Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
In Loving Memory Cats => Rainbow Bridge - In Loving Memory => Topic started by: Gillian Harvey on March 05, 2012, 12:57:12 PM
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Back in December I took Harry to the vets as he had cystitis - he was kept in for the day and when I picked him up, vet mentioned blood coming from his nose, possibly due to mass or polyp. He'd not had any blood before, although thinking back, I do think he was sneezing often, so was just keepin an eye on it. He was diagnosed with high BP last year and has been on amlodipine since, his BP has been normal on this. Anyway, he's been sneezing a lot lately and over the weekend he sneezed explosively and there was quite a lot of blood. Vet is still thinking tumour or polyp, he's shaking his head a lot too - and apparently either tumour or polyp can affect the whole nasal/aural canals. Tumours arent always cancerous, but whether tumour or polyp, removal isnt an option because of the location :(
Vet has given convenia jab just to keep any bacteria in the nose in check as all that blood is breeding ground, with a view to doing an exploratory - however, he's not good candidate for anaesthetic at the moment - he's lost more weight and is only just 3 kg, he's 15 yrs too. I'm wondering though, what would be the point of putting him through exploratory, if he was to put on some weight and be able too have it anyway - if there is nothing to be done? :(
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poor harry :'(
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So sorry that Harry is not well :hug: :hug:
My thoughts for what they worth for a 15yr old cat are:
If the vet cant operate on that place then what is point of doing an exploratory, especially when sedation/anesthetic is dangerous.
If the only treatment is abs what is point of exploratory.
I dont think its helpful to a cat in his later years to do things that wont actually help but are often just for the vets interest.
My aim would be to keep Harry as healthy and happy and painfree for as long as possible............one of probs is with eating cos if he cant smell properly then he wont eat and will lose weight.
Has the vet suggested any reason for Harrys lose of weight?
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Oh no, poor Harry I really sympathise as Smartie had nasal cancer , if it is cancer.
He was given a steroid injection that was supposed to last a week , but I ended up topping it up with steroid pills. There was no chance of an op or removal , my vet did a scan of his head .
Also ,check his eye as it affected Smarties eye very badly and that bled too . When he had another start in his cheek , I had to let him go .
You know my number if you want to ring.
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Also ,check his eye as it affected Smarties eye very badly and that bled too . When he had another start in his cheek , I had to let him go .
Yes immediately thougt of Smartie when vet told me :hug: Actually Harry's right eye has been running (clear at the moment) and because he's been shaking his head too vet looked in his ear, but had trouble seeing anything as he was a bit wriggly! It all seems to be on one side :(
If the vet cant operate on that place then what is point of doing an exploratory, especially when sedation/anesthetic is dangerous.
Has the vet suggested any reason for Harrys lose of weight?
Yeh, my thoughs too really.
No, she didnt say why he could be losing weight, because he's actually eating very well, 3 meals a day :) So will just offer him more - maybe add in a lunchtime meal too ;) His bloods were normal in Dec, T4 normal, just the high BP.
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Aaaw poor chunky handsome Harry :Luv2: :hug: and poor you Gillian :hug:
It's the horrid words we all dread hearing - cancer, tumour etc.
For decades now vets and doctors always say the anasthetic isn't good for older animals/people - why the chuff haven't they done somethig about it by now?
Harry looked quite big in his recent photos and Bonnie's a lot smaller than him and she weighs Kg2.5
At least Harry is in good hands being with you but it doesn't help you making the horrid decision.
So sorry Gillian.
Mary :hug:
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If you ask the vet about putting him on steroid tablets it will also help him eat more and it's supposed to suppress the cancer as best it can . It worked better on Smartie than they did Sophie , it just depends on the cat I think.
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They have Mary and the modern anesthetics are very safe for older cats,,,,,,,,,,,,,Napoleon had an op at 17 1/2 and Kocka even older but its the individual cat and what is wrong which is the problem.
Also I guess it depends on how good the vet is and support staff during the op.
I know they nearly lost Napoleon a few times but great staff during the op kept him alive and then so sad cos he just wouldnt eat anymore.
Some cats just dont cope so well like Napoleon :(
I know that Gillian would do anything for her cats like most of us but there comes a point where we have to make hard choices, to treat or not, to operate or not etc etc
Life is a :censored:
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Yes, I'll ask about steroids when we go back in a weeks time - I can't remember if BB was on steroids or not - ironic isnt it? Harry lost his best buddy BB just last year to a tumour on her jaw :( They spent almost every minute together while she was ill :(
Anyway. I've got him some extra little tins of hi-life and encore - so will fit in an extra mealtime for him during the day - hmmm, whats the chances of me being able to feed him without the others all thinking theyr'e getting an extra meal too? :doh:
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sorry to hear that handsome harry isn't well. sending you both :hug: Definately speak to vet about steroids. I still have my Ginger ninja with me over a year after being diagnosed with lymphoma and I'm sure they have helped him.
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Very sorry Gillian and do hope something can be done for Harry :hug:
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Thanks :thanks:
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Really sorry to hear this Gillian :hug: From a human perspective, I have had nasal polyps in the past and there is no pain associated with them and steroids do a fantastic job of shrinking them back so hope the same can be done for Harry... who I have to confess is my favourite from your gang :care:
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Sending lots of positive vibes for handsome Harry :hug: :hug: to you Gillian.
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Gillian, so sorry to hear this news about Harry. Sending lots of :hug: :hug: to you both.
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Thanks :thanks: - Helen, you say you HAD nasal polyps - do you mean that the steroids shrunk them completely?
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Really sorry to hear this Gillian :hug: From a human perspective, I have had nasal polyps in the past and there is no pain associated with them and steroids do a fantastic job of shrinking them back so hope the same can be done for Harry... who I have to confess is my favourite from your gang :care:
Thanks :thanks: - Helen, you say you HAD nasal polyps - do you mean that the steroids shrunk them completely?
They do shrink them completley - they work every time and very quickly too - but unfortunately six weeks or so after I stop taking them they gradually come back, I can't have too many courses of oral steroids over the year due to their side effects. That said as Harry is a senior cat I think you would be looking at quality over quantity in any case and if the oral steroids do the trick then I wouldn't be worrying about long term side effects (in humans that's bone thinning and weight gain but don't know about cats).
In humans another option is a long course of antibiotics (two months) which works for me too, I think oral steroids are more suited to larger/more agressive polyps and can shrink them back quickly whereas antibiotics reduce swelling/infection when the polyps are smaller/less aggresive.
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Hope Harry gets better with the steroids and it gets rid of them .
I also (amongst everything else!) get Polyps up my nose -but never bothered going to the doctor as its the first time i have had them recently (and still got them )it is supposed to be stress related- but not had them for years till now ?!
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So sorry to hear about Harry :( sending you both some much needed :hug: :hug: :hug:
Denise
Xxx
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Thanks all, perhaps I do need to find out exactly whats going on - tumour or polyp - although sounds as though steroids and/or antibitiotics is going to be the way forward for either? I have to go back with him next week, so will chat to vet about it then. In the meantime I'm tryiing to get a bit more weight on him, and he's enjoying his extra lunchtime meal ;) plus a saucer of Liquivite in between times ;)
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Cheese, salami, ice cream............... oh sorry I thought you said you were trying to put weight on :naughty: works for me every time ;)
How about Dreamies?
Mary
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The steroids should make him want to eat more too.
Smartie was on them for years and it didn't do him any harm ,that was for his asthma . He came off them fr a couple of years as he was fine then , but I still wander if he had stayed on them , maybe he wouldn't have got the cancer !?
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One of my cats Bill had a squamous cell cancer on the end of his nose, I ended up taking him to Cambridge Vet Hospital, was fun on the train with a cat in a basket, they could either cryotherapy it (freezing it to kill the cells), or surgery. The vet saw him and he ended up having a "nosectomy" where they actually removed his nose, which left a hole in his face, but they rebuilt 2 little nostrils for him. he had to learn to breathe thru it, but he was about 11 or 12 at the time and did really well. But sadly less than a year later he got stomach cancer, totally unrelated and had to be pts :(. Hope Harry is ok and none too serious :(
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hows Harry doing????
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He's ok thanks :thanks: I have to take him back to vets this week, I'm hoping he might have put on a bit of weight, with his extra meal he's having at lunchtimes now ;) So I'm going to discuss options then. He's sleeping a lot, but he is eating fine, and he's been enjoying the sunshine over the weekend out in the garden :Luv: He's still sneezing a lot, but theres no blood at the moment.
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Sounds promising Gillian, I really hope so :Luv2: :hug:
Mary
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Went back to vets with Harry last Fri as he was sneezing blood again, vet gave him convenia and steroid jabs, but it didnt seem to be having much effect this time and he starting sneezing explosively and lots of blood. He's going back in the morning to have bloods done with a view to maybe starting him on Leukeran (chemo) along with preds. :(
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Poor darling Harry - has he put any weight on yet?
It must be really upsetting for you Gillian, I am so sorry.
Mary :hug:
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Thanks :thanks: Well, he was 3.1 kg the first time she weighed him, last week he was 3.2 kg and today he was down in weight a bit again :(
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:hug: :hug: :hug: for you both. Poor Harry. Xxx
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Hope soemthing can be done for Harry. :hug: :hug:
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Hope the meds all work for Harry, poor boy .
Sending lots of cuddles for him and hugs for you allm :hug: :hug:
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Sending lots of good wishes for Harry :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thanks :thanks: His kidney and liver function are fine apparently which is good, although he's a little bit anaemic. Vet could see something towards the front of his nose this morning, which I hadnt noticed before, she's still thinking about possibly having a look properly with a probe - but she said sometimes you go through the procedure and find nothing, but sometimes if there is a tumour (which she believes is most likely) the procedure itself can cause more bleeding and create more problems. Or we just try the Leukeran and steroids protocol and go from there.
He's actually been worse since the vet visit yesterday evening - its like its affecting his throat too now - his meow sounds different, kind of croaky :( so something clearly has got to be done - vet is getting the leukeran in tomorrow and he's had another steroid jab today.
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So very sorry and it sounds like maybe its growing quickly. Very sad when he is an otherwise healthy cat. I hope what ever is planned for him helps :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Hope the Leukeran helps him and that you can enjoy lots of quality time together :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Gillian I wonder if his throat is hurting cos of the vet messsing with him? May sound daft but how about putting some ice in his water to help soothe his throat?
Lots fo love and hugs to you both.
Mary :hug:
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Even dafter, Misa has bad tonsilitus at present and had examnination under anesthetic yeasreday and his tonsils are very swollen
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OMG Gill, was Misa that that wild the vet had to do that? Hope he's got meds and will be ok.
Mary
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They cant see right at back of throat for a piece of grass without this Mary and also for removal if one is there.
He didnt have one but its very hard to open his mouth and he was scared of the shaver so he has two legs shaved, he just doesnt do people at all and has never been ill and 7.6 kgs is a lot of frightened cat.
He is much better now and his chattering is back ;D
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Glad Misa is back to normal Gill.
How's Harry doing Gillian?
Mary
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Think its time to let my boy go :'( He's still eating, but is spending all day asleep on a heatpad, sometimes not asleep - and not looking as comfortable as he has been. The steroids have been helping somewhat, there is no bleeding now when he sneezes, but he sounds croaky when he miaows and I think it is affecting his eye on that side now :( I can't believe it, I thought he'd go on to be a cranky old boy into his 20s ;) he has always been 'Mr Attitude' :evillaugh: - he's 15, I just looked on the form from Cats Protection (League, as it was then) - I got him on 15th June 1996 at 6 wks old, sadly he's not going to reach his 16th birthday :(
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Am so very very sorry Gillian :hug: :hug: :hug:
You have decided against the chemo treatment then? Always such a terrible decision to have to make but probably the right one for all concerned when trying to ensure quality of life wins out over quantity. My heart goes out to you... :'(
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So sorry to hear this Gillian, it's awful when it goes to the eye, it did that to Smartie and he didn't quite get to his 15 th , poor old Sophie was only 2 months short of her 18th.
The steroids help for a while , but have you tried upping the dose yourself? I ask the vet and he said to try it and it gave him a little longer, but only a couple of weeks.
I always thought Smartie would live longer as he was on Fortekur as well, and I used to think that covers his heart and his kidneys , he will go on for a long time , but no he got cancer!
Sending loads of hugs to you all ( the hug icon has vanished !?)
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so sorry to hear this :hug:
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Thinking of you and the darling Harry at this time :hug:
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Thanks :thanks:
Do I try the chemo?, but risk him feeling terrible on it (I understand that a lot of cats feell rough for a few days and go off their food) and he can't afford to lose any more weight, plus it seems it may only buy a little more time (a matter of weeks perhaps) - if he's only got a little more time anyway, I don't want him to feel worse, but not all cats feel bad on it. He's only on half a 5mg pred twice a day, I'll ask the vet about increasing to one twice a day - which is what the vet initially said, but changed her mind to half, because of his low weight.
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Very sorry to hear this Gillian :( :hug:
You know Harry best and the decision can be yours alone but I don't think I would go for the chemo if I were in your shoes :hug: It's devastating when we realise their time has come, I clutched at straws and would have tried anything to keep Tiggy with me but it got to the stage where I realised she wasn't happy any more and I had to be brave for her :hug: In hindsight I realise that I left it too late, not to the point where she was suffering but if I had my time again I would have let her go sooner.
Sending you massive hugs and gentle headkisses for Harry :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Such a terrible thing to decide and I agree with Helen.
Just am so sorry that he has gone down hill so fast to reach this point of decision making.
Sending loads of cuddles to Harry and you :hug: :hug: :hug:
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I am so sorry Monty and Marmalade went downhill so fast and were both very old that the decision though so hard was obvious And I am fortunate to have such a caring vet to help me through it
:hug: to you and a gentle cuddle for Harry
Peggy
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sorry to hear this news about handsome Harry x x
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It's never an easy decision to make, even when you know it's the right time. I've been through it twice in the past, and with hindsight I know it was the right thing to do but it didn't feel like it at the time. Sorry you're having to go through this.
:hug: to you and Harry.
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Awwww Gillian, I'm so sad to hear Harry has gotten more poorly. :hug: :hug: for you both and wishes for the best. Xxx
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:( :'(
See my PM Gillian :hug: :hug:
Mary
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He's gone :'( It was time. He went very quickly and peacefully in my arms. We had a good last morning, he had a little bit of breakfast - one of those Denes fish single serve which he loved, he had a little sit upstairs here in the office in a sunbeam, then retired to his heatpad :Luv2: and I sat with him and reminisced about his naughty ways when he was younger, its what made him such a character, even though he was completely maddening at times, Bad boy as mum called him - how's Bad boy? she'd say whenever she phoned :) 15 yrs, would have been 16yrs in June, he's been in my life, I'm seeing him everywhere.
I took a picture of him this morning, but it looked sad, so I want to remember him in this picture, only taken 2 days ago, but with his pal Joe, and last year with his beloved BB (RIP) who he looked after when she was ill, hardly leaving her side.
(http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb234/scruffyjoe/IMG_7329.jpg)
(http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb234/scruffyjoe/CATS%20-%20ALL/IMG_6583.jpg)
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:hug: :hug: :hug: I'm glad his last morning was good and his passing peaceful and know how much you will be hurting and missing him Gillian.
Play hard at the bridge Bad boy Harry, free from pain.
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Gillian so sorry for the loss of Harry :hug:
He leaves some wonderful memories with his friends and is now reunited with Bibi and the others at the Bridge leaving behind special memories for his Mum xx
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sorry Gillian rip Harry :hug:
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So sorry Gillian,we're all thinking of you.x :hug:
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So very sorry, Harry was always one of my favorites and I understand how much you will miss him :hug: :hug: :hug:
RIP Harry, you will find lots of friends on the Bridge. Play hard.
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Sorry to hear he's gone, it's good that you had a nice morning with him though, and that his end was quick and peaceful.
RIP Harry.
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:hug: :hug: :hug:
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So sorry to hear the sad news but glad that you were with him and he went peacefully
RIP Harry
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So sorry Gillian
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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:grouphug:
RIP beautiful Harry, safe and sound at the Bridge by now xx
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Saddened to hear this Gillian :(
RIP Harry, Play Hard at the Bridge
:hug: :hug: :hug:
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I am so very sorry to hear of your loss.
When you know in your heart the time is right it is the greatest gift of all. I am glad you could walk a little way along the path to the bridge with Harry.
Play well at the bridge handsome man xx
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sorry to hear about Harry, bet he's curled up with BB again in the Summerlands x
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I'm so sorry Gillian - Harry was one of a kind and i know how much you loved him :'( :hug: :hug:
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:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: Gillian - so sad for you tonight. Harry - be Bad Boy again til mum comes to collect you. Xxx
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So sorry Gillian, thinking about you :hug:
Harry could not have been loved more :hug:
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so sorry Gillian :hug: Ive always had a soft spot for Harry :Luv2: im sure hell be well received on the bridge
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Noooo! :( I'm so sorry, Gillian :hug: :hug: I have always had a very soft spot for the handsome lad. RIP lovely boy.
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Enjoy your new life on The Bridge Harry you adorable hunk. :Luv2: :hug:
Gillian - :hug: :hug: :hug:
Mary
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So sorry Gillian :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thank you everyone :thanks: can hardly see through the tears this morning, its really hit me today.
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:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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:hug: :hug: I know just how hard it is
Peggy
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Can this be moved to Rainbow Bridge please, thanks.
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Hope you're bearing up OK Gillian :hug: Have moved this for you :hug:
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Sending lots of :hug: :hug: :hug: Gillian
RIP Harry :( :(
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So sorry, Gillian. Poor, beautiful Harry. RIP wee man.xx
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:( So sorry Gillian :hug: :hug:
God Bless darling Harry xx
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Harry, send your mum a rainbow, she's missing you so much :Luv2: :hug:
Mary
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so sorry about Harry :'( :'(
big hugs to you on what has been a time of losses :'( so sorry again x
:hug: :hug: :hug:
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There was a rainbow this evening, the first break in the foul weather today, a moment of brightness after the rain and a beautiful rainbow, maybe that was the moment Harry was letting me know he was with my mum now.
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I am sure it was :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Oh that's fantastic - Harry and Laura having a hug and looking down on you. :hug: :hug:
Mary
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What a lovely thought, hope so :hug:
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I'm sure too :hug: