July 1, 2001 to November 1, 2001
Blackie was diagnosed with a malignant mouth tumor. The course 
of treatment we used was prednisone with baytril to fight infections. 
The dosage of the pred was at 5mg, usually every other day, which 
I didn't always agree with the doctor, I've heard of other animals 
on higher dosages which I thought he needed near the end, but they
didn't want to up the dose. But it did help him I believe for a long time,
at first he didn't need the pred too often, maybe a week on then off for a
while, since he was still eating pretty well. I also was giving him daily
Coenzyme Q10 at 20-30mg, which I believe also helped for awhile. 
I tried Pau D'arco, but he wouldn't even touch his food with that in it. 

November 1, 2001
Blackie started having a little more difficulty eating, so I looked into 
Essaic, a liquid herbal supplement I added to his food three times a 
day, I don't know how much it helped but maybe if it was started 
sooner it would of been more effective.

It was a very difficult experience to go through.  Up until his final month, 
though, Blackie did pretty well.  


November 2001
I don't think there was much suffering until Blackie was close to the end. He
continued to want to go outside, would jump onto things, always had his
appetite, and ate without too much difficulty, except for occasionally
pawing at his face when food, I believe, would get stuck there. He also
experienced some violent sneezing, but that didn't seem to bother him to
much.
Closer to the end of November, a month before he passed away, he started
getting worse a little at a time. He slept more than usual. He started
bleeding from his face, and there was actually a hole in his cheek.  We
believe the tumor was eating away at his jaw. This was very, very hard to
take. I kept thinking maybe he just scratched his face too hard and it would
get better. 

Blackie’s final month, December 2001
It was time to face reality, that the cancer was
progressing and he wasn't going to get any better, only worse. It was so
heartbreaking to see him like that, I cried more at that time than I do now.
He eventually lost his will to eat, or it was just becoming too painful for
him now. He would just lick juices from tuna, cat food, and mayonnaise.  
I gave him anything he seemed to want.  He still was using the litter box
and didn't seem to be losing all that much weight, and also could still jump
onto the counter. That went on maybe for 2 weeks. Then I guess his system
was starting to shut down.  

December 21, 2001
Blackie went over the Rainbow Bridge today.  It was a very difficult time 
for my family and me.  In the past 2 days he had gotten progressively worse 
and could barely stand; he just stumbled when we put him in the litter box. 
He also started to cry, which I believe was his way of saying “release me 
from my pain”.  So my family and I knew it was the humane thing to do. 
It was truly heartbreaking for all of us. We shed many tears. I take solace 
in knowing that Blackie had a wonderful long life, with rarely any illnesses 
until the cancer took his life in the last 6 months.  I have comfort in knowing 
he is no longer suffering but still miss him very much. It's very hard after 
14 1/2 years when they are no longer with us.

Lisa