An angel gets his wings

For several months Figaro has been having trouble breathing. He was congested and we had numerous visits to the vet. Initially, we thought it was a sinus infection and treated it with antibiotics. When that didn’t work, we decided to treat it as a viral syndrome with Lysine. He’d have good days and bad days, but the situation just got worse over time. Finally, we went to a specialist who ran more tests and ruled out everything other than lymphoma or carcinoma in his sinus cavity. Confirming the lymphoma/carcinoa diagnosis would require surgery and biopsies. The vet advised that Figaro would require chemo if the diagnosis was confirmed and the expected survival time would probably be about ten to twelve months. Figaro had an extremely happy life and I was not willing to make his last months any more painful for him than absolutely necessary. If the diagnosis was confirmed, I was not going to put him through chemo, so there seemed no point in putting him through surgery to confirm the diagnosis. Instead, we put him on prednisone and more antibiotics. His condition was stable for about a month and then he took a turn for the worse. In a few short days, he lost a great deal of weight and seemed to be in pain. He meowed a lot and could no longer jump on and off the bed without falling. He was feeling miserable and deteriorating a little more each day. Through all of this, Figaro was an absolute sweetheart. Last Thursday, he started bleeding from his nose. It was time. Friday morning, Travis and I took him to the vet and comforted him as he slipped away.

Figaro was bundle of love, even when he felt terrible. That was his nature. He was always a bundle of love. From the day I adopted him, nearly twenty years ago, he watched over me and took care of me. Figaro was my constant source of unconditional love and companionship. He was funny and demanding and needy and incredibly affectionate. It's impossible for me to imagine my life without him. His Uncle Travis and his brother Jett and I will keep him with us in our hearts always.

Good night Figaro, my little bunny. Sweet dreams. I pray we’ll see each other again.

You will always be my sweet, special guardian angel.