We've had two cats for years (and Danny, our other cat, is a decent, amiable, and dumb one), but Millie (above) was truly a great cat. Sadly, she lost her fight with carcinoma at 7:35 PM on April 10, 2000. Millie was a street cat we adopted in 1990 when she was living in the garage of the apartment building we lived in at the time. She weighed next to nothing, was battered and riddled with fleas, mites, and other nasties, and was afraid of her own shadow.

So show you how much that meant (and the uselessness of first impressions) with the help of some skilled veterinarians and the love we gave her, she blossomed into a big, fluffy, inquisitive and outgoing creature who had a love for everyone and slept on our pillow at night. We joked that she'd make a terrible mouser because she'd only want to be friends with the mouse. Her favorite toy (and the only thing she was ever violent towards) was just a simple pen.

She had a congenital problem with polyps in her right ear, and we took her about once a year to get them treated and removed. Last year, one grew down at the base of her ear canal that could not be removed by normal means - so we had surgery to remove the inner ear that it was lodged against (the picture above was taken a couple of weeks after the surgery) but it had already turned cancerous. The surgery was in October, and Millie bravely underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston for two months, with chemo through February, but the tumor returned in late March and began affecting her ability to swallow and breathe. The doctors at Angell tried some additional therapies, but she was just unable to fight it any further - given the speed of the feline metabolism she'd already been fighting this disease for the equivalent of almost three years. Millie went quietly and peacefully, the way she lived, in our living room lying on her favorite sofa while Jane and I told her how much we loved her and fought back the tears.

Cats are probably the greatest companions a family can have - Jane and I like dogs too, but the difference is that dogs love people unconditionally - you have to earn the love of your cat. We worked hard to earn the privilege of Millie's love, and she rewarded us in kind, many times over. Thanks to Dr. Arthur Freedman and the staff at the Hawthorne Animal Hospital here in Salem, and to Dr. Kim Cronin and the Cancer Care team at Angell Memorial Hospital, who collectively worked as hard as they could to save Millie, and make her time here as happy as possible. And when the time came for her to leave us, Dr. Freedman was kind enough to come here and treat her with dignity and respect.

If you're thinking of adopting a cat yourself, please consider taking in a stray, or visiting your local shelter. The cats there will be better for knowing you, and you will receive the blessings and satisfaction that only a truly grateful pet can provide.

Finally, I'd like to share with you Miss Millie's epitath, that we'll be placing on a small memorial in our yard here at the home she loved:

Millie (Miss Poopiecat) Turiel
"The best cat ever."

Thank you.

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