DUMPLIN BAKER - FELINE FRIEND, CHILD, LOVED

2008-12-31T10:47:00.000-08:00

If you knew Dumplin, you would love him. He was so beautiful, people constantly mistook him for a female, but he was all MALE. He got to be around 14 pounds, and for a domestic cat, pound for pound, was one of the strongest cats I've ever seen. But, that was during the healthy years. He was a bit roly poly. Then, about five and a half months before Christmas, 2008, he was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia and lymphosarcoma at the world famous Texas A & M Small Animal clinic, and seen by none other than the most famous cat doctor in the world in my opinion, Dr. John R. August, DVM. Raised and trained in England, he is a transplant to Texas, and quite literally, "wrote the book" on Feline Internal Medicine , available on Amazon for over one hundred dollars.

My wife took Dumplin there to A & M, and I was very impressed at the care and kindness shown to us by them, but even more impressed that they treated Dumplin, as if he were a human, having him seen by specialists in various fields, including oncology. I also wanted to give special thanks to Dr. Sharman Hoppes, DVM who suggested we see Dr. August. She is a wonderful lady and a great doctor.

At some point, my wife Tammy brought Dumplin home to continue care here at home. Dumplin had been given two months to live. He lived another five and a half months,
probably about three and a half on his will power alone, because he loved me and my wife so much, he was putting up with the hell of chemotherapy, and near the end, the insertion of a feeding tube (he quit drinking water or eating).

We were extremely lucky to have one of the greatest Veterinarians in the country, in my estimation, to have the responsiblity of providing the treatment to Dumplin that we could not. Dr. Michael K. Maris, of the Shelley Drive Animal Clinic in Tyler Texas, was our Vet, and if I were a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (as was my grandfather, "Doc" Green), I would aspire to be like him.

His love and kindness to Dumplin cannot be measured in dollars and cents. His kindness and empathy to US, also is unmeasured. In my nineteen years as a doctor, I have taken my metaphorical hat off to only TWO doctors that I had the utmost respect for, one is Dr. William Buchanan, of Austin Surgical Arts in Austin, who is an oral surgeon, and the other is Dr. Michael K. Maris, DVM, Dumplin's vet. Dr. Maris' office is located at :
Shelley Drive Animal Clinic.
Maris Michael K Dvm at 118 Shelley Dr, Tyler, TX 75701. 903-561-7373

Although I never gave up home, until the very last minute with Dumplin, I knew in my heart that we did not have a great chance of beating the FeLV and the lymphosarcoma. The end result of this disease leaves a feline that looks a lot like a human with AIDS. FeLV is a retrovirus, like the HIV virus, and they are, indeed, so similar, that some researchers have used the AIDS drug,
AZT on FeLV. The results were not that positive.

My wife and I loved Dumplin with all our hearts, not "loved", LOVE Dumplin with all our hearts. We believe that he is in heaven, with other pets who went before him. There is nothing more I can do for Dump. We cremated his remains so we can always have that part of him with us.

What I CAN do, is to now, devote some part of my life to fighting this FeLV and associated diseases, and be a proactive advocate of more research into finding a cure for FeLV. Even if you don't care about cats, if we find a cure for FeLV, because of the similarity, it is quite possible that this could increase the likelihood of a cure for human AIDS.

I have erected various sites for information.
http://www.dumplinbaker.com
http://www.felineleukemia.info
http://cats.terapad.com
http://dumplin.terapad.com
and
http://dumplinbaker.angelfire.com

I may never achieve my goal of increasing public awareness of FeLV, of increasing funding and research
on the disease, of getting more humane treatment of cats, and of making Dumplin, a name synonymous with
courage, loyalty, grace, love, and dedication, but it will
NOT be for the lack of trying.

I am 56, so it is possible I have another twenty years
to accomplish this, and with dedication, a lot can be accomplished in twenty years.

Thanks for reading this.
john / "Doc" Baker

feline leukemia, lymphosarcoma, dr. john raymond baker, dc, dumplin, dumplin baker, felv, feline leukemia virus, treatment, cure, fight, life, cat, cats

DUMPLIN BAKER - Our friend, our cat, Our child, passed 27 December 2008

2008-12-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

DUMPLIN BAKER PASSED DECEMBER 27, 2008.
HE WAS LOVING, LOYAL, DEDICATED, HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, AND OUR LOVED ONE.

DUMPLIN BAKER- OUR WHITE CAT AND FRIEND

DUMPLIN BAKER - FELINE FRIEND, CHILD, LOVED

DUMPLIN BAKER - Our friend, our cat, Our child, passed 27 December 2008