Vigil

Yesterday late afternoon I was trying to stuff some doll pins but kept going over to the window that looks over Stokes Valley. For some reason I did not want to let the light go, it was the last bright and lovely day our Sooty had.

Paul suggested we go outside to watch the light go from there, so we did. We put on coats and hats as its very cold here at the moment and spent, Oh I don't know how long, just stood outside on our front steps looking over the Valley and watching the light fade. I lost count of the number of times I said goodbye and God Bless to our Sooty but I kept saying it. We kept remembering all the fun and silly things she used to do too.

Dash Kitten, who had stayed close to Sooty at one stage during her illness was scampering around out the front with us, playing with Isabell who lives next door - they did gentle chasing and fooling around - they played.

Suddenly Dash seemed to disappear, we couldn't find him. Then he appeared around the side of the house carrying something. I bent down to examine it, Paul thought it was a leaf to start with but, it turned out Dash had brought us one of his little fluffy mice from indoors. I wonder if he sensed our grief and wanted to bring us a gift for Sooty. Sooty will have the little mouse placed with her Rimu wood urn when it returns from the funeral place later this week.

Our Beloved Sooty has Gone

Our lovely girl, our little black cat who traveled halfway around the world and loved her time in New Zealand has gone to the Rainbow Bridge.

Her cancer had not gone into remission in spite of three chemo treatments, and had spread to her liver.

Rest in Peace our lovely girl who sneaked across to live with us from the family across the back all those years ago.

Two Seizures

Things don't look good.

Sooty has a seizure at 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. and slept in my pillow in between times. Bridget of Pets are Talking says Sooty said "tell my mom I'll be with her. I'll be laying on the scraps (showing me fabric?)." Now, I don't know how true all this is but Bridget has been very nice.

We have made the decision to take her to the vet to see what he says. It may be time to let her go - no more pain or suffering. We will see.

A calmer morning but a warning about Anabolic Steroids

Sooty is calmer today, quieter and still with us.

I wanted to warn anyone who has an anabolic steroid injection done on their cat that there is might be a reaction and that you might be frightened as we were. For heaven's sake if your vet gives your kitty an anabolic steroid injection ask him what the effects might be.

Sooty became distressed around the injection area and cried so bitterly we were ready to say goodbye. WRONG!!!!!! It turns out she had a reaction in the injection area and after a rest was suddenly filled with energy that she did not know what to do with. Mrs Vet's advice to isolate Sooty in a secure, darkened and warm place was the best advice we could have had.

DO NOT FUSS if your cat reacts as Sooty did. They pick up on our stress, they become more stressed. If you can get immediate advice from your vet - otherwise isolate the cat, keep her warm and in a darkened room (this calms them) with food, water and a litter tray.

Overnight Sooty was quiet and calm and today is much better.

Sooty bit of a panic

We took Sooty to the vet, who popped her a steroid, an anti nausea tablet and gave her an anabolic steroid injection. We took her home so she could settle and went out to collect some shopping.

When we came back she came to us crying pitifully. We rang an emergency vet who said that the Anabolic Steroid might be causing a reaction and to put a warm compress on the injection area to help blood circulate and ease discomfort (well I think that's what I remember OK).

She rested for several hours then started shouting again and wandering about. At this Paul and I became really upset and in desperation tried to contact our vet fearing that the time had come to let her go. We eventually spoke to Mrs Vet (Vet was out) and she said that the Anabolic Steroid might be making her very active and she would not know what to do with herself and all this energy. I could sort of understand this as you hear of athletes being tested for them.

We have been advised to stay calm, put her in a room on her own so she is not picking up our panicked vibes and she will eventually calm down. Mrs Vet told us not to be too hasty - and to keep calm. So, we have put her in the second bedroom with food, water and litter and dimmed the lights.

We now wait to see what the night brings.

Worried about Sooty

Sooty has been losing some weight and is being very quiet and subdued.

I can hear she still has that raspy breathing sound a bit, although not as bad as it was. I have been vascillating about the vet but after SelenaK's comment I am going to make a vet appointment. I'm just so afraid she won't come back from the vet this time.

Yesterday when Paul came home and we sat down to supper Sooty came up and was talking loudly to him, not me, to Paul. She ate a bit of mince after her chemo tablet Paul can't understand what she is saying. Is it Marjorie's driving me nuts or I don't feel well, or I'm hungry.

I don't want her to suffer but if there is hope I don't want to let her go. I just WISH I was more familiar with cats and how they work and what might/could happen.

Bad Weather

It is very very cold here. Colder than we have ever been. As a result Sooty has come down with a sniffle and a dry raspy cough. It is not severe but she sounds 'coldy' and is causing us a bit of worry.

Her blood test was slightly better but she is going through one of periodic troughs of poor health. She has lost some weight but has just eaten a good handful of minced pork including a bit with her dially steroid hidden in it. (Yes!!).

I am busy with my doll making but keep the fire on and Sooty is resting on the back of the sofa. She did come to the door and meet me when I returned from my doll hair shopping so the vital spark is still there. It's just so bloody cold here and we are barely into winter. The frustration is immense, it is not usually this cold for so long.

Today we start Chemo 3, so she will take a dip again. I just hope Sooty can hang in there for us, I want her to see another Spring, to see her out in the warm sun.

Settling into a rhythm

As time goes on, I find that both we, and Sooty, are settling into a daily rhythm of ups and downs. Morning times Sooty is HUNGRY (steroids) so she is perky alert and responsive. Then she subsides into quietness and has lately taken to sharing Casper the Guinea Pig's cage - he is fine as long as he has lettuce LOL!

Mid-morning Sooty is hungry again so has a top up, then rests and so, on throughout the day. Then come evening time she is perky enough to scamper (literally) at high speed to the door to greet Paul - to say he was thrilled is an understatement.

She is still very thin, and the vet says she will never put on huge amounts of weight but she is still very much 'our Sooty' so we are happy. Oh, and Good News on the holiday front. We had a meet and greet with the pet sitter who will be giving Sooty her chemo for a couple of the days we are away in Auckland.

Recommended by our vet, the man (and his wife) appear to be competent and nice people. Tony took detailed notes about who likes what to eat, their routine, what Sooty's medication was and when it was administered. Where all the food is etc., etc., he regularly walks other dogs, feeds cats, can administer cytotoxic tables without panicking.

I feel much happier about going away for a few days now.

Blood Test Report - post 2nd Chemo

I rang the veterinary surgery and was told that Sooty shows a small improvement!

Yes, she is still ill, but this shows the chemo may be having some kind of effect. We have also found someone who will be able to give Sooty her Leukeran while we take a short trip away. Paul's birthday celebration is a visit to see Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone in Auckland then come back on the Overlander.

So happy.

Improvement and eating a bit more.

I spent the day working at the University and left late so Paul beat me home to be greeted at the door by Sooty, and Dash Kitten. Sooty was hungry enough to enjoy most of a steroid dose without knowing it - yes!! (punches the air).

She was very perky for a while and pleased to see us. She has now gone into rest mode but still seems happy.

Her wellness, or not seems to come in waves - sometimes up sometimes down. We have to keep alert to changes so we can anticipate when we might have to give her an anti nausea tablet (we do not give these regularly - using them only when needed).

Currently she is resting, laid quietly on one of the kitty condo shelves, on her side. She is a good girl.

Flaky moments

Sooty has been doing a bit of shouting tonight. Like she is worried or slightly flaky. It's very upsetting as she looks very thin. I am gong to take her to the vet to see if the blood tests show OK and to see if she is making headway or we are just deluding ourselves. I got an anti nausea tablet down her earlier so she is eating small amounts.

A real low point for me.

Post Chemo Report 2nd Chemo

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Sooty finished her second round of chemo and after a couple of days give us a difficult night - she could not settle, was absolutely everywhere, up, down, on, under, in.... Until Paul went nuts and I put her in the second bedroom with a clean litter tray, fresh good and some water.

The following day, both of us half-dead with fatigue, struggled through work and home for an early night. We found Sooty much perkier, still subdued but ready to eat heaps of gracy, some meat and two whole prawns an inch or more long apiece.

Conclusion on Chemo : Two days after she stops the round she becomes very uncomfortable. We must be prepared for this next round. The anti nausea tablets take a while to kick in but are a big help and not feeding Sooty for some hours means she is hungry enough to polish off food with the steroid tablet in it.

Unwell Tuesday

Sooty is not feeling very well at the moment, she has been up on the dinner table having abit of food, wandering around in a hopelessly distrait way, looking totally lost. I have tempted her with bacon some of which went down then she left it, came back, ignored it....

She has had one half on an anti-nausea tablet but this has not had much effect, as yet. She is so very thin - but stil has her sparkle and a shiny cold nose.

Not sure if she will settle, I hope so.

Current Chemo Over

Sooty is still eating but seems very very thin to me. I will make the appointment for her blood test but I am not happy as she seems so very thin.

We will have to see if the chemo is having any effect. I honestly don't know at the moment.

Second Chemo Round Over

Sooty took her tablets, reluctantly, and getting the steroids down is becoming more of a challenge. But she is still here and spent some time in bed with me this morning and last night. I have a rotten cold and she snuggled up.

She is still thin and we will have to wait for the blood test to see how things are going and if the lymphoma has begun to retreat.

Sootyt is still sparky, just a bit quiet at the moment.

Second Chemo

After her first tablet Sooty came up and snuggled between us restlessly for a while. She is still hungry which is great but it is become a bit of a palaver as the pills are cytotoxic which means they can't be touched by us. Still we persevere and she is sparky and came to the door today which is great!

Second chemo tablet tonight.

Bodyweight thoughts

Something that I thought I ought to mention in case anyone checks this with their own lymphoma cat.

Sooty lost a heck of a lot of weight before she was diagnosed. She had become very thin. Now she is 1) on chemo and 2) has the anti nausea tablets she is starting to regain her appetite. This is a long slow haul but she is gradually filling out a bit.

Sometimes I think she looks heart breakingly thin, other times a bit plumper. The lesson I have learned is that rebuilding her body will take time, she may never fill out totally again BUT she still has a sparkle in her eye, a spring in her step and she is still our Sooty.

We start the second round of chemo on Thursday.

Eating improvement and Blood Test results

Sooty's blood test results came back from the vet (and he has also sent them to Dr Acke at Massey Veterinary Hospital). Sooty's white blood cell count has taken a bit of a beating but, so far, we have not heard from Dr Acke that we should change our regime of chemo therapy - so we now keep going. This result was not unexpected, from my previous reading on Lymphoma, so is not a shock or anything.

This aside Sooty in progressing in leaps and bounds. She woke us up at 5 a.m. wanting love and cuddles (oh Joy, I know. I know but I was too happy to worry about it being 5 a.m.) and she now comes all the way to the door which is just totally thrilling after her previous low periods. The anti-nausea medicine (only 1/2 a tablet has been given so far) has improved her appetite and today we ate chicken (raw) 'Oh So Fishy' sachet and a bit of gravy from Fancy Feast.

I won't say she is filling out but she is not the ghostly little figure we took to Massey. Each day is still a blessing.

10th June - Patience

The Maxolon (anti nausea) seem to have had an effect. I only gave 1/2 a tablet once and Sooty has perked up considerably. From only eating chopped up raw chicken and a bit of minced meat she has moved on to a tiny bit of dried and the more strongly smelling food sachets called Whskrs Oh So Fishy.

She now spends a lot of time in her new bolt hole which is the airing cupboard - so we leave the door ajar and she comes out to demand feeding at regular intervals but is able to rest away from the more boisterous members of the cat family.

One important thing I have learned that I want to pass on.

BE PATIENT WITH YOUR CAT

Your cat may not seem to want to eat when you place a bowl in front of them. Don't just put it down and leave them to it - please, please, please - encourage, speak gentle words and above all wait as you might need to count slowly up to 30 or more before kitty decides to take a bit. Kneel down with kitty - get down on their level with them, make them feel comfortable, and wait.

If after a long time your cat just isn't taking the bait - retreat and try again another time. Be patient - they feel rotten on chemo, they need all your help and encouragement.

Back from the Vet - FInal Report for the Day

We now have MAXOLON - 1/4 to 1/2 tablet 1x or 2x per day as needed. This is an anti-nausea tablet which should help Sooty eat without feeling sick on days she is feeling low. Thank You to SelenaK for mentioning this. I asked the vet and I received.

REMEMBER : Chemo Cats might feel nauseous and, though hungry from the steriods, not feel like eating. Ask about anti-nausea medication when you are given the chemo tablets for your cat.

Sooty has come home and eaten some tuna in juice and SOME DRIED which she hasn't eaten for weeks now. [OK updated three hours later after it seems Sooty has hardly stopped eating.]
Her results go to Dr Acke at Massey University for her review/opinion/etc., and she will consider if any changes need to be made to the medication.