Inhale… Exhale…

Ok, it's time to step out of the shadows.

My mailbox is full of letters asking if i'm still alive or not, and I no longer see the opportunity to sit with my neck drawn into my shoulders.

Which birds steal soap from the bath? Robber duck!

You are probably wondering now what happened, but let's start with the fact that during the months of my absence, many new people appeared in our “All you need is Silly Butts! From shenanigans to the art!” company.

Hey, hey, hey! I'm so glad to see you all here!
Ah, I missed you, folks, so much!

So, you probably already know that my name is Kate.

I'm a cartoon New Orleans-based artist with three pawsome meownagers on my sleeve. Silliness, smiles, cats, family, and the smell of good food everywhere, this is all Twocatsandpossum is about.

All that optimistic, comforting, and healing stuff, you know :)

Seymour almost always looks at people like we’re all his crazy yelling kids :)

I love my cats so much, and I can't even imagine my life without them and my wife. But sometimes your zebra gets black stripes, or she decides to become a black horse while you sleep and can't stop her.

It all starts when our eldest cat Seymour has crossed the 10-year-old and is over 24 pounds.
So happy, chubby, chunky boi had to go on a diet vets said.

He began to lose weight easily and quickly, and we were happy for him. But, until one day, it doesn't look healthy anymore.

We visited our vet. He assured us it was just some usual cat inflammation, nothing to worry about. I'm sorry, folks, but I sure would like to be a powerful black witch to be able to curse him a hundred times now.

So we lost weeks trying to treat an infection that wasn't there.

By then, Seymour had stopped eating, drinking, and barely moving.

We changed vets, did additional exams, and found ourselves in the animal oncology center, sitting on the cold floor in the office, waiting for Seymour's tests and the doctor's verdicts.

Every week we visit our vets for a new dose of chemo and a checkup :)

Here, I have to say that I, like an ordinary Russian, am a strong person, but I couldn't stop crying at that moment.

When Seymour and Dr. Mia appeared in the room, tears still flowed from my eyes.

The fourth stage of lymphoma. My cat is attacking and destroying his own fluffy body. It was like someone hit me with an iron bowl on the head. What?! Why?! Is he going to die?!

Ignoring that I sniffle every three seconds, our vet oncologist calmly and confidently explained Seymour's upcoming treatment plan.

What will they do, and what will we have to do to give him a chance to stay with us.

Thus began our life with a cat suffering from lymphoma.

Human hands are soothing to cats like a mother’s hands are gentle to children :)

For the first weeks, I sat with him in my arms. There was a baby bottle of water nearby. He looked like a skeleton, and I could barely hear his breathing. I almost screamed with joy every time he took even one sip.

It all looked like the last days of his life, but I was like, "Nahhhhhh... No way! This guy isn't yet rainbow enough for his trip to the Rainbow!"

When he first ate, I just cried and texted my wife, "HE ATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE ATE!!!!!!!!!"

If you remember that I’m a vegetarian, you are probably smiling now too :) Thank God I don’t faint at the sight of blood and raw flesh :)

From time to time, my kitchen was like a battlefield because I had to butcher and boil fresh beef liver to compensate for Seymour's body's iron deficiency.

It was as if I had woken up one morning and found a newborn at our door. Feeding every hour, sleepless nights, and all that, you know.

We stuffed our fridge top with small portions of wet cat food and plastic pill bottles. Our world has narrowed to "God, please, let Seymour's kidneys be fine for another dose of chemo," and keeping track of how much he ate, drank, and pooped. Yep, all those things! If he has diarrhea, then you should give him a pill. If he vomited, then you should provide him with meds again.

Every hour Seymour needs food, and he doesn’t want to eat from the fridge. It’s not a Royal business to eat something that hasn’t just been open :)

During these months, we went through the first course of chemotherapy and started the second one.

My wife took more students for tutoring, and I worked here and there to pay for Seymour's treatment. We changed each other so that he was never alone and didn't doubt that we could kick cancer's ass for a single minute. Life is a pretty precious thing to give up on it. Isn't it?

Seymour gets his Be Well Soon cards from my mom-in-law and our friends :)

Now I know a hundred ways to clean cats' vomit and diarrhea off a beige carpet.

Fifty ways to give your cat a pill, even if you've tried everything.

Some soothing bath tricks with a warm towel.

The best sleepy tea with which you can get up four times a night, feed the cat, go back to bed and fall asleep again.

Ask me how! Lol :D

But the main great news is that our Seymour is cheerful enough again so I can watch him with only one eye while my other eye will look at the computer screen or the easel. Happy dance time!

It’s hard for him to wash now, so sometimes you can catch him with dirty fur and nose :)

So, welcome back to Seymour and me!

And also executive meownager Cloudy and art supplies supervisor Woof!

Stay with us for hilarious stories, Silly Butts food fun facts, and more and more and more.

Psstttt... feel free to leave a comment with good words for Seymour :) It will melt us here :) Cheers! :)

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All you need is Silly Butts! From shenanigans to the art!

The moment when your zebra decides to become…