This handsome Angel Emperor fur boy is Luis,
a special friend of ours who after bravely battling the sarcoma monster has
now crossed over to the furry land of love and comfort. Luis'
family consulted with some of the nations most respected
"fur-fixers" in an attempt to help their dear fur boy during his
valiant battle with the sarcoma monster. Even more importantly, dear Luis
was very blessed to have had a loving family that remained focused on the
most important issues of all, that of the "quality" and
"comfort" of his furry life. Luis'
family composed the following heartfelt obituary for their beloved Angel child so that other
animal lovers could be inspired by their loving bond.
LUIS
SMOKEY HEMINGWAY DUDLEY-BOYDEN
1989
– 200
Commended
into the Care of his Grandfather, July 7, 2004
Luis Smokey
Hemingway Dudley-Boyden went to live forever with his great-grandfather on
July 7, 2004. He was attended at the time of his death by his mother, Kelli
Dudley-Boyden. His father, David Dudley-Boyden, was present by telephone.
Beloved friends and admirers at the McAfee Veterinary Clinic comforted Luis
and his family.
Luis had many
friends and was adored by all who knew him, including many people he met
briefly while living in Terre Haute, Indiana, Fort Collins, Colorado, Boone,
North Carolina, Chicago, Illinois, Merrillville, Indiana, and Gary, Indiana.
Luis was born in Sullivan, Indiana, near Terre Haute. He came to live with his
mother in Terre Haute, and adopted a father shortly thereafter. He was a
citizen of Gary, Indiana, at the time of his death.
Luis touched
everyone who knew him. His six-toed feet, huge ears, and iridescent eyes lured
many. Luis selected his company carefully, and he made a few treasured friends
among the many with whom he maintained special relationships. Among these were
Dr. Larry McAfee, his loving veterinarian; Carter Kelley Page, a human the
same age as Luis with whom he spent hours as an infant; and his special kitten
companion, Yoko Dudley-Boyden.
In his final
months, Luis added to his many hobbies when he began playing melodies on his
metal water bowl, which he would tap against the floor. He also enjoyed
watching birds and squirrels, playing with his animal companions, listening to
music with his father, singing special songs adapted especially for Luis,
studying with his mother, and patrolling his home for safety. On at least two
occasions, Luis warned his parents of dangerous gas leaks in their home, one
time waking his mommy when there was just enough time for her to safely leave
the house. Luis knew that his mother was forgetful when heating water for tea,
and saved more than one pot from incineration by reminding his mother with
loud cries.
Luis is deeply
missed by his parents and many loving relatives and friends. He was preceded
in death by his great-grandfather, Kelly Thompson, with whom he will now
reside forever.
This bright eyed Angel girl is Jo-Jo, a
very special friend of our family who after valiantly battling the cancer
monster made that heartfelt journey across the Rainbow Bridge. Angel Jo-Jo
was blessed to have been rescued from the streets while a young girl and
welcomed into a loving home, changing their family's lives forever as shared
via the heartfelt composition that her father composed below. Please
include Angel Jo-Jo and her family in your daily thoughts and prayers in
the hope that their hearts and lives are forever brightened upon remembering
the lifetime of loving cuddle moments that they were blessed in sharing
together.
"Dearest Jo-Jo,
You were the best cat any pet owner could have asked for. I
remember when I found you as a stray- about 12:30 A.M.- Oct. 18, 1993 wandering the streets. My friend and I thought you were a rabbit at first roaming around that night. You were a
Siamese/ calico cat. I took you home, later put an ad in the lost and found of the Tampa Tribune. After a week, nobody described you correctly so I decided to adopt you. It was a difficult time for me, since my previous cat, Snowball, whom I loved very much, had passed away after 9 years from a kidney/ sneezing up blood fungal problem. I thought you were one of the prettiest cats I had ever seen. The markings on your face looked like you were wearing a mask. I think you were 2-3 yrs. old when I found you. One of the first things I did was have you spayed. Anyway, we were together for 9 1/2 years ( most of those years I was single) and you never ceased to fill my heart with joy and amaze me with some of your antics. I used to walk around the apartment complex and you used to scurry along beside me, stop, race to catch up to me and continue again. That oval was about a good 300 to 400
yds.(1/5 of a mile)- no short distance. I remember the way you would follow me to the complex fitness center. If there was nobody in there ( most of the time), I would let you come in and you would explore the place, then lay down and watch me while I worked out. I remember on a few occasions looking out from my patio only to see you rolling over back and forth on your back on the sidewalk asking to be pet by people that you liked in the complex whom happened to be walking by at the time. I thought you were making a fool out of yourself but enjoyed watching this. I remember when you would sit outside next to me, sort of standing at attention, and I will never forget the times you would follow me to the pool and relax under the lounge chair I'd be lying on. You were always there for me to pick up my spirits when I was feeling down. You were such a dear friend. I was gone a month in Sept, 1998 and I had my friend come over and take care of you and feed you. I came home and you were very sick. Maybe you were stressed out and you thought I would not come home. My friend told me you used to wait for me when I was away on the steps outside our apartment every evening and then stopped. One day, shortly after returning home you had a hard time breathing with water building up in your lungs. I took you to the vet, then
FVS. They saved your life- thank heaven. I had to give you blood thinning pills from this point on. You had some blood thickening problem. It was a joy to have you back and healthy with these pills. Saving your life was the best thing I ever have done. I decided that you were getting to middle age and thought that you would need more protection being an outdoor cat. I felt it was time for you to get every year the annual rabies and 4 in 1 Felv shots through a mobile vet service. I think this was around either March, 1999 or March, 2000. This was a decision I was to dearly regret. You were a healthy and happy kitty with your blood thinning pills for the next 3 or 4 years. I had gotten married and had a stepson so you had 2 more people to love you.
Around Nov. 2002, you came home one day and you were limping. You had a right front leg elbow injury. I took you to the vet several times for X-rays and anti- inflammatory pills but nothing helped heal this injury.
Then on February 26, 2003 it happened. My worst nightmare. I noticed a small ( about the size of a nickel or quarter) lump by your right front underarm. I called Jo-Jo's vet but he had a death in the family.
Jo-Jo didn't seem affected by this lump at first. She was eating OK and playful as usual. Everything seemed OK, I couldn't have been more wrong. I couldn't get in to see Jo-Jo's vet to March 4.
March 4- (6 days after I first noticed the lump). It was the size of a golf ball and the vet told me these lumps are never good in an older cat and told me to take her to FVS (cancer place). Vet would not
anesthetize
an older cat. Jo- Jo's vet seemed calm about it but said they would probably have to amputate her right front leg.
March 6- took her to the Veterinary Specialty place. They wanted $1000 or so just for the diagnosis. I called
Jo-Jo's vet from the cancer place and he told me he would do the needle specimen for the diagnosis. He told me to bring
Jo-Jo back on Monday- March 10.
March 10- I brought Jo-Jo in and it seemed his attitude had changed and said we needed a diagnosis. Tumor was size of a golf ball and a half. ( I found out after
Jo-Jo had been euthanized that it was too late to save her at this point).
March 11- another vet did the needle specimen for the diagnosis and he too knew it was too late and said nothing other than it would take 3 days for the lab results to come back. I told this second vet that 3 days was too long and that time was of the essence here. He just told me that that was the average time it takes to send the specimen out, and for a lab to analyze it.
March 15- second vet called back and told me the cancer was malignant and was a Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma
(MFH) and this was a poorly differentiated soft cell sarcoma. I asked him what to do and he strongly did not recommend surgery. At this point,
Jo-Jo's appetite started to really decline.
March 16-March 20- Gave Jo-Jo barley solution, tried eastern (holistic) medicine, called veterinary cancer places. Basically, tried to scramble and got nothing done.
March 21- called second vet and he told me if you want to you can take Jo-Jo back to
FVS, but once again STRONGLY did not recommend surgery.
March 24- took Jo-Jo back to cancer place and they wanted to amputate right front leg, excise a good portion of her chest wall, and do radiation and chemotherapy. I decided against it, Tumor was at least the size of a baseball at this point. I just took
Jo-Jo home and my family and I made her as comfortable as we could.
April 2- Tumor was the size of a grapefruit at this point. I saw Jo-Jo's vet. He told me that I wasn't doing the animal any favors by keeping her alive for another 3-4 days without pain. I decided to have
Jo-Jo euthanized. I buried her that day.
This whole ordeal has been a harrowing experience and I am sick with grief over it. I keep going over and over it in the back of my mind to when I first noticed the lump and the 10 or 12 day window of opportunity I had ( Feb. 26 to Mar. 10 or so) to possibly save your life. In retrospect, this sarcoma all happened so quick, and it was very deceiving at first leading me to believe we had more time. I also reminisce about the good times we had too. I feel I screwed up in the end. I am truly sorry.
Jo-Jo, I just want to apologize to you and ask for your forgiveness. I will never forget you. I love you very much and always will. I miss you very much. I will always miss you. Maybe when I cross over the Rainbow Bridge, we will be together again. I love you, sweetheart!"
This picture purrrfect friend of our family is Tiger
who with the heartfelt and tireless support of his mom and grandmother is valiantly
battling the sarcoma monster. While bravely facing this difficult part
of his nine lives journey Tiger and his family
have also become advocates within their community towards helping to empower
other animal lovers with the information that will hopefully prevent them from
having to share in the heartache associated with this terrible disease.
Please say a special prayer for dear Tiger and
his family in the hope that their lives are filled with as MUCH love, peace
and comfort as possible during this difficult journey that has united the
hearts of SO many animal loving families.
Tiger's Mom composed the following heartfelt bio
for her dear boy so that our "extended family" of feline loving
friends could share in some of the quality filled moments that they have, and
continue to be blessed with.
"This
is Tiger, my 20-pound heavyweight who is
currently battling VAS. His favorite words to hear are “cheese!”, meaning
that cheddar is on the way; “night night”, meaning that it’s time to
cuddle on the bed until we fall asleep; and “mama loves you”, leading him
to slowly blink his eyes and purr in reply every time he hears it. He loves
salmon so much that he’ll sit straight up on his hand legs to “beg”, and
lies on his back to present his tummy for petting. My fur-coated alarm clock
makes sure I always wake up to kisses, purrs, and limitless unconditional
love. Every morning I hold him tight and breathe him in because I know we’re
on borrowed time.
The night his diagnosis was given, Tiger found
the only way possible to make me stop crying. I was lying on my back on my
bed, and he jumped up on the bed, walked over to me, and sprawled out on top
of me with his face under my chin. He then purred louder than I’ve ever
heard in his 10 years, and I could feel his purr resonate throughout my entire
body, echoing in my head is if it were me that was purring. I’ve never felt
anything so sublime in my 30+ years of owning cats, and could feel his love
and strength in every part of my heart and soul. If humans showed each other a
love so pure and complete, imagine what the state of the world would be."
