Barb and Tori
Member Since 2009
Hi everybody. Happy Canada Day to you all. I'm sorry that I haven't been around. I hope you understand it has just been so hard since Tori went to the Bridge. I did promise thought that I would tell her story one day. Today would have been Tori's 15th birthday and is her first birthday at the Bridge so it seems appropriate to do so today. So here we go.
Tori was born 15 years ago today on Canada Day ( a great birthday for a Canadian kitty). I saw her for the first time when she was a couple of hours old. Her mom Simba belonged to my parent's landlords and we had been promised first pick of the kittens. I had never had a cat before and to be honest I wasn't even sure that I liked cats but my kids wanted a pet and they finally talked me into it. Anyway every day we went and visited the kittens and each of us had an idea of which one we'd like but we couldn't agree. Tori wasn't one of the picks. Finally the day came that we were to bring home our kitten. It was a beautiful August day and the kitttens were outside playing in the front yard when we arrived. My parents lived in the top floor of a a 4 plex that had about 10 steps up to the front door. I took the kitty carrier upstairs and p it on the floor with the door open. My Mom and I were chatting and the next thing we knew Tori climbed up all those stairs, walked right into the carrier, turned around and let out a little meow as if to say "Well I'm here, I'm ready. Let's go home". So the decision was made then and there. How could we argue with her? My Mom commented, " She looks like a little queen- so proud". So we named her Victoria which quickly became Tori. Within days she had us all wrapped around her little paw. A year later we decided she needed a friend and Rocky came to live with us. Tori immediately showed us what a great Mama Kitty she could be. She taught Rocky everything he needed to know including how to fight. She was a great wrestler and even when she was on chemo she could still take all the boys down, including Malachi who was twice her size.
Tori was noted for her feistiness right from the start. One of my favourite memories was when she was about 10 months old. My son had her outside playing in the front yard. A lady walked by with her 2 big German Shepherds and stopped to comment on how beautiful Tori was and not to worry that her dogs liked cats and they wouldn't hurt her. Right then one of the dogs made the mistake of stepping on the lawn. Tori didn't like that one bit and then next thing you knew, the dogs, owner in tow were hightailing it down the sidewalk with Tori in hot pursuit. No way was she going let a dog invade her territory. She was so protective of her home and her people. Every night when I went to work I would tell her that she was in charge and she would spend the night doing her rounds making sure everyone and everything was safe.
Tori was never sick until June 05 when she suddenly started to loose weight and have a love affair with her water dish. So off to the vet she went. We were very lucky that day. A new freshly graduated vet had just joined the practice and he saw Tori. I was very impressed with his manner and the next day when he called to tell me that Tori had Diabetes he referred to her as "Our little girl Tori". I knew right there and then that he was the vet for us. Of course that was Dr. Doug who was with us every step of the journey the last 5 years and who I am eternally grateful to. Anyway she was started on NPH but within about a week became very ill. Her BG shot up to around 600, she stopped eating and her eyes were draining like crazy. I rushed her back to the vet and To our amazement there was a pus pocket over one of her top canine teeth. Her teeth had looked great the week before. So she had an emergency dental the next day with a BG of 600 and had two teeth removed. After that her top lip would pucker every once in a while we would tell her to fix her lip which she always did. A short time later I found the FDMB. What a blessing that was. Tori was always a kitty whose numbers liked to bounce all over the place. She loved the low numbers but very rarely would give any indication that she was going low. About a month into our journey she decided to go down to 21. The only reason I knew something was off was because she went and stared at her food dish and wouldn't move from it. I couldn't get her to come back up so off to the vet we went. We wound up changing to Canninsulin and that gave us pretty good control. After about a year Rocky became very ill with IBD so I decided to try the raw diet for all the kitties. Within 3 weeks Rocky was having solid poops for the first time in his life and Tori went OTJ and stayed at the Falls for a bit over two years.
Everything went well until Tori started to have quite a bit of trouble with arthritic pain. It was decided to start her on a very small dose of Metacam for a short period of time to get her over the acute pain. That turned out to be a mistake as she had a bad reaction to the the Metacam. She developed a severe case of Gastritis combined with Pancreatitis and then Septicemia and ( I didn't realize this until a couple of weeks ago when I got her file for the insurance) Hepatic Lipidosis. The Gastritis was so bad that she actually vomited up a piece of her stomach mucosa. She almost died. It is truly a miracle that she didn't. That night that she fought so hard for her life I lost her little brother Tiga in that terrible dryer accident. It was one of the worst nights of my life. I remember I kept thinking "I can't loose two in one day. I just can't." The next morning when I went to visit her Tori was so much better I couldn't believe it. She stayed in hospital for about a week and came home with a feeding tube which she had for a couple of months and after a few weeks she had to be started back on insulin. That was when we started the Lantus and I met our wonderful Lantus Land family. Tori developed chronic Pancreatitis after that and thanks to the people here I learned how to recognize when she was starting a flare and how to treat it. Jojo I am eternally in your debt.
Everything went well for about a year and then one day last June Tori started limping. I decided to take her to see Doug and while he was checking her he found a lump in her neck. The minute he found it I just knew. I didn't admit to anyone including myself but I knew. She had the biopsy which showed she had a rare type of Lymphoma called Hodgkin's Like or Jugular Furrow Lymphoma. Not much is known about treatment choices but the treatment of choice is surgical removal and/or radiation. Neither of those options were possible for Tori so we decided to go with chemo. I will never forget the love and support that was shown to us by our LL family. It was you who kept us strong and helped us keep on fighting. I will never forget Tori's last birthday when she had just started the chemo. I have never felt that kind of love before. It was so special and then there was the party and the cinnamon birthday cake. The first one ever. To me when i hear of it it will always be Tori's cake. Then the visits of the KTSS started. Oh they meant so much especially near the end. For 9 months you carried us. The first course of chemo did very little so it was decided that we would try the rescue CCNU. That shrunk the tumor done to almost nothing but she started having more and more frequent CP flares. We started to walk the very fine line of trying to control the flares and not suppressing her immune system too much with the Pred and the CCNU. She fought so hard and with such bravery and dignity my little warrior princess but it finally became too much. She developed a UTI caused by Salmonella and a septicemia and then finally a Hemolytic Anemia. She was tired and couldn't fight anymore so We helped her to the Bridge on St Patrick's Day.
Oh How I miss her. I miss how she loved the contraband carbs especially french fries. I miss how she ruled the house with velvet covered iron paw. I miss her being read a story every night by Ayanna. I miss holding her in my arms like a baby. So many things. I could go on forever. So today is her birthday. Her first at the Bridge. I know the LL GAs are busy preparing a party for her. I bet Chef Stu is preparing the best Cinnamon birthday cake ever. Tonight my friends as you celebrate Canada Day raise your glasses and wish my baby a happy birthday. Happy Birthday my baby. I miss you so much and I will always love you more than the moon, the stars and the sun.
Tori was born 15 years ago today on Canada Day ( a great birthday for a Canadian kitty). I saw her for the first time when she was a couple of hours old. Her mom Simba belonged to my parent's landlords and we had been promised first pick of the kittens. I had never had a cat before and to be honest I wasn't even sure that I liked cats but my kids wanted a pet and they finally talked me into it. Anyway every day we went and visited the kittens and each of us had an idea of which one we'd like but we couldn't agree. Tori wasn't one of the picks. Finally the day came that we were to bring home our kitten. It was a beautiful August day and the kitttens were outside playing in the front yard when we arrived. My parents lived in the top floor of a a 4 plex that had about 10 steps up to the front door. I took the kitty carrier upstairs and p it on the floor with the door open. My Mom and I were chatting and the next thing we knew Tori climbed up all those stairs, walked right into the carrier, turned around and let out a little meow as if to say "Well I'm here, I'm ready. Let's go home". So the decision was made then and there. How could we argue with her? My Mom commented, " She looks like a little queen- so proud". So we named her Victoria which quickly became Tori. Within days she had us all wrapped around her little paw. A year later we decided she needed a friend and Rocky came to live with us. Tori immediately showed us what a great Mama Kitty she could be. She taught Rocky everything he needed to know including how to fight. She was a great wrestler and even when she was on chemo she could still take all the boys down, including Malachi who was twice her size.
Tori was noted for her feistiness right from the start. One of my favourite memories was when she was about 10 months old. My son had her outside playing in the front yard. A lady walked by with her 2 big German Shepherds and stopped to comment on how beautiful Tori was and not to worry that her dogs liked cats and they wouldn't hurt her. Right then one of the dogs made the mistake of stepping on the lawn. Tori didn't like that one bit and then next thing you knew, the dogs, owner in tow were hightailing it down the sidewalk with Tori in hot pursuit. No way was she going let a dog invade her territory. She was so protective of her home and her people. Every night when I went to work I would tell her that she was in charge and she would spend the night doing her rounds making sure everyone and everything was safe.
Tori was never sick until June 05 when she suddenly started to loose weight and have a love affair with her water dish. So off to the vet she went. We were very lucky that day. A new freshly graduated vet had just joined the practice and he saw Tori. I was very impressed with his manner and the next day when he called to tell me that Tori had Diabetes he referred to her as "Our little girl Tori". I knew right there and then that he was the vet for us. Of course that was Dr. Doug who was with us every step of the journey the last 5 years and who I am eternally grateful to. Anyway she was started on NPH but within about a week became very ill. Her BG shot up to around 600, she stopped eating and her eyes were draining like crazy. I rushed her back to the vet and To our amazement there was a pus pocket over one of her top canine teeth. Her teeth had looked great the week before. So she had an emergency dental the next day with a BG of 600 and had two teeth removed. After that her top lip would pucker every once in a while we would tell her to fix her lip which she always did. A short time later I found the FDMB. What a blessing that was. Tori was always a kitty whose numbers liked to bounce all over the place. She loved the low numbers but very rarely would give any indication that she was going low. About a month into our journey she decided to go down to 21. The only reason I knew something was off was because she went and stared at her food dish and wouldn't move from it. I couldn't get her to come back up so off to the vet we went. We wound up changing to Canninsulin and that gave us pretty good control. After about a year Rocky became very ill with IBD so I decided to try the raw diet for all the kitties. Within 3 weeks Rocky was having solid poops for the first time in his life and Tori went OTJ and stayed at the Falls for a bit over two years.
Everything went well until Tori started to have quite a bit of trouble with arthritic pain. It was decided to start her on a very small dose of Metacam for a short period of time to get her over the acute pain. That turned out to be a mistake as she had a bad reaction to the the Metacam. She developed a severe case of Gastritis combined with Pancreatitis and then Septicemia and ( I didn't realize this until a couple of weeks ago when I got her file for the insurance) Hepatic Lipidosis. The Gastritis was so bad that she actually vomited up a piece of her stomach mucosa. She almost died. It is truly a miracle that she didn't. That night that she fought so hard for her life I lost her little brother Tiga in that terrible dryer accident. It was one of the worst nights of my life. I remember I kept thinking "I can't loose two in one day. I just can't." The next morning when I went to visit her Tori was so much better I couldn't believe it. She stayed in hospital for about a week and came home with a feeding tube which she had for a couple of months and after a few weeks she had to be started back on insulin. That was when we started the Lantus and I met our wonderful Lantus Land family. Tori developed chronic Pancreatitis after that and thanks to the people here I learned how to recognize when she was starting a flare and how to treat it. Jojo I am eternally in your debt.
Everything went well for about a year and then one day last June Tori started limping. I decided to take her to see Doug and while he was checking her he found a lump in her neck. The minute he found it I just knew. I didn't admit to anyone including myself but I knew. She had the biopsy which showed she had a rare type of Lymphoma called Hodgkin's Like or Jugular Furrow Lymphoma. Not much is known about treatment choices but the treatment of choice is surgical removal and/or radiation. Neither of those options were possible for Tori so we decided to go with chemo. I will never forget the love and support that was shown to us by our LL family. It was you who kept us strong and helped us keep on fighting. I will never forget Tori's last birthday when she had just started the chemo. I have never felt that kind of love before. It was so special and then there was the party and the cinnamon birthday cake. The first one ever. To me when i hear of it it will always be Tori's cake. Then the visits of the KTSS started. Oh they meant so much especially near the end. For 9 months you carried us. The first course of chemo did very little so it was decided that we would try the rescue CCNU. That shrunk the tumor done to almost nothing but she started having more and more frequent CP flares. We started to walk the very fine line of trying to control the flares and not suppressing her immune system too much with the Pred and the CCNU. She fought so hard and with such bravery and dignity my little warrior princess but it finally became too much. She developed a UTI caused by Salmonella and a septicemia and then finally a Hemolytic Anemia. She was tired and couldn't fight anymore so We helped her to the Bridge on St Patrick's Day.
Oh How I miss her. I miss how she loved the contraband carbs especially french fries. I miss how she ruled the house with velvet covered iron paw. I miss her being read a story every night by Ayanna. I miss holding her in my arms like a baby. So many things. I could go on forever. So today is her birthday. Her first at the Bridge. I know the LL GAs are busy preparing a party for her. I bet Chef Stu is preparing the best Cinnamon birthday cake ever. Tonight my friends as you celebrate Canada Day raise your glasses and wish my baby a happy birthday. Happy Birthday my baby. I miss you so much and I will always love you more than the moon, the stars and the sun.
