Beatrice

I'm picking up Beatrice from the vet today at 2:00. It's been an ongoing drama with her for awhile now (infections, diabetes), and last week after many tests and biopsies, we discovered that she also had a hemangial sarcoma (a tumor the size of a golf ball!) in her side, so on Saturday afternoon she had surgery. The outcome was great--the vet was able to remove the entire tumor along with good "edges" all around, and she should make a full recovery. The prognosis for surgery in these cases in cats is good--without surgery, 60 days; with, three to five years. And since Bea is already 14, that's about right, so I am now hoping for maximum life expectancy!

She will have to wear an "Elizabethan collar" for the next little while until her stitches come out, and will also need to be confined so she can't run, jump, or (more likely) crawl back under things to hide, necessitating hauling her out again. So I went to the pet store yesterday and got prepared, and here is Beatrice's "prison" for the next week or two. (Oh, she will be SO mad...)

Here below is a portrait/pictorial story I did about seven years ago when I was in watercolor class at Valley College. It's called "All Hail Queen Beatrice, or, Bea, Bee and Tea."