Sad, Sad Day

I know it's been a long time since I posted. Pansy was doing well. The tumors weren't getting bigger, really. SHe had a lot of small bumps, but nothing that seemed threatening. Last week, when we took her to the Cat Hospital, Adrienne noticed that her breathing was a little labored. Sunday, it got worse.
We took her to the vet today, as usual. Dr K took xrays that showed her cancer had spread to her lungs. P hardly had any room to breathe. She had also started to build up fluid around her lungs. It was so bad that it was only going to be a matter of time (and a short matter, at that) before Sweet P had a crisis and was in a lot of pain.
So, we opted to end on a high note--before she really experienced any pain.
As we sat around the back of TCH, I was remembering my first adoption event, when Adrienne climbed into the crate to love on Pansy. And, when I picked P up from her adopter's house. And all those nights of being smothered in my sleep.
It's hard, you know? To be here without her. Ginger was upstairs, sitting in Pansy's room, waiting for me to feed Pansy. She was looking around, confused because P wasn't there, and Linz and I were both home, so why wasn't Miss P? I don't have to go upstairs to feed her. We don't need the dasaquin or the cosoquin. I don't need the fat cat ball. It was really hard to come home without her. with that empty carrier in the back seat. without her hair, her purr, without playing her favorite song.
Anyway, I have a lot of videos and pictures that I meant to post. I may go through and back-post them. We'll see. I don't know if anyone is really reading this, but I wanted to post the sad news, just in case.

Oh, and she weighed 14.4 lbs this morning.

Elections and Eating

So, I recognise that this is the third post with no picture. I'll get one tonight, and update with P's weight.
The good news is that P is eating again! But, I'm afraid we may have bad news. I believe that eating nothing but Fancy Feast is to a cat what eating nothing but chocolate cake (which I'll be doing this weekend!) would be to a human. We'll see for certain this afternoon. This morning I gave her plain m/d and she ate about half of it. It's not ideal, but she's eating.
We moved her into our "suite" (aka the quarantine room) so that she could eat throughout the day. This was, I was also able to know how much she ate, vs how much the kittens ate for her. I've noticed, though, that P likes to eat with the kittens. Sometimes she wouldn't eat until the kittens were there eating with her. I really can't say what caused her to stop eating. But, I'm so relieved that she's back.
Ok, now for the elections part. IAR is participating in a contest to win a good sum of money. It takes just a minute to vote, and you have the opportunity to say what you think about IAR. Just click on the link below to help IAR out! (link)

Pansy is Having a Bake Sale!!

The kind folks of IAR care so much about my mental well-being that they've agreed to pay for Pansy to have chest x-rays done. The results are hard to read (because of her weight) but there are no signs of lung cancer, or any other large tumors that should frighten us in the night. So, that is a huge relief!
However, x-rays cost money, and IAR has a limited amount of money to spend. So, our sweet Miss Pansy Pie is having a bake sale devoted especially to her! The bake sale will be Sept 27-28 at Petco on 15-501. So, come by and shop! The goodies at the bake sales are always fantastic, and cheap.
Now, on the scarier side, since last week, P has not really been interested in eating. I've had to beg and plead with her to get her to eat anything, and she's probably getting about half of what she'd normally eat. I took a half a can of food with her this morning to the vet, so we'll see how that goes.
I believe that Miss P is not considered adoptable, and Lindsay and I agreed to care for her for the rest of her life, even though she will remain an IAR cat. So, I'm not entirely sure about the future of this blog. However, I think I will continue keeping it, just because P has so many fans! I'd hate to deprive them of updates. Plus, I can advertise bake sales! ;)

Don't forget: Setp 27-28th. Petco on 15-501 (by Target). Yummyness.
See you all there!

The Results are In

So, the tumor was cancerous. We don't know what that means for all the little lumps up and down her abdominal region, but we have to assume they are cancerous, too. I'm not sure what IAR will want to do. It sounds like our two options are to remove all of her mammary-related everything, or to just remove lumps as they get big. The good doc has explained that the cat's life-span will be similar with either option, so I have a hunch we'll go with the second one.

It's a pretty sad day for me. P wasn't eating this morning when I left for work. Perhaps she knew the bad news that was on the way. But, that scares me almost as much as the C-word!

But, she's strong. She's such a bright, determined girl. While I feel emotionally kicked by life, I know that she doesn't care what her chances are, or how bad it could be. She's going to go on just like she always has. Isn't it funny that the people with the cancer always seem so much stronger than those of us who just have to watch their struggle?

New Video

Gray from TCH bought Miss P this wonderful new toy--and she is crazy about it! I wanted to share with you all just how much she loves her Hot Tamale. Sorry about the crappy cinematography! About two-thirds of the way through, I show you her incision, so if you have an uneasy stomach, look away. She's recovering from her surgery, and hates taking her pills and pain meds.



Watching some of the older videos--can you believe this is the same cat? She's jumping up to get the toy! She used to barely reach for it!

Biopsy

The biopsy went well, and Miss P is at home, well-fed (we made an exception on her diet, since everyone should get a free-day if they have surgery!) and resting.

Good News/Bad News

So, at weigh-in today, Pansy came in at 17.1 lb! It's so exciting to be getting into numbers so low. It didn't really hit me until today that she's almost down to 17 pounds! I've started to wonder what our long-term goal is (besides getting her adopted, of course!)

Now, for the bad news. As Pansy's been losing weight, I've noticed a lump under one of her nipples. I thought it was scar tissue from a benign mammary tumor she'd had removed back in '06 (I believe that was the year) but Dr. Kirch said we aren't that lucky. Tomorrow they are removing it in order to do a biopsy on it. In order to keep her spirits up, we're telling Miss P that she's just getting a tummy tuck, since she's lost so much weight and has so much skin left over!

I've got a picture of it, but it's not a great one. It's about the size of a gum drop.

So, cross your fingers for our girl, and if you'd like to help with any medical expenses, you can donate at animalrescue.net. I believe there's a field where you can designate that it's for Miss Pansy Pie's surgery. Or, I'm sure The Cat Hospital of Durham and Chapel Hill will take money. I feel bad even mentioning it, but it seems to have been the year for medical expenses, and I hate to think of the medical fund drying up while cats still need help.

I'll let you know as soon as I find anything out.