Sirius Black

Alas, Sirius's x-ray on Wednesday revealed that his lungs are considerably more obstructed than they were on his previous x-ray some weeks ago, leading to the diagnosis of lung cancer. The vet said that it's very unusual for a cat to have primary lung cancer - which this seems to be - and even more unusual for it to strike a young cat. He's only just six.

It didn't come as a surprise to us, since he's losing weight quite rapidly, is breathing fast and is less active than he used to be. But we're very very sad. Of course, one has to be realistic. He's a cat, not a child (which would be much worse). We always knew that pets don't live as long as humans. But he's such a good-natured cat. He never objects to being picked up and cuddled; he gets slightly bullied by his smaller sister and never retaliates; he's just a kindly furry presence around the house.

He's on a double dose of steroids to relieve his symptoms but we know this is just prolonging things a bit. Meanwhile he lies in the sunshine in the garden all day; and sits on the sofa with his head on a lap, purring loudly, in the evenings. We stroke his lovely dense glossy fur. And any time he seems hungry, we give him Dreamies, his favourite treat. And prawns.

We're going through a lot of paper hankies.