Breathing harder, drinking more, eating less.

We decided that it's time.

Trouble breathing

The tumor is now pushing to close off her second nasal passage, so Kitty is snorting and breathing very loudly now. She's back to drinking lots of water. I've also started to give her baths because it's very difficult for her grooming to keep up with the fluids that keep coming out. We know her time is coming up soon, yet it's hard to know exactly when because she still has so many social moments and purrs every night.

Still a trooper

Kitty cat is looking as beat up as our bathroom lately, but she's still hanging on in there. One nostril is completely closed up by the tumor, and the other one is getting pretty close also. The growth seems to be spreading at the bridge of her nose, to that area has been getting wider apart as well as lumpier. Left eye is a bit watery and squinty, and she continues to leak out her forehead. We're going to start giving her paw baths now because she's having trouble keeping them clean with her regular routine. On the eating end, she still has an appetite for hand-feed babyfood and has been holding steady at 5.4 lbs. She still sleeps with us and purrs and we're just taking it day by day.

From Bump to Bald spot

This photo shows kitty's head bump 1 week after it emerged.

The day before, I had taken her to the cat oncologist to get a second opinion on what it was. (Her normal vet thought it was inflammed tissue, but the antibiotics didn't seem to subside the bump.) The oncologist thought that it was her sinus fluids, built up from her nasal passage being clogged. There was really nothing the oncologist could do because she didn't want to risk infecting the lump by taking a sample.

Fast forward to the day of the photo. Nature took its own course when Cutie Cat popped the lump all on her own and drained the fluids through her forehead. I'll spare you the details.

Over the next days, the lump would build back up again, get drained, and the process would repeat. It's been surprisingly efficient, and short of a bald spot that formed around the drainage hole, kitty is doing well... social, alert, and eating regularly.

Current weight: 5.4 lbs
Medications: none

Antibiotics and Painkillers

The vet doesn't think the forehead lump is from fluids. She thinks might be infection of the tissue and prescribed some oral anitibiotics and painkillers. Both are stinky and makes kitty lose her appetite.

The lump grew pretty large by the end of yesterday and shrank a bit overnight, so she's kind of back the same lump size as yesterday, the first morning.

Current medications: .5ml Clavamox drops (Amoxicillin Trihydrate/Clavulanate Potassium) twice per day for the next 10 days. .25ml Oral Buprenorphine once per day, then dropping down to once every 2-3 days for a total of 8 syringefuls.

Weight: 5.8 lbs

Bump on the Head

Cutie cat woke up this morning with a big soft bump on her forehead and a little bit of blood at her left nostril, which is the same side as her tumor. The bump is soft and squishy so we suspect it's sinus fluids which can't drain out because of the growing tumor. I placed a call to the vet and am waiting to hear back on what to do. Bump aside, she's still purring, social, and eating well.

Eating like a little piggy

Last night I gave the last of the antibiotics to cutie cat by oral syringe and I'm sure she's happy not to have to go through that 3x a day anymore. She's been pretty much back to her old self prior to being sick. Her appetite picked up again and she's eating like a little piggy, snorting away and finishing whatever portions of milk with catfood I give her. I'm hoping at this rate, she'll be able to pack on some weight before any more complications from her tumor.

Current weight: 6.0 lbs
Medications: none
Currently eating: TJ's Turkey and Giblets watered down with lactose-free 2% milk