Home is the sailor, home from the sea, and home is my Gummy Bear, free from her bondage.  Nine days after her second major surgery, Gummy’s sutures were removed today; she is no longer bound by kennel and collar.

My happiness is equaled only by that of her brother, Ulysses, who has not left her side all evening.  He is curled up next to her now.

Gummy underwent a subtotal colectomy; 80% of her colon was removed, in hopes of easing the symptoms of megacolon that developed a year after her last surgery, which left her unable to control her bowel movements and which often left her miserably constipated.  The incision is quite impressive, running from just below her rib cage to her lower abdomen.

Throughout the ordeal – hours of driving, the procedure itself, eight days wearing a collar while confined in a dog kennel, multiple medications three times a day, and manual urinary expression – she maintained her sweet, cheerful disposition and never held a grudge against me.

Most touching of all was brother Ulysses’s tenderness with her.  As he did following her first surgery more than two years ago, he refused to leave her once she returned home.  Though he is my most active and energetic cat, he chose to confine himself in her kennel rather than be apart from her.  He would not come out for more than a day.

Gummy now lacks her tail and most of her teeth and colon; she cannot go to the bathroom without my help; she must take oral medication every day.  Yet she flourishes.  This most gentle and sweet little calico cat brings joy to me and the other cats.  Long may she live and inspire.