He was so pretty! Kind of off-white with orange ears and tail and pretty blue eyes that were usually just a tiny little bit "wall-eyed" giving him a slightly comical, quizzical expression. He was immediately an affectionate lover of a cat. If you were sitting he was sitting on you. (not always welcome...white hair on navy pants! ) When we brought home our Scottish Terrier puppy they became best of friends and would wrestle and play forever. (until Angus got too big and then Taffy just steered clear.) He came to us already neutered and front declawed. I made a few feeble attempts to find the real owners but noone had notified the shelters so it seemed to be that he chose us. (we told ourselves.)Many years later he has about 4 teeth, he moves very slowly, and isn't at all interested in this big puppy we brought into the house a year ago. He's pretty boney and doesn't spend alot of time grooming that pretty white coat (which still loves to cling to Navyblue pants and purple scrubs.) A few weeks ago he seemed to have a cold...lots of nasal drainage and sneezing. We've been fighting a corneal abrasion for months with surgery, ointment and home remedies. Then last week his eye was totally swollen shut and he had a big lump on his head. He looked like DD when she developed a severe sinus infection. I took him to the vet who said "we're going to treat him with antibiotics and steroids and hope it's an infection but my gut tells me he has a nasal tumor that's broken through the nose bone."
Thinking back on the sneezing and nose drainage I knew in my heart that he was right. The steroids did seem to help reduce the size of the bump between his eyes, but it didn't go away completely. His eye is still swollen shut. 2 more visits to the vet and he gave me options and told me the probable outcome. We could spend a great deal of money on MRI's, nasal scopes, and ultra sounds to make a definate diagnosis but the outcome would be the same. The vet says this isn't rare and he could surgically "scoop it out" every few months" but eventualy the tumor would win. I can't see putting my old boy through surgery every few months. So we're in the process of telling our sweet guy goodbye. DD is coming home on leave for a few days so I'm going to wait until after she leaves unless Taffy seems to be suffering. He's still eating and drinking. Beyond that he mostly sleeps. He doesn't come up for cuddles as much but did sit on my lap last night (until Hugo decided to join us.)
Sorry for the long post. Thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder.
She's currently picked a paint pan with roller and brush included in it, that's still wrapped in cellophane! Odd for certain! Just waiting for her to put a nail through it and get the pop of her life! 
