The Oncologist Appointment
Erich and I took Sydney to a cancer specialist in Los Feliz this Thursday. She examined him and confirmed that there's not a lot we can do for him at this point other than palliative care. His biopsy showed that he has a squamous cell carcinoma and his MRI showed that it's started in on some of his bone. It starts near his mouth and nose on the front right side of his face, and goes around back behind his eye. It's already putting pressure on his brain and will probably eventually start getting at that flesh.
Traditional chemotherapies aren't good at reducing these tumours and a human getting radiation would need twice daily treatments. Twice daily radiation isn't something that I would want to submit Sydney to; he hates going to the vet and this would make him extra sick.
However, there is some experimental "molecular targeted therapy" we can give him (it's a pill called Palladia). We have no idea whether it will work or what the side effects are. It's not too expensive, and it only requires a once-a-week trip to the vet. He's also continuing the cyproheptadine (appetite stimulant) and gets subcutaneous fluids on alternate days.
He really hated the tramadol, so Dr. Blake suggested a different drug, Buprenex. It's a liquid and he can absorb it through his gums and tongue, so he can't foam it back up. He fights a lot less getting this stuff, and it seems to relieve his pain. She had him getting 3ccs, but I'm only giving him 2ccs because he was really high when I gave him the full dose. Erich and I both agreed we don't want a zombie kitty for his final days.
He continues to eat fairly well, but the vet says he needs to eat 40% more than he normally would, because the tumour is going to take most of the nutrition. It's awful to know that feeding him also feeds his tumour. He's still full of love and when he's not high he walks around the house, sleeps, cuddles, and even jumps up on the bed/sofa. His weight was back up to 11.5 lbs from 10.15.
We're going to watch him closely. If the Palladia makes him sick or affects his eating, we'll take him off of it. So far he seems very healthy for a really sick kitty. It's still a day-to-day thing, though. Erich and I are fine, and then we go to the vet, and we get sad again from facing Sydney's mortality.
Traditional chemotherapies aren't good at reducing these tumours and a human getting radiation would need twice daily treatments. Twice daily radiation isn't something that I would want to submit Sydney to; he hates going to the vet and this would make him extra sick.
However, there is some experimental "molecular targeted therapy" we can give him (it's a pill called Palladia). We have no idea whether it will work or what the side effects are. It's not too expensive, and it only requires a once-a-week trip to the vet. He's also continuing the cyproheptadine (appetite stimulant) and gets subcutaneous fluids on alternate days.
He really hated the tramadol, so Dr. Blake suggested a different drug, Buprenex. It's a liquid and he can absorb it through his gums and tongue, so he can't foam it back up. He fights a lot less getting this stuff, and it seems to relieve his pain. She had him getting 3ccs, but I'm only giving him 2ccs because he was really high when I gave him the full dose. Erich and I both agreed we don't want a zombie kitty for his final days.
He continues to eat fairly well, but the vet says he needs to eat 40% more than he normally would, because the tumour is going to take most of the nutrition. It's awful to know that feeding him also feeds his tumour. He's still full of love and when he's not high he walks around the house, sleeps, cuddles, and even jumps up on the bed/sofa. His weight was back up to 11.5 lbs from 10.15.
We're going to watch him closely. If the Palladia makes him sick or affects his eating, we'll take him off of it. So far he seems very healthy for a really sick kitty. It's still a day-to-day thing, though. Erich and I are fine, and then we go to the vet, and we get sad again from facing Sydney's mortality.