PROPERsecretary
Savannah Kitten
Just wondering if any of you have been through Chemo with any or your kitties. What is was like, was it worth it - not talking monetarily - but was it worth putting you cat through it, was it hard on your cat, how long/how many treatments did you do etc? Trying to get insigt of what it might be like & if it would be right for Sen.
I posted back in December about our journey with Sen & her swollen lymph nodes here http://www.savannahcatchat.com/threads/health-question-swollen-lymph-node.5265/
So we did a round of prednisone steroids starting on xmas eve that completely made the lump disappear. We were one 2 doses a day for 7 days, then 1 dose a day for 7 days & the 1 dose every other day for 7 days... I missed a dose during the every other day dosage & that's when I noticed the lump starting to come back. We took her back in for a recheck with the surgeon on 2/10 & decided on surgery in an attempt to remove the lump & if that couldn't be done, get large samples to be biopsied. Surgery was set for 2/20 but we pushed it up to 2/17 because on 2/8 Sen's meow changed & she sounded groggy & it was deeper. She also started gagging like she had a hairball when she'd purr really hard. Surgery went well but it confirmed that it was 100% her lymph nodes that were swollen & the discovered another one that was pretty large further down her neck near her breast bone. Results came back on Monday it is cancer. Needless to say we are devastated... we have never been so bonded to any animals either me or my fiancé has ever had as we are to Sen & Satsuki our other SV.
Now it's a matter of maintenance to keep her happy & healthy for a long as her body will allow. She is still acting her normal self - eating like a pig, loud & vocal, hard head butts, super loud lawnmower purr, needing to be held/hugged & on me, playing & following us around. We have her back on prednisone steroids & were given the option to do chemo - it would be once a week for 4 weeks in a row & then once every 3 weeks for maintenance indefinitely. We were told by the oncologist that the form of lymphoma she has is very rare since it presented externally in the lymph nodes on her neck. We have been told that there is a 60% - 70% chance of remission. If it does go into remission & then comes back again there is a very small chance that it will go into remission a 2nd time.
We are at a moral cross roads...we are completely aware that there is no cure & no operation that will save her. We want to do what's right for her & not us. We can keep her on steroids & increase the dosage as needed - she's currently only on 2 ML's a day, which has reduced the size of the lymph nodes some. Life expectancy is 3-6 months but the Dr's also says that # can mean nothing. With the chemo, Sen would have to be put under anesthesia every time, since she freaks when being restrained. Neither Kevin or I have been trough loosing a pet before either from sickness or old age & have been told we'll know when the time is right when we need to let go. We just want to give her the best quality of life that we can, while we can.
Thanks for taking the time to read
Erin, Sen & Satsuki
I posted back in December about our journey with Sen & her swollen lymph nodes here http://www.savannahcatchat.com/threads/health-question-swollen-lymph-node.5265/
So we did a round of prednisone steroids starting on xmas eve that completely made the lump disappear. We were one 2 doses a day for 7 days, then 1 dose a day for 7 days & the 1 dose every other day for 7 days... I missed a dose during the every other day dosage & that's when I noticed the lump starting to come back. We took her back in for a recheck with the surgeon on 2/10 & decided on surgery in an attempt to remove the lump & if that couldn't be done, get large samples to be biopsied. Surgery was set for 2/20 but we pushed it up to 2/17 because on 2/8 Sen's meow changed & she sounded groggy & it was deeper. She also started gagging like she had a hairball when she'd purr really hard. Surgery went well but it confirmed that it was 100% her lymph nodes that were swollen & the discovered another one that was pretty large further down her neck near her breast bone. Results came back on Monday it is cancer. Needless to say we are devastated... we have never been so bonded to any animals either me or my fiancé has ever had as we are to Sen & Satsuki our other SV.
Now it's a matter of maintenance to keep her happy & healthy for a long as her body will allow. She is still acting her normal self - eating like a pig, loud & vocal, hard head butts, super loud lawnmower purr, needing to be held/hugged & on me, playing & following us around. We have her back on prednisone steroids & were given the option to do chemo - it would be once a week for 4 weeks in a row & then once every 3 weeks for maintenance indefinitely. We were told by the oncologist that the form of lymphoma she has is very rare since it presented externally in the lymph nodes on her neck. We have been told that there is a 60% - 70% chance of remission. If it does go into remission & then comes back again there is a very small chance that it will go into remission a 2nd time.
We are at a moral cross roads...we are completely aware that there is no cure & no operation that will save her. We want to do what's right for her & not us. We can keep her on steroids & increase the dosage as needed - she's currently only on 2 ML's a day, which has reduced the size of the lymph nodes some. Life expectancy is 3-6 months but the Dr's also says that # can mean nothing. With the chemo, Sen would have to be put under anesthesia every time, since she freaks when being restrained. Neither Kevin or I have been trough loosing a pet before either from sickness or old age & have been told we'll know when the time is right when we need to let go. We just want to give her the best quality of life that we can, while we can.
Thanks for taking the time to read
Erin, Sen & Satsuki
. Hugs from Mojo & family.