Darby

Darby was an award winning show cat who we adopted when he was one month short of his first birthday. He was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside, and everyone who knew him loved him. He had a ravenous appetite and inhaled his food faster than any cat we ever had. We would joke that he should be in cat food commercials since he was such a good eater. Darby started limping a few months after his second birthday. Our primary vet could find nothing wrong, and when a short course of steroid failed to help, referred us to an internal medicine vet. A CT scan was performed and showed a large tumor in Darby’s spine. A neurologist removed the tumor, which was biopsied and identified as spinal lymphoma. Darby was given 6 months to live. We did not accept the fact that an otherwise healthy two year old cat was going to die from cancer, so we opted to try chemotherapy. We had an excellent oncologist who treated Darby and was amazed at how well he responded to chemotherapy. Everyone at the practice fell in love with Darby and greeted us like celebrities at every visit. Darby started limping again after 3 years and we decided to change the chemo drug in case the cancer was becoming resistant. A new CT scan was clear of any obvious tumors. Darby continued to do well for another year, and then one day decided he didn’t want his breakfast. We rushed him to the Emergency Clinic, where X-rays showed the cancer had not only returned, but was in all of the major organs. Sadly, we knew it was time to let Darby go. We said our goodbyes during in-home euthanasia. Darby was born on Christmas Eve and was our gift for seven years. We will always cherish the time we had with him.