Dear
Julie
I
really feel for you. That's just all so overwhelming. So many sick kitties all
at one time. For myself I know I would find it very, very difficult to put any
animal through painful or uncomfortable procedures----which also usually
necessarily involve handling by strangers, hospitalization or clinic for
extended periods, or isolation---especially when the chances of recovery are
poor. But I also know that whatever decison you make will be based on what you
think is best for each of them and won't be made without a huge amount of
thought.
Please
know you and your beloved little furballs Mandy, Paulie and Cosmo are in my
thoughts.
love,
Kerry
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Julie Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 10:09 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Sad News
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Julie Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 10:09 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Sad News
Hi Everyone,
I have some sad news to share. First, Mandy's biopsies are back
and she has oral squamous cell carcinoma. The entire back of her tongue is
involved. We are consulting a surgeon, but her prognosis is very poor,
indeed. The surgery would be horrendous (possibly removing part of her
jaw, too), followed by radiation therapy. Even with this extreme
treatment, the recurrance rate for this kind of cancer is very high; I
understand sometimes within just a couple of months. Mandy is a sweet
little girl (Tater Tot's sister) who loves to come visit on her terms, but does
not like being handled. Medicating her and syringe-feeding are nearly
impossible. I'm not sure at this point what we will do or not
do.
Paulie, (the father of Mandy and Tater) is 7 years old and is in renal
failure.
He is feral and although I can capture him when I have to, I would need to
keep him in his own room to get treatment. When he had the corneal ulcer,
it was a much different story and we had a treatment plan and a projected
outcome. For CRF, I can't see imposing that on him just to keep him a bit
longer. He is eating again and seems a bit more like himself (won't let me
pet him!) so we'll just see how he does.
Cosmo has a dislocated ankle and according to the consulting radiologist,
it cannot be splinted. He would need surgery to have the bones fused and
he would then have a stiff leg that he couldn't bend at the wrist. I have
to investigate this more, because we all agree that he is starting to put more
weight on the leg and the bones may actually be fusing in this position which is
not much different than it would be after surgery. Again, not sure how we
will proceed for him. He does not seem to be in any pain; you can
move his leg every which-way and he does not make a peep or try to pull his paw
away. He just obviously favors the leg.
I'm just overwhelmed by all this. It's breaking my heart. Having so
many cats, I knew that a day would likely come when I had several who were ill
all at the same time, and that has certainly happened before. I've not
faced or dealt with so many probably being terminal, though. I suppose one
can never fully prepare for that emotionally.
Thanks for listening, everyone, and please keep my "kids" in your
thoughts.
Love, Julie
"I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is
to protection by man from the cruelty of man. "
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated."
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Paws Come WITH Claws!!!
If you're thinking about de-clawing your cat, you need to re-think your decision to acquire a pet.
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