RIP, Iorek

[aishabintjamil]

   Iorek passed on earlier today. The new medication we started a month ago gave us a substantial improvement for a while, but it wasn't a cure. It did seem to alleviate the severity of his seizures, but didn't eliminate them. Yesterday he had another, and he just didn't bounce back from this one. We decided when we came down this morning and he was still acting semi-conscious that it was time, and thought we'd bring him to the vet tomorrow morning. He passed peacefully on his own some time this morning while we were out. I'm just thankful that he hung on till I got home from traveling for work last week, so I had a chance to say goodbye.

This has been a long series of ups and downs since he was diagnosed with what was probably liver cancer in September of last year. He kept having small improvements that made us hope, against our better judgment, that perhaps he was going to recover. About two months ago we concluded that the diagnosis of liver cancer had probably been wrong. At that point he started having neurological symptoms which baffled our vet. He speculated about possible brain tumors, but there's really no way of knowing.

He was a great cat, and loved to hesitate in the doorway when we let him in or out. He didn't change that approach when it came to the doorway into the next world. We're going to miss him very much.