A Terrible Day for Me and Indy

[Louie's Dad]

As last reported, my friend was vomiting, and he finally stopped eating and drinking some days ago. He produced watery diarrhea the last three days. I brought him back again to the hospital for the third time in 2 weeks. The good doctor (this time, the one whom the original emergency doctor recommended that I see, which cost me an extra day because she was booked on Thursday) felt a swelling in his GI tract and did an ultrasound of his gut. She found a fibrous mass (tumor) in his intestine and diagnosed it as probably feline alimentary lymphoma. She gave me the treatment scenario and when asked about prognosis she said that it was not good.

 

[WitchyWoman]

The two of you have been dealt a bad hand LD. There's comfort to be found in the knowledge that you provided Indy with a good home and good care. I'm very sorry about the diagnosis. If Indy is stable enough for a biopsy, perhaps you can consider that option to get a definitive diagnosis. My personal preference is to have a definitive diagnosis because "probably" always leaves me wondering if I made the right choice for the animal in the long run. This is your decision and you are the only one who can decide what is best for Indy. Gentle hugs to you both.

 

[Moggieslegacy]

I have been following along reading all you have been going through trying to give Indy a good home and if this is the outcome, I feel really sad for both of you... Sending you both another hug from a far away stranger...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I'm so sorry.

I agree with Witchy though, a "probably" would not satisfy me. If it did then my Zari would not be alive today, pushing for a definitive answer saved her life. It doesn't always, with my Aziza it simply confirmed her dry FIP status...but still, I needed the certainty to let her go. For myself, I would feel terrible guilt later on wondering if it were the case or if there was something that could be done. When it comes to perceived intestinal lymphoma, the inflammatory events surrounding blockages and partial blockages can appear in ultrasound and xray to be cancer, so I would do the biopsy.

 

[Patti]

I would also want to get a biopsy before making any decisions that can't be reversed. Of course, you have to look at Indy also, and determine how much he - and you - are willing to go through and fight for. Whatever happens, my heart goes out to you and Indy.

 

[Rafiki]

I also believe that you need a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. Without this, you will never know if you gave up too quickly.

At 2 years old, Rafiki was diagnosed with liver fibrosis and given 1-1/2 to 3 yeard to live. We went thru 6 months of hell in 2015 fighting the anorexia that liver disease causes as well as other traumas along the way. In trying to determine the cause, all sorts of things came up such as lymphoma and FIP. We were able to biopsy her liver twice and the spleen once but we were unable to get a biopsy of the lymph nodes. As a result, we were able to rule out a lot of things and we decided to keep fighting as long as she was willing. 2 years later, she is still with me and doing great.