Guest guest Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 I got the word back from Dr. Wilkinson regarding Frisky's biopsy yesterday (for the mass in her breast tissue). Despite her previous history of having a malignant tumor, this mass was benign! It was an infiltrative lipoma... fat cells had grown in the milk glands or ducts, and had formed a relatively hard lump. The pathologist, at dr. Wilkinson's request, looked again at the mass to make sure there was no evidence of malignancy, and she found none. As I understand it, breast tumors are almost always malignant in cats... C.C.'s oncologist estimated 90% of them. And that number goes up if the cat has already had one tumor. But Frisky seems to have beaten those poor odds! Obviously, this is great news. I don't have to have two cats in chemo at the same time. In other news, C.C. has continued to lose weight, despite being on cyproheptadine. The cypro did boost C.C.'s appetite, but it was not enough to keep the weight on him. As such, Dr. Jankowsi prescribed megesterol acetate, which I gave to C.C. in lieu of the cypro. It worked better than the cypro, but a week later, his weight was still down. Dr. Jankowski then had me give C.C. both of the drugs at once. That, so far, has proven to be effective. C.C. is eating heartily. I asked Dr. Jankowsi and Dr. Wilkinson if it would be okay to give C.C. kitten food, since it has more calories per unit of mass, and they both said it would be fine. The good news is that C.C. really likes the Iams kitten food he has been getting, and he has been eating well. Unless I am mistaken, he seems to be eating more than his rotund adopted sister Frisky (who is upset that she can't have any kitten food). I have also gotten him to eat some of the calorie-dense Science Diet A/D, which he did not want to bother with before (he does not really like canned food that much). C.C.'s lymphoma is still not palpable. His kidneys and intestine still feel normal to the doctors. He is relatively active, and does not spend any time hiding in the closet lately (which he always does when he feels sick). I was concerned that he seems to be itchy all over his skin... he is scratching a lot. I have not seen any mosquitoes lately, and unless he got fleas at the vet's office, I don't see how it could be fleas. Another thing that concerned me was that when C.C. lifted one rear foot to scratch his side (while standing), he stumbled and fell part way over. He repeated the move a few moments later, but remained upright. With spinal lymphoma being the next progressive stage of the renal lymphoma that C.C. has, things like this can be worrisome. Despite the concern, it appears to me that the stumbling was more a result of the weakness that comes from having lost so much muscle mass. C.C. is a bit above seven pounds now-- down from his peak of fourteen. His ideal weight is probably twelve pounds. He has lost so much muscle, and nearly all of his subcutaneous fat. When I pet him on his back, it feels as if his spinal processes (the bumps) are going to come through his skin. C.C. appears happy and is very affectionate-- he always has been, but he seems to be more so now than he was before. I appreciate that, because I want to enjoy every moment with him now. I don't know how long the lymphoma will stay in remission. Someday, after C.C. has gone, and after the pain of his passing has faded, I will treasure these times, and remember what a sweet and wonderful cat he was. I hope that does not come to pass for a very long time, of course, but I must be realistic-- lymphoma is not a foe that loses very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 -Hi , Very relieved to hear that Frisky has beaten the odds! Since your last post, I don't think a day has gone by that I haven't thought of your situation there. We are cat lovers ourselves and spend a small fortune on vet fees so understand your position. We currently have a semi-longhaired ginger Tom named Einstein. We were told that he was born in the wild in the height of an English winter. His mother died from pneumonia and his 3 brothers were put down as they were so ill. In fact, Einstein only survived because just as he was set tobe put down, he raised his little head and the vet took pity, muttering something like 'Let's give the little fellow a chance then.' His tail looks very squirrel-like, everyone he sees him loves that tail! He doesn't appear to be able properly voice his 'miaeow' though and this is no doubt connected to his ordeal at birth. We had two much loved cats in Australia and it was decided they should be re-homed rather than put through 6 months of quarantine when we moved over here to the U.K. but leaving/relinquishing our cats was very painful and in hindsight,I wish we'd brought them over. We were swayed by a tv show that exposed the effects of quarantine on cats an felt it would be cruel to put them through it. On a happy note though,we did find them a pretty good home with a newlywed couple who then went on to send us photos and letters(written as if from our cats!) which our children loved! Good people! They did fret for a good three weeks though but settled in nicely thereafter and at least they had each other. We do plan to bring Einstein to Australia with us when we move back in about one and a half year's time though. Great to hear that C.C's appetite has improved. I wonder whether the itching may be a result of the drugs if fleas have been ruled out. Anyway, great to hear an update. Keep smiling, -- In AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse , Klein <ascaris@c...> wrote: > I got the word back from Dr. Wilkinson regarding Frisky's biopsy yesterday (for > the mass in her breast tissue). Despite her previous history of having a > malignant tumor, this mass was benign! It was an infiltrative lipoma... fat > cells had grown in the milk glands or ducts, and had formed a relatively hard > lump. The pathologist, at dr. Wilkinson's request, looked again at the mass to > make sure there was no evidence of malignancy, and she found none. > > As I understand it, breast tumors are almost always malignant in cats... C.C.'s > oncologist estimated 90% of them. And that number goes up if the cat has > already had one tumor. But Frisky seems to have beaten those poor odds! > > Obviously, this is great news. I don't have to have two cats in chemo at the > same time. > > In other news, C.C. has continued to lose weight, despite being on > cyproheptadine. The cypro did boost C.C.'s appetite, but it was not enough to > keep the weight on him. As such, Dr. Jankowsi prescribed megesterol acetate, > which I gave to C.C. in lieu of the cypro. It worked better than the cypro, but > a week later, his weight was still down. Dr. Jankowski then had me give C.C. > both of the drugs at once. > > That, so far, has proven to be effective. C.C. is eating heartily. I asked Dr. > Jankowsi and Dr. Wilkinson if it would be okay to give C.C. kitten food, since > it has more calories per unit of mass, and they both said it would be fine. The > good news is that C.C. really likes the Iams kitten food he has been getting, > and he has been eating well. Unless I am mistaken, he seems to be eating more > than his rotund adopted sister Frisky (who is upset that she can't have any > kitten food). I have also gotten him to eat some of the calorie-dense Science > Diet A/D, which he did not want to bother with before (he does not really like > canned food that much). > > C.C.'s lymphoma is still not palpable. His kidneys and intestine still feel > normal to the doctors. He is relatively active, and does not spend any time > hiding in the closet lately (which he always does when he feels sick). I was > concerned that he seems to be itchy all over his skin... he is scratching a lot. > I have not seen any mosquitoes lately, and unless he got fleas at the vet's > office, I don't see how it could be fleas. > > Another thing that concerned me was that when C.C. lifted one rear foot to > scratch his side (while standing), he stumbled and fell part way over. He > repeated the move a few moments later, but remained upright. With spinal > lymphoma being the next progressive stage of the renal lymphoma that C.C. has, > things like this can be worrisome. > > Despite the concern, it appears to me that the stumbling was more a result of > the weakness that comes from having lost so much muscle mass. C.C. is a bit > above seven pounds now-- down from his peak of fourteen. His ideal weight is > probably twelve pounds. He has lost so much muscle, and nearly all of his > subcutaneous fat. When I pet him on his back, it feels as if his spinal > processes (the bumps) are going to come through his skin. > > C.C. appears happy and is very affectionate-- he always has been, but he seems > to be more so now than he was before. I appreciate that, because I want to > enjoy every moment with him now. I don't know how long the lymphoma will stay > in remission. Someday, after C.C. has gone, and after the pain of his passing > has faded, I will treasure these times, and remember what a sweet and wonderful > cat he was. I hope that does not come to pass for a very long time, of course, > but I must be realistic-- lymphoma is not a foe that loses very often. > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 wrote: >As I understand it, breast tumors are almost always malignant in >cats... C.C.'s >oncologist estimated 90% of them. And that number goes up if the cat has >already had one tumor. But Frisky seems to have beaten those poor odds! [snip] >C.C. appears happy and is very affectionate-- he always has been, but he seems >to be more so now than he was before. I appreciate that, because I want to >enjoy every moment with him now. Thanks for the update, . I think about C.C. and Frisky quite often when I am interacting with and/or Harold. Glad to hear you're all enjoying each other's company. Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 wrote: > C.C. appears happy and is very affectionate-- he always > has been, but he seems to be more so now than he was before. > I appreciate that, because I want to enjoy every moment > with him now. That's really great! I've wondered where you've been lately, and figured you were concentrating on the health of your cats and enjoying the time with them. Glad to hear they're better. Clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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