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GEORGETTE'S
RAINBOW BRIDGE
PAGE On Thursday, November 16, 2006,
we euthanized our cat, Georgette, after her battle with cancer. Presented
here is the story of Georgette's life, as sent via e-mail to folks who knew her.
Click on any of the thumbnail pictures for a larger version.
Click
here (3.2MB, RealMedia format) or
here
(6.5MB, Windows Media format) to play a few minutes of "Her Heart's Desire" by Max Highstein.
We played this music while administering Georgette's feedings,
subcutaneous fluids, natural
supplements, medications, energy healing, etc., and played it at the vet
clinic while she was being
euthanized. She seemed to get a lot of comfort from this music,
which is from Highstein's CD entitled "Gentle Music For Massage, Volume
One." On the CD, the actual tune is 30 minutes long and is quite peaceful.
We find it perfect for acupuncture, meditation, etc.
You can find the CD on
Amazon and other popular shopping
sites.
If your system's not set up
to play RealMedia files, click to download the free player:
http://www.real.com/
As it relates to DooDoo
Voodoo, we'll be posting more pictures pertaining to cleaning up vomit and blood
on our Case Studies page.
Suffice it to say that DooDoo Voodoo proved its worth in spades during
Georgette's illness. It amazed even us...and we invented it.
Click here to go back
to the Rainbow Bridge page.
Friends,
We had to euthanize our kitty
Thursday afternoon after she took a turn for the worse. She had collected air
in her abdominal cavity (which the vet drew off easily via syringe), began to
be involuntarily incontinent of stool & urine and got incredibly cold, which
is a sure sign a cat is, as two of our vets have often said, "trying to die."
We took her back to our primary veterinary clinic, where we had just been with
her for 5.5 hours (but had returned home from) and she began to have acute
respiratory distress just as we were preparing to euthanize her, so we more
expeditiously euthanized her. Julie, I and energy healer Kathy Barr were all
with her when she passed. Here are 4 pics from Georgette's last hour:
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In the car on Julie's lap as we were leaving to go back to the clinic.
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After we got to the clinic, waiting for the veterinarian to come into the
room.
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Julie comforting Georgette.
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Kathy Barr, about whom we can't say
enough, doing her last energy work with Georgette and rubbing calming oils on
Georgette's head and heart to help her pass peacefully. Kathy had been communicating
with Georgette the whole time Kathy was driving to the clinic to be there for the euthanasia.
She said Georgette, who had always responded incredibly to Kathy, was "really
soaking up the energy."
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A plaster imprint of Georgette's paw, as sent to us by the veterinary clinic.
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The carrier that became Georgette's home away from home.
Georgette at the clinic awaiting
her appointment a couple days before she passed away. She was still acting
totally cat-like and was grooming, walking with her tail straight in the air,
etc.:
Here's a pic of Georgette during
her prime of life:
Julie scratching Georgette's chin
in the sun by the garden tub in our master bathroom a few weeks ago. Georgette
loved this room, probably because that's where her stomach-calming basil plant
was. She was drawn to eat basil when she had an upset stomach, which was most
of the time for the last 3½ months before she passed on. She'd vomit, then
immediately go eat basil. "Basil," our plant, was amazingly tolerant of this.
Interestingly, if you'd pull off a leaf, Georgette wouldn't eat it, even right
there next to Basil. She had to bite the leaves while they were attached.
Before she started feeling
poorly, Georgette's other favorite place to be was on top of the cat tree.
She'd bound on the bed adjacent to the tree, then up to the top of the cat tree
to get brushed and petted. This picture was taken after she was diagnosed, but
before she really began to decline. The second picture shows Georgette's, uh,
transformation over the years. Georgette was famous around our house for her
large, round pupils. We called her "Monkey Girl" or "Stinky."
It seemed that no matter where
Georgette was, she'd run to the spindles along the upstairs hallway overlooking
the stairs & foyer so she could be there for petting as I went up or down the
steps. She'd run from a comfortable spot just to assume her position there to
fulfill her part of our ritual. I could always count on her.
Georgette quit eating by mouth
and, before she got terribly thin and unhealthy from the effects of her cancer,
we decided to have a feeding tube put in. This was done through the side
of her neck and went down to the end of her esophagus, just above the cardiac
sphincter, which is what closes and opens at the top of the stomach.
Unfortunately, Georgette's body wouldn't open the sphincter, so food &
supplements just accumulated there at the bottom of her esophagus, then
ultimately would come back up. We then had the esophageal tube removed and
instead had an abdominal feeding tube implanted. This worked out far
better and Georgette's vomiting lessened a bit. Georgette went through the
procedures with her usual grace, and acted as if she'd not had anything done to
her. For 3½ months, we fed Georgette via the feeding tube(s) with
liquified prescription catfood Julie drew up into large syringes. The
feedings were spaced from 1.5 hours to 4 hours apart, 24/7. Georgette
would often vomit after the feedings, so there was cleaning up and re-feeding to
do. We also administered lots of natural supplements, including noni
juice, which has anti-cancer properties. Nightly, we also administered
subcutaneous fluids to keep her hydrated. Georgette was extremely
tolerant, and we're convinced she knew we were trying to help her. Here
are some pictures taken after Georgette's second tube-insertion surgery.
Notice that she's acting totally normal.
A few weeks ago, she joined me in
the basement while I was working on a DooDoo Voodoo project. She enjoyed
walking on the bar and looking out the window that looks out at the hot tub and
the back yard. I had the window cracked, so she could hear the sounds and smell
the smells. She really enjoyed this time.
This one is from 1999 after
Georgette was spayed and declawed. She didn't feel good when we brought her
home, but recovered quickly, as you'd expect from a cat with her happy-go-lucky
attitude. Captured from video:
Also captured from video, but a
few months later after she'd healed. As shown by the other photos, she
obviously filled out considerably over her subsequent years:
Georgette loved to lie in this
basket, made by my mom. She would often scratch with her front paws to leave
her scent and stretch her muscles. (Georgette, not my mom.)
Toward the end of her life,
Gracie and Wendy, our other housecats, seemed drawn to spend more time around
Georgette. Wendy gave Georgette lots of baths. Notice that Georgette was lying
with her sisters, but had her eyes open, which is typical of a kitty who feels
crappy. The three girls were quite an inseparable trio.
In January of '05, the three
girls showed their demon eyes when lying together on the bed in the master
bedroom:
The week before her death,
Georgette still was getting enjoyment out of the afternoon sun, which probably
felt good on her tumor-riddled belly. It's great to see an ill kitty still
derive enjoyment from life. This picture ties in with the next one and its
description.
Early in her time with us,
Georgette and Gracie had quite a peeing contest all around our house. You name
it; they'd peed on it. One time, after we'd had a carpet cleaning company come
out to pull back the carpet, replace the tack strip & pad, clean both sides of
the carpet and put the carpet back into place, I was cleaning the area up and
Georgette walked right up in the middle of what I was doing, turned around to
put her butt toward the wall, looked me right in the eye and sprayed urine all
over the place. She and Gracie did NOT like each other. Luckily (not that luck
was what stopped their poor feelings about each other; it took a lot of work on
our part to assist them), they finally buried the hatchet and ultimately got to
the point where they actually seemed to, in a low-key way, enjoy being around
each other. After this picture was taken, they actually began to lie more like
"spoons," which years ago we would have had a hard time believing. Seeing them
enjoy, or at least tolerate, each other was very gratifying to us, and showed
how much the two girls' souls were growing. Georgette loved to lie under this
desk lamp in Julie's office. After Georgette's death, Gracie really seems
upset by Georgette's absence...even more than Wendy does.
I don't have a ready picture of
it, but toward the end of her life, Georgette ceased being scared of our dog,
Heidi, who used to terrorize her if she dared come into Heidi's area. This
irritated the heck out of Heidi, who couldn't understand why Georgette no
longer ran when Heidi approached her. Georgette would just ignore Heidi, and
this incensed Heidi. At the end of Georgette's life, we surmised this was
because Georgette knew she was dying and thought, "To heck with Heidi. I'm
not gonna waste my time being afraid of her." That's a lesson we can all take
a cue from, indeed. Here's a picture of Heidi after major surgery:
After nearly a quarter century
in animal welfare, we've been through our share of euthanasias, but we'd
been spending 24 hours a day with her with subcu. fluids, tube feedings
('round the clock for 3.5 months), vomit cleanups, acupuncture, B12
injections, energy healing (us and a professional), etc., so we got
really bonded to Georgette. We know she's in a warm, sunny place,
feeling light and airy...and that she'll be there waiting for us one day,
but, boy, what a void she's left in our lives.
An animal communicator &
"medical intuitive" we work with told us during our first session that
Georgette had been with me as a dog my family had when I was young, but
which my mom & dad took to the Humane Society due to behavior issues they
didn't deal with, where I'm sure he was euthanized. The communicator
perfectly described that the dog had not lived long, what he looked like and
how old I was, plus the fact that he "lived" in the side yard, but wasn't
allowed in the house much by my parents. This, of course, just increased my
bond with Georgette. The communicator also told us that Georgette had
chronic post-nasal drip (a trait I shared with her). We thought this was
very intuitive of the communicator, as we'd actually had Georgette to the
vet more than once, including for an endoscopy, for her repeated
swallowing. Once the communicator told us it was post-nasal drip, the
chronic swallowing made perfect sense.
Georgette wasn't a needy cat,
and had never been unhealthy, so, though it isn't fair to say we took her
for granted, we never allocated the amount of time or attention to her that
we have to other needier or sicker cats. This now makes us very sad. I
said a few weeks ago that I got the sense that she was saying, "I've been
here for 7 years; what took you so long to notice & love me?" I tearfully
said at the vet's that we had tried to pack 7 years of love into the last
3.5 months.
Georgette was unbelievably
graceful throughout the course of her illness, causing Julie and me
continuous awe and respect for her. The animal communicator told us
Georgette had the ability to detach herself from her illness, and we saw
evidence of this on a daily basis. Georgette would vomit profusely and then
would purr and curl up with you for some energy healing. We can all only
strive to be as elegant in our adversity as Georgette was in hers.
The two days leading up to her
death, we were awaiting cytology results and pathology results from the
cancerous nodule the vet removed from Georgette's side. We were holding out
hope that her cancer was lymphoma, which is treatable in cats.
Unfortunately, Georgette let us know in no uncertain terms that she was
ready to move on, so she was euthanized before the pathology came back. The
day after she was euthanized, the vet called to tell us that the pathology
indicated that Georgette had adenocarcinoma, a deadly, highly
aggressive form of untreatable cancer. They said that due to the cell type,
her cancer likely started as a mammary tumor and spread throughout her body
to her liver, spleen, pancreas and more, even manifesting as small tumors
right below her skin. Julie and I were relieved to learn that the cancer
was a type that couldn't have been helped had we gotten a handle on it
earlier. This lessens our emotional load greatly. We are sure that the
noni juice, acupuncture, energy healing and all the supplements we gave her
greatly improved her quality of life toward the end and helped her live
longer and better than if she'd not had these supportive treatments.
We believe that Georgette's love of lying on top of a CRT computer monitor
may have instigated her cancer. Here's a picture of her in one of her
favorite places a few years ago. We subsequently replaced the monitor
with an LCD unit just so she couldn't lie there anymore, due to our concern
for her health. Too little, too late, perhaps.
Georgette showed us just how much
strength a soul can have...and how much reserve we have and can tap
into when we need to. We didn't buckle under the pressure and 24-hour
workload, but there were times when it wasn't easy, that's for sure. We
knew Georgette needed us to stay strong for her, so we did our best to.
:-)
When we first rescued Georgette,
who showed up under a pine tree near our front porch, we tried to find her a
home. Here's the flyer we did to promote her. When I read the last line
today, after having not seen the flyer for some years, I said out loud here at
my computer, "We weren't." I had tears in my eyes as I said it...and do again
now as I'm typing this.
During her 3½ month decline, we
had this poster taped up in numerous places around our home:
We loved our little girl like
nobody's business. She was such a strong, happy soul that she's left a big
void in our lives, but we wouldn't trade our experience with her for
anything. We STILL love her and she's STILL a strong, happy soul.
Thank you to all who cared for,
and about, Georgette for all your thoughts and prayers on Georgette's and
our behalf. She appreciated them...and deserved them more than you can
ever know.
Eric Smith
11-21-06
P.S. Here's what we
learned, veterinary-wise, from Georgette's ordeal.
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If you find a lump on your animal, have it biopsied as soon as possible,
even if the vet says it's probably nothing to worry about. Even
well-meaning vets sometimes make mistakes.
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Ultrasounds and needle biopsies are great diagnostic tools, but they may
not give definitive answers as to the nature of cancerous cells.
Don't bank on them.
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Acupuncture and energy work can really help an animal feel better.
Give them their due.
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Don't put in an esophageal feeding tube. Go for the abdominal tube.
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Natural supplements have a lot to offer an animal who's fighting disease
and is immuno-suppressed. If your vet tells you there's nothing that
can be
done for your animal, find a holistic vet. Noni juice is amazingly powerful and
should be looked into. This is a
good site where you can buy CDs, DVDs, books, etc. We
are not affiliated with this site in any way except as customers.
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While not a substitute for experienced veterinary care, a reading from a
medical intuitive/animal communicator (who can "scan" the body to see if
anything's wrong) can really be helpful. Not everything an intuitive
tells you will be 100%, but we've seen enough "hits" to know that it's
valid...if you choose the right intuitive. In Georgette's case, the
intuitive saw Georgette's liver cancer right away. We knew she was
correct because we had already had ultrasounds and needle biopsies taken,
and were looking at the pathology results when the intuitive told us what
she saw. Even if this sounds "out there" to you, consider giving
your animal the benefit of getting a reading. See our LINKS
page for info, and note that we are not affiliated with the intuitive or energy
healer mentioned except as clients.
•
Trust your instinct. You'll know when it's absolutely time for your
animal to "check out." If your gut doesn't tell you it's absolutely
time, don't do it. If your animal is suffering and is ready to go,
she'll tell you. Don't beat yourself up. On the other side of
that coin, though, if your animal is obviously getting no enjoyment out of
life and has ceased to enjoy all things that used to give her comfort,
she's telling you she's ready to go. Don't prolong her agony.
It's not about what the owner wants; it's about what the animal needs.
Click here to go back to
the Rainbow Bridge page.
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