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A Tribute to the Sweetest Cat Alive
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<img class="card-img" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/tehdrewimages/docByTheFire.jpg" alt="Doc in one of his favorite places: sprawled before the fire">
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<h1 class="card-title">Dr. "Doc" Logic</h1>
<h2 class="card-text">The Sweetest Cat with the Strangest Name</h2>
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<p class="card-text font-weight-bold">"Nikola Tesla once said that our virtues and our failings are inseperable, like force and matter. Well, Doc is pure virtue; it will be impossible for me to remain totally whole when his soul departs."</p>
<p class="card-text font-weight-bold quotetag">--Doc's First Human Companion</p>
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<img class="img-responsive" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/tehdrewimages/DrLogic.jpg" alt="Doc sitting on one of his favorite chairs."></img>
<figcaption class="figure-caption caption text-center">Doc stylin' on one of his favorite chairs.<a href="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/tehdrewimages/DrLogic.jpg" target="_blank"></a></figcaption>
</figure>Doc has only ever had one thing (and one thing only) that made him exactly alike all of the cats his human companion has ever had: he was from a Humane Society, specifically the <a href="http://www.wihumane.org/adopt?AnimalType=1" target="_blank">Milwaukee Humane Society</a>. In every other way he is unique, if perhaps not in the humours he shares with his species, then in the degree to which he feels them; if not unique in the <em>plain</em> facts about him, then unique in their presentation in him. This is true not just of his character, but of some of his physical aspects as well: despite a large frame, he has a (relatively) small head, for instance. Or, for instance, his purr: higher in pitch than any others but also extraordinarily expressive; at times almost the point of feeling as though one might be able in fact understand his seemingly interrogative queries and contented declarations.</p>
<p>He was also, surprisingly, not the kitten his soon-to-be Companion first had his eye on; the soon-to-be Companion was, when he first entered, at first more interested in the coal-black kitten sharing temporary quarters in the "meet'n'greet" visitor's room with the young Doc and many others. However, the moment Doc came over, his Companion knew he was the one. From the very first, Doc proved himself the best possible ambassador his species could ever have asked for. Even as a kitten, he was as gentle as he was playful. As he grew into his adolescense, he did, as many cats do, lose some of that playfulness as well as his kittenish "newborn's naivete." What he has never lost is the gentleness; his willingness to give the whole of his love without hesitation. Though he is almost 14 now, when he was younger and still healthy enough to do so, Doc's first instinct was very often to "flop" (that is, pretty much fall over to one side or the other) once someone, especially those to whom he became close, bent down to gave him even the slightest attention. Frankly, it often took only a long look in his general direction. He is to this day, despite his current illness, disposed only towards giving and receiving affection.
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<p>Unfortunately, when Doc's cancer struck, most of it happened without giving much of an external sign, and it's not like Doc could tell anyone "hey, I don't feel so great." At least, not until his body gave away what his voice could not. It was only a matter of months before we found ourselves here, at the Emergenciy Veterinarian's, waiting for Doc to get what we though, at first, were going to be pre-surgical fluids as a result of some GI issues he suffered in the past few days. The timeline is perhaps easier to understand as a list:</p>
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<li style="text-decoration: underline;">September of last year (2016):</li>
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<li>Doc begins to exhibit GI issues, leaving messes around to house because of his inability to make it to a box in time. A sonogram is suggested at the subsequent visit to the vet, but when a change in diet seemed to solve the problem, it was (and reasonably so) deemed unnecesarry. It is impossible to say that the sonogram would have even revealed what was waiting in the shadows of Doc's future.</li>
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<li style="text-decoration: underline;">Early June of this year (2017):</li>
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<li>Doc's weight loss despite an appetite as healthy as his attitude along with a few other indicators make it clear that Doc needs another visit to the vet. The vet, this time able to feel the abnormal shape of his kidney, orders an ultrasound.</li>
<li>The ultrasound reveals a severely abnormal kidney and what is most likely cancer. Before aspirating the kidney to be sure, they first take x-rays (for a number of reasons), and find nodules in Doc's lungs; what will soon be confirmed as a carcinoma on his left kidney has passed the point of expecting a nephrectomy to put him in remission. However, like humans, cats can live with only one kidney, so said nephrectomy can still help staunch the flow of cancerous cells (a bit, anyway) but, <b>far more importantly, will increase the quality of whatever time Doc has left.</b></li>
<li>Despite the fact that it almost certainly cannot save him, the nephrectomy will make him much more comfortable, so we decide to ahead with it.</li>
<li>Unfortunately, we meet another road block: for the first time <em>in his entire life</em>, Doc stops purring (his capacity to show affection is as relentless and reliable as the sun) long enough for a vet to hear his heart, and a murmur is discovered. While it's possible that Doc has had this murmur his whole life (as previously stated, his purr had made all previous attempts with a stethoscope had proved futile (even after needle pokes, and even a spritz of water in his face just to get a listen to his boundless little heart). Unfortunately, this meant we have to wait (as of this writing) to see a cardiologist so that the nephrectomy is done in as safe a way as possible (if, as we hope, it is not ruled out by the cardioligst). This has left us with many meds to give Doc:</li>
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<li>A medication to increase his appetite.</li>
<li>A medication to manage his considerable pain.</li>
<li>A medication to manage nausea.</li>
<li>A medication to manage GI issues.</li>
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<li>No doubt, after his kidney is removed Doc's list of medications will change to include chemotherapy in an effort to keep any remaning cancer at bay for as long as possible. Unlike chemotherapy in humans, it is far less likely that this will result in remission, as it is not nearly as severe. As the Veterinary Oncologist put it, "Chemotherapy just means treating cancer with chemicals," which is to say that it will not result in some of the things one might often associate with chemotherapy, like hair loss and unending GI issues. In fact, feline chemotherapy is likely to have little to no side effects aside from a few GI issues here and there. If Nature herself were as kind as Doc's nature, he never would have gotten sick at all, but there is no reason not to hope for him to not only pull through his upcoming surgery, but to stick with us for as long as he's able to stay comfortable and lead the high quality life he deserves. No matter what happens, everyone who has met Doc has been lucky, and though there is so much negativity surrounding this stage of his life, we must not forget throughout it all the many hours, days, weeeks, months and years that he's given us nothing but comfort and love without judgement or expectation.</li>
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<p><b><em>"No matter what happens, everyone who has met Doc has been lucky, and though there is so much negativity surrounding this stage of his life, we must not forget throughout it all the many hours, days, weeeks, months and years that he's given us nothing but comfort and love without judgement or expectation."</b></em></p>
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<p class="text-center"><i class="fa fa-exclamation-triangle fa-2x"></i> You can learn more about how you can help fight cancer that attacks those for whose lives and well-being we make ourselves responsible;...those to whom we choose to bind ourselves in an extraspecies kind of way... by supporting the Veterinary Cancer Society. As I'm sure many are already aware through personal experience, cancer does not discriminate when it comes to those it strikes: be they cat or dog, mammal or repitile. So please, give what you can. You'll find a button that will take you there at the bottom of the page. If you'd like more information about cancer in cats, there's an additional button that will open a new tab with the appropriate Wikipedia page. You'll also find buttons that link to more photos and a recording of Doc's unique purr, respectively.</p>
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<a class="btn btn-primary" href="http://vetcancersociety.org/" target="_blank" alt="Link to the Veterinary Cancer Society">Veterinary Cancer Society</a>
<a class="btn btn-success text-center" href="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/tehdrewimages/docpurring.mp3" target="_blank" alt="Link to a recording of Doc purring">Download A Recording of Doc's Purr</a>
<a class="btn btn-info text-center" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_in_cats" target="_blank" alt="Link to Wikipedia entry on carcinomas in cats">Wikipedia</a>
<a class="btn btn-success text-center" href="https://goo.gl/photos/7WHS2nDz2cRVYUP99" target="_blank" alt="Link to a Google Photos album with more pictures of Doc">More Photos Of Doc</a>
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<p class="text-center">This page's prose and code by <a href="https://www.freecodecamp.com/tehdrew" target="_blank">Drew Rushmer</a>.</p>
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