Sick Cat
Cameo, the youngest of our four cats, has a huge lump on her right shoulder. Please, don't let this be vaccine-associated sarcoma!
posted by Always On Watch @ 8/28/2006 07:01:00 AM
40 comments
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Monday, August 28, 2006
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40 Comments:
Oh, poor baby! Taking her in today? Hopefully it is an innocuous or benign condition!
tmw
TMW,
Yesterday, I did something I never do. I called the vet at her home! She gave me orders to fast Cameo after midnight, and I did so.
I just called the vet's office. Cameo has a 10:30 appointment for today. My husband will have to take her because The Maids are coming this morning. Everything at once!
I pray that we're not going to have euthanize Cameo. She's so young--barely 5 years old!
I have my "emergency cat-fund." Looks as if I'll be getting into that stash.
I hope it’s not serious. Both of our cats have chronic conditions but fortunately they aren’t life threatening. Cameo’s the spirited Siamese?
Ah, yes, I see from the link – the one that likes to celebrate Christmas (like her Yankee cousin here in NYC!)
Let's hope it's not serious.
I hope it's something simple... and easy to treat. Good luck, Cameo!
Cameo is 1/4 Siamese, but looks more like her father--a Russian Blue.
She's a very easy patient. This morning, however, she is not happy that no foody-doody is on her plate. In fact, she's doing her usual when she sees an empty plate--biting my big toe! The other three cats were fed while Cameo was confined to the cellar.
I suspect that the vet will want to operate. If the lump is vaccine-associated sarcoma (Usually the right shoulder is the site of the distemper vaccine, which carries a relatively low risk), the incision will be very long; even so, the prognosis would be guarded at best.
I'm inclined to think that the lump is not an abscess because Cameo doesn't seem to mind my touching it. On the other hand, she has great tolerance for pain--more than most cats. Also, over the past months, we've had a stray (?) tomcat in the neighborhood, and I suppose it's possible that he bit her--in an attempted sexual encounter or otherwise.
What has me flabbergasted is the size of this lump. How could I not have noticed it sooner? Did it get so large in just a matter of four days (I combed her four days ago; I noticed a little something, but it seemed like a contracted muscle)? Cameo is a very affectionate cat, and she gets lots of petting; even so, neither my husband or I noticed the lump before yesterday, when we could see it as she was walking across the living room. The lump is that large! About 2.5 inches in diameter, the best that I can tell.
Forgot to say...Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm a fool for my pets. They are members of our family!
Jason,
Yes, Cameo enjoys Christmas. I blogged about her decorating of our tree this past Christmas. The Cameo-link in this blog article goes to my essay about her.
I hope your kitty does well, AOW! What a blessing that you have an emergency fund; those unplanned trips to the vet can get costly!
There are several kinds of cysts that get very large in a matter of 24-48 hours. (On humans, at least!) I used to help with lancing/draining/packing. They are hard, and look red, and usually require a chunk of surrounding tissue to be removed. Hopefully, it is something like that, and not the VAS!
Keep us updated!
Good luck with Cameo..dont worry ..our doggie had a lump too which was removed..it was just a fat accumulation..nothing at all serious!..keep us posted! :)
Try not to worry too much until you know for sure. I guess they will have to take a tissue biopsy to be conclusive.
Yeah, I have a subcutaneous cyst that has ben drainned, it pops up every once in a while! Nothing wrong with it, just annoying. Yes, we will pray Cameo does well!
Go in peace, kitty's prognosis is most likely good!
tmw
Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty. I'm adding my hopes to those above that it will be a benign condition and that you have her back to normal soon.
Preliminary diagnosis: abscess. The vet drew off some fluid, which turned out to be pus. As I type this in, Cameo should be coming off the operating table. She'll be coming home with the hated Elizabethan collar and a round of antibiotics. Pathology results should be available within a few days.
Of course, if this abscess resulted from any kind of bite, we'll need to have Cameo tested in a few months for feline AIDS, which is primarily transmitted via bites.
AOW, it's not as bad as it could have been, thank goodness! Now we will pray this wasn't caused by a bite.
Well, its' not exactly a Russian Blue, but I've got this picture in my head now...
Farmer,
Bwahahahahaha! I'm saving that picture.
Now that I've learned to post pictures, I should post a picture of Cameo. But I hate to humiliate her by publishing her first web-photo while she's wearing an E-collar. Cats are sensitive, you know. :)
Whatever you do, NEVER embarrass your cat! A friend of mine tried it once...but the cat started moved his mealtime up 5 minutes a day and before you know it, my friend was forced to get up and feed him at 4:00 am!
Farmer,
Our old girl (age 18) makes my husband feed her in the wee hours of the morning. She often forgets when she's already eaten. My husband is a sucker for a loud squawl. Cats get senile too!
Even though I detect hyperbole in your example, you're right about cats and embarrassment. I've seen our cats sulk if we laugh at them. While some cats have a sense of humor--Cameo definitely does!--most cats do not understand the concept of "laughing along."
Farmer,
Is that the Fancy Feast cat in that photo?
Cameo's abscess was much deeper than the vet originally thought. She'll have to stay overnight at the animal hospital. It's best that she remain with veterinary professionals for the night.
Now I don't feel so guilty about going out this evening to get a massage!
I couldn't say always...
I googled cat and Elizabeth I images, and that is what I hit...
...and I was serious about my friend's cat... he has to feed it before he leaves for work, and their circadian rythms run a little faster than ours...
KuhnKat,
Thanks! My cats aren't psycho, but the eighteen-year-old is pitifully senile. She seems to be enjoying life, however.
Farmer,
You were serious about your friend's cat? Your friend must be a dedicated owner.
I used to have to sit with one of our cats to get her to eat. When she got a little portly, I stopped sitting with her, and she lost some weight.
My heart aches to see one of my kindred so ill.
Hand in there Cameo!!
Best wishes from Felis Domesticus
I mean HANG (gosh my typing sux)
Ah, a well-loved cat! Let's hope cameo is back on her paws in no time.
An abcess? And she didn't freak when you touched it? What a tough kitty!
The timing of this abscess is so fortuitous! We're scheduled to go on vacation in a few days. What if this crisis had happened while we were gone? We might have come home to really bad news. Of course, taking care of this abscess has been costly, but I'm not willing to euthanize a young pet unless I absolutely have to.
As to our vacation, we may not go at all, or we may have to shorten the trip by not leaving as early as we'd planned. I'll assess Cameo's situation when I pick her up from the vet.
Missing Link,
Felis Domesticus
LOL! I think your "kin" is going to be okay, unless there was a crisis in the night at the animal hospital. But Cameo is young and strong, so I think she's going to survive this crisis.
I can't believe the abscess got so large without my noticing it. Now that I think about it, she's been a bit withdrawn the past few weeks, but I thought she was just getting older and more independent. Was I ever wrong!
Jason,
My husband and I are fools over our cats.
And Cameo is not just loved by us. She has such an outgoing personality that everyone who meets her is drawn to her.
Brooke,
She didn't even flinch! But I did notice tha, in the past few weeks, she seemed a bit "touchy" lately in that she'd growl and smack at us when we petted her along her back. My husband and I thought, "There's the Siamese in her." I thought she was just being alpha-cat and challenging me. Well, I know better now.
Just checking in to see how your cat was doing. Hopefully it is just an abscess. Painful but curable.
Whew. I worried about you and your cat last night. I'm glad to hear it wasn't as bad as it could've been.
farmer john: that is a funny picture.
This afternoon, Cameo came home with drainage tubes projecting from the large incision of approximately 2 inches. There is quite a bit of blood oozing from next to one of the tubes, but the vet said, "Blood is good." The drainage tubes come out on Thursday, the stitches about a week later.
Of course, she is on antibiotics. WE also have to apply hot compresses twice a day.
So I guess that I'm "Cat Nurse," for at least the next few days. At the moment, she is sound asleep--after eating niblets, drinking some water, and using the litter pan. She has a high tolerance for pain so has no need for any pain meds.
Wow, glad you got your baby home!
tmw
TMW,
I'm going to have a long night tonight because Cameo is having a hard time finding a comfortable position in which to sleep. But she is home!
Ooh, the mommy comes out in me, even with(or especially for)my little animals! Even the big one is a baby to me, got some old pillows? Maybe a nest of them would give Cameo an option as to position? I'm racking my brains to think of ways to help both of you!
tmw
TMW,
For a while, she assumed your usual position for this time of day--at the foot of my husband's recliner's elevated footrest. But I had to interrupt and apply a hot compress for 10 minutes, then dose her with antibiotics.
Now she's sitting on the couch next to me. Worn out--I hope!
Old pillows might be an option. I'll see what I've got upstairs. Good suggestion!
She's home & she's on the mend. That's very good news.
Sounds like she's going to end up Mommy's little shadow! Also sounds like she's happy to be home with her family. No wonder she was hissing at that stray varmint! I'd hiss too at someone who bit or scratched me so badly!
Good night and G*D bless all, especially Cameo!
tmw
TMW,
I worry that she may develop feline AIDS. Guess that I'll just have to get the vet to run a test in a few months.
G*D bless all, especially Cameo!
Thank you! I'm about ready to turn in myself.
I wish I could say I like cats but I can't. I am VERY HAPPY though that your friend has come home and is on the mend. Have a good trip.
EB,
Not everybody likes cats. My mother didn't. However, I took after my father's side--cat lovers, all! In fact, the only pictures I have of my father's sisters (both died in childhood, one of after-effects of the 1918 flu and other of diphtheria) show both of the girls holding a kitten.
Cameo is on the mend, thanks. I'm not sure whether my husband and I will be going to the beach--Storm Ernesto. I do have a cousin who will tend Cameo if we decide to go to the beach. The vet suggested that we take Cameo with us. No way! I need a vacation from the cats!
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