Posted March 3rd, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie
We dropped Sadie off this morning at 7:30 am with Dr. Chretin. Dr. called with her blood results (poor Sadie needs a light bit of sedation just so they can take blood); they don’t know how to deal with Her Majesty. White count normal but while sedated doctor felt her body. The tumor on the left side of her throat is a bit smaller but there is a small lump on the right side of her throat and a lump in her shoulder. We elected to go with “rescue chemo” a pill called CCNU (lomustine) which is an anticancer drug that is used to treat some types of cancers, especially lymphomas, brain tumors and mast cell tumors.
In talking with Dr. Chretin after the blood work and prior to the administration of this pill, we decided that since Sadie has not had success with shot-based chemo the last several times, we are afraid she again will not respond well to another round of shot-based chemo. To give her another chemo shot at this time and have her not respond well would be a waste of valuable treatment time. Giving her the “rescue pill” now will hopefully give us a bit of a head start. The pill if successful is administered once a month for a specified length of time.
She is to see Dr. Chretin next Wednesday for bloods and an exam and then hopefully will not have to go back for another three weeks after that. We are to examine the lumps daily to be sure they are not growing.
Sadie was very happy to be home this afternoon. I fed her canned food right away, then she had a drink of water and then the dry food. She is beautiful, chatty and seems happy to be home. We are happy to have our girl home and pray she will be happy and well at home for a long time.
Posted in category: Cat Health Problems | Tags: Brain and CNS, Brain tumor, Cancer, Cat Health Problems, cat with cancer, Chemotherapy, Diseases & Conditions, Health, Medicine, sick cat, Tumor
Posted February 27th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Wednesday, February 24. Well, this just plain sucks. Dr. Chretin, the oncologist, just called regarding Sadie. We dropped her off early this morning for what was supposed to be her chemo treatment 5. However, her white cell count is too low today for the chemo treatment; her weight is okay. They found a node / lump on her left jaw which is worrisome because this is happening so early in her treatment. Last month when Sadie was diagnosed with the mass in her throat, it was not specific to a lymph node; this new one is specific to a lymph node. Sadie is evidently partially resistant to the cancer drugs and the cancer is mutating and evolving. We will take her in again next Wednesday and after they take bloods we will make a decision whether to keep her on regular protocol (chemo treatment 5) or try the “rescue” chemo which is a pill once a month. This would be something she has not had before and the hope would be that she would respond positively to it. She has failed the shot-based chemo. Time is critical in the treatment because one week intervals can cause major changes in the tumor; this cancer is apparently very aggressive. We will take Sadie to Dr. Chretin next Wednesday for bloods and based on what happens will decide which treatment she will receive. In the meantime, we are to monitor her closely.
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Posted February 25th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Joey Boop
Yesterday I got a frantic all from my wife that Joey, our number two cat, was lying on the floor panting and breathing through his mouth. I headed home immediately but was intercepted by phone and told to head to the vet instead.
When I got there they were just getting ready to bring Joey to the back and get him stabilized. We were both pretty freaked out because Joey, while having kidney disease, has been pretty stable and of course you’ve been reading about Sadie and Sophie.
The Vet came out and told us that Joey was in a special oxygen cage and was stabilizing. She also told us that she wanted to take x-rays to see what was causing the problem.
A couple of years ago Joey had gone through something like this but they stabilize him and sent him home without a diagnosis. This time she came out with the x-rays and told us that it seems that Joey had an asthma attack. We have no idea what may have triggered the attack. We are very careful will all of our cleaning products and don’t bring plants into the house. Now we will be even more careful.
The Vet suggested we get some type of air cleaner and run it where he hangs out the most. Fortunate we already have one because we market one of the best air treatment systems in the market. Of course it doesn’t do much sitting unplugged in the office. That will change very soon.
We brought Joey home and he seems to be doing fine. The vet gave him a long lasting steroid that should keep him stable but suggested we get a feline inhaler in case of an emergency. She also suggested we check out a website called Feline Asthma with Fritz the Brave. She told us there was a lot of information on the site that can help in case of another episode.
This has been a crazy year. Two cats with kidney disease, one cat with cancer and now one with asthma. We also got some new information on Sadie, our cat with cancer, which I will share in my next post.
Posted February 20th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sophie
Today marks the seven month anniversary from the day we brought Sophie from the veterinarian. She is doing great (kanena hora). She is getting around just fine. It is hard to tell that she has any problems.
We are still hydrating (injecting 125 mg of lactated ringers solution into the scruff of Sophie’s neck) three days on one day off. The hydration is going much better now than it was. We were originally given a #18 needle for the hydration but thought it was too big for Sophie so we asked if we could go to a #20 needle. He said it would be ok. After a couple of months of using the smaller needle we went back to the #18. While bigger, the #18 allowed the solution to flow more quickly allowing for a shorter time to hydrate. Sophie also seemed to be more comfortable with the bigger needle too.
We are always aware that this is a day to day blessing and we are thankful every day to have Sophie with us .
Posted February 4th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie Coquette
We woke up early Wednesday morning for the weekly trip for Sadie’s Chemo session. This is to be her third treatment. We dropped her off and headed home to wait for the call to pick her up.
The Oncologist called us before Noon with good news. Sadie is in “clinical remission” which means tumor in her throat 100% controlled. She will still need course of chemo but will be able to skip next week. We will take her in to our regular vet for a blood count. Sadie will continue with prednisone until end of 24 weeks when we will wean her off of it. Her white cell count is great and she has normal blood pressure. Last week Sadie would not have any part of letting them take her blood pressure so Dr. was please they were able to do so today. He said they will administer the chemo shortly, it is doxorubinicin, and has to be administered slowly and carefully. Sadie will need a mild sedative and we can pick her up early afternoon. We were grateful for the good news.
We picked her up Wednesday afternoon. She was a little groggy from the sedative but we were told that this normal. In a few hours she was back to normal. Her voice is coming back and she is strong enough to jump on the kitchen counter without help. As with Sophie, our cat with kidney disease, we understand that these situation can change quickly. We are grateful for every day they are with us.
Posted January 26th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie Coquette
We picked Sadie up late this morning (Monday); she seemed a bit dazed from her ordeal – she has never been away from home since we adopted her. Sadie was chattering almost the whole time home in the car, but seemed to quiet down when either of us talked to her. But, once inside the house she seemed at ease and found a few of her happy places. Our Vet called upon his receipt of the report from the radiologist, still no definitive answer as to what is going on. He agreed that we need to contact the oncologist and perhaps start light doses of chemo; we have a call in to the oncologist.
We spoke to the oncologist this evening; he has not received report from radiologist and expects to receive same tomorrow. We told him what the radiation specialist told us, that it is not thyroid, and the oncologist recommended a biopsy so we can confirm or rule out lymphoma or confirm or rule out another type of cancer. We will take Sadie in tomorrow morning and she will return home in the afternoon. We should then have the biopsy report in 2 to 3 days and can discuss what, if anything, further to do.
We took Sadie to the oncologist early this morning (Tuesday) for the biopsy; he called us at 9:00 am to tell us Sadie looks good, the tumor has shrunk almost in half during the past week (probably due to the first dose of chemo), that based on the second lab report, it is early-stage lymphoma and he does not feel that a biopsy is necessary.
We will continue the chemo protocol, which is once a week for six weeks (today is week 2) and then once every three weeks for the next 21 weeks. The oncologist believes that since we caught this so early, Sadie has a good chance for the tumor should go away. He does caution that 50% of cats in this condition experience remission after nine months but because this was caught early, he has given us a good prognosis for Sadie. We’ll be picking her up later this mornig.
Posted January 25th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie
We got up early Sunday morning, fed our cats and then packed Sadie for her big adventure with the veterinary radiologist, a 60 mile trip from home. We brought along canned and dry food for a week, a toy and towels with the scent of home. Little traffic and we arrived shortly before our scheduled 9:30 a.m. appointment.
The doctor looked at the x-rays, read the medical reports and examined Sadie. He said they would scan Sadie and keep her at least overnight and that we would hear from him Sunday evening. We did and it was not good news. While Sadie does have some small tumors on her thyroid they are not the mass that has been our concern. These small tumors do not require any treatment at this time.
The doctor feels that the large mass in her throat is some other form of cancer but he can not tell what is involved. He does not feel it is a lymphoma but it could be a cancer of one of the many other tissues in Sadie’s throat. He also told us that other cancers are harder to diagnose and more difficult to treat. He will be forwarding the test results back to our oncologist and regular vet.
It seems we are back to square one and things do not look good. We will be picking Sadie up from the radiation specialist Monday morning and will contact our oncologist. I do not think we have too many options but we will know more tomorrow.
Posted January 24th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie Office Manager
The oncologist called late Friday afternoon. He talked with a radiation veterinary specialist, who is the same specialist that irradiated Sophie’s thyroid 3-1/2 years ago. The oncologist told us he still cannot determine if the mass is malignant or benign and he recommended that we take Sadie to the radiation specialist. The oncologist said that if it is not cancer, then her thyroid would get low dose of radiation and be hospitalized for 4 – 6 days. If it is cancer, then she would get a bigger dose of radiation and be hospitalized for two weeks.
We immediately made an appointment for Sunday, January 24 at 9:30 a.m. to see the radiation specialist. Our oncologist said that by doing an initial scan, they will be able to determine whether it is specific to the thyroid and whether or not it is malignant. If it is a tumor, the radioactive iodine will concentrate in the tumor and will cause the scan to “light up”. If in fact the tumor “lights up” it is in fact a thyroid tumor. The doctor will then be able to determine whether or not it is malignant.
If it is determined to be benign, the course of treatment is similar to what Sophie went through 3 years ago, relatively low dose of radiation to shrink the tumor and 4 to 6 days of recovery. If the tumor turns out to be malignant, the treatment requires three times the dose of radiation and a much longer hospital recovery time, up to two weeks.
If the tumor does not “light up” during the scan, we are back to square one, which is the doctors will not know what the problem is and will not know what to do, at which point we will have to make a serious decision regarding Sadie, because whatever it is, it is fast growing and life threatening.
We talked to our vet tonight and told him what was happening. He told us to make absolutely sure that if the scan “lights up” it is in fact a thyroid tumor. Our vet wants to make sure that lymphoma is totally ruled out. Irradiating a normal thyroid could be very dangerous.
Posted January 24th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie Coquette
We spoke to our vet Tuesday morning, December 19. Bad news is that it is not an infection, which implies that it may be something more serious. He does not have lab report back yet and will call us later today when he receives it. I am devastated and scared. Ira is also upset, but he handles things differently.
At 5:45 p.m. on January 19, our vet called. It wasn’t good news. It’s lymphoma and he gave us the names of two doctors who are veterinarian oncologists. He also cautioned us that we either had to treat Sadie immediately or have her euthanized. We made an appointment for the next day to see one of the two oncologists recommended by our Vet.
After reviewing the x-rays and the test results we brought from our vet, the oncologist layed out various scenarios. We agreed to a sonogram and further testing. The oncologist said that due to an emergency surgery, there would be a delay processing Sadie and she would not be able to go home until about 5:00 p.m. We elected to stay and wait. We also elected for a first dose of chemo, “just in case”. We told the oncologist that Sadie did not like being poked, prodded and handled; he said okay. A short while later the doctor found us in the waiting room and asked if they could give Sadie a small dose of sedative, called her “quite a pistol”. We told the doctor “I told you so”.
The oncologist called Thursday evening. Sadie has a tumor but he does not know if it is malignant or not; it is difficult to determine. He told us that he also consulted with another doctor. He did a sonogram of the spleen and while it was slightly enlarged, the spleen was not abnormal and not indicative of lymphoma. A needle biopsy of the spleen also confirmed that. They did an ultrasound of Sadie’s throat which did not help further diagnose her, but whatever it is, it is not consistent with lymphoma. The oncologist feels that it is more likely a tumor on the thyroid. He has never seen this type of tumor before in a cat, only with dogs. He wants to do further research and will call us Friday.
We still don’t know what type of cancer it might be and we really don’t know if it is cancer at all.
Posted January 23rd, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie
It’s been a really hard week. We learned early this week that Sadie our number one cat may have some form of cancer. What kind of cancer, if any cancer exists, is still unknown and that is a part of the story.
We noticed that Sadie had been breathing hard, wheezing and finally felt it was time to take her to the doctor.
Our Vet expressed immediate concern regarding Sadie. He took an x-ray of her throat area and it showed a mass around her esophagus. She had a regular exam and blood work in November and there were no signs of trouble. She lost one pound since November. Our vet also took a needle biopsy of the mass area and his viewing appeared to indicate an infection of the esophagus; he sent the biopsy to an outside lab for confirmation and diagnosis. Sadie was hydrated and given shot of antibiotic.
We were given amoxicillin to give Sadie at home and she ate almost one can of cat food last night. Good sign, we hope.
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