My foster, Mama Rosie - poor prognosis post 29

[DJFyrewolf36]

Bless you for taking in Rosie and showing her love. Prayers on the way for her!

[cassiesmom]

Lizzie, is Mama Rosie still putting on weight? Does her coat look better? Could you give her sub-q fluids (and maybe nutrients) as her ability to swallow wanes? It sounds she's got a lot of spunk for what Catmandu always refers to as a "senior kitty-zen". Could you give her another petting for me, please. I am so glad she has you!

[Lizzie]

She hasn't put on any more weight but then, when they weighed her yesterday, she hadn't eaten since 8pm the night before. She was a bit goofy for a while last night because they'd had to give her injected sedation instead of gas and intubation, and it was nice to see her so relaxed. She is not a laid-back cat in general. I thought she'd only want one feeding, but she demanded another before we went to bed, and this morning she made me fill up a third syringe.

It's this extreme desire for food that would make me say no to any idea of giving her fluids only if she can't eat. If Rose can't eat, she won't be really living. She goes to extreme measures to get food, even when she's just had a feeding. I can't eat in the same room with her because she will climb all over me to get into my plate. She will thrust her head into a snack packet, dive into every single cat's food bowl, has managed to get into the cupboard where the dry food is stored and tore open a bag. She can't eat any of the food she is aiming for, can't get it into her mouth, but she is truly that desperate constantly to find food and eat. I think she was demanding last night and this morning because the hunger of the morning reminded her of being starved recently. Her stomach is full, very full, but the drive to stave off starvation is powerful. I've tried to find it touchingly amusing, but I can't, it's just terribly sad.

She's been getting sub-q fluids since she came to me, just 100cc a day because she really fights it. At least it's easier now to get the needle in. At first I simply couldn't pull up a tent so would try to fold over a flap only to find the needle going in and coming out the other side. Now I can make a small tent.

Her coat does look better. I try to give her a short bath every day, just using a large wash bowl with a few inches of warm water in the bottom. I can only get her back feet in it because she clings to the sides with her front. It's enough anyway to sponge away the gunk, old and new. Her back legs are almost normal now and she never lost fur from them. The front look much cleaner but it's amazing what a thick coating of saliva and food is ingrained in her fur there. She may fight it, but she really appreciates being cleaner.

I'll try to take photos of her this weekend to post - but I could be rather busy reading the last H.P. book.

[Medusa]

Oh sweet Rosie, give her lots of lovin' for me.

[catmandu]

All of us at the Found Paradise Cat Hotel are sending prayers that poor Mama Rosie can pull through this and be well. Shes already got one big advantage, shes with a Pet Talker who will give her the best chance she will have to survive this.
God Bless You.

[kt_luvs_kitties]

Oh Lizzie, I have thought about Rosie since I first saw this post days ago. I have no words to describe how terrible this is.. I feel so helpless. And VERY upset. Thank you for loving her.

I was going to call earlier toight, but it was so late...
I am going to try and call you tomorrow, if you have a second.

Please give her TONS of loving from me.

[cassiesmom]

Lizzie, how's little Mama Rosie?

[Freedom]

Don't know how, but I missed this thread until now. Sweet Rosie, what ever happened to get youinto sucha disasterous situation? And how marvelous that our Lizzie brought you home! I cry thinking how you were starving to death and no one realized what was happening to you, poor girl!

Lizzie, bless you for helping her, for fighting for her, and giving her some love.

[rg_girlca]

Mama Rose continues to be in my prayers. I would also love to know how she is doing.

Hugs and kisses to this sweet girl.

[cassiesmom]

bounce ... Lizzie ... how's the girl?

[Queen of Poop]

It's Aug 2 and I'm just now seeing this and crying my eyes out. Poor, sweet baby. So glad that she sensed in you help. Thank you so very, very much for taking her in, cleaning her up and tending to her needs.

[Lizzie]

Thank you, everyone, for your concern and best wishes. Rose is now feeling well enough to make a pest of herself, walking all over the kitchen counters, getting up onto the top of the fridge (where no other cat has dared go before, or could get around all the pans up there), and generally charging my ankles all the time I'm in the kitchen. She continues to love the sunshine, stretching out luxuriously on pillows on the sofa where the sun streams in from the open french doors.

I have had to thicken the AD, making it even harder to draw up into the feeding syringe, because almost as much food was coming out as was being syringed in. I have to put the syringe tip as far back as I can, without making her gag, so that she has a chance of swallowing with minimal movement of her tongue. I also have to avoid the lesion that's on her tongue. All the time I'm feeding her, she is producing a lot of saliva which she can't swallow. So, you can imagine the problem. Her saliva mixes with the AD, making it runny and it comes pouring out instead of being swallowed. I know there will come a time when she can swallow so little that this can't go on. It will be hard because she is so very alive now, but I don't want her to go through the pain of starvation again. I even thought of having a feeding tube inserted, but I think that's unfair, and the cancer cells will continue to proliferate in her tongue lesion anyway.

Hopefully, I can find time to take some photos of her this weekend. The fur on her front legs has started to grow back so the naked skin is covered. In that way, she looks better. She fights her daily bath, but I know that feeling clean makes her feel good.

[Medusa]

Sweet, sweet Rosie girl. I'm so sorry she's going through this. And it's got to be so difficult for you. Continue to give her the loving care that she needs. The improvement is evident already. If/when the time comes that you have to help her in another way, you'll have the full love and support of all PTers.

[Catty1]

Lizzie:

There is a thread in Cat Health started by Emeraldgreen about her cat Tiger.

He had a nasal polyp that turned out to be cancerous, though they may have caught it early.

As I was researching stuff for her, I found that carcinomas happen in the mouth, too - and do not spread as lymphomas do.

I am not touting a cure by any means....but there are treatments such as cryogenic (freezing) of the lesion, etc, that reduce its size. Even radiation - and another process I can't recall the name of - it is quite new.

I think I posted a link in there on oral carcinomas. Please have a look.

Even if it keeps Mama Rosie comfy for a few more months, it is worth it.

And cost - there are PTrs here ready to help. And a good vet might, as well.

HUGS

SO glad to hear M.R. is growing fur and being pesky!

[phesina]

I just saw this thread now.

God bless you, Lizzie. And god bless you, Rosie, and keep on keeping on both of you!

We all love you very much and are praying for you and sending along our very best energies.

Pat, Peony, Sydney, Poppy, Elmer, and Priscilla Angel