Cat Behaviour Maven

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.

Well it’s been over five months and Sophie is still with us.  We took her to the vet a couple of weeks ago and her blood numbers have improved which was a surprise.

The vet ask that she be be put on the floor so he could see how she was walking.  What a surprise when she ran across the room into her carrier.    Since we first brought her back from the hospital her eyes were round and seemed to be protruding almost like bug eyes. I thought it might be a sign of stress.  Today I noticed that her eyes looked normal.  She’s getting around the house and jumping on the bed with out any problem.

When she first got sick the vet didn’t offer us much hope but encouraged us to try.  It’s been challenging with hydration three days on and one day off. Keeping her on her special diet with two other cats on normal diets around has been interesting. The vet said it was an extraordinary effort.  We don’t see it that way.  We knew we didn’t have a choice and we know we will do what we have to do to keep her with us.

We know very well that everything can change in a minute but we feel very blessed to have her still with us.

My wife and I have always been dog people and when confronted with cats were always amazed why anyone would want to be with one of these non-social, independent animals. When we moved into our home we decided it was time to get a dog.  That is until Flash showed up.  Flash was a neighbors cat who had been displaced when her caregiver allowed friends with their two dogs to move in after the Northridge earthquake.  Flash then started hanging out in our back yard, usually keeping cool by laying on the divider wall between the pool and spa.  Every now and then her care giver would come by and retrieve her but within a day or so she would be back.  Eventually they stopped coming by.

My wife had developed a very good relationship with Flash and started reading up on cats. We realized it was not a good idea to let a cat run free and decided to bring Flash indoors as much as possible. She got out occasionally but always came  back.  We began to understand the allure of being with a cat.  Unfortunately we were too late getting Flash indoors and got our first lesson in cat health and how to protect a cat. After a while we noticed that Flash was having problems getting around and wasn’t looking too good.  A trip to the vet confirmed that she had become infected with feline leukemia. The prognosis was not good and we knew time was short.  If we learned anything being with Flash it was that pets should be kept out of harms way.  They need to be kept indoors away from sick animals, vehicles, mean people and other dangers. Indoor cats live considerably longer than outdoor cats.

Some months after the diagnosis Flash crossed the rainbow bridge.  It was devastating. We had truly come to love this little creature but the die was cast.  We now understood why people love cats. Within a week of losing our beloved Flash we contacted a local cat rescue and met our current number one cat Sadie.  See our About Us page for pictures of  the family.

More on the other members of our family in future articles.