Well, I've Acquired Another Owner

In article , MLB wrote:

I am sure this has been a very trying day. Was the surgery performed?
If so, how did it go? Do we have hope that Lady will make it?
Sending purrs for all and anxious to hear the outcome. MLB

Thanks so much. Just got off the phone with the surgeon, after her long
afternoon of work on the kitty.

She came through everything with absolutely no problems. The cancer was not
as deep as expected, meaning that the entire ear system didn’t have to be
removed, and thus she’ll have hearing on that side. This wasn’t what was
expected. Some nearby lymph nodes were biopsied but didn't look suspicious.
The bad teeth were handled as well. It turned out that the broken teeth had
punctured the tongue, meaning she must have been in considerable pain. That
will gradually heal, now that the teeth have been smoothed out. She has very
few teeth left, and will live primarily on wet food the rest of her life.

Various lesions on the other ear and the nose were removed. She will never go
outside again, and happily my patio doors and most windows are double-paned,
low-UV items so we don’t have to worry about keeping her away from the outside
light. That will maximize the probability of her not getting skin cancer
again.

She might not be as old as we feared; the surgeon said that from the way she
endured all this major work, she might well not even be in her teens. So
barring a relapse or a catastrophe, I might enjoy a few years with her.

I’m very happy right now; if we somehow manage to box-train her I’m going to
have a wonderful kitty.

Art

(Arthur Shapiro) wrote:
In article , MLB wrote:
I am sure this has been a very trying day. Was the surgery performed?
If so, how did it go? Do we have hope that Lady will make it?
Sending purrs for all and anxious to hear the outcome. MLB

Thanks so much. Just got off the phone with the surgeon, after her long
afternoon of work on the kitty.

She came through everything with absolutely no problems. The cancer was not
as deep as expected, meaning that the entire ear system didn’t have to be
removed, and thus she’ll have hearing on that side. This wasn’t what was
expected. Some nearby lymph nodes were biopsied but didn't look suspicious.
The bad teeth were handled as well. It turned out that the broken teeth had
punctured the tongue, meaning she must have been in considerable pain. That
will gradually heal, now that the teeth have been smoothed out. She has very
few teeth left, and will live primarily on wet food the rest of her life.

Various lesions on the other ear and the nose were removed. She will never go
outside again, and happily my patio doors and most windows are double-paned,
low-UV items so we don’t have to worry about keeping her away from the outside
light. That will maximize the probability of her not getting skin cancer
again.

She might not be as old as we feared; the surgeon said that from the way she
endured all this major work, she might well not even be in her teens. So
barring a relapse or a catastrophe, I might enjoy a few years with her.

I’m very happy right now; if we somehow manage to box-train her I’m going to
have a wonderful kitty.

This is a lot better that I could ever have hoped! I've been so doom
and gloom, but maybe there's going to be a happy ending here after
all. She must have been very stressed before, but as she settles
in, I'm thinking that she'll take to the box.

Arthur Shapiro wrote:
In article , MLB wrote:
I am sure this has been a very trying day. Was the surgery performed?
If so, how did it go? Do we have hope that Lady will make it?
Sending purrs for all and anxious to hear the outcome. MLB

Thanks so much. Just got off the phone with the surgeon, after her long
afternoon of work on the kitty.

She came through everything with absolutely no problems. The cancer was not
as deep as expected, meaning that the entire ear system didn’t have to be
removed, and thus she’ll have hearing on that side. This wasn’t what was
expected. Some nearby lymph nodes were biopsied but didn't look suspicious.
The bad teeth were handled as well. It turned out that the broken teeth had
punctured the tongue, meaning she must have been in considerable pain. That
will gradually heal, now that the teeth have been smoothed out. She has very
few teeth left, and will live primarily on wet food the rest of her life.

Various lesions on the other ear and the nose were removed. She will never go
outside again, and happily my patio doors and most windows are double-paned,
low-UV items so we don’t have to worry about keeping her away from the outside
light. That will maximize the probability of her not getting skin cancer
again.

She might not be as old as we feared; the surgeon said that from the way she
endured all this major work, she might well not even be in her teens. So
barring a relapse or a catastrophe, I might enjoy a few years with her.

I’m very happy right now; if we somehow manage to box-train her I’m going to
have a wonderful kitty.

Art



That is wonderful news! Sending heartfelt purrs that you will enjoy
many happy years together. Cats are naturally quite clean, as you well
know. When she is feeling better, then she probably will go to the box
without a problem. One thing I thought of: It might be a good idea to
have the box against a wall -- so she won't feel like something could
sneak up to her from behind. This is just my opinion but to me it makes
sense. Have a good night! Be sure to post her progress. MLB

Continued purrs for her recovery and a happy life with you!

My Smokey, in the wild, used to "do his business" in gravel. He
switched very readily to litter as it was the only thing in my
apartment he could really dig in to do his business.

Good luck in the training.

--Fil


That is wonderful news! *Sending heartfelt purrs that you will enjoy
many happy years together. *Cats are naturally quite clean, as you well
know. *When she is feeling better, then she probably will go to the box
without a problem. *One thing I thought of: *It might be a good idea to
have the box against a wall -- so she won't feel like something could
sneak up to her from behind. *This is just my opinion but to me it makes
sense. *Have a good night! *Be sure to post her progress. *MLB

Arthur Shapiro wrote:

She came through everything with absolutely no problems. The cancer was not
as deep as expected, meaning that the entire ear system didn?t have to be
removed, and thus she?ll have hearing on that side. This wasn?t what was
expected. Some nearby lymph nodes were biopsied but didn't look suspicious.
The bad teeth were handled as well. It turned out that the broken teeth had
punctured the tongue, meaning she must have been in considerable pain. That
will gradually heal, now that the teeth have been smoothed out. She has very
few teeth left, and will live primarily on wet food the rest of her life.

Wow, that is much better news than I was expecting to hear! From all that
you'd told us, I wasn't very hopeful. I'm glad that things are looking up.
Purrs are continuing.

Joyce

--
I promise I will meditate more closely upon the causal relationship
between going dumpster diving on Sunday afternoon and projectile
vomiting Monday, and being brought to the Evil Place Where They Stick
Things Up My Butt on Tuesday evening. -- Cat Resolutions

(Arthur Shapiro) wrote:

She has very
few teeth left, and will live primarily on wet food the rest of her life.

Give her wet food if she prefers, of course, but if she likes dry better
there is no reason she can't have it. Will has only four teeth left and
three of them are fangs. He has absolutely no way of cutting or
crunching anything. But he love his dry food and does perfectly fine on
it.
--

Wayne M.

Arthur Shapiro wrote:
snip
She might not be as old as we feared; the surgeon said that from the way she
endured all this major work, she might well not even be in her teens. So
barring a relapse or a catastrophe, I might enjoy a few years with her.

I’m very happy right now; if we somehow manage to box-train her I’m going to
have a wonderful kitty.

Art

I'm so glad that the news is better than expected, purrs for you and her
to have many happy years together.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Things are really looking great here!

We were told before the surgery that it would infeasible to visit until
tomorrow (Thursday) as she'd be too groggy and out of it to be much of a
companion. That made sense, so that's what I expected.

They called this morning, said she's doing amazingly well, and is completely
alert and happy. We were encouraged to come visit, which I did this afternoon
when visiting hours started.

I guess it was a mixture of horror at the reconstruction coupled with the
shaven (but amazingly soft) head and neck, and amazement at the change from
the grotesquely disfigured ear area we'd seen before.

She sat in my lap for an hour, happy as could be, pretty sleepy but thrilled
with all the attention she could get. They said she had been eating a
prodigious amount of canned Friskies (but still weighing the same 6#6 that she
was on Saturday) and - sacre bleu! - using the cat box without incident.

I gave them three jars of baby food to intersperse with the food, figuring the
more calories she gets down, the faster she'll start getting some bulk. This
is one seriously-scrawny cat.

If anyone cares, I took quite a few photos and posted five of 'em on the same
page as befo http://www.ocrebels.com/LadyHolyfield.htm#aftersurgery
Feel free to look or ignore as the whim takes you.

At this point, it looks like a Friday retrieval, not Saturday. They'll ensure
that I have plenty of pain medication; she's currently on an injectable kind
and this doctor apparently gives clients some sort of trans-dermal version of
the same oral medicine I've always received from vets in the past.

Art

Thinks are really looking great here!

We were told before the surgery that it would be infeasible to visit until
tomorrow (Thursday) as she'd be too groggy and out of it to be much of a
companion. That made sense, so that's what I expected.

They called this morning, said she's doing amazingly well, and is completely
alert and happy. We were encouraged to come and visit, which I did this
afternoon when visiting hours started.

I guess it was a mixture of horror at the reconstruction coupled with the
shaven (but amazingly soft) head and neck, vs. amazement at the change from
the grotesquely-disfigured ear area we'd seen before.

She sat in my lap for an hour, happy as could be, quite sleepy but thrilled
with all the attention she could get. They said she'd been eating a
prodigious quantity of canned Friskies, but still weighing the same 6#6 as
Saturday, and - sacre bleu! - using the cat box without incident.

I gave them three jars of baby food to intersperse with the regular food,
figuring the more calories she gets down, the faster she'll start gaining some
bulk. This is one seriously-scrawny cat.

If anyone cares, I took a few photos and posted five on 'em on the same page
as before in a second grouping.

http://www.ocrebels.com/LadyHolyfield.htm#aftersurgery

Feel free to ignore or to take a peek as the whim takes you.

At this point it looks like a Friday retrieval, not Saturday. She's on an
injectible pain medicine right now, and I'm sure they'll give me something
appropriate. I'm used to the little .1 cc syringes, but I was told this
doctor prefers a trans-dermal version of the same medicine. Unfamiliar to me,
but that's OK.

Art

(Arthur Shapiro) wrote:
We were told before the surgery that it would be infeasible to visit until
tomorrow (Thursday) as she'd be too groggy and out of it to be much of a
companion. That made sense, so that's what I expected.

They called this morning, said she's doing amazingly well, and is completely
alert and happy. We were encouraged to come and visit, which I did this
afternoon when visiting hours started.

I guess it was a mixture of horror at the reconstruction coupled with the
shaven (but amazingly soft) head and neck, vs. amazement at the change from
the grotesquely-disfigured ear area we'd seen before.

She sat in my lap for an hour, happy as could be, quite sleepy but thrilled
with all the attention she could get. They said she'd been eating a
prodigious quantity of canned Friskies, but still weighing the same 6#6 as
Saturday, and - sacre bleu! - using the cat box without incident.

She looks very content. If she's using a litter box now, she must be
beginning to feel comfortable. The reconstruction looks good. Were
they able to give you any idea of how confident they were that they
were able to excise the cancerous area?