Doc's medical thread

[Tina B and crew]

I believe the "chemo brain" is our little joke. I was told behavioral changes are not common but not out the question. I'm not going to argue whether that is a fact or not. I do suspect it is largely due to the stress of the visit, confinement etc rather than the chemo and/or other drugs. All I know is he becomes rather intolerable for about 2 days following a treatment.

He was so cute when he got in trouble the other day. I put him in "time out" in the bedroom for about 2 minutes (it seems to work!) then I went in to have a talk to him. You could tell he knew he was in trouble! He was good, for the most part, the rest of the day. But he kept looking at me as if he was saying "I'm sorry mom!! I won't do it again!" Since then it has just been the typical occasional spats.

I just can't get use to seeing him without all his whiskers! He has two eyebrow whiskers left - they look like antennae! And he only has the one long whisker on his right cheek. It looks so lonely.

He is such a sweetie. They really love him up there in spite of his feistiness. <3

[Traci]

My kitten Tawni is trying to regrow her whiskers, her mom grooms her all the time and it seems every time Tawni has about a half inch of growth, mom grooms them off One cheek has full growth, the other cheek has 'stubble', lol.

Anyway, Doc's whiskers will grow back soon, I'm so happy his labs are great and doing so well!

[Tina B and crew]

I haven't noticed him grooming excessively, and fortunately there are no balding spots. I did wonder if he and Chunk had gotten into a spat and that is what happened but I haven't seen or heard them go at it that bad and some of the clumps were in places where Doc is usually alone (eating/sleeping). You can see the whiskers growing back. They are very short still.

[Tina B and crew]

Chemo is done!!



Everything looks great. All his blood work was normal, his ultrasound was normal and his echocardiogram was good! They want to repeat the echo in about 4-6 weeks just to be sure and recommended he return every 2-3 months for ultrasounds and blood work for the first 6 months and spread that out to 3-4 for 6 months. After a year she said biannual should be fine.

They are extremely pleased with his progress and now all we can do is just keep our fingers crossed that he's cancer free and stays cancer free!

[Traci]

YAYYY!!!!!!!!

[Tina B and crew]

This has been Doc for the past two days...








He's been sleeping a lot. I am not too concerned yet, he did go through a lot at his appointment on Friday and he's been through a lot all together in the last 5 months. But usually he is back to his feisty "annoying Chunk and Lucy" running around like crazy self by the next day. The weather has also been dreary and cloudy here and I have noticed the cats often are subdued in that sort of weather pattern. He's eating well, he plays a little when prompted but not to his usual vigor. I think sometimes I'm overly worried but given his history I can't help it. I did send an email to his oncologists, just to check in. He just doesn't seem to feel up to par.

Just got an email back from his oncologist. He said to not be too concerned yet but to keep an eye on him, monitor his food and water intake etc. and if he doesn't seem to be feeling better or gets worse in a few days to take him to my vet or bring him in there to run a CBC/Chem panel and we will go from there. But he did say often after repeated chemo sessions they can get kind of tired. I may go ahead and confine him again, just so I can monitor his water/food intake and litter box use. I hate to do it but it seems prudent. Besides, if he's sleeping most of the time he shouldn't mind.

[Tina B and crew]

of course as soon as I publically express concern he reverts to his normal behavior

[Traci]

When he had his bloodwork Friday, I'm assuming they already did both a CBC and chem profile, so it would be a little early to have to do it again.

Agree with the onco, just keep an eye on him, his appetite/drinking etc. Glad to hear he's perked up this morning, and yes, the dreary weather could have something to do with it, my cats tend to mope around moreso on dreary days too.

[Tina B and crew]

Yep, he had a full work up on Friday. Everything was within normal range. At any rate, I've confined him in the bedroom - he was curled up on the bed so it was simple to just put his food and water in and shut the door. I cleaned out the litter box so I can monitor his output. I can also see if he's drinking - I know he's eating.

I do think the weather is part of it. But he just doesn't look as "bright eyed" as usual. He looks tired, almost like the sedatives haven't worn off. Again, he went through a lot on Friday and was at the clinic from 8:30 to almost 3 in the afternoon. Xrays, ultrasound, blood work, echocardiogram, chemo. I'd probably be exhausted for days myself! But admittedly I'm very guarded about him with everything he has been through.

I didn't put this in my update on Friday, but the oncologist and I did discuss options in the (hopefully unlikely) event that the cancer returns, what to look for etc. She's recommending more frequent rechecks early on because with her experience she said if it is going to reappear it usually does so earlier than later. Part of me doesn't even want to consider this conversation - it feels like I'm putting energy into a negative outcome - but being pragmatic about it I don't want to be blind sided. We know hemangiosarcoma is aggressive and that Doc is an unusual case. I'm not being negative, not projecting, and definitely not dwelling on it, but want to prepare myself. Bottom line is I'm going to enjoy Doc's company...and hopefully he is going to enjoy his life.

[Tina B and crew]

I confined him for a good part of the day...just checked on him and he's eating, drinking, and has peed and pooped. So I'm not terribly worried. Will see how he feels when the sun comes out.