Pet Lovers

[Sammycat1]

@noodleann 

Any word on Tammy yet?  I know you said her biopsy was 8 am, but I'm not sure what time zone your wild kitty lives in. 

[noodleann]

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@Sammycat1 wrote:

@noodleann 

Any word on Tammy yet?  I know you said her biopsy was 8 am, but I'm not sure what time zone your wild kitty lives in. 

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Tammy is in the Eastern time zone, and I dropped her off at the vet's office a little after 8. I just came downstairs from installing her in her room. She's stretched out on the floor, purring.

She was given an injection of  0.40 ml of 0.3mg/mL bupe by the vet, and I'll start her up on 0.15 ml around 10 tonight, to be repeated at 12-hour intervals for 10 days. By that time the biopsy results should be in and the vet will know what was in the mass.

I saw photos of it before surgery and the sutured area post-removal. It was not on the floor of her mouth, which is what I'd thought "under her tongue" meant. It was on the underside of the tongue itself. Ow. Poor Tammy.

I asked about pain meds continuing after the 10-day stretch, and it'll be handled on an as-needed basis according to the tech who checked me out. (I didn't speak to the vet because he had appointments.) I definitely don't want this cat to experience preventable pain, but it's possible if it's a slow-growing cancer or a Martian nodule that she might not need pain meds for a while. I will invite feedback on this, but she's good for the duration. Of course, if any post-surgical problems arise, I'll get her back to him immediately.

She's allowed a small amount of wet food tonight and can't have dry food for two weeks. I'll give her a teaspoon of a different wet food to sub for her dry food treat at bedtime, to try to maintain the routine she's accustomed to. I should be near a store with a wide selection of grain-free wet food, and I'll pick up some cans so I can try them out next week.

That's all I can think of, except I was wondering if souping her wet food up with a bit of bone broth might make sense to support the healing, or if that's really just a hoomin thing.

[NickNack]

@noodleann   I'm glad to hear that Tammy is home now.  I will be thinking of you all as you're waiting on the biopsy results.  I hope she will have the best possible outcome from this and that it's not malignant.

You said you didn't talk with the Vet, but I would want to know f he thought it was malignant after looking at it closely.

Henry is a very picky eater.  I tried several different foods before finally deciding on Nutro Wild Frontier dry.  It's a grain-free food and comes in wet, too.  You might want to try that to see if Tammy likes it.  It comes in several different varieties.

[Sammycat1]

@noodleann 

I'm glad Tammy came through ok!

I'd soup up the food with room temperature water...like a pudding or slurry. 

Give Tammy a smooch from Frankie and me and DH!

[noodleann]

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@NickNack wrote:

@noodleann   I'm glad to hear that Tammy is home now.  I will be thinking of you all as you're waiting on the biopsy results.  I hope she will have the best possible outcome from this and that it's not malignant.

You said you didn't talk with the Vet, but I would want to know f he thought it was malignant after looking at it closely.

Henry is a very picky eater.  I tried several different foods before finally deciding on Nutro Wild Frontier dry.  It's a grain-free food and comes in wet, too.  You might want to try that to see if Tammy likes it.  It comes in several different varieties.

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Thanks very much for the food recommendation, @NickNack . I know Nutro, but hadn't heard of this food. I made an attempt to find a quality wet food they all agreed on some years ago, but gave up and resorted to Friskies Buffet, which they all like to varying degrees. Their dry foods are Taste of the Wild and Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Green Pea and Chicken, and I hoped that they'd offset the supermarket-quality wet food. I see the jig is up on that.

I'd love to know what the vet thought of the mass he removed, but frankly, in his shoes I'd qualify any statements to death to avoid distress when the biopsy results were in. Not knowing what he thinks also allows me a couple of weeks with Tammy where I can still believe this might come to nothing. She is so healthy-seeming and vigorous and happy (the pain meds probably help there) that it's easy to think she'll still be be knocking the Henry James paperbacks into the litterbox (she's a big reader) and tipping her water out half a decade from now. But I don't get to make that call.

Cats are so different from us. They do not plan. They don't envision what they'll be doing for Christmas or how a new coverlet will look on the bed. I find the biggest challenge when forced to face the mortality of these little friends is meeting them where they are, unencumbered by my hopes or  expectations, and remembering that they were always on temporary loan to me.

[noodleann]

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@Sammycat1 wrote:

@noodleann 

I'm glad Tammy came through ok!

I'd soup up the food with room temperature water...like a pudding or slurry. 

Give Tammy a smooch from Frankie and me and DH!

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Thank you for the advice and the smooches. I'll give them to Tammy when I give her her meds in just a minute.

You said room-temperature water. I'd been wondering about the temperature, whether cooler was better. I'll stick to what you advise. Thanks again!

[Sammycat1]

@noodleann 

You're welcome! If she's got a hidden tooth problem or stomatitis, sometimes cold water can sting. The bottom line is mushy food for now, so experiment to see what works best.

What you wrote about cats is true: they are live-in-the-moment creatures entrusted to us only for a time. 

[beastielove]

@noodleann 

Sending out tons more healing prayers,

pawsitive energy and comfort hugs to

your purr-cious Tammy.

          (((((TAMMY)))))

Love,

beastie,Samantha,Olivia Henry and Jack

--------------------------------

All of my children have paws =^..^=

[noodleann]

Thank you, @beastielove , that's so sweet. I just got back from the store with a bunch of assorted brothy food treats that I hope will induce Tammy to eat, or lap. She's not doing anything more than a half-hearted licking off my finger at this point. But she's alert and bouncing around the room, purring for pets, wanting to nuzzle. I hope as the trauma of the surgery fades and healing takes over, she'll get peckish.