Cat update

[thistlechaser]

Talking to chryseth about his poor kitty always reminds me to post about mine.

The good news is we've gone almost 24 hours without a peeing-outside-the-box. This doesn't mean it's fixed for sure (she's had "dry" periods before), but if we go a week without one I'll consider it fixed. Right now we're just trying with the cover "off" (folded down, it doesn't come all the way off).

The bigger issue is one of her drugs. Metacam was one she was taking for arthritis (an anti-inflammatory), but they've discovered it's horrible for cats. Even though I showed up at my vet's office today to get a refill on all her meds, they wouldn't give it to me. The doctor and I discussed it a couple weeks ago and we decided together the harm of the medicine was worth the improved quality of life, but apparently she forgot to note that in the records. That's actually okay with me, because I was feeling bad about giving her something that would kill her (even though it's helping her for now). We're going to try glucosimine (not a drug, something natural), but I don't have overly high hopes. If that fails, we'll put her on morphine for the rest of her life.

I feel so awful that things we do to help cats can hurt them so badly. My cat got a very aggressive, very fatal cancer from getting vaccinated. ("The fibrosarcoma is a tumor which does not usually spread throughout the body in the way we usually think of cancer; instead, it digs in deeply and widely in a localized area. After surgical removal it is notorious for recurring even more aggressively than before.") Depending on who you ask, it's 95% to 100% fatal. Cats used to be vaccinated in the scruff of the neck -- think of that with the description above. The spine is right there, along with the brain... Thankfully my cat survived that (though she came out of the operation looking horrible -- warning for medical stitches). Now, because of a medicine I've been giving to try to help her, it could have done lots of harm instead.

I don't blame myself (or the vet) for this, we were just trying to help her. I feel bad for the cats.

I do feel better that we have an option if the glucosimine doesn't work. I'm not sure what sort of side effects a life on morphine will have, but I'd like to make her time left as pain-free as possible.

Comments

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

As a fellow cat person, my sympathy to you and best wishes to your cat. I can't offer any advice - none of my cats ever make it to truly old age; they escape the house (I've only had indoor pets) and disappear when they start getting old.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Eek escaping cats! D: I keep a catlock (like airlock) so that my cat won't get far if she gets outside (my apartment comes with a tiny fenced porch area). Problem is, delivery people stand with the outside gate open, so when I answer the door... catlock disengaged!