Ark Animal Sanctuary – Week of April 26, 2023

1 year ago

A few weeks ago we told you about a sweet cat named Shamu who came to the sanctuary in critical condition. We did not hesitate to help him. He was at the vet clinic for a week and went through a four-hour surgery. We thought he was on the road to a happy, healthy life.

He came back to the sanctuary and we all fell in love with him. He had been through so much  and we were so happy to have him back at the sanctuary. He was thriving in his new environment. Life was good, or so we thought.

A week ago Shamu developed a lump on the side of his face. We rushed him to the vet, where he was started on a regimen of medications and a biopsy was done. Today we received the results from that biopsy.

Shamu
(Contributed photo)

Shamu has been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma — oral cancer. It is not treatable and it is a very aggressive cancer. His life expectancy could be days, weeks, or if we are lucky a month. 

Right now Shamu is not in pain, he is eating very well and he is active. We will not let him be in pain. He will tell us when it is time and we will respect that. Though it will break our hearts, we will let him go when the time comes.

For now we will love him, we will snuggle and cuddle with him, we will soak up his energy and make the most of every single day he is here with us.  We will take one day at a time and each day we have will be a blessing.

Shamu, the little cat with the heart the size of a whale, has touched so many. His circumstances are unfortunate and no cat should ever have to go through everything he has been through. Thank you for taking the time to read Shamu’s story. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.