Hi everybody.
I know I've been away a while...work's been crazy the last couple months. I feel bad asking for vibes right off the bat, but my Harvey could use some of that board magic.
Harvey is my 17-year-old gray tabby. He has had asthma for several years. When I went away on a business trip in August DH got his medication dosage messed up and he had some pretty bad asthma attacks. He wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eating as much and was losing weight, but thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s common for Harvey when his asthma bothers him. A few weeks later, when he still wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eating well, a vet trip confirmed the weight loss, but his bloodwork was confusing...the only thing that was clearly wrong was a high white blood cell count. We started him on an antibiotic and have been following up with the vet.
Fast forward to his last vet trip on Saturday…he was down another pound, for at total loss of about three pounds in two months. His bloodwork is still unclear (and his WBC is still high), but they now have a tentative diagnosis of either an inflammatory bowel condition or he has a lymphoma in his intestines. The only way to know for sure is to do a biopsy, but we all agree that given his age it would be unduly hard on him. The only difference in treatment for the two conditions would be that they would do chemotherapy for a lymphoma, but I just canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t see putting a 17-year-old cat through chemo. I would hate for him to spend his final days feeling sick and tortured.
Weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve started him on a steroid, which they would do for either condition, and which will hopefully make him feel better and stop losing weight. Weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re trying another antibiotic, too.
We could use any vibes and prayers anyone can spare that this isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t cancer and weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll be able to make him feel better and be with us for a while longer...or, if it's his time, to help us to let go. Thanks, everyone!
I know I've been away a while...work's been crazy the last couple months. I feel bad asking for vibes right off the bat, but my Harvey could use some of that board magic.
Harvey is my 17-year-old gray tabby. He has had asthma for several years. When I went away on a business trip in August DH got his medication dosage messed up and he had some pretty bad asthma attacks. He wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eating as much and was losing weight, but thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s common for Harvey when his asthma bothers him. A few weeks later, when he still wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eating well, a vet trip confirmed the weight loss, but his bloodwork was confusing...the only thing that was clearly wrong was a high white blood cell count. We started him on an antibiotic and have been following up with the vet.
Fast forward to his last vet trip on Saturday…he was down another pound, for at total loss of about three pounds in two months. His bloodwork is still unclear (and his WBC is still high), but they now have a tentative diagnosis of either an inflammatory bowel condition or he has a lymphoma in his intestines. The only way to know for sure is to do a biopsy, but we all agree that given his age it would be unduly hard on him. The only difference in treatment for the two conditions would be that they would do chemotherapy for a lymphoma, but I just canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t see putting a 17-year-old cat through chemo. I would hate for him to spend his final days feeling sick and tortured.
Weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve started him on a steroid, which they would do for either condition, and which will hopefully make him feel better and stop losing weight. Weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re trying another antibiotic, too.
We could use any vibes and prayers anyone can spare that this isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t cancer and weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll be able to make him feel better and be with us for a while longer...or, if it's his time, to help us to let go. Thanks, everyone!