awfulhorrid (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
awfulhorrid) wrote2009-01-04 12:45 am
awfulhorrid) wrote2009-01-04 12:45 am
Pyrite
A few weeks ago I took Pyrite to the vet to have several teeth extracted. About a week later he started acting a little lethargic and not quite his usual self. He was scratching at his chin a lot to the point where he started drawing blood. My lovely ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
isolde_deely was visiting at the time and went with me to take him to the vet. This seemed to go over well with him since he could stay on my lap and "hide" under the cape-like drape she was wearing. We came home with some cream for his chin and for the next ten days bookwurm and I medicated him twice a day. He didn't like this too much and we though his diminishing appetite was due to the smell or taste of the cream.
He got the last of the medication on Thursday morning so we expected he'd be eating normally by the next day. He turned down almost all of his food on Friday, although I convinced him to eat two bites of ham, something he normally devours with relish. (He could have had more, but walked away from it.) This was an obvious bad sign and we decided that we should take him into the vet this morning (Saturday.)
The vet at Wolf-Merrick took an X-ray and ... well, the words on the report are "Pleural effusion." In other words, fluid on the lungs. They lacked the equipment for the recommended follow up lab work and ultrasound, and recommened we go to Animal Emergency & Treatment Center in Grayslake, IL. We stopped by the house to grab my insulin, calledmerseine0613 to let her know what was going on so she could pass along the details to our friends at a wedding reception we were supposed to attend.
I won't detail the waiting and the ups and downs, but there was a lot of crying and a lot of anticipation. They placed him in an oxygen cage, gave him a mild sedative and drained a total of 340mls of fluid from around his lungs. The vet identified nothing in the pleural fluid at the time, but sent a sample off to the lab, along with a blood sample. The ultrasound shows a small mass on one of his lungs and a larger mass on his spleen. There's a good chance it's a form of cancer. He was able to come home tonight, although we're keeping an eye on him as he comes off of the sedative and decides he can leap for the top of the cat tree. I'm taking him back on Monday morning and leaving him there for a few hours so they can perform a splenic aspirate.
Surgery has been mentioned as an option, although we'll know more after the aspirate. At this point we're mostly trying to find out how much to do that might prolong his life without degrading his quality of life. I'm not going to keep him alive just to keep him alive, nor am I willing to put him through lots of surgery if he's only going to gain a few months. Right now, we're keeping him comfortable and making sure he knows we're here and that we love him.
I still cried when I felt him purr against my fingers as we coming home.
Thanks toisolde_deely for calling me and to clark_parker, merseine0613 and rileybear67 for visiting us. You all really helped me and bookwurm. Also thanks to bookwurm for being there with me today and helping me in particular when I was getting information overload.
I love you all.
isolde_deely was visiting at the time and went with me to take him to the vet. This seemed to go over well with him since he could stay on my lap and "hide" under the cape-like drape she was wearing. We came home with some cream for his chin and for the next ten days bookwurm and I medicated him twice a day. He didn't like this too much and we though his diminishing appetite was due to the smell or taste of the cream.He got the last of the medication on Thursday morning so we expected he'd be eating normally by the next day. He turned down almost all of his food on Friday, although I convinced him to eat two bites of ham, something he normally devours with relish. (He could have had more, but walked away from it.) This was an obvious bad sign and we decided that we should take him into the vet this morning (Saturday.)
The vet at Wolf-Merrick took an X-ray and ... well, the words on the report are "Pleural effusion." In other words, fluid on the lungs. They lacked the equipment for the recommended follow up lab work and ultrasound, and recommened we go to Animal Emergency & Treatment Center in Grayslake, IL. We stopped by the house to grab my insulin, called
merseine0613 to let her know what was going on so she could pass along the details to our friends at a wedding reception we were supposed to attend.I won't detail the waiting and the ups and downs, but there was a lot of crying and a lot of anticipation. They placed him in an oxygen cage, gave him a mild sedative and drained a total of 340mls of fluid from around his lungs. The vet identified nothing in the pleural fluid at the time, but sent a sample off to the lab, along with a blood sample. The ultrasound shows a small mass on one of his lungs and a larger mass on his spleen. There's a good chance it's a form of cancer. He was able to come home tonight, although we're keeping an eye on him as he comes off of the sedative and decides he can leap for the top of the cat tree. I'm taking him back on Monday morning and leaving him there for a few hours so they can perform a splenic aspirate.
Surgery has been mentioned as an option, although we'll know more after the aspirate. At this point we're mostly trying to find out how much to do that might prolong his life without degrading his quality of life. I'm not going to keep him alive just to keep him alive, nor am I willing to put him through lots of surgery if he's only going to gain a few months. Right now, we're keeping him comfortable and making sure he knows we're here and that we love him.
I still cried when I felt him purr against my fingers as we coming home.
Thanks to
isolde_deely for calling me and to clark_parker, merseine0613 and rileybear67 for visiting us. You all really helped me and bookwurm. Also thanks to bookwurm for being there with me today and helping me in particular when I was getting information overload.I love you all.