We are honored to present Cheeto Tremblay as Companion Animal of the Month for April 2008. Cheeto is a 7 year old, orange Domestic Short Haired cat, who is the quiet, yet lovable, companion animal to Patricia and Philip Tremblay. Cheeto was originally found as an orphan kitten around some commercial office buildings where a family friend worked. Patricia's daughter brought him home for the Tremblay's son, Mike, to keep. Ever since he was brought home, Cheeto has been considered the Tremblay's "hairy son," spoiled with love and attention since the day he was adopted.
Cheeto can be said to live the average kitty life. He
enjoys sleeping and sitting on the back porch watching the world go by. He
has two favorite toys, a fake animal tail and a purple puff ball.
His favorite treats are Greenies and anything the Tremblay's may be eating at the
time. As average as this cat is, Cheeto does have one odd past time, playing with women's hair. He
will wrap his paws around Patricia's neck the nuzzle his way into her hair.
Cheeto has the "only child" complex. The Tremblay's actually think that Cheeto's personality is more like a dogs, sometimes they even refer to him as
"Cheedog".
Cheeto presented to Dr. Sukhija in the fall of 2007 for a second opinion on a right front paw tumor. This tumor had already been partially removed once; the biopsy showed it to be an adenocarcinoma. The options were to leave the tumor alone or consider amputation of the leg. A forequarter amputation is considered to be the last resort, and the Tremblay's agreed to first try aggressive debridement of the paw with a toe amputation. This would provide Cheeto more time to enjoy his four legs. This surgery was a success and Cheeto made full recovery. Unfortunately the tumor returned just 3 months later. Pain medications were prescribed and the decision was made to remove his right front leg in order to provide a cure from this cancer. In February 2008, Cheeto returned to Atlantic Animal Hospital and Dr. Sukhija amputated is leg, removing the cancer. Once again, Cheeto has made full recovery and now has a great quality of life without pain. So far, there are no apparent signs of metastasis (spread) of the cancer.
Cheeto also has one other nickname, "Air Cheeto". This is because he used to jump around the house, and get pretty good air just like the famous basketball star Michael Jordon. While Cheeto might not be getting quite as much airtime these days, he does a great job walking around and living life as a "normal" three legged kitty. Patricia, Philip, and Mike have done a wonderful job caring for Cheeto. This along with Cheeto's determination to recover from surgery and ability to cope with the loss of a leg, has been very inspiring to us all. The Tremblay family has been another great example of the human animal bond and our team at Atlantic Animal Hospital is proud to help them with Cheeto's long and hard battle with cancer.