Our friend Janice picked out Mabel at the Seattle Animal Shelter. Mabel was such a friendly cat that they had her out front, greeting people. I sat with Mabel in the back seat on the way home and we bonded.

About a year later, when Janice realized her other cats were pushing Mabel out of the house, we took Mabel home with us. (Mabel had been lobbying to move in with Janice’s neighbors, whose last name was…Label. Fortunately for us, their dog hated her.)

So Mabel joined our household in 2010, and we fell madly in love with her. She was like a mother to me. A tiny little black cat (such dainty paws) with a big, fierce heart. Mabel was at least part Bombay, and made our introduction to that amazing breed. “Mabel’s in charge,” was her tagline.

In January of 2013 Mabel was diagnosed with large cell lymphoma (a “high grade,” aggressive cancer fairly common for older cats). She astonished everyone with her willingness to undergo several months of chemo with three cancer drugs and prednisone. (You’ll see 2013 photos of her, below, while she was undergoing treatment and she looks perfectly fine!) She rode happily in the back seat of the car (no carrier) and bounced back after every treatment—until, one day, she didn’t. She tapped me on the arm one September morning to tell us it was time to go, and we took her in to our vet for the final shots.

Here’s her story, from 2010 to 2013:

Oct. 15, 2010—One of the first pictures of Mabel at our place:

May 10, 2012—Off to the Feline Hyperthyroid Clinic with Mabel.

July 1, 2012—Mabel on the front walkway:

Jan. 22, 2013—I hate to be whiny. I know it’s just a cat. But Mabel, our friendly little Bombay, has an abdominal tumor and the vet is not optimistic. Mabel went from being a happy, energetic cat out in the garden this weekend to a limp, sad little beast on Monday. They’ll have cytology results tomorrow, but meanwhile Mabel is clearly puzzled and uncomfortable and it’s making me so sad that I can’t do much to help except hold her.

May 26, 2013—Mabel in her happy place:

March 11, 2013—Mabel had a reaction to her prednisone, demanded four servings of cat food at breakfast, and then bit me. Antibiotics for me, and I’m calling her vet in the morning to see if we can dial back on her steroids a little.

June 19, 2013—Mabel had a great checkup at the vet today. Got her weekly chemo and is back home, demanding attention. But the vet visit also involved running into a friend and her beautiful cat, which is in intensive care and not likely to return home. Very sad. I felt so fortunate to drive home with Mabel “talking” to me from her carrier on the front seat. Here’s Mabel’s recent portrait, by Red Dog Images. That’s Sheba in the background:

June 29, 2013—We go away for a few hours and Mabel moves in with the neighbors! Our neighbor Gwen posted these shots: