While I love (most) dogs too, I'm very much a cat person, although I hate seeing any animal in pain or suffering (except spiders and snakes, they can go screw themselves). I only have my 15 year old tabby now (my Pomeranian died a few years ago), and I will sure miss cuddling with her when she goes.

Katie, I have no idea what I'd do if my Boots had your cat's problem. I guess all you can do is keep doing your best to take care of her and hope she gets better. If, over time, it's obvious she's not getting better or is even getting worse, you have to do something most "animal friends" (sounds nicer than "animal owners") have to do, decide when her quality of life (and chance of recovering it) are so low that it is, as you say, cruel to keep them going just because we can't stand to lose them, and we have to put on big girl panties and make the hard decisions, like having them put down.

I was in my teens when we had to do that with our family dog, which I'd grown up with. She was 16 and half blind and started throwing up bile and the vet said it was cancer. Maybe I was just an emotional teen, but I swear that dog knew she was dying. You could see it in her eyes. And as she got worse, we just knew it was cruel to keep her going, so we made the decision as a family to have her put down. I was with her when we did it. After she got the needle, she looked relieved. She gave my hand one more lick, put her head down, and she was gone. I'm crying again just remembering it. But under the circumstances, we all felt we did the right thing.

I hope you won't have to do that. I hope your baby recovers. But if not, you have a decision before you. The timing sucks, no doubt about it, with all the other stress in your life. But we have a responsibility to our animal friends. Good luck, Katie.

Lisa