Oreo Has Osteosarcoma

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Barbara & Uncle said:
Sounds like things are on track. So glad to hear the Oreo's feeling better.
:bighug::bighug::bighug:
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Thanks! I wouldn't say we are out of the woods just yet. I will continue to feel a bit unsettled until I can remove the cone and let him have free reign again. That should hopefully be by next Friday the 15th when the sutures/staples come out. Until then...
 
Yeah, for sure. I know what you mean. It's early days for such a big operation. I kept Uncle confined to the hallway and slept on the floor next to him in my sleeping bag for 2 weeks, I was so worried :nailbiting:
 
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Here are some timeline photo's of Uncle's healing progress for inspiration :cat:
 
Wow, Uncle's incision looks so much neater than Oreo's! Yeah I won't rest easy until at least the staples are out and he's joining in with the others again eating and just being with each other. Right now it's hard on him, probably harder on me, in that they are separated. He is sleeping a lot but he's getting Bupe. Tonight I gave him a tad of Miralax because he didn't go poo today. It was just a tiny bit though. If he doesn't go overnight I may add a few drops olive oil tomorrow. I already put about 1/4 teaspoon enzymes to help with digestion (they all have issues) on their food. Enzymes help me go to the bathroom so I thought maybe it'd help him too.
 
Oreo's had a better day today. He had a big ole poopie waiting for me in his litter box this morning! Yay! I was afraid the opioids were causing him constipation.

I got 3 more days worth of Bupe for him. The vet said to give it twice a day and just stop. This'll get him through Sunday night. I don't like the thought of just abruptly stopping this drug without titrating him slowly off it. This vet is irritating me. Any opinons?
 
So I called the referral clinic Dr office to get his opinion on what meds Oreo needs going forward. The vet who did Oreo's biopsy is out today - won't be in until Tuesday. The office rep was very rude and condescending. God I hate dealing with that place. They need to realize that their rudeness makes them lose customers and $$. Planning on writing a review against them, even though the vet is so nice. He's knowledgeable, thorough, and compassionate, a rare combination. But to get to him, you have to first get past several piranhas at the front desk.

Oreo has been licking his incision at one spot. I put his collar on and he'll wear it for a while, but then he'll take it off. Most of the time he leaves it alone. He just goes to sleep.
 
Justgin said:
So I called the referral clinic Dr office to get his opinion on what meds Oreo needs going forward. The vet who did Oreo's biopsy is out today - won't be in until Tuesday. The office rep was very rude and condescending. God I hate dealing with that place. They need to realize that their rudeness makes them lose customers and $$. Planning on writing a review against them, even though the vet is so nice. He's knowledgeable, thorough, and compassionate, a rare combination. But to get to him, you have to first get past several piranhas at the front desk.

Oreo has been licking his incision at one spot. I put his collar on and he'll wear it for a while, but then he'll take it off. Most of the time he leaves it alone. He just goes to sleep.
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Is he feeling a little better?
 
He's about the same. Still eating, drinking, peeing and pooing. Mostly sleeping.

I spoke to another vet whom I'd contacted before because I didn't want to wait until Tuesday. My holistic MD recommended him. He's also a holistic vet but he's far away from me. He typically uses Onsior AND Buprenorphine after a big surgery for up to 5 days postop. He wouldn't recommend the Fentanyl patch and has never used it himself on his patients. So I feel better about his pain meds now.
 
Glad you were able to get another opinion on Oreo's pain management and wonderful that it supports his treatment as is.
Really good to hear that he's eating, drinking, peeing and pooing.
Sorry to hear about the off putting front office crew. What a bummer, no one should have to wade through that especially at a time of stress.
Sending healing vines to Oreo :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Barbara & Uncle said:
Glad you were able to get another opinion on Oreo's pain management and wonderful that it supports his treatment as is.
Really good to hear that he's eating, drinking, peeing and pooing.
Sorry to hear about the off putting front office crew. What a bummer, no one should have to wade through that especially at a time of stress.
Sending healing vines to Oreo :bighug::bighug::bighug:
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Yes that was helpful, but where the holistic vet differed is he would have sent Oreo HOME on Buprenorphine and Onsior. Oreo's vet only sent him home with Onsior. I only happened to have Bupe on hand from his bone biopsy done at the referral clinic. They must've overfilled and there was about 3 ml left after I'd given Oreo 5 days worth! So I still hold this against Oreo's current vet. The one reason why I like him is because he at least knows about Dr. Lisa and her website. And he was willing to try Levimir on Oreo even though he never had before.

Everybody in my area is aware of how the front desk at the referral clinic have some rude girls there. OTOH there are some really nice ones in the back, so it's not all bad. But funny how just one bad person can spoil a person's view of the whole clinic.
 
Oreo got his staples out at 2 weeks - on the 15th. He had two superficial open places, one looked a little worrisome. The vet gave me some hibiclenz and gauze to apply several times a day. So I thought he could come out of confinement last Friday but that didn't happen :( Anyway, since then he's healed up and the oozing has stopped and dried and scabbled so he came out of prison 2 days ago! He's been loving his freedom and getting back to his kitty duty of grooming the others, especially Nat who has one eye that weeps a little. Here's a pic!

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He thought I was going to take him back to the vet, bless him, so he got up and hid under the bed for a little bit. He loves this fleece jacket. He had a sibling that was solid black. They were best buds and went everywhere together. He grooms this jacket at times.
 

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I'm so sorry about the pic. On my end the pic shows up without me having to click on anything. I mentioned before how much trouble I had getting pics off my phone to transfer to the computer and I still haven't gotten it compeletly figured out yet. I'll keep trying.
 
It's been a while so I thought I would update. The news is not good. Oreo is limping again. This time it's his front left leg. He's been overgrooming himself in several areas. One is on the front left leg, there's a small spot he licked until it bled. Then there's a worrisome one in the very middle of his incision scar which has scabbed over and one on his belly, all on the left. He licks on the right too. Been crying today thinking of what I will have to do soon. Maybe tomorrow. Will take him in in the morning to get some medicine. My poor baby. I wish I had asked for a full body xray to see if the bone was indeed the primary site. It may not have been but the vets seemed to think so. They also say that mets doesn't always show up on films. I'm hoping I'm wrong about all this. He had 2 shots of convenia in December. After the 2nd one, his scabs all went away and he quit licking.
 
hi again,

I lost my cat Pisew last summer to an osteicarcinoma of her back leg. She went down hill very quickly even with treatment. Two weeks after diagnosis she was self grooming her leg, her belly and her back leg to the point of infection and bleedinb. The cancer had spread very quickly through out her body and I could feel swollen lymph nodes and several tumours through out her abdomen. We increased her pain meds but no change. Fearing she was suffering I euthanized her as soon as I could She passed peacefully in my arms. My vet examined her after and the cancer had spread very quickly and aggressively through out her entire body after spreading quickly up her back leg despite treatment.
We had made the right decision.

I just wanted to say that it's ok to say good bye too. I know we get all caught up in the day to day care and management of our beloved sugar kitties. It gets really hard to interrupt that pattern of doing everything in our power to help our kitties. I went through this twice last year. First with Pisew then with my beloved sugar cat Tribby

But it's okay to say good bye too.

You are both in my heart.
 
Just so you know, though the medicine's instructions say "no more than 6 days", it is possible to give Onsior long-term (search for metacam in the think tank forum to find a thread discussing nsaids in cats). Specially when you're in a "this or..." situation. Quintus has been on Onsior for YEARS for his arthritis.

Also, convenia. People in the US tend to be super negative about convenia, and I get it, if the cat has a bad reaction then it's stuck in the system for weeks, but for Quintus it has probably saved his life twice. And twice he was on it for a good two months. So it's also something that it's possible to "stick with". Of course, probably not ideal, but sometimes treating a cat is compromise.

:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Actually it's the pill form which I crush and put in a syringe and draw up water. I've never been good at pilling my kitties and there's that doubt that the pill didn't just stay in their throat even if followed by water. So I just crush it and give it that way. It's helped! Last night for the first time in a long time, he wanted to go out in the garage to explore. He just hasn't felt like getting up and moving much since his surgery, until now.
 
Justgin said:
Actually it's the pill form which I crush and put in a syringe and draw up water. I've never been good at pilling my kitties and there's that doubt that the pill didn't just stay in their throat even if followed by water. So I just crush it and give it that way. It's helped! Last night for the first time in a long time, he wanted to go out in the garage to explore. He just hasn't felt like getting up and moving much since his surgery, until now.
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Oh? I was told the pills couldn't (and shouldn't) be cut. Going to have another look at that, then, because if it means I can give halves, I'm interested.
 
I think the coatings can be to protect the stomach in some cases (maybe NSAIDs?) or to delay absorption - eg. time release meds.
 
Stephanie & Quintus said:
I'd be interested in digging into the consequences of crushing or cutting a pill that's not supposed to be.
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Kris & Teasel said:
I think the coatings can be to protect the stomach in some cases (maybe NSAIDs?) or to delay absorption - eg. time release meds.
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Things I can think of:
- taste
- indeed, stomach protection
- something about how or where in the GI tract the med is best metabolized => efficiency?
 
I didn't see anything on the package that indicated it was a time-release med. Usually you will see the lettersTR or ER in the name. My guess is it's an enteric coating since it's an NSAID. I have given each dose WITH a meal though. I'll check with the vet when they open back up from lunch in a little bit.
 
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