Survivors and Celebrations

Trinity's Story

Trinity was born September 2005, one of three in the litter (I also have her brother Boo. While he doesn't have cancer, he does have his own problems). The three cats were left on the doorstep of a local church. The church then handed them over to Fort Hunt Animal hospital where I adopted them from. In March 2007 I did start noticing some strange behavior. The most noticeable being her no longer being able to jump up to the kitchen counter that previously was not a problem. A couple of days after I was petting her and as I ran my hands down her sides I noticed some swelling, but wasn't sure what it was. All I knew is that it was abnormal and I took her to the vet the following morning. After a few tests it was determined that she was suffering from renal lymphoma. I was devastated. At only a year and a half old the vet mentioned how odd it was for her to get this at her age, typically you see it in an older cat. I am under the impression that her situation is probably hereditary as A) there is nothing known about the parents and B) all three cats in the litter have been experiencing various problems since birth. Well, needless to say I was not ready to say goodbye to Trinity so we started a chemotherapy program through Dr. Sheafor at SouthPaws in Fairfax, VA. We were given a prognosis of about 9-12 months. Well, as the treatment progressed we were seeing marked improvement. It is now over two years later and Trinity is still in remission and progressing very well. The doctor sees no reason why Trinity won't be around for quite a long time.