deborahjross | Entries tagged with pets

It just shows to go you that when you brace yourself for the worst, all you see is your own fears.

Oka is now on maintenance chemo with a different IV drug, soon to go to every 3 weeks, plus an oral drug. He's tolerating both without any noticeable side effects. In fact, other than where they needed to shave one leg or another for access to a vein for the IV, he gives no sign of illness. He is his usual bouncy, eager self, and we hope this goes on for a long time.

Cleo continued to eat and gain weight, and therefore strength. She's moving about more and rebuilding muscle, although of course she is not as steady on her feet as the younger cats. She is now officially TWENTY YEARS OLD, and still purring and sleeping in her favorite sunny places.

There she is on my shoulder in the icon.

Thanks so much for everyone's good wishes. They must have been powerful, because both Oka and Cleo are not only still with us, but are doing well.

Cleo's report is easier. I tinkered with her meds and she started eating. And eating. And eating her fool head off. She's noticeably heavier and more muscular, also stronger and steadier on her feet. She's due for her annual vet visit next month and we'll get a proper weight for her then. Meanwhile, she's moving about, sleeps on the pillow next to me, purrs (despite her deafness), and seems to be enjoying life.

Oka had a bad reaction to the first round of chemo maintenance (goal being to keep him in remission as long as possible). Vincristine, the agent, sometimes produced a condition called ileus or partial bowel obstruction. Poor puppy, he ended up severely dehydrated, then on IV fluids and a special diet. He's mostly bounced back (and is certainly eating well and has regained the weight he lost).

We saw the oncology vet yesterday and switched to vinblastine, in the same class of anti-mitotics, but with a much lower risk of ileus. So far, so good - we'll know by the weekend. The interesting thing about vinblastine and vincristine is that they're vinca alkaloids - from the periwinkle plant. You know, that ground cover with the pretty blue-purple flowers?

Two of our four animals are geriatric, and we are walking through the-beginning-of-the-end with them, one faster than the other.

Here's Cleo, the gray tortoiseshell who is also perched on my shoulder in the icon.

She's almost 20 and is the last of the cats I brought from Los Angeles. She's been hyperthyroid almost her entire adult life, and now at last she's shutting down. One of the challenges of managing hyperthyroidism is that if you lower the thyroid hormone too much, the cat goes into kidney failure. We suspect that's what has happened, but we're not going to stick her with needles to be sure. She's had a long, happy life, a life full of Tortoiseshell Attitude, and she absolutely hates blood draws.

She's pretty much stopped eating in the last day, although she curls up on her heating pad, looking out over the garden, and nestled next to me in bed last night, purring. She's so thin, I don't expect her to have more than a few days left. With any luck, she'll go to sleep in one of her happy places and just not wake up.( Read more... )

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Deborah's Journal

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November 2020

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