.