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Mouser's Story
birth date unknown
September 20th, 2005
Mouser
used to
live in our neighborhood and come visit occasionally. Then one day
we noticed that he had grown a bump on his neck. It wasn't an abscess,
so it needed veterinarian attention. We watched to see whether his
owner would do something about it, but nothing was done and the bump
grew. So we coaxed Mouser into a carrier and took him to the
vet. The tumor was surgically removed and pronounced harmless.
After letting Mouser heal, we let him back out to see if he would go
home. We tried to follow him but never found out where he
lived. He kept visiting us. After a couple of days he
sported a brand new flea collar. His scar was barely visible and his
hair grew back nicely. It
seemed, he went back home and was now taken care of.
About two months later, on one of mouser's
visits we saw a new bump on his neck. Again we watched to see
if anything would be done. The flea collar disappeared and the tumor
kept growing. We realized that Mouser's parent didn't care enough to
take him to the vet. But this time Mouser had different ideas about
carriers and cages. Nothing was going to convince him to even come
close to one. In the meantime his tumor was growing into
gigantic proportions. We could not catch him and were afraid he
would die.
Mouser
before
Mouser after his surgery had healed.
Then one morning, he sat outside
our
front door and was holding a mouse in his fangs. He carefully laid
the mouse on the doormat and walked a little distance away to watch.
We picked up the mouse with due admiration and thanked him for the
gift. He very carefully came closer and when we got a carrier out
he went in by himself. We think he realized that he needed help
badly.
By this time, we had very little hope of
him surviving. Our dear vet made no promises but as always worked a
true miracle. When Mouser came back from surgery, he had a neatly
zippered wound going down his neck and left front leg. He quickly
gained weight and started looking better. Two more smaller tumors grew
and had to be removed. And so far his neck has been free of trouble
.
One and a half years later, we
had a swollen lymph node removed from his left back leg. The surgery
went well and Mouser is back with us, taking it easy for a while. He
is a very loving 18 lb boy.
Mouser went to the Rainbow Bridge last night. The
cancer had attacked his insides to the point where it was not operable any
more.
This special boy will have his forever home in our
hearts and memories.
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