Update on the Kitty
Some of you don't know what's been going on so I'll start from the beginning.
Merlene is my kitty, and she's really sweet. She also has a laundry list of health issues. If she had been any other cat we would have had her put down by now. But we want her to live as long as she can and as comfortable as she can. When she was first adopted, she had blood tests done and they found she has FIV, which is the feline version of HIV. It has the same effects. She also had a fluid filled cyst on her chest that we eventually had removed without complication. Those were her only problems at the time.
So I took her in to the vet a few months ago about a scab that kept forming on her nose. I thought it might have just gotten irritated or maybe she had an infection. She had also been having a problem with going outside the litter box which turned out to be a bladder infection and that was treated. But when they tested her urine they found she has renal insufficiency. So we put her on a special diet. But when the vet looked at her nose she said that it looked like textbook squamous cell carcinoma. So we did a biopsy. Those results came back inconclusive. The vet sill felt it was cancer so we did another biopsy and it came back positive. At that same visit the vet said she has a heart murmur. This was back in October when we found out about the cancer. Phillip and I had just got back from Hawaii and were a little broke so we couldn't take her in to be treated right away.
Over the course of a few months her nose gradually swelled. It finally got to the point where one side of her nose was swollen shut. So a few weeks ago we decided to take her to Auburn to see what they could do for her. They did a long list of tests last week including an echo cardiogram, blood tests, urine tests, thyroid tests, everything. This was to get an idea of how healthy she was and to see if treatment was an option. So this is what we found out: she has an enlarged heart or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, her renal levels were a little high but within the normal range, the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes (they were a little swollen) or her lungs, and her thyroid is fine. It turns out that all of her health problems, besides the FIV, stem from her being an older cat and all of which can be treated but, however, cannot be reversed.
So we decided to go forth with the surgery to remove the cancer from her nose. Before her surgery, the surgeon talked with internal medicine to see if her heart would put her at risk while under anesthesia. They said that she's only in the beginning stages of heart disease and that she would be fine to be put under. They even said that she doesn't required treatment at this stage, so that's a good sign.
So we took her back to Auburn yesterday for the surgery. They froze the affected area kind of like freezing a wart off so we have to wait a few weeks to see how she will look when her nose falls off. Sounds morbid, I know, but that's basically what will happen.
We got home last night; they let us take her home a few hours after her surgery. She's doing fine, a little agitated, but fine. While she was under they removed an ulceration on the back of her leg. They sent it off for pathology to see if it was just an infection or a ulcerated tumor. We'll find out next week probably. But she has to wear a cone so she doesn't lick her stitches. She looks absolutely pitiful but I hope this will end her cancer issue. The doc warned us that we may have to come back. They can't always guarantee they get 100% of the cancer. But our main goal was to help her breathe easier. And if we have to go back, then we have to go back.
I'll keep you guys updated on her progress so here are some before and after pics:
Before:
After:
This was taken right after we picked her up. The swelling has actually gotten a little worse since then.
Merlene is my kitty, and she's really sweet. She also has a laundry list of health issues. If she had been any other cat we would have had her put down by now. But we want her to live as long as she can and as comfortable as she can. When she was first adopted, she had blood tests done and they found she has FIV, which is the feline version of HIV. It has the same effects. She also had a fluid filled cyst on her chest that we eventually had removed without complication. Those were her only problems at the time.
So I took her in to the vet a few months ago about a scab that kept forming on her nose. I thought it might have just gotten irritated or maybe she had an infection. She had also been having a problem with going outside the litter box which turned out to be a bladder infection and that was treated. But when they tested her urine they found she has renal insufficiency. So we put her on a special diet. But when the vet looked at her nose she said that it looked like textbook squamous cell carcinoma. So we did a biopsy. Those results came back inconclusive. The vet sill felt it was cancer so we did another biopsy and it came back positive. At that same visit the vet said she has a heart murmur. This was back in October when we found out about the cancer. Phillip and I had just got back from Hawaii and were a little broke so we couldn't take her in to be treated right away.
Over the course of a few months her nose gradually swelled. It finally got to the point where one side of her nose was swollen shut. So a few weeks ago we decided to take her to Auburn to see what they could do for her. They did a long list of tests last week including an echo cardiogram, blood tests, urine tests, thyroid tests, everything. This was to get an idea of how healthy she was and to see if treatment was an option. So this is what we found out: she has an enlarged heart or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, her renal levels were a little high but within the normal range, the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes (they were a little swollen) or her lungs, and her thyroid is fine. It turns out that all of her health problems, besides the FIV, stem from her being an older cat and all of which can be treated but, however, cannot be reversed.
So we decided to go forth with the surgery to remove the cancer from her nose. Before her surgery, the surgeon talked with internal medicine to see if her heart would put her at risk while under anesthesia. They said that she's only in the beginning stages of heart disease and that she would be fine to be put under. They even said that she doesn't required treatment at this stage, so that's a good sign.
So we took her back to Auburn yesterday for the surgery. They froze the affected area kind of like freezing a wart off so we have to wait a few weeks to see how she will look when her nose falls off. Sounds morbid, I know, but that's basically what will happen.
We got home last night; they let us take her home a few hours after her surgery. She's doing fine, a little agitated, but fine. While she was under they removed an ulceration on the back of her leg. They sent it off for pathology to see if it was just an infection or a ulcerated tumor. We'll find out next week probably. But she has to wear a cone so she doesn't lick her stitches. She looks absolutely pitiful but I hope this will end her cancer issue. The doc warned us that we may have to come back. They can't always guarantee they get 100% of the cancer. But our main goal was to help her breathe easier. And if we have to go back, then we have to go back.
I'll keep you guys updated on her progress so here are some before and after pics:
Before:
After:
This was taken right after we picked her up. The swelling has actually gotten a little worse since then.