This Will Be Bad
Jun. 21st, 2007 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billroperTomorrow morning, I'm taking our older cat, Bilbo, to the vet. A year and a half ago, we took him in because he had some teeth that were so rotten that he was in too much pain to eat. The only thing he would eat was cream cheese which he would lick off my finger. The vet was reluctant to put him under anesthesia, especially because his blood work indicated that he probably had a lymphoma somewhere, but we decided to chance it.
As it happened, Bilbo came through the surgery just fine and resumed normal eating, although we did give him canned food from then on. It was some time after that that we found out where the lymphoma was, as a large red mass appeared in his left ear. We pretty much assumed that there wasn't anything that the vet could do for it and it didn't seem to bother him, so we left it be.
The problem with that was that periodically it would bleed dramatically. That could be dealt with. It's now to the point where it leaks fluid fairly continuously, leaving ichor wherever he goes, including on his head. It also occasionally mats in his fur, where![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
daisy_knotwise has had to cut them out, giving Bilbo a rather patchy appearance. We had to start locking him in the downstairs bathroom at night to keep him from crawling on top of a sleeping Gretchen for warmth in the winter.
At this point, he could play Mrs. Norris in any Harry Potter film, given how disheveled that cat is supposed to look. With Ron's luck with familiars, obviously someone should gift him with Bilbo. But I digress...
We thought that the tumor would eventually take him, but it hasn't. And he can't continue to have the tumor. It won't work.
So tomorrow, Bilbo is going to the vet where they will try to do something about the tumor. And he may not wake up from the anesthesia.
Bilbo was Gretchen's mother's cat. He came to us when she did and has outlasted her by nearly seven years.
And tomorrow, the outcome is not likely to be good.
As it happened, Bilbo came through the surgery just fine and resumed normal eating, although we did give him canned food from then on. It was some time after that that we found out where the lymphoma was, as a large red mass appeared in his left ear. We pretty much assumed that there wasn't anything that the vet could do for it and it didn't seem to bother him, so we left it be.
The problem with that was that periodically it would bleed dramatically. That could be dealt with. It's now to the point where it leaks fluid fairly continuously, leaving ichor wherever he goes, including on his head. It also occasionally mats in his fur, where
daisy_knotwise has had to cut them out, giving Bilbo a rather patchy appearance. We had to start locking him in the downstairs bathroom at night to keep him from crawling on top of a sleeping Gretchen for warmth in the winter.At this point, he could play Mrs. Norris in any Harry Potter film, given how disheveled that cat is supposed to look. With Ron's luck with familiars, obviously someone should gift him with Bilbo. But I digress...
We thought that the tumor would eventually take him, but it hasn't. And he can't continue to have the tumor. It won't work.
So tomorrow, Bilbo is going to the vet where they will try to do something about the tumor. And he may not wake up from the anesthesia.
Bilbo was Gretchen's mother's cat. He came to us when she did and has outlasted her by nearly seven years.
And tomorrow, the outcome is not likely to be good.
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Date: 2007-06-21 06:26 pm (UTC)Bilbo
Date: 2007-06-21 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-06-21 08:10 pm (UTC)It's never fun to go through medical stuff with any member of your family, even a pet.
Our thoughts are with you - and Bilbo.
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Date: 2007-06-21 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 09:06 pm (UTC)Bilbo is one of my special friends -- I adopt other people's children and I adopt other people's pets. I adopted Bilbo.
I fervrently hope that this ends as is best for all. If it is time, Bilbo will know, and I've found that animals take this much more in stride than we do.
I'm still crying over Penny (gone 8 years) and Tigger (gone 17 months.) If I could make it easier, I would.
((((Hugs)))) and ((((skritches)))
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Date: 2007-06-21 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 09:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 11:24 pm (UTC)*hugs*
Date: 2007-06-22 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-22 02:52 am (UTC)Samatha Rat recently came through breast cancer surgery and TWO Weeks of encasement in a straightjacket with more grace than I've seen from any rat in similar circumstances. Her hair hasn't finished growing back, but attitudinally, she's bounced back very nicely.
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Date: 2007-06-22 03:24 am (UTC)Ben
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Date: 2007-06-22 04:09 am (UTC)I hope he pulls through the surgery, and I'll be thinking about y'all!
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Date: 2007-06-22 03:56 pm (UTC)Sorry you're going through this.