When courage and determination are not enough
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Laurie Rosenthal The Nation on Sunday
Of all the cats I've ever known, Tara is the most determined. Even as a three-month-old kitten with one eye, she goes where she wants, eats what she wants, plays with anyone she wants, a former temple cat with attitude.
The other cats, as well as Wan-Wan, my poodle pup, fall under her spell. If she wants to play with Yoyo, a cat who loves people but hates cats, she does, and he falls in love with her.
If she doesn’t like the food I've put out for her, she tosses it on the floor and looks at me with that one blue-green eye, as in “You expect me to eat that? Give me some freshly cooked chicken immediately!”
Of course, I do. She chirps happily as she eats, and I can’t help enjoying her enjoyment.
Then, she gets sick. From a happy, active cat, she slows down and begins to lose weight. My vet thinks it’s a simple case of diarrhoea and gives her the medication that’s usually successful with other cases like Tara’s.
For a few days, she improves, but the diarrhoea returns, and she slows down again. By August, she’s lost 300 gms, a big weight loss for a cat who weighed only 2.7 kilos.
My vet tries other medications, and at first, she improves, but the diarrhoea and weight loss are relentless. She’s losing 100 gms each week.
Throughout her ordeal, Tara is equally relentless. “I’m not sick!” I think she says. Her appetite is still good on some days. Other days, she prefers to sleep.
Just when Tara’s case seems hopeless, the vets at Chulalongkorn's Small Animal Hospital step in. They think they can save her.
Tara’s blood tests indicate a healthy animal, without any problems whatsoever, but yet she’s sick. The vets prescribe new medications, which Tara takes in her usual way. “I’m not sick, and I hate this stuff,” she groans, but she does gain 200 gms.
I begin to hope that she’ll recover, but one night, she stops looking at me. Instead, she gazes into the distance. When I pick her up, she groans, as in “I’m not sick!”
Slowly she falls into a coma. She fights with her usual determination, but in the end it overpowers her. The little cat with the wonderful spirit has lost her final battle.
