Sweet Basil, One Year Later

December 14, 2025 Bernadette

Silly Basil peeks around the corner at me.

Yesterday, December 13, was two years that we let Giuseppe go to join his siblings. Today, December 14, is one year that we let Basil go to follow his ninja mentor and feline family. As I’ve done with all my other cats since my first losses, I compose the story and share it, sharing them here since I founded this site in 2009. This post discusses the decisions I made for Basil and his release to his next life. I always hope that sharing this level of detail helps you at some future time to make difficult decisions, or helps you resolve decisions you made and haven’t accepted yet. It certainly helps me in my grief to share it.

December 14, 2025

I have been deep into memories of both Giuseppe and Basil in their lives and in their last days this past week and this weekend, their connection to each other, and where we are as a household today.

Because my websites were offline last year through the time of Basil’s illness I posted briefly about it on social media, but I would have posted here about his condition through all his treatment time, and followed up with the final story about his loss. I linked these stories as each cat’s “journey.” I had intended posts about Giuseppe and about Basil’s condition earlier this month leading up to a post about Basil’s loss today, exactly one year later, but focus and activities kept me from finishing either preliminary article. That means I am including all the information about Basil’s condition, treatment, and other decisions in this article, which makes this article pretty long. I want Basil’s entire story to be here with all the others, and for people who come to read The Creative Cat to also find the story of Basil along with all the others. Read it in as many parts as you need to.

Basil’s condition began in October 2024.

October 2024

three cats in kitchen — Sienna and Mimi inspect my work area as Basil keeps watch from the bookcase, March, 2024

We had lost Mimi in August, the last of the older generation, mentors to five of the rescued cats who remained in our downstairs feline family: Basil, Bella, Hamlet, Sienna and Mariposa. Mr. Max and Morty were still upstairs in the studio. As they had shuffled and realigned after the losses of Mewsette, Jelly Bean, Giuseppe and Mr. Sunshine they had still had Mimi as their leader, the one they looked to for guidance in everyday things.

I wasn’t sure who would emerge as the new guide but, in time, I could see Basil emerging as their leader, the most socialized of them all though he could still be timid and anxious. We found a new routine and Basil was the one who was always nearest me and especially always in the kitchen with me.

two black cats on table — Basil and Hamlet hanging out, April 2024.

October 15

I had moved a litter box into the kitchen through all the renovations and changes in our home over 2023 and 2024 and found it convenient for observing litterbox behavior; Basil and Bella used it regularly. With all the stress and changes, urinary issues recurred with Bella and Sienna who had a history of them and I was prepared with medications on hand.

But I was surprised to hear lots of scratching and shuffling in that litterbox and see Basil in there squatting, waiting, getting up and turning around after producing nothing, and trying again. With all his anxiety—you might have noticed over the years he wore a purple calming collar about half the time—urinary issues had never been part of that. He also used the box at the bottom of the basement steps where I could see him go, and he even looked up at me while he did, so this may have begun prior to this date but this was the first time I saw it.

I felt internal alarm immediately. In part, after so many losses that began with tiny unusual occurrences it was natural to feel some alarm at this indicator of a change in behavior, and a possibly serious health issue. I don’t ignore my alarm but always try to quell my own fears when something comes up because I don’t want my stress to make things worse.

I mixed a dose of saw palmetto into some yummy food and Basil ate it right up. Always recommended by Dr. Elgersma with her training in herbs as well as acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, it doesn’t cure a condition but does help to keep the urethra open. I would continue dosing and observing.

Basil and Hamlet in their baskets, September 5, 2024

It didn’t continue every day, more like every other day, every third day, but as we approached two weeks it was more frequent. I added Four Marvels, a Chinese herbal combination for inflammation prescribed by Dr. Elgersma, and started him on some Clavamox left over from all the medications I had on hand from the past two years. I didn’t see any change in the condition, though he did produce urine regularly, but in small amounts with some hesitation.

I had taken Mr. Max to our veterinarian on October 1 and had scheduled a follow-up on November 19. At the end of October I switched that appointment to Basil just to be able to get him in faster. In the meantime he started to show some signs of pain from his condition and produced occasional drops of blood in his urine. I gave him small doses of gabapentin.

Basil had never shown any signs of urinary issues before this. I know they can come up at any time, stress is a major factor, Basil was a very stressed kitty at any point in time and I knew all those losses hit him hard. He managed it well, but whatever that early trauma was it stayed with him and kept him at a low level of stress all his life. At one point it looked like he was also straining to defecate, because he was in that position and would occasionally produce very small thin pieces. That freaked me out, thinking cancer somewhere that would be constricting both his bladder and intestines, but I also know that when they strain repeatedly they often produce what’s in their bowels even if there’s not much.

November 19

Appointment day came and even though I had Basil conditioned with a good dose of gabapentin and started early, the light blue carrier in my stack was not my top-opening one, and it was nowhere to be found, probably inadvertently loaned out in TNR. Basil was always difficult to get into a carrier, but fine inside it and could be easily handled by anyone. I tricked him into going into the front-loading carrier by tossing treats in there but he sensed me closing the door behind him and pushed his hind legs out so that I couldn’t shut the door, pushed himself out, biting me in the process, and ran off and hid. I found him and gave him food with another dose of gabapentin. That overlapping dose brought him out and relaxed him enough that I got him in his carrier, but by then we were past our appointment time and our veterinarian is about 40 minutes away. They did call me shortly after to let me know I could still bring him in, but once I had him in the carrier I wasn’t letting him out and had decided to take him to Rivers Veterinary Urgent Care and missed their call.

Basil finally in the carrier. — Basil finally in the carrier, November 19, 2024.

Send some healing purrs for Basil. Tuesday we went to @riversvetuc for his frequent litter box visits and sometimes bloody pee. Not sure of the cause, he didn’t have enough in his bladder to test but has an antibiotic and pain relief.

Not much change today. Pain relief is Zorbium, a topical dose of buprenorphine lasting three to four days. The few other cats of mine who have had this dose pace around and act like they’re hallucinating but it does relieve the pain. I’m just hoping to collect enough urine to take it to test.

He had no fever, and urine was easily expressed from his bladder, though there was not enough to test. Dr Dutra did X-rays and used a small hand-held ultrasound finding that his bladder was normal but had a lot of inflammation and had something on or in it that looked like calcification. She said it likely was not cancer but wasn’t sure what it was, it wasn’t typical and he would probably need a bigger ultrasound machine than the one that she had. She suspected bladder stones, He got a Convenia injection and Zorbium, a topical timed-release buprenorphine for pain, and we went home.

Basil on the table. — Basil on the table, November 26, 2024.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck when she said calcification on his bladder, she didn’t know what it was, even though she thought it likely wasn’t cancer. The little bit of alarm had not left me, and I felt that was confirmed in this. I had of course looked up his symptoms and of course cancer was a possibility. I had also read about bladder stones and they actually seemed most likely considering his symptoms, could be removed and managed with diet.

Even after the previous month of litter box issues and daily medications, Basil still had a great appetite and looked the same as he had before—a health, shiny, fluffy, playful, affectionate 10-year-old cat, in the prime of his life. Even early cancer would be taking him down a bit, and there are tiny signs you remember from other cats that indicate a particular sort of wasting, even without too much weight loss.

But I still needed to get a urine specimen for a urinalysis.

I’m not fond of Zorbium though regular buprenorphine works fine. Any cat of mine who’s had a dose became hyperactive, pacing around and not eating and drinking enough, looking a little psychotic. It took a day and a half to wear off for Basil and he was totally crazy, hiding in the basement, racing around the house with these big round glassy eyes and dilated pupils. The appointment had been Tuesday and I actually gave him another 50 mg of gabapentin on Wednesday to see if it would calm him down; after a few hours it did. By Thursday morning at about 2:00 a.m. he was eating and looking for a place to rest. Later that day he was still a little out of it but by Friday he was pretty much normal Basil. It was difficult to tell what was really happening while he was in that state but he was more responsive and easier to read at this point. I’m sure he wasn’t feeling any pain at all, but it delayed getting a urine specimen for several days.

On November 23 I posted on social media:

Stealing Basil's pee. — Stealing Basil’s pee, November 23, 2024.

Paws together for BASIL! I finally got enough of a urine sample to take for testing, so now I can quit following him around and sticking a dish under his butt.

He was actually producing more drops than quantity all week with an occasional tablespoon or so after I had given him his herbal treatments, and you’re really supposed to collect a sample all at once, no saving it up. I tried to time it for post-herbs.

The temporary litter box with plastic pellets is too lightweight for him, with all the times he’s in and out he tips it and flips it.

I let him roam but blocked the basement and followed him around for the past few days…I have a small vintage glass serving dish that’s an elongated oval with sloping sides that fits purrfectly between their hind legs and covers from their butt to their front paws like a kitty bedpan so it catches just about everything, if kitty isn’t traumatized by having a cool glass dish slipped under them in the litter box. Basil thought it was weird but focused on the pee. I’m glad he trusts me.

So, five days after he was in, I ran it off to Rivers and it’s on its way for testing.

He really didn’t change much from Tuesday to Thursday, Friday he seemed a little more relaxed, deep kitty stretches and brought me a mousie, then today he’s just like his normal self. Still blood in his pee but maybe the antibiotic is finally taking effect.

Either way, I’m thrilled Basil is feeling less pain and feeling much more like his sweet self, and I hope for his sake we don’t have too many more steps in diagnosing this.

He did seem to feel more relaxed after that, possibly because I wasn’t following him around with a little glass dish trying to steal his pee. On November 25 I posted:

Basil, Hamlet, Mariposa, the longhairs. — Basil, Hamlet, Mariposa, the longhairs, October 10, 2024.

Longhairs gathering in the kitchen. Today was a long day of little frustrating things, so purrhaps they sense my frustration and are simply there to be a calming influence. If so, it’s working.

While we waited for the urinalysis, under Dr. Elgersma’s direction, I adjusted the palliative measures I had on hand. Along with the saw palmetto and Four Marvels I added another Chinese herbal combination, Three Seeds, which is an all-over tonic and especially good for urinary tone. Once I started a twice daily dose of Three Seeds I was able to reduce his saw palmetto from two doses twice a day to one dose a day and he was still producing urine reliably, producing drops only occasionally. His appetite was amazing. And he was playing, and sleeping in his normal places. That made the wait for the urinalysis results a little easier!

But the urine sample wasn’t a good one:

Bella tries to comfort Basil. — Bella tries to comfort Basil, November 26, 2024.

December 4

Basil’s fur sister Bella tries to comfort him, but that’s not the solution Basil wants.

It’s true–the pee sample I captured from Basil with my special kitty bedpan (in the litterbox) was full of so many things it was clear it was contaminated. Free catch samples work great for shorthaired cats but can be tricky with fluffy cats. Basil is medium-haired and that belly hair picks up a lot of stuff, especially in the box.

So we need to get a sterile sample from Basil which means a cystocentesis at the veterinarian. Until then, I’m keeping him comfortable and flowing.

The antibiotic had a minimal effect on his activity–I was hoping it would be the solution. This might mean he has a bladder stone, or stones. An ultrasound may be in our future.

Hoping for an easy solution for sweet Basil.

The next step: cystocentesis and ultrasound

Squirrel watch! Basil and Bella, December 6, 2024.

I checked the low-cost ultrasound at Animal Friends that I’d used for Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette and knew I could also get a low-cost cystocentesis there, but no appointments were available until January. I’d take that but also decided to check with Safe Haven Veterinary Hospital. I’d never gone there but both our regular veterinarian and Dr. Elgersma really trusted and worked with them, they were internal medicine specialists and ultrasounds were far less expensive than the animal specialty hospital, plus they had an urgent care. My regular veterinarian gave me a referral and I made an appointment for two weeks later hoping I could keep him comfortable until then. I also added an old favorite, homeopathic arnica montana, to help with pain management.

December 11, blocked again, the ultrasound and diagnosis

When he was blocked again in the morning on December 11 I decided to visit Safe Haven through their urgent care, called ahead and set out in a snow squall. He was such a good boy. We got some maybe not unexpected news. I posted the following on social media on December 12:

Basil after his ultrasound. — Basil after his ultrasound, December 11, 2024.

Basil had a big change in health status yesterday—an ultrasound found not only bladder stones but also a mass on his bladder. He recovered from all yesterday’s treatments and today seems stable. I am hoping for the best and exploring options.

Since November I’ve been able to keep him “going” and comfortable, making arrangements for a low-cost ultrasound appointment. Last week he was a little less interested in food and over the weekend he seemed a little less comfortable. I added some foods he can’t resist and with veterinary guidance some extra pain relief. Monday he was better, Tuesday he was producing good urine and back to his usual self.

Wednesday morning he was in full continuing spasm with a blockage. I took him to Safe Haven Veterinary Hospital urgent care and the ultrasound he needed.

Two big stones seemed to cause his blockage. The mass, a transitional cell carcinoma, is at the top of his bladder but not constricting his urethra.

Dr. Purvis told me testing the urine for cells shed from the mass can sometimes determine the type of cancer. His long-term prognosis is not good, but studies indicate non-surgical treatments have given months or even years.

Basil is only10 years old and his vitals and physical exam show a perfectly healthy cat. By this afternoon he is social, affectionate, active, jumping up on the kitchen table to visit me, up on the cabinet for food, lots of pee with no blood, and talking again–a quiet Basil seemed more foreboding than a lot of other things.

He seems to want to continue with his daily life so I will support that as long as that’s what he wants and will pursue options for treatment. If you have had this experience with feline bladder cancer, or are a veterinarian who has treated a cat with bladder cancer, I’d love to hear of treatments you used that either did or did not work.

I don’t know how much time (or money) we have, I’m trying not to feel desperate, and I’ll just mention that tomorrow is the first anniversary of the day we let Giuseppe, Basil’s ninja hero, go to his next life, and I’m not ready for another loss.

Cancer, and stones, how to treat both

Sleepy Basil in the basket on my desk, December 12, 2024.

The mass was the type that if disturbed would seed itself all over the abdomen, and the stones could not be removed without disturbing the mass, so only non-surgical treatment was possible. Dr Purvis at Safe Haven had mentioned that his urine could be tested for cancer cells and that would determine the type of cancer he had and also the nature of the stones, and they gave me a vial of his urine to have that done; it had to be sent to a special testing facility. If it was actually lymphoma or some other cancers, it would respond to steroids and there would be some other non-invasive treatments for it. Bladder stones could be treated with a diet.

Of course the bigger problem was the stones because they were what was blocking him. The mass itself was not blocking his urethra in any way. Dr Purvis said that his blood tests were not as important as indicators as testing the urine would be. My regular veterinarian was closed that day so I decided to talk to Rivers about sending the urine out for a test. By the time I got home they were closed so I could talk to my regular veterinarian the next day about the urinalysis.

Ironically, I just wore the coat this past week that I’d worn that day and felt something like a short pen in the pocket. When I realized it was the vial of Basil’s urine, which I didn’t manage to get to anyone and was still in the pocket, a wave of sadness washed from head to foot remembering that day. Strange, the things you keep. But that’s a topic for another day.

Overnight, a great escape, with help from Giuseppe?

Basil felt pretty well by the time I went to bed on December 12, but I decided to keep him in the bathroom overnight so I could track his input and output.

But some time later I awoke with a cat walking all over me and settling down next to me, against my chest despite Sienna in that spot. The fur felt like Basil, and I could just see in the dark that the bifold bathroom door was hanging open. He hadn’t slept in the bedroom since earlier that year. He settled down against me, purring, and I put my arm around him and thought about this.

How had he opened the door? The bifold door has a substantial hook and eye at my eye level that’s held for decades of foster and sick cats. No cat had ever broken out of there. Except for Giuseppe on his last full day with us, December 12, 2023, in the evening one year previous…

Tonight as I prepared dinner for the rest of the household, Giuseppe upstairs in the bathroom, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to bring him downstairs, if I’d be able to keep him safe while watching all the others. I heard a bumping noise upstairs and that’s usually Morty rattling the studio door trying to get my attention because they needed dinner too. Shortly after that, sounds on the roof? The squirrel at night? Or someone on the landing or the steps? All the cats in the room were looking at the ceiling or toward the steps.

I saw a black cat—Mr. Max?—then I realized it was Giuseppe coming down the last of the steps and heading for the closet door on the landing, pressing his head against it, somehow without tumbling.

Basil woke me 6:22 a.m. Friday straining to pee next to me. I noted the time was almost exactly the same to the minute of the date a year before that Giuseppe woke me with his final seizure 6:30 a.m., December 13 and we let him go later that morning. Perhaps he helped Basil from beyond to break out of the bathroom in the same way he had himself, and woke me up at that hour; later the meaning of it would deepen.

I picked up Basil and took him into the bathroom to use the litter box. He decided to go downstairs so I gave him his morning meds, glad that morning didn’t look like the morning a year before when we were waiting for Dr Elgersma to take care of Giuseppe.

One really good day

Hamlet and Basil enjoy the morning sun on a very cold morning. — Hamlet and Basil enjoy the morning sun on a very cold morning, October 24, 2024.

All day December 12 he had been producing urine, for most of the day small to normal amounts but no real fuss. He had had 150 ml of fluids at Safe Haven and then he was drinking a lot. He didn’t seem to have any discomfort all day so I didn’t need to give him any pain relief until later on, only the anti-inflammatories. His trips to the litter box became more frequent with less urine produced, always about a tablespoon but not all together and with some more hesitation as time went on. I ended up giving him gabapentin.

The hesitation and straining started again about midnight. Morning December 13 he was frequently in the box, but also being his normal self, eating well, climbing on the upholstered dining chairs, getting up on the table to come over to me, no blood in the urine at all.

But by noon I felt his bladder was filling up and after corresponding with Dr. Elgersma I decided he needed to go somewhere. Friday was a short day for my veterinarian, I could run back to Safe Haven, 45 minutes away, and I could also go to Rivers for a quicker exam and assessment. I went to Rivers with the vial of urine in my pocket.

“Not sure how this is going to go. But if I have to let him go I’m bringing him home,” I texted to Dr. Elgersma. She let me know she had time the next morning and had been planning to stop for a visit anyway.

Out of options

He didn’t even have much urine in his bladder, but the stones were pressing again and blocking him. And that was going to continue. Discussing with Dr. Thornton at Rivers, he didn’t have the time to find the right diet to dissolve the stones, she could easily remove the stones and he could go on a diet to prevent more, and she could also debulk the mass on his bladder. But disturbing the mass on his bladder would cause the cancer to spread everywhere, his bladder was in bad shape already from both the stones and the cancer, and he might get more time but with pain and discomfort as he would never heal from the surgery.

We talked about installing a permanent catheter so he could pass urine even if the stones were still there to just get him through the weekend for just a little more time, and if he tolerated it we might get even more time that way. The catheter would be uncomfortable to painful, he’d need to be on permanent pain relief and he’d probably have to wear a cone, and it had a good chance of infection even with the best of care. He would have an unknown amount of time before the mass on his bladder spread and that became very painful, and where it was it would actually pinch off the entry to his bladder.

I could have gotten away with that with any of the siblings or Mimi, but not Basil. I would take him home, and Dr. Elgersma would visit us the next morning. Unless some miracle happened, we had a little less than 24 hours to take advantage of.

Sitting up all night

I let him out of the carrier when we got home and just tried to have a regular day for cats. He felt okay, with an empty bladder and some pain relief and he got treats and love. He was actually his usual goofy, playful, affectionate self for hours, then he quieted down. He produced a few drops of urine now and then but didn’t seem uncomfortable. He stayed near me and we hung out in the kitchen, Bella and Hamlet joined us. Later I blocked the kitchen and basement doorways and sat up in one of the kitchen chairs, napping with Basil on my lap or in front of the furnace vent on the floor next to me.

Dr. Elgersma arrives

He took off for under my bed with Mariposa and Sienna when Dr. Elgersma came the next day, but I brought him back downstairs. He had been handled so much in the previous days he was timid of it, but not of Dr. Elgersma, and I really think he knew what was about to happen, and welcomed it. He relaxed and laid down, took the shaving and the needle without any complaint. A big healthy cat, he did take a while to fall asleep with the sedative, and a while again after the second injection. It was very peaceful, though he twitched a few times after Dr. Elgersma left.

Bella keeps watch

As I had done with each of the others, I put him in a flat box wrapped in a towel, loosely covering his torso, and put him on the table so each of the others could come and visit him. The others did come to sniff him and sat with him for a while.

But Bella sniffed him all over, then laid down over his torso and stayed there, purring, for at least two hours, his devoted fur sister and best friend purring his spirit home. That relationship will live through eternity.

What I shared on social media the next day, December 15:

I let Basil go to join his fur family yesterday, December 14.

After Safe Haven on Wednesday Basil had a great Thursday, his old self, active, affectionate. I contacted our veterinarian about diet for bladder stones, possible diagnosis/treatment options for cancer. I knew his time was at best weeks but wanted him to have even only days.

But midnight he started blocking again. Took him to Rivers Friday, discussed options, without stones we could treat the mass temporarily but surgically removing stones/mass reduction, his bladder is too compromised to heal and he would never heal and recover. The mass is aggressive/large enough he wouldn’t have much time no matter what, messing with it in any way makes this type of transitional cell carcinoma “seed” to other areas.

They unblocked him, I brought him home, made arrangements for euthanasia at home Saturday morning secretly hoping we could get another day or two. But even with the urinary catheter and medication in a few hours he was blocking again.

I stayed up pretty much all night Friday to Saturday with him in the kitchen just to spend that time together. We had a good nap with him on my lap for 3 hours around midnight, then he slept on my lap for another hour or more early Saturday.

We let him go around 10:00 and it took a while for Bella, Hamlet, Sienna and Mariposa to come downstairs after another human had been here. Hamlet came to look at him, Bella climbed atop him and napped for close to two hours. When they were all done I took him for cremation.

Another connection with Giuseppe on Friday: I confined Basil in the bathroom Thursday night. The bifold door has a substantial hook and eye at my eye level that’s held for decades of foster and sick cats, but he managed to get the door open, woke me up walking on me, settling down next to me despite Sienna in that spot. He hasn’t slept in the bedroom since earlier this year. I curled my arm around him, we got some sleep until he woke me 6:22am Friday straining to pee next to me. Noted the time was almost exactly the same to the minute of the date a year ago that Giuseppe woke me with his final seizure 6:30am, December 13.

More to come

Believe it or not, but of course the story continues, some in other individual posts about Basil, and some in other pet loss posts, including an actual portrait I painted of Basil just weeks after I lost him. I share this so you as a reader can not only share my grief but also see how another person makes decisions and grieves. Reading about others was always a great relief to me as I made my decisions, knowing I wasn’t alone in this. I hope it helps you too.

About the medications and palliative care I mention

I am not a veterinarian nor making any recommendations about cat care. These were the decisions I made in my circumstances always under the guidance of several veterinarians whose care for my cats I appreciate deeply. Even leftover medications are given after I’ve consulted with a veterinarian. I hope that if you are interested in using any of these standard or alternative medications or treatments you will find a certified practitioner who will guide and provide to you.

Thanks for following Basil’s journey here, and mine. It’s been a long two years of loss.

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