Animals

In Memory of Cedar

Love is a word that gets used a lot. In fact, it is thrown around so carelessly much of the time that it loses its true meaning for many of us. Genuine love is more rare. That's the love that comes with no strings attached. It's unconditional.

That's the kind of love Chris and I were so lucky to see between our good friends Mike and Ellie and their special dog, Cedar.

Cedar lost his battle with cancer late last week. Some of you first got to know Cedar with a post I did a couple of years ago, and some of you knew Cedar through more recent updates on his fight with squamous cell carcinoma.

We knew he would eventually lose that battle, but still we were not prepared to see him go. It happened too fast. It seems that he was just diagnosed, although that happened last summer. Love always tries to look on the bright side.

Looking back, Cedar had a life most dogs would envy. Heck, he had a life most people would envy.

He had the best of everything, including the best people in the world. He gave the best, too. He was there for Mike and Ellie through the good times and the bad, when Mike was sick and when he got well. Cedar helped Ellie care for Mike and in the end they returned the favor.

Over the last month, Ellie made the six hour drive to Santa Fe to see the oncologist several times even though the prognosis was grim. What else could she do? There was never, ever, any question about that. They would do what ever Cedar needed. They would be there for him as he had been there for them his whole life.

It's a tough time now. There's not much to do except deal with the loss and remember the good times. We should all be so lucky to have a dog like Cedar. If you are lucky enough to be in that boat please give your dog a big hug in honor of Cedar and Mike and Ellie.

Scratchings & Sniffings Out Loud: Diabetes in Cats Part I

Posted: 15 Nov 2009 08:25 AM PST

On today's Scratchings and Sniffings Out Loud podcast Dr. Grace and Dr. Larry discuss a serious but often manageable disease: diabetes. Interestingly enough, November is National Diabetes Month. As you can see on this CDC page for Diabetes, this disease is a "leading cause of kidney failure, blindness" and worse! What you might not know is that it affects dogs and cats, too.

Today, on our podcast, we will cover what it is and what to watch for. Next week, we will have Part II - with information on how to manage diabetes if your cat is diagnosed with it by your vet.