[Chrisdeelynn]

I'm am heartbroken right now. Merlin was diagnosed with leukemia. He has to stay in the hospital until Saturday and is undergoing chemotherapy.

We went to the University of FL small animal hospital and met with an internal medicine specialist.They did an ultrasound and he does not have a liver shunt so that is good news. They also did his blood work again. His white blood cell count just keeps going up. They checked for a rare tick-borne disease which came up negative.

They asked us if we wanted to meet with the oncologist there and I said yes. She suggested doing a light chemo and steroid therapy. They have called us twice since yesterday to let us know how hes doing. We get to visit him this afternoon and pick him up on Saturday, but we'll have to bring him back next week.

Since he's so young they are saying that it is definitely congenital, meaning he was born with it. Overall I'm happy with the way UF vets and student vets have handled this. They are compassionate, caring, and seem to really love animals.

Thanks for all the well wishes. You guys are all very sweet and it's nice for me to get my thoughts out here. I hope none of you ever have to go through what we're going through right now. Our little furbabies become a big part of our lives so quickly. Praying for Merlin right now is about all I can do.