This is what I told TopCat3 in her post about Cleo in Cat Health, and it looks like it's my turn to take my own advice.It's a chance to spoil spoil spoil as much as possible and take every opportunity to let Cleo know how loved she is.
I took Peanut today for a checkup after her surgery. The vet had told me to bring her back after 3 months to do another ultra sound to see if the tumor was growing back. So he did the ultra sound and also tested her urine. The ultra sound showed that the bladder wall is thickening, but there is no visible tumor. The urine test showed blood in the urine, and abnormal cells and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember, but none of it good. He said what this all indicates is that there is probably "a malignancy there somewhere" and he thought it might have been a little further down the urethra(?) than he could get during the surgery.
He said he really doesn't recommend chemo. Chemo has been known to show up well in the urine, but isn't particularly effective against the bladder cancer, and can render her incontinent. There is some other medication - Medcam? - that he said is approved in Canada for cats, but not approved in the US, so for now cats in the US get the dog version, and it is highly dangerous to the kidneys. He said he himself has had to treat 4 otherwise healthy cats for kidney failure after being on this medication, so he didn't recommend that either, especially since the results are still sketchy. He said with this med, cats lived from - say 3 - 19 months longer after the surgery, where unmedicated cats lived - say - 2 - 14 months after the surgery. So again, the result wasn't worth the risk. Especially since he said her urine is a little diluted, which means her kidney function is already starting to wane.
So, basically, there is nothing more to do for her except keep her comfortable. For now, she seems fine to me. She is her goofy little self, and like I've mentioned before, she seems even more goofy and spunky than she has in a long time. Her appetite is tremendous and it doesn't seem like she's straining or in pain when she urinates. So she is doing good now, and hopefully she will continue doing good for quite some time....but there is no saying how long this will last.
So all smoochies, skritchies, hugs, extra treats, snuggles, squishies and whatever else you want to throw at her will be delivered ten-fold, over and over and over again.....until she tells me it's time.
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