Thank you all so much for your kind words. It helps a lot!

Buddy asked about Al's lung cancer. It actually was lung cancer as
opposed to feline leukemia. Apparently it's not too common for animals
to get lung cancer. That said, I chatted online with someone last night
whose dog recently died of the same thing. Your guess is as good as mine
as to how Al developed lung cancer. He did have asthma, but I doubt the
two illnesses were related. Maybe I have a a lot of radon in my
apartment. I just don't know.

When I returned home from a business trip last June, I noticed Al was
limping slightly. I attributed it to arthritis and gave it a few weeks
to see if it would clear up. It didn't. The limp got worse. So I took Al
to the vet for x-rays of his front legs. Nothing noticeable there, but
the x-rays caught part of Al's lungs. And the radiologist was convinced
he saw a tumor. A full chest x-ray confirmed the diagnosis of lung
cancer. My vet told me that with lung cancer it is not uncommon for it
to spread to the limbs, thereby presenting itself as lameness.

I allowed the vet to perform a necropsy on Al. Tissue samples were
taken. They will be sent to a research lab where work is being done on
improved treatments and medicines for animals. That thought gives me
some comfort. And the vet called with the post-mortem results. The
cancer had spread a lot. Among other things, there was a mass in Al's
right front leg, and that explains his limp. It definitely was time for
me to let Al go.

I have no regrets about my decision to put Al down. It just hurts a lot
not having him with me at home. I keep expect him to come into my
bedroom and awaken me at some odd hour, like now.

Al used to play fetch when he was in his prime. As a graduate student in
Ohio, I lived in a townhouse. Al and I use to play a game where I would
throw a ball up the stairs and Al would fly up the stairs after the
ball. He would bring it in his mouth back to the top of the stairs, drop
the ball, and kick it down to me. I then threw the ball up over his
head, and we kept on like that for a while. Other times, Al would leave
dead mice on the stairs. I always praised him by saying "GOOD BOY!" Al
was a very good hunter. Fortunately, however, there weren't many mice.

After a little time has passed and I am ready, I will definitely get
another cat. Maybe two. And I will get adult cats from a shelter. They
seem to be the ones most in need. Al was 1-2 yo when I got him from an
Ohio shelter in 1992. But whatever cat(s) I do eventually get, it (they)
won't be orange tabby(s). Al broke that mold. Goodbye little guy. I will
always love and remember you.

Rich

Tell the neighbors in your trailer park to spay their catz...