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In terms of human years, Fluffy the Miracle Cat is well older than 100.

This beloved cat, which seems to have more than nine lives, belongs to Terry Seaks, professor of economics emeritus at UNCG, and his wife, Jane, a retired teacher at Aycock Junior High School.

Their devotion and love of Fluffy has involved seeing her through many illnesses, two lung cancer operations and giving her great love and special devotion. They have even established a Fluffy Seaks Scholarship to help veterinary students.

“Fluffy is clearly a senior kitty and may be near the end of her earthly work,” Terry said. “But anyone who consistently bet against her would have lost a lot of money.”

The Seakses feel Fluffy has faithfully fulfilled her mission on Earth.
She comforted Terry through the deaths of both parents in 1992. She has also comforted the couple through Jane’s long, continuous struggle with Parkinson’s disease.

In 1989, Jane decided it would be good to adopt a cat from the local animal shelter. Terry wasn’t too fond of the idea, but went with her to select a feline companion.

Secretly he thought, “I’m a dog person, and a cocker spaniel would be better than a cat.”

They visited the Guilford County Animal Shelter and looked over the cats up for adoption. When Fluffy was placed on Terry’s lap, she stayed, purred and seemed to know her purpose in life was to love, comfort and be with Terry and his family.

After the adoption, Terry took her to the Cobb Animal Clinic, where she received a flea bath and physical exam. The doctor estimated she was 3 months old.

In less than 24 hours, Terry said, Fluffy had completely captured his heart and he fell under her feline charms. Her favorite position would forever be Terry’s lap.

Fluffy, named for her long, gorgeous coat of hair, is a Maine Coon with dark, gray fur, white paws and a white chest.

During the first 10 years of her life, Fluffy had only minor health issues and was successfully treated for a benign tumor and thyroid trouble.

Early in 2002, Fluffy started hiding and lost her appetite. Dr. Mark Whitley at the Cobb Animal Clinic did blood tests, and X-rays revealed a shadow on her right lung. Whitley referred Fluffy to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where nationally recognized soft-tissue surgeon Dr. Lizette Hardie removed a cancerous lung lobe and saved Fluffy from certain death.

Terry and Jane were so grateful that they set up the Fluffy Seaks Scholarship for veterinary students at N.C. State.

In late 2007, Fluffy’s appetite declined again and she began hiding. This time, Whitley found a tumor in her left lung lobe. Another soft tissue surgeon, Dr. Kyle Mathews, performed a second lung lobectomy, Terry said.

It is highly unusual, perhaps almost unheard of, for a cat to have cancerous lung tumors, years apart, in different lungs, in locations that are ideal for the success of the life-saving operation, said Dave Green, a spokesman for N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

“To perform any surgery on a 19-year-old cat is risky,” Terry said. “But Fluffy pulled through like a champ and earned the nickname 'Miracle Kitty.’ ”

Terry was so worried about Fluffy’s operation and after-care that he did not recognize the name of Lauren Pugliese, a member of the medical team that operated on and saved Fluffy’s life.

Pugliese was a recipient of a Fluffy Seaks Scholarship in 2006, Mathews later told Terry.

One of Terry’s treasured photographs is of Pugliese, DVM, Class of 2008, holding a recovering Fluffy a few days after surgery.

“I can’t remember a time in my life when I ever saw so vividly how what was given away (scholarship) comes back to the donor,” Terry said.

The scholarship helped Pugliese with student loans, and she is completing an internship in San Diego with plans to become a board-certified surgeon.

Pugliese said Terry’s dedication has certainly helped Fluffy live a long life. “A cat of 20 years with two lung cancers and having two lung lobes removed is certainly impressive.”

Terry has great praise for the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and the CVM, located on 180 acres near downtown Raleigh. The hospital is a major referral center for veterinarians from throughout the Southeast, and CVM clinicians diagnose and treat more than 20,000 animals every year. The animals brought there are often seriously ill and require the best that veterinary medicine offers.

Terry and his family are thankful for the dedicated doctors, caring people and many factors that have contributed to Fluffy’s long life. He particularly thanks Whitley, who first treated Fluffy, and the surgeons and diagnosticians at CVM, who have become family friends.

Over the years, other cats have been added to the Seaks family, but Fluffy is undoubtedly queen of the household.

In addition to excellent veterinary care, Fluffy and the family’s other cats are faithfully transported to the Blessing of the Animals each October at Christ United Methodist Church.

Upon Terry’s request, a Bible study classmate from church also conducted a healing prayer service for Fluffy following her second lung surgery in January 2008. At that time, the outlook for 19-year-old Fluffy, who had only 60 percent lung capacity, was poor, but she once again rallied and is still surviving.

When Terry and Jane’s daughter, Libby, gets married this summer, she hopes to persuade her parents to give her one of their beloved cats.

“There is no question that she is not getting Fluffy the Miracle Cat,” Terry said.

To nominate someone who has or is making a difference in the lives of others, contact Peggy Longmire at rlongmire@triad.rr.com or 288-9040.