We discovered why she's different within a few weeks of bringing her home... Amy is deaf. She probably has been since she was born. It's been interesting to have a deaf cat ... she's not afraid of the vaccuum cleaner or other things that make loud noises, she's always been easily startled but she recovers quickly, and her ears are always perked forward in that cute way of hers. She is incredibly patient, which was a good thing while my daughters were younger ... Amy was often the subject of the girls' photo shoots, which almost always included costumes and props.
Amy is our little opera singer. One of her favorite things to do is to sit somewhere high and sing arias. She howls SOOO loud, it echoes throughout the house. Her favorite places to sing are the top of the stairs and the upstairs bathroom ... which are also the most echo-ey places we have.
One of the benefits of being deaf is that Amy can sleep just about anywhere. We are known to find her curled up wherever she decides is warm and comfortable.
When our grandson joined the family, Amy loved story time. She patiently let Drew play with her, like my girls had played with her when they were younger. I was fortunate to be in the right place with my camera to capture this exchange shown below.
"Say Cheese, Drew."
"Wanna wear the hat, Amy?"
"Are you in there?"
"I love you, Amy."
Amy is my evening time companion, sitting in my lap while we watch TV, purring louder than any cat I have ever heard. She also purrs MORE than any other cat I know ... often sitting alone, purring happily to herself.
14 years is a ripe old age for a cat, and Amy has recently begin to have health problems. Her kidneys don't function as well as they should, but the deterioration is stable and she hasn't required treatment. She has developed serious allergies in the past year, which haven't responded to antihistamines or allergy shots. Last month, we made the decision to treat her allergies with steroids because her quality of life was getting pretty low. She responded well to the steriods. She isn't nearly as itchy now as she had been a few weeks ago, and her fur is even beginning to grow back.
Amy in 2007, for Drew's 3rd birthday. She has always loved being in the middle of whatever is going on.
Yesterday, I noticed that Amy appeared to have something wrong with her mouth. Knowing that cats on steroids are more prone to infection, I made an appointment with her vet to check it out. Dr. Stamp checked her over, looked in her mouth, drew in her breath, and said, "She has a mass under her tongue." Things like this are almost always cancer in cats ... probably squamous cell, which is aggressive and nasty. I'm really glad that I was sitting down at the time.
It's been twenty-four hours, and I'm still having trouble facing the reality of the situation. My dear, sweet Amy has cancer. With her other health problems, complicated by her age and the location of the mass, we cannot in good conscience put her through the stress of treatment ... doing so will reduce her quality of life, and is unlikely to have any benefit.
I have done a lot of crying in these 24 hours. We can never know how this will progress, but it will probably be a miracle if Amy sees the end of May. As I do with all of my critters, I have promised Amy that she will not suffer ... I will take the suffering for her and I will set her free when she tells me that it's time ....
... and I will cherish whatever time Amy and I have left together. It's never long enough.
