Still working on my Amy Butler Weekender bag... my mind is consumed with my cat Sebastian.
I thought about starting a pet blog about my ten year old Snowshoe cat Sebastion, but decided against it since I am enmeshed in my daily life with all his ups and downs. I decided to just write down snippets here or on my Livejournal page when my head gets too full and needs to unload.
Sebastian has stomach and intestinal cancer, that went undiagnosed for at least 1 year. he has always been the houses "Good Will Ambassader" He greets everyone who visits, he is loving, purring machine that likes to wrap around peoples legs and trip them for attention.
He was always an overweight kitty so when he began losing weight in summer/fall 2007 I was happy and believed the smaller portions were helping. Then he kept losing weight until he went from a fat healthy 19 lbs to 15 lbs in early 2008 and then 12 lbs in mid 2008, I took him for his annual check-up and got his shots but the doctor didn't seem concerned so I read it as my looking for issues that weren't there. But by Fall 2008 he weighed barely 10 lbs and was looking skinny, frail and his sides indented like a great danes... so I took him to his regular vet and we had blood tests, and FIV tests (he tested negative just like he had as a kitten). All blood tests came back as normal. His Kidneys and liver were ok. But he was looking even more emaciated with dull fur that was getting brittle. And his wonderful sweet spunky personality was getting more subdued. So we re-tested. I and his vet thought he had hypo-thyroid, because he kept losing weight even though he ate ALL the time. So I spent the last 5 months running every test (multiple times) getting an ultrasound. . . even tried hypothyroid drugs even though all bloodwork appeared in normal range. Finally my vet referred us to specialists and from there he saw a cardiologist, and was diagnosed with mild HOCM (Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy) and was put on a daily beta blocker for his heart, then he saw an internist and had an ultrasound and they finally found the tumors, ulcers and cancer at the VRC (Veterinary Referral Center & Emergency services). I chose not to have endoscopy imaging. I chose not to attempt chemo due to the fact that putting him in his frail state through all that for "maybe" the possibility of having an extra 6 months to a year extra didn't make sense. So I've taken to spending the evenings sewing as long as he wants to snuggle with me, I don't get too much done, but I want to spend every moment I can making him comfortable.
After being shaved for his April 2009 Ultrasound
He is currently on a stomach/ulcer coating meds, pepcid, beta blocker, and antibiotics. and anti-vomiting drugs, but those are only allowed to be given temporarily. When he was on steroids he gained some liquid weight but no true fat or muscle and since the steroids caused internal bleeding and bloody vomiting, he was taken off them, There was a brief hope that the steroids would reduce the tumors inflamation and shrink them if they were lymphoma cancer. But his system couldn't handle the high doses of steroids and his tumors were for the most part unaffected. So the options have decreased and the inevitable has truly sunk in.
His fur coat looks much better, his loving, spunky personality are there though some days not so much. When the bad days outnumber the good ones . . .
He gets meds 4-6 times a day. I crush his pills and use water and a monoject to get them in him. He does very well on this regimen. When he starts to suffer from the cancer I will do the right thing, I won't prolong his suffering so I can have more time. As long as I can keep him comfortable and he keeps responding in his endearing affectionate way I will continue to do my best. It's all a waiting game now. But I thank god for bringing him into my life back in January 1999.
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