How I Found Healing After Losing My Cat to Cancer
Key takeaways:
Sarah Chiappetta shared an unbreakable bond with her cat, Harper, who was her constant companion.
When Harper was diagnosed with cancer, Sarah worked tirelessly to provide care and comfort.
After losing Harper, Sarah found healing by honoring her memory and connecting with others.
GoodRx for Pets: Here’s how to save on pet medications with GoodRx.
Most pet owners share a deep bond with their pets. But for 29-year-old Sarah Chiappetta of San Francisco, her connection with her cat, Harper, was especially meaningful.
Sarah first took in Harper as a foster cat to help deal with a mouse problem in her apartment. It didn’t take long for the spunky 4-year-old black cat to win her heart.
Sarah Chiappetta is pictured in a headshot, holding her beloved black cat Harper.
“Of course, I ended up not giving her back. I just loved her so much,” Sarah says.
Their bond only grew over time. Harper became Sarah’s first pet as an independent adult.
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“I went through super-big life changes,” Sarah says. “I went from having roommates to living alone. I went through a breakup. She was there for me.”
Harper adored Sarah just as much. Though she was cautious around strangers and would hiss at visitors, Harper was affectionate and loving with Sarah. So, when Sarah noticed some lumps on Harper’s belly one November morning, her heart sank.
Accepting her cat’s cancer diagnosis
Worried, Sarah called a veterinarian friend, who urged her to see a local vet immediately. Cats can develop mammary tumors, especially if they are spayed later in life, like Harper. That was one possibility.
Sarah rushed to her vet in nearby Marin County. The news wasn’t good. The vet could feel dozens of lumps on Harper’s belly. “I basically fainted,” Sarah says. “I remember they had to get me water.”
Her vet also suspected mammary tumors but took a biopsy of two of the lumps to confirm.
The diagnosis was even worse than expected. Rather than mammary tumors, Harper had basal cell carcinoma, a type of cancer that typically affects the skin. Though this cancer is often treatable, Harper’s case required specialized care.
How much does it cost to euthanize a pet? The cost of euthanasia typically starts at $50.
What is it like to euthanize your cat? It can be a difficult and emotional decision, as one writer acknowledges in this essay.
Can I use a GoodRx coupon for my pet? Yes. If your pet has been prescribed a human medication, most GoodRx coupons will work at pharmacies.
“This is when the nightmare started,” Sarah says.
Exploring treatment options
Getting Harper to a specialist was challenging. Appointments were hard to schedule, and the costs added up quickly.
“I had pet insurance in the past,” Sarah says. But it never seemed to work when she needed it, and it didn’t seem worth the expense. So she dropped it.
At the specialist clinic, new X-rays revealed devastating news: Harper’s cancer had spread too far for surgery. The vet offered three options: radiation therapy, an oral chemotherapy medication called Palladia, or palliative care to keep Harper comfortable.
Determined to do her best for Harper, Sarah sought a second opinion. She eventually found a vet she felt more comfortable with.
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“I just felt like I needed a more empathetic doctor,” she says. But the options for treatment didn’t change.
“I was very devoted. Anything I could do, I would do it for her,” Sarah says.
After much consideration, Sarah chose to put Harper on the anticancer medication Palladia. But giving the medication presented new challenges. Harper hated taking pills and needed additional medications, like appetite stimulants and steroids, to manage side effects.
Her new vet provided Palladia in liquid form, which helped. But Sarah’s daily routine revolved around Harper’s care.
“For these few months, my life was on pause,” Sarah says.
Her boss at a technology company was understanding and let Sarah work from home. Sarah stayed in most nights to be with Harper, inviting friends over for low-key activities like paint-by-numbers so they could hang out with Harper.
Saying goodbye to Harper
Within a few months, Harper’s condition worsened. She began vomiting and seemed uncomfortable.
“The vet, who was so sweet, was like, ‘It is time to let her go,’” Sarah remembers. “She was like, ‘The tumors have spread everywhere. They're all inside the kidneys, all the other organs, they've gotten larger.’”
Not ready to say goodbye, Sarah brought Harper home for one last night together. An at-home euthanasia vet helped Harper pass peacefully, surrounded by love.
Sarah’s mom came to support her. “It was super bittersweet, obviously, but [Harper] breathed her last breath in my lap,” Sarah remembers.
Coping with the loss of her pet
Losing Harper was one of the hardest experiences of Sarah’s life. But she found ways to process her loss.
“I'm a religious person, so looking back it really felt like, ‘How the heck did I do that?’ My cat was my whole life. I'm like, ‘Wow, God carried me through this,’” she says. Making small memorials to Harper helped, too.
“I have a little section on my dresser that’s her urn. Leading up to her death, I also made a list any time I had a Harper memory that I loved. It was all the things I never want to forget about Harper,” Sarah says.
Sharing Harper’s cancer journey on TikTok also helped. “I think it was therapeutic because I felt like there were some people that went through the same thing,” Sarah says.
Sarah eventually moved out of the apartment she had shared with Harper. ”It just felt awful to be in there without her,” she explains.
Sarah is now settling into her new apartment, and into life with a new cat. She was adamant about not getting another pet immediately after Harper passed. But when an opportunity to foster another cat came up, she couldn’t resist.
Advice for other pet owners
Sarah has two key pieces of advice for pet owners facing similar challenges.
1. Find the right vet
“Find a vet that works for you. Don't be afraid to switch vets,” Sarah says. “This is going to be your partner in the process, so you need to feel comfortable with them.”
2. Do your research
Reading about other people’s experiences helped Sarah understand what to expect and make better decisions, she says. “Don’t be afraid of doing that, so you have a really good understanding of what you're getting into,” she says.
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