Plushy is having surgery tomorrow...

So after struggling with the assumed IBD, Plushy took a turn for the worse. He was refusing to eat which is totally unlike him. I took him in today and the vet felt a mass which she thought might be lymphosarcoma and said he was very dehydrated and had urea smell to his breath which might indicate CRF. They did xrays and blood work. Good news is there is no sign of renal failure, his kidneys look good. However, the xray results were "bazaar". She said she didn't think it was cancer bc it didn't appear to be a soft tissue mass. She said it looks like a calcified mass. It is located in his "cranial abdomen" which she explained is the upper part of the abdomen. She said her and the other doc couldn't tell if it was inside or outside of the digestive tract so they are going to do exploratory surgery tomorrow and remove the mass if possible.

Has anyone dealt with this in the past? Does anyone know what is all included in cranial abdomen? She mentioned that the area she felt the mass in was near the stomach and liver. The surgery essence necessary because he would die without it as no food can pass. I am devastated for my kitty and need some good vibes.

Thanks Carolina . This all started occurring in October. Is it possible that a blockage could be stuck that long? I was also thinking perhaps his IBD made it so that food cannot pass through and the "mass" was a glob of stuck food? Idk. I'm scared to get that phone call tomorrow when they tell me what they found. I'm afraid they will not be able to remove it and I'll just have to put him down

Thanks for all of the good vibes, we definitely need them

I am a wreck. Thanks for your assuring words, Carolina. I am so sick over this and nothing I try to research finds anything about calcification in the abdomen in relation to cats. I am trying to stay optimistic but when I said "Well that's good news..." on the phone (referring to no renal failure), the vet said not to get my hopes up yet and this can still be deadly... I am also worried about anesthesia because he's so skinny She said he's at higher risk but that they will do everything they possibly can to make sure he makes it through. Not a good day for Plushy or me.

I wonder if this "mass" is something he ate that he shouldn't have. I used to catch him chewing on plastic bags, tinsel, twist ties, etc sometimes so I wouldn't doubt if he ingested something he shouldn't have. I haven't seen him do this lately but who knows.

Thanks so much Carolina. I hope Bugsby is getting better now. I was reading your thread about his surgery before. Glad you were able to cancel it

So here's the update:

The vet called me this morning to discuss again what he was going to do. I asked him if he thought it might be a blockage, but he said with the length of time we've been dealing with this, he didn't think it was likely (it's been since October). When I asked what he thought it might possibly be, he started talking about poly-cystic kidney which he said is very difficult to remove... then he mentioned intestinal occlusion. After getting off the phone with him, I immediately started googling but found nothing but big scary stuff which worked me up.

I was at work and teaching is really difficult when you have this on your mind Anyway, he called later after the surgery to leave a message and said that they removed a bunch of foreign objects that were balled up in his intestines. Plastic and other things. I know I have seen Plushy chewing plastic bags in the past and yelled at him, but I haven't seen him do this for MONTHS, so I wonder how long that's been in there.

They removed the foreign pieces and also removed a section of bowel (not sure why exactly but the doc is gonna call me and discuss with me). Apparently they also found a piece of bowel that was "thickened" but he wasn't sure if it was just that way b/c of irritation from the foreign body or if it was a tumor growing. They are sending in a piece of the bowel for testing to see if it's cancer or what. They aren't sure if the obstruction came first or the irritation. The doctor was out of the office by the time I could call back, so this is what I know based on what they told me. There might be more details that I will get from him when he calls me tonight and I'll update again then.

As of right now, this sounds like it could be very good! If the tissue doesn't appear cancerous, this might be the beginning of a recovery for Plushy! I don't want to get my hopes up yet because the thickened intestines are still of concern and even if it's not cancer, he has a recovery ahead of him. I wonder if the IBD caused enough inflammation to catch all of the foreign bodies... perhaps he doesn't have IBD at all and it's been this foreign body accumulating this entire time. We never did get the biopsy for IBD because we tested him for the other things that have these symptoms so the vet said it was safe to assume IBD. I guess we will know soon. Thanks for all the good vibes, I know they helped

Another update:

I just got off the phone with the vet. Yes, Carolina, I feel like the vets there always assume worst case scenario, which I guess is better than getting my hopes up but still... It's not usually very reassuring.

Anyway, he said a lot of technical terms but from what I understand, the blockage was in the area between the small and large intestine (he called it ileocecal orifice). This is pretty uncommon to see as the blockages don't usually get that far down. The blockage contained plastic and what he said looks like easter grass (I am guessing more like tinsel from the xmas tree b/c we haven't had easter grass in this house ever- no kids). He said they saved it and will let me see it so I can identify the objects. I'm sure there will be some plastic "pine needles" from the xmas tree as I saw Plushy chewing on the branches of that too...

When he removed the blockage, he said that area was very thickened. He said he has a bad feeling that it was a tumor. He removed the area and connected the two pieces of bowel to close the section that was removed but no guarantees that if it's cancerous it hasn't spread. He said it's possible that it could be severe IBD in that area but only lab results will tell us.

He mentioned that the steroids that we put him on might have helped get rid of some of the cancer symptoms, which is why we thought it was IBD and thought he was getting better.

He also said that this is a very big surgery. He said Plushy will be with them at the hospital for a while. They are giving him lots of antibiotics and IV fluids because that area is dirty and can easily cause infection. I asked about feeding him and he said that Plushy isn't fully awake, but they will offer him food when he is. The vet said that if he recovers well and there is no cancer involved that this could be the cure. At least I have that to hold on to. He sounded rather grim but that's not atypical for this vet.

I guess we wait and see. It's going to be a day to day waiting game. I am going to try and go see Plushy tomorrow to provide some comfort. I am going to see if they let me bring a blanket from home for him so he has that "at home" smell. My poor baby. I hope and pray that this is the beginning of a successful recovery.

Has your vet done an x-ray? I wish this is something we would have done a LONG time ago before it got so bad... The thing is, I would see Plushy eat these things before I could get to him to pull them out of his mouth but like I said, I haven't seen him do it in months so I am guessing that obstruction was a partial blockage for a LONG time. I guess I didn't worry too much when I saw him eat that stuff b/c I have seen some of the things pass in his stool and I guess I assumed he would get sick VERY fast-- since he didn't, I assumed he was fine. Ugh. Shouldn't ever assume I guess. Just glad my other kitty, Giraffe isn't a plastic eater. I would hate to go through this again!