The Rainbow Bridge

Posted on May 3, 2014May 3, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Smokey and I have an appointment this morning. His tumor has grown to the point that he is drooling long, strings of drool. He is eating but I don’t see him drinking much. I make sure he has wet food, the kind with the gravy, and he eats baby food from a spoon. It’s my feeble attempt to keep him hydrated. He still climbs onto my lap for cuddles and I do my best to gently dry his chest hair and comb out the matted tangles caused by the drool.

He never opens his eyes wide anymore and he has stopped playing. He watches the other 2 cats with interest while they play but doesn’t try to join in. His mouth must be causing him pain because he tries not to put his head down on his paws. It’s sad to see him trying to prop his head on the edge of a pillow or side of the cat bed. He sits or stands on my lap for hours but won’t lie down and rest his head.

I swear he has lost more weight. He is a skeleton with hair. I cry for what he’s going through and I cry for what I have to do. I need to give him his release. We’ll visit the vet for the last time today.

Kitty Hospice

Posted on May 1, 2014May 1, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I think of this time with Smokey as a Kitty Hospice. I’m glad I work from home and can be here for him. I want him to spend as many of his final days in his home as possible. I’ve heard that some vets will come to the home to euthanize a pet but I don’t think my vet does that.

My vet specializes in cats and is a very caring lady. My pet sitter when I vacation is also a vet tech in her office. I never worry about “the boys” when she takes care of them.

Even before I knew that Smokey had cancer I knew he wasn’t doing well. I was watching him closely. I had this feeling that some morning I would wake up and he’d be gone, dead in his sleep. I still hope that’s the way he goes but it doesn’t seem likely.

So he’s home and I’m trying to make him comfortable. He is still managing to eat and I saw him drinking from the water bowl this morning so he still has that much function of his tongue and that’s the key. Once he can’t eat and drink it will be time to make a decision.

My vet says they have pain meds they can give him so he’ll spend his final days in a happy haze. So far I haven’t asked for them. He doesn’t seem to be to be hurting. It’s just hard to tell. Cats mask it so well.

Anyone with experience with this, please offer suggestions. The last cat I lost was Little Joe. He had cancer too. His was in his stomach and the vet I had at that time didn’t find it until little Joe had stopped eating and drinking. He’d had it for at least 3 months and as the tumor in his stomach grew he slowly starved to death. I can’t imagine his suffering and to this day I feel so guilty that I didn’t end it for him sooner. I don’t want to do that to Smokey.

“They” say that when it’s time your pet will let you know. Obviously I missed that message with Little Joe. How can I be sure I’ll recognize it with Smokey?

The Big C

Posted on April 29, 2014April 29, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I guess when it’s your time there’s no cheating it. Some of you have been following my feline family from the beginning of aroudustyroads.

Back in September 2011 Smokey had his first health scare. You may remember a series of posts around that time. ( http://aroundustyroads.com/2011/09/15/smokeys-home-from-the-vet/)

I’m happy to say that we’ve been able to keep his enzyme levels stable. In March of this year Smokey had his annual physical. He’d lost weight so we ran the blood panels and did a full work up. Everything was ok and we went home with instructions to use more Senior Diet cat food and move him to a bi- annual check up. That was 30 days ago.

This past week has been extremely busy but even so I noticed Smokey was either curled into a little ball or following me around. He had to be next to me all the time. Also, he didn’t seem to be grooming himself. His fur never used to get knots. In fact, he used to groom so much that it became annoying because it sounded like he was “slurping”.

To make matters worse he insisted on sleeping in bed with me. That would have been fine but he wanted to have his face nose to nose with me and he had the worse case of bad kitty breath I’ve ever smelled. Neither Rocky or Buddy have bad breath like that. I became concerned that he might have an abscessed tooth or something. I had seen an episode of My Cat from Hell where the cat they were working with had bad breath and the diagnosis was cancer.

My vacation is right around the corner so I thought I’d better get Smokey in sooner rather than later to have his mouth checked. I was really hoping for an infection.

The first thing they do is weigh in. In the one month since his annual, he had dropped another pound! From a 14 lb. cat at his prime he was down to 9 lbs. When the Vet joined us she cuddled Smokey a minute and confirmed that she smelled his halitosis too. She pried his mouth open and immediately let it close again. She didn’t even have to look close. He has a large, angry, red growth under his tongue.

She pried his mouth open again so I could see. It was huge. Even I could see it. My first question was, is he in pain? She said it was hard to tell. She said at first glance it appeared to be a sarcoma. She wanted to sedate him to get a better look and if necessary do a biopsy.

I was numb but gave her the go- ahead. Once Smokey was under she called me in to show me. Even a layman like me could see that it was a nasty growth. It looked like something out of a text book on cancer.

The Vet explained that this is a very aggressive form and can show up seemingly overnight. Cats use their tongue to eat and drink and eventually this will prevent Smokey from being able to do that. This type of cancer is resistant to treatment and has an 85% chance of recurring. Where it was located would mean they couldn’t remove it surgically because they can’t cut out the tongue.

Smokey may have a week or he may have a month. It all depends on how fast the tumor grows. If he begins to exhibit signs of pain, we’ll give him pain meds but as long as he is eating and drinking I will let him live out his days. Softer food is easier for him so the Vet suggested picking up some baby food.

I don’t know what kind of life Smokey had before he came to me but I know he’s had a good life with me. He’s made it to the ripe old age of 17. I guess that’s a pretty good run.

Life’s Little Ups and Downs

Posted on April 27, 2014April 27, 2014 by Dusty Roads

What a week it’s been so far. Only one more day and I will get a break…sort of.

But really, Monday was marathon Monday and I spent the day at the T- Mobile cell phone store dealing with the first of the technology glitches. That out of the way I don’t even remember Tuesday.

Wednesday was the computer fiasco and I had to deal with that all week.

Friday I had my interview for the new position. My invitation (that’s what they call the appointment) was for 10-10:30. Well it started at 10:00 but I didn’t finish up until 1:30. Interviewed with 3 different people and sat with the person I’ll be replacing so he could give me an “overview”. (Assuming I get the job)

Saturday I was working 9-6 but I didn’t finish up until 9:30 pm. I finally told the last client that I’d have to get back to them in the morning. On an up note, the IT department called me back and finally had time to take over my computer “remotely”. Once they did that they saw what a mess they’d made. It took a good hour for them to go through everything remove junk, add correct stuff and run the security scans but in the end I was back in working order! Yay!

I had turned on the TV to see what horrible kitties Jackson Galaxy had to deal with in his show “My Cat From Hell”. It’s like the cat equivalent of the Dog Whisperer but I think dogs are much easier to understand than cats. Did you know cats can make 100 different sounds and dogs can only make 10.

Just like in the Dog Whisperer, most of the time the problem is in the owners not the animal. I enjoy both shows but as a Cat Momma I like Jackson’s show best.

Oh Oh, I’m writing this post at 10:30 pm and my phone just chirped. I picked up the email and it was from the client I put off until the morning. She told me to stop working and she’d talk to me in the morning. LOL

Rocky must agree with my client. He just hopped up on my desk and is refusing to sit quietly. Trying to proof my post around his head is a challenge. Now you know why he was named Editor in chief.

I guess I really don’t have anything to say tonight. Just rambling thoughts so I’ll spare you any more for now. Have a great day. 🙂

There’s Something Funny Going On

Posted on April 26, 2014April 26, 2014 by Dusty Roads

It’s been awhile since I paid a visit to the odd and strange going’s on in the news. I confess, I had a long, tough day and my mind would not function hence my desperate search for something to write about.

So a check to my favorite “odd” site did not disappoint. The first story that caught my eye is about a bicycle theft. This just proves that thieves are not smart.

Thief steals pricey electric bike, then accidentally calls owner for help on how to recharge it.

Would you like to know the “rest of the story”? The owner ultimately got the bike back. For more details click here: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/thief-steals-pricey-electric-bike–then-accidentally-calls-owner-for-help-on-how-to-recharge-it-212029453.html

Remember I said before a trip I always start to hear about the place I’m going. Well May is right around the corner and I’ll be heading to Tennessee . So here’s another Tennessee Headline for you : Tennessee man breaks into civil rights museum, then falls asleep.I wonder if that Tennessee moonshine or the “sippin’ whiskey” had anything to do with it. The museum is in Memphis and I don’t expect to be in that area of Tennessee.

Let’s see what else I can find…. This one is right up my alley..cat that is.

Indiana cat missing 5 years reunited with owner

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A cat that went missing five years ago has been reunited with its owner in Indiana thanks to an implanted microchip.

WOWO-AM and WANE-TV report the 10-year-old cat named Charlie showed up at Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control on Monday. Workers there scanned the cat and discovered Charlie had a microchip that identified Virginia Fryback of Fort Wayne as his owner.

Fryback says Charlie disappeared from her home five years ago and she thought she’d never see him again. She thanks the veterinarian who convinced her to get a microchip when Charlie was a kitten

The last headline is for all the hungry people …

Extra crispy: French fry truck burns in Maine

WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — Bring on the ketchup: A tractor-trailer carrying 40,000 pounds of french fries caught fire in a Wal-Mart parking lot in the Maine city of Waterville.