Another cancer-kitty update…
Smokey’s acting like his old perky self and we haven’t seen a seizure since last Friday. Some seizures can be caused by food allergies, and Mr. Smokey was getting bites of ham lunchmeat all last week as lunches were being made in the morning. (I’ve never seen a cat so absolutely nuts for ham.) No more ham — apparently no more seizures. We’re crossing our fingers but are hopeful.
Now we just have the question of whether or not to put him through getting the tumor removed. Surgery and possibly chemo are a lot for an already 12-year-old cat. Just because we now CAN do all sorts of people-procedures on cats (MRIs, &c)…SHOULD we???
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November 15th, 2006 in
A Day in the Life...., Cats in the Belfry
It’s tough to ask him what choices he wants to make regarding his own medical treatment.
“Merow?”
This is a very tough call. I remember when Patrick, my dear departed greyhound began to get sick, when he was 14. He stopped eating in October near my birthday that year, and I went through agony, doing everything I could to get him to eat, but I didn’t take him to the vet (he had just been in September) because i didn’t want to hear what the vet might say. Finally, on my birthday, the dog ate a bite of chicken and began to eat againf rom there. He went on for about another month and then collapsed, throwing up blood. When I ran over to him to comfort him he looked up at me and there was a look in his eyes that was almost like he was saying “I’ll try to keep going if you want me to”. At that point, I felt that I had already been selfish, and I made an appointment with the vet. The vet said he probably had cancer throughout his digestive system, and though there were options, the prognosis was poor. The only thing that got me through the process of him being put to sleep was, again, his greyhound composure. He saw the woman come in with the little tray, and he looked relieved and let out a sigh like relief.
On the other hand, my ex’s cat Angelina was sick for years, and he took her to get dialysis and everything else, though she was a way elderly cat. I wondered about it until I went to visit them and saw how vibrent the cat was. It was clear that she was full of the will to live- she was no where near ready to give up her role as queen of the cats.
I’m sorry to ramble on so, but I hope you can get some kind of guidence along these lines by observing Mr. Smokey closely. If you let your loving heart rule, you will surely make the best choices.