Long story short, I've found out that the thing Frisky, my beloved 13-year-old orange tabby, has in his mouth is jaw cancer. A head x-ray taken yesterday confirmed it, and what the docs want to do next is to take a biopsy to confirm which type of cancer it is, and a chest x-ray to see if it's metastasized to his lungs. Beyond that I could opt to have half his jaw removed, if the thing hasn't spread. (Yes, cats can live happily with half their jaw.)
But first things first, I need to raise money for the tests before I can raise money for the surgery (if things aren't as dire as I'm hoping they're not). I'd like to do it ASAP and with as little fuss as possible, therefore I am taking offers on my Bubblegum Crash pan cel:
Yes it's a beauty, but I care for my cat more. Feel free to make offers on my other cels too, but I'd much rather just get it out of the way, so give me a number.
Awww!! I hope your kitty gets better!!! If you need someone to talk to.. I am here. ;_; My Jiji had something strange going on in his mouth too earlier this year. I took him in and his saliva gland was leaking o_O $2,250 and 6 days later... I had him back home safe and sound. He didn't take well to the surgery and had be put into ICU for a couple of days but pulled out of it. I have never cried so much in my entire life. He is back to killing birds and rabits now so... I am sure others are not as happy as I am that he is back.
oops! sorry! lol ( oh yeah i see it now in your first post you say "he")
i been up since 5:30 and working with kids all day has drained my brain. lol
youre welcome! ill pray for him now.
Its so hard when a pet gets sick. We have a couple cats and they are all getting to the age where they have a lot of health problems. It can be so hard to go through. Good luck with your sales - I hope Frisky gets better! I will pray for you both!
The tumor started pulling apart from Frisky's gums this morning. Lifting up his lip, it's not exactly a pretty sight. I can tell he's in more pain than usual too, so I've just gone and gotten him some more painkillers.
As of now I've only sold one cel, and now that this has happened, I'm a bit in a state of urgency right now. Even if nobody wants a cel donations are much appreciated -- not expected, but if anybody can give something it would help out
Frisky was in hiding all morning, and he just came out a few minutes ago. I have the money for a chest x-ray now, but now I'm worried about a new development: his tumor is turning purple. Blood supply probably got cut off (probably why it tore away from his gums a few days ago too, according to the vet). I'm taking him back to the vet in 40 minutes to look it over.
Wasn't as scary as I thought. The spot his tumor ripped away from was just infected, so the vet gave him a shot of an antibiotic (which is more expensive than giving him pills woulda been, but I don't like the thought of shoving them down his throat when his mouth hurts).
Got the chest x-ray done. His lungs are clear ^_^
Asked for more details about the heart murmur they found during his initial visit. Dr. Harrell (Dr. Martinez wasn't there today) said it is a Grade II murmur (out of VI), which means it's minor but still something to be aware of if he needs to be put under for surgery or something.
Asked about a biopsy, and he recommended against it at this point, since he'll need that half of his jaw out either way so right now it doesn't really matter what kind of cancer it is. (He described Frisky's jaw on the x-ray as "mothballed," but I'd seen it before, so I knew that) He gave me the number for a Dr. Woodward, who is a specialist in oral cancers and stuff, and told me to consult with him ASAP.
And heck, even he had to marvel at Frisky's pain tolerance, the fact that he was still eating even after the tumor tore away. Yup, my cat's a trooper.
He said if the surgery was done at that building (the one I went to today) the surgery would be "about" $800, but there's a catch: no one there has done jaw removal before, so it'd be a learning experience for them all. Dr. Woodward, on the other hand, has done lots of them but doing it with him would be about $1,800, but I'd probably get a better result. Plus he takes payment plans, something the building I currently go to doesn't do.
Well...I guess the first thing to do is figure out when I have a block of free time, and set up an appointment with Dr. Woodward.
That is freakin awesome! I wish the vet I went to did payment plans. I ended up applying for this “pet care” credit thing. I ended up not using it so that credit is out there.. somewhere… LOL I would go with the vet who has done it before. The vet I took my cat to had never seen anything like what Jiji had before. They had seen it frequently in dogs… but it is extremely rare in cats. So they recommended that I go to a surgery center not far from where I live and have them do it because he did not feel comfortable doing the surgery(and even the vet doing the surgery there did it on a ton of dogs.. never on a cat ~_~)
I got an estimate of $1,450 and I told them I was doing this on a budget and she vet was extremely nice about it all. What turned into a “Take Jiji in at 7am, pick him up the next day around 6pm and… we are done!”; Turned into them calling me around 3pm the next day to get my permission to do an emergency procedure on him because he was having an adverse reaction to the surgery(they had to perform a tracheotomy). He ended up saying there for I think... another 4 nights… He lived(thankfully) and they only charged me an extra $800. I lucked out because the vet was really awesome and worked with me and my budget(I spent my tax return and part of a bonus check on him… lucky this happened in feb). They only ended up charging me for supplies and some time… that bill should have been triple what I originally paid. ~_~
I am glad they are letting you do a payment plan! Just be prepared for the cost to possibly go up. Keep us updated!
Yeah, I'd rather have someone who knows what the heck he's doing, even if it costs more. Even with the payment plan though (assuming Frisky can have surgery) I have, like, next to no money to spare on my current income ^^; So for now I'll probably have to continue my offer period.
He was still standoffish for a while when we got home, but after I tried (yet again) to keep him from hiding suddenly his attitude did a 180 and he's all lovey again. He forgives me again ^_^;
He is back to killing birds and rabits now so... I am sure others are not as happy as I am that he is back. 
lol
