A cat-related update
...because, lets face it, most of my life has been cat-related for the past month.
Short version: Ezra is Not Doing Well.
Detailed version: cripes, where to start?
He's been amazing, with back-and-forth vet visits where nice people have done simply awful things to him. He's had fluid buildup drained from his abdomen three times now; twice in one weekend. The first round, on the 7th and 8th, amounted to nearly a liter, which is what you might expect to see in a human patient. For a human, that would be like having three gallons (or nearly twelve liters) of liquid in the abdominal cavity. You can imagine that Ez felt much better after getting rid of that.
At his last scheduled checkup a week ago, it was determined that the Palladia wasn't working. He was started on Carboplatin, which is a traditional chemotherapy drug. Because it causes more nausea than the Palladia, we started syringe feeding him, as well as stepping up the dosage on his anti-nausea drugs. When I said that Ezra has been amazing, I wasn't kidding: there has been no deliberate bloodshed throughout any of this.
Unfortunately, the cancer isn't responding to the Carboplatin, either. Ezra went in yesterday to have another 500 ml of fluid drained. His oncologist said that she didn't feel any difference in the size of the main mass, and that a buildup of ascites that fast was a clear indication that the drug isn't working. There are other chemo drugs available, but they aren't anywhere as effective.
Up until yesterday afternoon, we though that there was a chance that we were going to get Ezra through this. Obviously, that's not going to be the case, and we can't justify putting him through more trauma if there's not going to be a good outcome. We've made the decision to discontinue treatment, and go for palliative care.
Ezra has spent much of the past few days cuddling with us; even sleeping on our bed, which he has rarely done before, and never when a person was there with him. We've even caught him cuddling with Maggie-dog, who has been an absolute angel through it all.
We don't know how much longer Ez has with us. Last night, we thought he was fading, but this morning, he got up and loudly demanded breakfast. He only ate a couple of bites, but what Imperious Pleader wants, Imperious Pleader gets; by your command. Last night he was floppy, this morning he was strutting. He was just sitting in the open bedroom window, looking out at the garden. He's a stubborn cuss, to be sure. seachanges commented that between the two of us, there was no way that we could raise him to be anything other than a Southern Gentleman, which is to say, genteel-ly stubborn. I responded that they get that way from having to deal with Southern women. Point is, however long he has left, he's going to be comfortable, happy, and spoiled; in other words, standard operating procedure around here.
On behalf of Ezra's human family (seachanges, danielmedic, rpechmann, and myself, plus assorted aunts and uncles, thank you all for your support and encouragement throughout all of this. Please forgive the rambling, and I'll keep y'all posted.
Short version: Ezra is Not Doing Well.
Detailed version: cripes, where to start?
He's been amazing, with back-and-forth vet visits where nice people have done simply awful things to him. He's had fluid buildup drained from his abdomen three times now; twice in one weekend. The first round, on the 7th and 8th, amounted to nearly a liter, which is what you might expect to see in a human patient. For a human, that would be like having three gallons (or nearly twelve liters) of liquid in the abdominal cavity. You can imagine that Ez felt much better after getting rid of that.
At his last scheduled checkup a week ago, it was determined that the Palladia wasn't working. He was started on Carboplatin, which is a traditional chemotherapy drug. Because it causes more nausea than the Palladia, we started syringe feeding him, as well as stepping up the dosage on his anti-nausea drugs. When I said that Ezra has been amazing, I wasn't kidding: there has been no deliberate bloodshed throughout any of this.
Unfortunately, the cancer isn't responding to the Carboplatin, either. Ezra went in yesterday to have another 500 ml of fluid drained. His oncologist said that she didn't feel any difference in the size of the main mass, and that a buildup of ascites that fast was a clear indication that the drug isn't working. There are other chemo drugs available, but they aren't anywhere as effective.
Up until yesterday afternoon, we though that there was a chance that we were going to get Ezra through this. Obviously, that's not going to be the case, and we can't justify putting him through more trauma if there's not going to be a good outcome. We've made the decision to discontinue treatment, and go for palliative care.
Ezra has spent much of the past few days cuddling with us; even sleeping on our bed, which he has rarely done before, and never when a person was there with him. We've even caught him cuddling with Maggie-dog, who has been an absolute angel through it all.
We don't know how much longer Ez has with us. Last night, we thought he was fading, but this morning, he got up and loudly demanded breakfast. He only ate a couple of bites, but what Imperious Pleader wants, Imperious Pleader gets; by your command. Last night he was floppy, this morning he was strutting. He was just sitting in the open bedroom window, looking out at the garden. He's a stubborn cuss, to be sure. seachanges commented that between the two of us, there was no way that we could raise him to be anything other than a Southern Gentleman, which is to say, genteel-ly stubborn. I responded that they get that way from having to deal with Southern women. Point is, however long he has left, he's going to be comfortable, happy, and spoiled; in other words, standard operating procedure around here.
On behalf of Ezra's human family (seachanges, danielmedic, rpechmann, and myself, plus assorted aunts and uncles, thank you all for your support and encouragement throughout all of this. Please forgive the rambling, and I'll keep y'all posted.