★★★★☆

Last Sunday on 12/28/25 we took Skip to his final vet appointment. We knew on Saturday it was time, and thankfully there was a break in the gloomy weather and he got to enjoy some time soaking up the afternoon sun.

Skip was 14, and went through so much in his life. I am so thankful for all the cute and silly posts I made here over the years that I can read again now. I'm writing this post as the time ticks closer to 6:59pm, and then it will be exactly one week without him.

Before he turned 3, Skipper faced a terrible upper respiratory infection, a broken hip after falling off his cat tree, an amputated tail tip after an accident, and then the big one -- severe pyothorax in 2014.

He had a lobectomy that removed his entire left lung and started to recover, despite all the odds! Little bugger even removed his own e-tube a few weeks later. I came down from my room for a drink during a late night study session (cramming for an exam later that day) and did a double take when I saw him sitting looking all proud of himself, the e-tube dangling from his carrier! I had to rush him to the vet at 3:30am in the morning. When we got there, they told me he did a fine job of taking it out himself and didn't need it anymore, lol!

The doctors were very guarded about Skip's life expectancy after the surgery, but he didn't care one bit. He had one scare a few years later with his breathing but recovered quickly. In 2023 he went to kitty camp for radio-iodine therapy to treat hyperthyroidism, where he was good as gold! Then in 2024 he started having issues with his eye and had to go to ophthalmology, where we feared he had cancer but ended up diagnosed with this mouthful of a condition: epitheliotropic mastocytic conjunctivitis. Under care of the doctors, he made a full recovery and was fighting fit again -- nothing could stop this guy. We called him the "luckiest unlucky cat ever".

Skip was a force of nature, we joked he was part bobcat for his massive teeth. He was always polite when he first met a vet. But then as he got to know them he knew he could assert himself as the real boss, just like he was at home with his other kitty friends.

In July he went to the vet for his annual exam (which ended with me having to go to the ER for antibiotics after getting bitten lol!) then was back again in September after losing four pounds very suddenly.

The next two weeks were a blur. An x-ray at the vet showed a mass, and our wonderful vet was able to get him straight in on Monday for an ultrasound, the exact same day he was getting an eye recheck at the ophthalmologist. He was such a good boy at the eye doctor, the vet commented that Skip's file was covered in "red tape" warning about him being fractious, but he was a perfect gentleman -- much to the amusement of his regular vet team! :')

The ultrasound with biopsy confirmed aggressive Large Cell Lymphoma in his intestines and kidneys. We got a referral to an oncologist an hour away, and Skip had his first chemo just a few days after diagnosis. The next week he had an echocardiogram to see if there were any heart issues, but he was perfectly healthy except for the cancer stealing him away.

From September to December, Skip was his warrior self, charming the lovely staff at the oncologist's and enjoying chicken strips when he came home. I'd wake up at 4am on chemo days to get him to the doctors by 7am. A few times I had to race to work and pick him up after, but other times I could sneakily work remotely from a hotdesk office near the vet so I could pick him up on my lunch break lol >;p

Getting Skip to take his prednisolone was a battle of wits. You could only burrito Skip if you caught him by surprise, otherwise you had to try and catch him! He wouldn't take the pill version, so a compounded liquid version it was.

He ate like a horse and started gaining his weight back. He had almost no side effects from the chemo, and we were hopeful (despite knowing remission for LCL was rare). The chemo helped him have another birthday with mom, one more Halloween, and a Thanksgiving where he ate as much turkey as his heart desired!

The ultrasound in mid-November showed the tumor in his intestines hadn't changed much, despite the chemo. It hadn't gotten worse though, so we started a second round of the CHOP protocol. We made plans to do another ultrasound on 1/2/26.

Skip started to go off his food after his last chemo on 12/12, and I wasn't sure he would make it to Christmas. He started to sleep in his carrier, the bathroom, then inside his doughnut cave and wooden "hen house" away from his family. On Christmas he was excited for the smell of turkey again, and even made it into the kitchen to oversee the cooking (his favorite "job"). But he could only manage to eat a little bit.

On the 28th, we drove him to the same vet office that had saved him during his pyothorax. The sun was setting, and we got there 30 minutes early for the appointment and sat in the warm car talking with him.

He looked around to see where we were, and I'm positive he knew the drive was too long for the home vet, and too short for the oncologist.

Then he started to purr so loudly!

Never in all of his appointments had he ever done that before. I know cats can purr when they are upset or in pain, but he wasn't scared. It was like a gift he was giving us, knowing he felt loved.

He purred in the office as well, and he got so many kisses.

When we walked out of the vet, night had fallen and it was so cold and peaceful. I'm glad we didn't wait for Monday, as hard as it was to make that choice.

We are waiting for his ashes to come back now. Tomorrow I go back to work knowing he won't be walking to the door to greet me when I come home.

Our bestest brave boy Skip, forever loved. How lucky we were to be picked by you all those years ago when you jumped into our laps.

The first picture of him we ever saw on the adoption website in 2011! :')