Posted May 19th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | 1 Comment
Sadie Newman-Katz
1994 – 2010
Even the heavens wept when we put our beloved Sadie to rest on Monday afternoon, May 17.
Sadie was 15 years and 8 months old and had never been sick or so much as sneezed until that horrible day this past January when she was diagnosed with lymphoma.
Despite immediate treatment by a fabulous veterinary oncologist, the cancer was very aggressive and took our girl.
Sadie was our little girl for 15 years; she was our companion, best friend, confidant and advisor. Sometimes she was known as Bossy the Cat. In our household she was the Consigliore. She was the Spokesperson for the other 3 cats. To a guest in our home she was Greeter; she met you at the door and you had to acknowledge Sadie and answer all of her questions.
We ate breakfast together for 15 years; Sadie sat on the stool next to me and had a few drops of half and half while I had coffee. Sadie was my constant companion; she followed me around the house day and night. Sadie called it “her job” to be with me and take care of me.
Sadie will be with us forever in our hearts. We are devastated by the loss of this beautiful creature.
Posted March 26th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | 1 Comment
Wednesday, March 24. I woke up at 5:00 am this morning to shower and leave early to get Sadie to Dr. Chretin. She needs to be dropped off around 7:30 am and I like to avoid the morning rush hour on the 405. We gave Sadie breakfast, she did not want to eat canned food but did eat the dry food, especially K/D. Following breakfast she got the sedative and shortly after that we loaded her into the carrier for the trip to the doctor.
We are very anxious because over the last 4 days we have felt the lump on the left side of her throat get noticeably larger and the lump on the right side of her throat is growing. We put a warning note on her carrier that she should be kept in a flat cage because she will get a bit wobbly from the drugs.
Dr. Chretin called around 10:30 am. Sadie gained a bit of weight over the past two weeks but that was the only good news. The doctor said that the lymph nodes are a bit bigger. The tablet chemo can be given safely every 3 weeks only because to do so at two weeks is too dangerous; she would be at risk for infections which are life threatening. The chemo is not holding the cancer at bay fast enough to hold tumors down; this chemo not cutting it for her; the further you get along in chemo protocol lower the chances for cure and the more resistance causes the cancer to become harder to get under control and it becomes less likely that anything else will work. At best we have a 25% chance of chemo working at all.
We decided to give her one additional dose of pill chemo and to change the steroids. I am to call the doctor in two weeks to report progress. If Sadie is stable, then in 3 weeks will do chemo again. If the tumors are worse in 3 weeks will not do anything further. I picked up Sadie at the doctor’s office and brought her home. She has an appetite and we hope she will take a nap and sleep off the effects of the drugs.
Unfortunately we are resigned that we do not have much time left with Sadie, perhaps two to eight weeks only. This is very difficult to process and we try not to cry. Yeah, right.
Posted March 26th, 2010 by Cat Behaviour Maven | No Comments
Sadie
It’s been a while since we posted anything about Sadie’s progress but we though it was a good time for an update. Things are not looking good and here’s what’s been happening since our last update.
Friday, March 5. Dr. Chretin, the oncologist, called this afternoon to suggest that since Sadie will only have CBC next Wednesday, that we give her pill sedative at home prior to the trip to his office. He said he does not like to “give her gas” unless necessary and the sedative will hopefully quiet her down enough so they will not have to sedate her. He realizes that Sadie is scared while at his office and is fighting their attempts to treat her and thus the need for sedation. He said we could cut pill in half and give to Sadie prior to office visit to see how zonked out she gets. If half pill is not enough, we can give her entire pill which should cause enough drowsiness that she will not fight them at the office. We do not like to sedate our cats unnecessarily and will give her full pill one hour before appointment next Wednesday. Went to drug store and picked up the prescription.
Wednesday, March 10. At 10 am we gave Sadie a xanax “chill pill” so the doctor would not have to sedate her today during her 11:15 am appointment. She gobbled up the pill in the pill pocket but was still pretty vocal during the car ride to the vet. We arrived a bit early and waited for our appointment. The doctor talked to us following the CBC; he said she was still pretty active. Sadie just does not like being “handled”. I had to laugh at his description of Sadie; that’s my girl. We are two of a kind, absolutely.
Told Dr. Chretin we are unable to find the tumor on the right side of her throat and the one on her shoulder; he said “good” which means they are too small to feel.
The bloods look good; tumor in her throat a bit smaller but the doctor had a challenge measuring it because Sadie was not allowing it. We are to return in two weeks for another pill dose of chemo; he feels we are making progress. Dr. Chretin suggested we give Sadie 1-1/2 chill pills or even two chill pills prior to her next appointment. We loaded our girl in her carrier and drove home; Sadie got a bit quieter each mile we drove.
Shikker, Yiddish for drunk. Yep, that’s our Sadie, a shikker. Got home from doctor, she staggered out of the carrier. At first we thought it was the bandage on her back paw where the blood was drawn. Nope, the kid was walking on jello legs and wanted to eat everything in sight. She following me around, missed jumps onto chairs, staggered and stumbled and finally, after more than an hour home I put her on our bed and suggested she “sleep it off”. That didn’t work; kid has a stoner’s appetite for munchies. We really do have to watch her because she can’t jump.
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 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.
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.
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