Gunther Returns Home

Gunther was cremated on March 17th just outside of Ottawa. We did not attend the service, but the folks at Pet Friends took good care of him and returned his ashes in a lovely urn. Gunther now rests in one of his old favourite hangouts, our living room in the apartment building on Rue Clark.

Also of interest was the pathologist's report. As I mentioned in G's obit, the veterinarian's diagnosis was HCM, and cause of death was probably a blood cot to the intestine.

However, the pathologist had a slightly different story. Upon examination of G's organs, the heart definitely had right ventricular dilation and the liver had generalized and marked lesions, both factors attributing to right congestive heart failure, which was the probable cause of death.

Another surprise was the discovery that Gunther had the early stages of small intestinal lymphocytic lymphoma, a form of cancer common in older cats. If Gunther did not have a bad heart, the lymphoma would've eventually got him. And it certainly would've involved medication, repeated visits to the vet and weeks, if not months, of discomfort and suffering.

Poor, dear Gunther. Who would've known or guessed?

But he had ten healthy and happy years on earth, and he was such a beautiful and happy cat. I'm just happy to have you back home, little G...