- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Messages
- 39
- Purraise
- 26
I haven't been on this site in forever, but today I found out the worst possible news you can from a veterinarian. My beloved Jazzykins most likely has a tumor in her lower jaw.
My beautiful princess Jasmine aka Jazzy aka Jazzykins aka Jazz Jazz is 12 years old. I "adopted"her and her brother when my mom's landlord's unspayed cat (they did spay her after this unexpected litter at least) had kittens. My mom originally was against the idea of a cat, but being only 10 years old, she let my twin sister and I go visit the kittens at least.
I originally wanted this male calico kitten, but he had already been claimed. I then saw this little tiny grey bundle of cuteness, and my heart just knew she was the one for me. The lady told me that this little grey kitten had somehow escaped into some broken heat vents, and spent two of the coldest December winter nights there before they could get her out. (Why, I have no idea.) I figured if this brave little girl could survive that, she could survive anything.
My mom relented on the no cats, and let my sister choose a kitty as well so my kitten wouldn't be lonely. My sister was chosen by the 2nd runt of the litter.
We had to wait a few weeks before they could leave their mom, but during this time we would come over and bond with the kittens daily. Jasmine quickly recognized me, and would crawl up my legs for me to hold her.
When we brought them home, Jasmine would want to be with me all the time. She would sleep under the covers with me, claw her way up my legs for me to hold her, and would drool when she purred because she loved to be held and carried so much (informed this by a vet over 6 years that she is basically overexcited).
She has remained this way all the way up into now. She still will paw at my legs when she wants to be picked up. She will lay in my arms, purring and drooling away as happy and content as can be. I don't think anyone believes me when I tell them that my cat is so needy and wants to be picked up and carried like a human child almost constantly. Whenever I take a shower, she will sit on the toilet and wait until I come out. The moment I am out, she meows at me, and will stand up on her back legs so I will pick her up and carry her for a bit. The moment I sit down, she jumps down and paws at my legs (or bites me if I take too long to notice her) so I will pick her up again and carry her around. She's a strange, but very special cat.
Another random thing about her. When I am playing a board game, she can walk across the entire board game and won't knock over a single piece. She is so dainty and elegant. Her brother is like godzilla and manages to ruin the game with one paw.
Over the last week, I've noticed that it looked like that her mouth was constantly staying open a teensy bit. It was hard to notice unless you looked closely at a certain angle, but she just looked slightly different. I checked her mouth, no sores or bad breath, she was eating normal, acting normal, and seemed fine. My boyfriend didn't think anything was even that wrong with her, since she had no other issues and it was barely noticeable.
Being the worrier I am, I decided to make a vet appointment yesterday for today, thinking that it was some sort of dental issue.
Got to the vet, and the super nice vet did a quick examination. Without drawing it out, she said that Jasmine has a tumor in her jaw, that's causing her mouth and tongue to swell, resulting in her mouth being open a bit as a mechanical response to the swelling. She told me that it's most likely her least favorite (if she had a favorite) form of cancer, because it's so aggressive and localized. She informed that there's the option of a jaw removal (which most cats don't do well with she said) or radiation as "treatment" options.
Only good news, she is in zero pain currently. She is eating both her wet and dry food with no problems.
She did some labs (blood work and urine sample) and I am waiting to hear back.
Once we get the labs in (should be 24-48 hours), I have to schedule her to go back to get the biopsy done to confirm. It's pretty much already been confirmed though, she didn't think it could be anything else.
I've done a ton of research about oral squamous cell carcinoma since getting back, and am just devastated by what I'm reading.
From the sounds of it, she only has a few months of a good quality life left. I don't have any plans to do the jaw removal or radiation, since it doesn't seem like it will improve her life any more than just by extending it.
My main concern is her quality of life versus quantity, and if she is in pain. I've read about a lot of people who give their cats a couple weeks, months, or even a year by doing the jaw surgery, tube/force feeding, tons of different shots and medicines, lots of vet visits, etc. I don't want her get to the point where she is hungry and unable to eat the amount of food she wants, or has lost a couple pounds, or is in constant pain.
I can't stop thinking about how her brother will react when she is no longer here. They are so close.
I'm just horribly devastated by this news. I have been a crying wreck all day since, and just in utter shock that my precious angel has cancer. I didn't even think it could be a possibility.
She on the other hand, is completely unaware of this, which I am thankful for.
There will be moments where I forget, but then I remember and it call just hits me like a ton of bricks with a wave of devastation.
For now, I am trying to make sure she has the best possible days of her life. I have my suitcase taken out of the closet for her to nap on (one of her favorite napping spots), left a bunch of paper bags (with no handles) scattered about the kitchen since she likes them as well, and in the process of building a low level cat tree with dresser drawers for her to sleep in as well. (They already have cat shelves, but it's been months since she's gone up there). She also has a cat window seat that I moved the couch under for easier access.
Right now, she just pawed and meowed at me to pick her up, and happily resides purring and drooling on my lap. I will cherish these precious moments with her.
Thank you for reading this.
Taken a few months ago
Taken 3 years ago.
With her brother Samson
My beautiful princess Jasmine aka Jazzy aka Jazzykins aka Jazz Jazz is 12 years old. I "adopted"her and her brother when my mom's landlord's unspayed cat (they did spay her after this unexpected litter at least) had kittens. My mom originally was against the idea of a cat, but being only 10 years old, she let my twin sister and I go visit the kittens at least.
I originally wanted this male calico kitten, but he had already been claimed. I then saw this little tiny grey bundle of cuteness, and my heart just knew she was the one for me. The lady told me that this little grey kitten had somehow escaped into some broken heat vents, and spent two of the coldest December winter nights there before they could get her out. (Why, I have no idea.) I figured if this brave little girl could survive that, she could survive anything.
My mom relented on the no cats, and let my sister choose a kitty as well so my kitten wouldn't be lonely. My sister was chosen by the 2nd runt of the litter.
We had to wait a few weeks before they could leave their mom, but during this time we would come over and bond with the kittens daily. Jasmine quickly recognized me, and would crawl up my legs for me to hold her.
When we brought them home, Jasmine would want to be with me all the time. She would sleep under the covers with me, claw her way up my legs for me to hold her, and would drool when she purred because she loved to be held and carried so much (informed this by a vet over 6 years that she is basically overexcited).
She has remained this way all the way up into now. She still will paw at my legs when she wants to be picked up. She will lay in my arms, purring and drooling away as happy and content as can be. I don't think anyone believes me when I tell them that my cat is so needy and wants to be picked up and carried like a human child almost constantly. Whenever I take a shower, she will sit on the toilet and wait until I come out. The moment I am out, she meows at me, and will stand up on her back legs so I will pick her up and carry her for a bit. The moment I sit down, she jumps down and paws at my legs (or bites me if I take too long to notice her) so I will pick her up again and carry her around. She's a strange, but very special cat.
Another random thing about her. When I am playing a board game, she can walk across the entire board game and won't knock over a single piece. She is so dainty and elegant. Her brother is like godzilla and manages to ruin the game with one paw.
Over the last week, I've noticed that it looked like that her mouth was constantly staying open a teensy bit. It was hard to notice unless you looked closely at a certain angle, but she just looked slightly different. I checked her mouth, no sores or bad breath, she was eating normal, acting normal, and seemed fine. My boyfriend didn't think anything was even that wrong with her, since she had no other issues and it was barely noticeable.
Being the worrier I am, I decided to make a vet appointment yesterday for today, thinking that it was some sort of dental issue.
Got to the vet, and the super nice vet did a quick examination. Without drawing it out, she said that Jasmine has a tumor in her jaw, that's causing her mouth and tongue to swell, resulting in her mouth being open a bit as a mechanical response to the swelling. She told me that it's most likely her least favorite (if she had a favorite) form of cancer, because it's so aggressive and localized. She informed that there's the option of a jaw removal (which most cats don't do well with she said) or radiation as "treatment" options.
Only good news, she is in zero pain currently. She is eating both her wet and dry food with no problems.
She did some labs (blood work and urine sample) and I am waiting to hear back.
Once we get the labs in (should be 24-48 hours), I have to schedule her to go back to get the biopsy done to confirm. It's pretty much already been confirmed though, she didn't think it could be anything else.
I've done a ton of research about oral squamous cell carcinoma since getting back, and am just devastated by what I'm reading.
From the sounds of it, she only has a few months of a good quality life left. I don't have any plans to do the jaw removal or radiation, since it doesn't seem like it will improve her life any more than just by extending it.
My main concern is her quality of life versus quantity, and if she is in pain. I've read about a lot of people who give their cats a couple weeks, months, or even a year by doing the jaw surgery, tube/force feeding, tons of different shots and medicines, lots of vet visits, etc. I don't want her get to the point where she is hungry and unable to eat the amount of food she wants, or has lost a couple pounds, or is in constant pain.
I can't stop thinking about how her brother will react when she is no longer here. They are so close.
I'm just horribly devastated by this news. I have been a crying wreck all day since, and just in utter shock that my precious angel has cancer. I didn't even think it could be a possibility.
She on the other hand, is completely unaware of this, which I am thankful for.
There will be moments where I forget, but then I remember and it call just hits me like a ton of bricks with a wave of devastation.
For now, I am trying to make sure she has the best possible days of her life. I have my suitcase taken out of the closet for her to nap on (one of her favorite napping spots), left a bunch of paper bags (with no handles) scattered about the kitchen since she likes them as well, and in the process of building a low level cat tree with dresser drawers for her to sleep in as well. (They already have cat shelves, but it's been months since she's gone up there). She also has a cat window seat that I moved the couch under for easier access.
Right now, she just pawed and meowed at me to pick her up, and happily resides purring and drooling on my lap. I will cherish these precious moments with her.
Thank you for reading this.
Taken a few months ago
Taken 3 years ago.
With her brother Samson