Limpy's Story

June 16, 2004

Dear Dr. Fingland:

Limpy was a Very Special Cat! He lived into his 17th year but unfortunately we only had the pleasure of having him in our family for the past 8 years.

It's hard to put into words just how sweet and gentle Limpy was. He was my peacemaker with my other cats. He was everybody's friend and would break up any fights that might occur between the other cats. He was abandoned at our next door neighbor's house when they moved. He would lay down next to our lilac bush in our backyard waiting to be fed every morning (rain or shine). It took us several months to gain his trust before we could catch him and take him to a veterinarian to have him neutered, given his shots, overall check, etc...He was FIV + (little was known about FIV back in 1997).

Limpy had this grunt like no other cat. He would grunt when he was happy or just as a general greeting. He was the only cat who would actually swallow a pill I put into his mouth and not give me a fight one bit! Oh, how I miss my grunting peacemaker! By the way, Limpy got his name because he was limping when we first noticed him hanging out in our backyard. Poor little guy had been through so much just abandoned like he was.

Our time with K-State started on 7/21/03. My beloved precious cat, Limpy was diagnosed with feline hyperthyroidism in early June 2003. My father, Joe, and I took him down to K-State on the morning of 7/21/03 for evaluation for possible radioactive iodine I-131. We were worried how he'd handle the two-and-a-half-hour ride down there. He was such a little trooper!  I held him the whole time. He would pant some, but I think he kind of enjoyed the ride.

We were blessed to have a wonderful senior veterinary student, Karen Lovelace, come out to greet us and take us to an exam room. Karen was so kind and supportive of Limpy and us. And she was so professional in all her dealings with us. Then we were very lucky to have Dr. Stacy Santoro handle our case. Dr. Santoro was very knowledgeable and also very kind with Limpy and us. Since 7/21, we made seven roundtrips to K-State.

Limpy had the I-131 on 8/7/03 and was there in isolation until 8/14/03. We had daily phone calls or emails from either Karen or Dr. Santoro. It was such a joy to go pick him up on 8/14/03--that was a good day!

We had to take Limpy back for his 3-month check up on 11/11/03 and found out Limpy's liver enzymes were very elevated. I didn't want to let myself believe it was something bad when he'd been doing so good and gaining weight after the I-131. I elected to not have any more tests done that day at K-State. We would wait till his labs were checked at our next visit with our local veterinarian in January. His liver enzymes were still elevated in Jan '04 but not as high as our 11/03 visit to K-State. The local veterinarian thought he was doing great!

However, I had to take Limpy back to our local veterinarian on 2/9/04 since his coloring had turned yellow the previous weekend. We elected to take him again down to K-State the morning of 2/13/04. I called and it was Dr. Santoro's day off. But she answered her page and I was so glad to hear her say, bring Limpy down as soon as you can.

My father and I made two roundtrips to K-State on 2/13. We got Limpy there and we had another veterinary student, Oceane Aubry, and veterinarian, Dr. Hall-Fonte, greet us. They indicated that an ultrasound and liver biopsy was going to be done and no need for us to stay so we drove back home. However, we got that fateful phone call about 5:45pm on 2/13 from Dr. Hall-Fonte that Limpy had liver cancer with many nodules on his lungs. There was nothing that could be done to help him. So we drove back down to get our boy to bring him home to say goodbye to his family. Many tears were shed on that trip and in the days to follow. Limpy was released from any more pain and suffering in this life on 2/19/04.

Many thanks to all the above listed veterinary students and residents for their caring concern for Limpy. Also, many thanks to all those other people we never met who took care of Limpy while he was at K-State for that week he was in isolation.

Oceane Aubry had even made a donation in Limpy's name to the school's Pet Trust program, which was such a nice thing to do. We also received a sympathy card from all above individuals when they'd heard of Limpy's crossing over to Rainbow Bridge.

Limpy was such a precious gift and he always seemed to really touch anyone who might have been fortunate to cross his path. We shall never forget all his wonderful ways and what courage he exemplified. He is our treasure and is sorely missed.

Until we meet again................Nancy O'Donnell