I just wanted to introduce myself and pass along a brief story of my loss. It's difficult to talk right now without having the tears start pouring out, so here's just a brief introduction. My whole world feels upside down right now. Just six short weeks ago my dear sweet kitty “Mia” suddenly fell ill and stopped eating. After several visits to the Vet along with blood work, we (I share Kitty with my ex-wife “Kathy”) were told that it appears she had cancer. After additional trips to the VCA Hospital as well as biopsies sent to the University of Colorado, we were told that she had a very aggressive lymphoma cancer with a poor prognosis. We were also told chemo may extend her life but only briefly ...remission may be possible but very unlikely. They did say kitties tend to handle chemo better than people. After much thought and discussion, we decided to try chemo and watch her closely for any side effects. Week 1 chemo seemed to go well with no side effects, and it appeared that the decline from the cancer had stopped. The blood work was also encouraging with significant improvement in her white blood cell counts. We were incredibly happy and decided to move on to week 2 of chemo. The next 4 days seemed to go well, but then last weekend our poor little kitty went into a major decline ...stopped eating, energy dropping, difficult to walk, difficult to breathe, and mostly sleeping in private (as pets typically do when they know they are dying). By Tuesday we couldn't bear to see her suffer any longer, so we had a Vet come to the house on Wednesday to put her to sleep. She passed peacefully in familiar surroundings in Kathy’s arms and my hand resting on her. I am so devastated and during the past week, I have never cried so much in my entire life. It's so hard to be in my house at this time. Everywhere I walk, and in every room I enter, I see Mia full of life in her favorite spots ...maybe playing with her toys, playing hide & seek with me, snuggling with me while I watch TV or go to bed, or whatever. I feel like I’m living in another world now without my best friend of over 12 years. During the past 6 years while I’ve been living by myself in my current house, her presence brought unconditional love and joy that filled the entire house.