Rough days to be an Octopus Overcat(Updated: RIP Godzilla)

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:48 pm

So my wife and I finally noticed a few days ago that our cat Isis (named before there was a terrorist group with the same name) was noticeably losing weight and acting a bit lethargic so we took her into the vet for a checkup. After some x-rays and finally an ultrasound they think she has a fairly early case of lymphoma.. inoperable as it's inside the lining of her stomach.

He's referring us to an oncologist for medication that should help reduce the inflammation and hopefully bring back her appetite, and we have the option of chemotherapy.

Luckily my wife and I do well enough that money isn't an issue, so our only concern is making sure Isis is relatively pain free and able to function well. So far she's not too bad, just thin and not as active as she used to be, but no idea until we talk to the oncologist about how long she has with or without treatment.

Isis was my first real pet ever and even now usually sleeps curled up next to me in bed each night, so I'm definitely going to miss her if things don't go well, but I keep telling myself I had a good 9 years of her around at least.

Here's an older picture of her and her sister sleeping together (Isis on the left, Fiona on the right):

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:01 pm

Awwww. 9 years is the prime of her life. Hope it turns out to be manageable for a good long time.

"Octopus Overcat." I like it.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:32 pm

9 is pretty young, so I hope her condition turns out to be treatable/manageable.

Upstart at 17 is still kicking along. We think his hostilities with Greykitty might actually be contributing to keeping him young in spirit.

Gryekitty turned out to have a microchip, so we now know he's 10 but his former owner was a dead end. Paperwork is in progress to transfer him to being officially ours.

Alefroth · Post by **Alefroth** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:03 pm

Glad you'll be able to treat her. I had a friend whose cat beat cancer last year, so there is hope.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:24 pm

I wish the best for your little girl.

killbot737 · Post by **killbot737** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:35 pm

Felix Overlords (I wish. Seems like cat-doom has struck this group of people.)

I sympathize. My biggest idiot (age 15, 1 of 3, all 15) has something going on with his liver and the vet recommended an ultrasound. We already tried some liver pills so I figure it's cancer.

I also wish the best for your kitten.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:04 pm

FWIW Iggy has kind of rallied over the past couple of days. Won't change the outcome but maybe he really will get the 3-6 months that the vet predicted. He's doing a little better, anyway, and that's something.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:32 am

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Trying to tell myself this is hardly a death sentence, but I still hate to think of her having to go through all this. Hopefully we'll hear back from the oncologist soon. I'm still not sure we want to go down the path of chemotherapy, but I'd really at least like to get her started on the medication that's supposed to reduce the inflammation and help her eat.

She at least was back to normal enough last night to jump up and sleep next to me and be waiting when I came out of the shower this morning, so except for sleeping a lot and not eating/drinking well she's still pretty much her old self.

Doomboy · Post by **Doomboy** » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:58 am

I hope the medicine helps your cat! 9 is too young to go.

My little one is doing a bit better with her steroids, she has stopped having the bloody diarrhea. I changed her diet to food with no grain in it, and she got better for a week, then she started having diarrhea again, so I changed it again and she seems like she is doing better again.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:05 pm

Lost a cat at 7 years old to stupid fatty liver syndrome. Her sister is still trucking at 15, but I've already looked her in the eyes and made it clear that she only gets one more trip to vet.

The other two cats? F them, they are surly and now I have two dogs that are vastly superior. When it comes time for my dog to press on...that will be hard. We've bonded on a deep, cosmic level.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:11 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: We've bonded on a deep, cosmic level.

Yeah, that's kind of how it is for Isis and I. I've had her since she was about 3 months old and for a long time it was just her and I in the house together. She's usually my little shadow following me around the house and I've never met a gentler, more affectionate cat.

I would pretty much be able to deal with any of our cats getting sick except for her.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 2:14 pm

Well, we were finally able to get in to a specialist today and, while we're still waiting on the lab work for confirmation, the vet took a look at the sample they took and said it was highly likely that it's large cell lymphoma which is an aggressive, fast acting cancer.

It's inoperable and incurable, and since it's so aggressive even with chemo she'd still only be looking at months at best. Even if we did chemo the vet said because of the way the cancer was in her stomach lining it was likely that shrinking the cancer would cause a perforation, so really no good options sadly.

So, assuming the lab work confirms that the only thing we can really do is start her on some steroids that should help make her more comfortable, but it's just a matter of time.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 2:18 pm

Sorry to hear it. You have my sympathy.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 2:43 pm

So very sorry.I dont know what to say.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:04 pm

Added to the tchotchkes atop a cabinet next to my desk is a plaster paw print provided by the vet after recently putting down my kitty, Little P. He said her kidneys were the size of peas and she appeared to be having multiple organ failures. She was always a tiny cat (hence the name, she was about 1/3 the size of her older, similarly furred sister "Peanut." Little P was 11 years old, she has a brother and sister from the same litter living with my sister.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:40 pm

Thanks guys. We've had some other bad news in our family lately on top of this, so it's been a pretty low week for us, but I'm dealing with it now I think and just throwing myself into some work.

Jeff V wrote:Added to the tchotchkes atop a cabinet next to my desk is a plaster paw print provided by the vet after recently putting down my kitty, Little P. He said her kidneys were the size of peas and she appeared to be having multiple organ failures. She was always a tiny cat (hence the name, she was about 1/3 the size of her older, similarly furred sister "Peanut." Little P was 11 years old, she has a brother and sister from the same litter living with my sister.

Sorry to hear about your little one Jeff. Isis was always the little one too. Even at her peak she was only about 6 pounds and when they weighed her at the vet today she only weighed about 4.6 pounds. Part of what's really hard about this is watching her waste away in front of me.

Something like that might be a good idea though. My wife had her previous cat die suddenly a few years ago and when her dad's house was sold we took the stone marking Cairo's grave and put it in our front flower bed next to a little statue of a sleeping cat. I'm thinking I might do something similar for Isis and put something in the front bed and make it a bit of a memorial. It would be fitting I think to have something like that right under the window where she was always waiting for me after work.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 4:11 pm

Sepiche wrote:So my wife and I finally noticed a few days ago that our cat Isis (named before there was a terrorist group with the same name)

After this post is scanned by the NSA, good luck getting off the No Fly list!

Meanwhile, sorry about your cat.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 4:28 pm

Grifman wrote:
Sepiche wrote:So my wife and I finally noticed a few days ago that our cat Isis (named before there was a terrorist group with the same name)
After this post is scanned by the NSA, good luck getting off the No Fly list!

hehe No kidding. Every time I tell someone her name these days I have to give that disclaimer, but dammit I picked that name before those assholes!

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 4:41 pm

To be fair, they don't use that name. Media and politicians do. A good chunk of the rest of the world refers to the as ISIL.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:17 pm

Sorry to hear the news is so bad.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:40 pm

One thing I remember about Little P is that she loved chasing laser lights. I had got one as a freebie from some games I ordered, and she would come to me every night to play with it. If I was slow to get the hint when she walked into the room, she would root around on my desk until she found it, would paw it and try to catch my eye.

One day the batteries died. I opened it up, and all of the guts spilled out. She jumped on my desk, looked sadly at her dismembered toy, then looked at me with eyes that said "it's not gonna work anymore, is it?" Yeah, I fell for her anthropomorphic bullshit. This was a Sunday morning, I got dressed, went to Office Despot, and bought the cheapest laser pointer they had -- which I think was over $30. I did come home to one happy cat, though.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 11:58 am

Well, the lab confirmed that it's large cell lymphoma and we took Isis in to the vet for a steroid injection that's supposed to help reduce the inflammation and hopefully reduce the pain and help her eat a little, but she's starting to look very frail already.

She's not even eating the high end cat food we got for her when we offer it, but she's at least eating cat treats if we give her some, so at least she'll get to go out eating her favorite stuff.

Unfortunately she yaks up a lot of what little she does eat, but at least it's something.

I'm just hoping maybe the medication can give her a little bit of relief for a little while, but I have a feeling she's not going to last much longer.

cheeba · Post by **cheeba** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:31 pm

Sorry I missed this thread originally. Man, Sepiche, my heart goes out to you (along with everyone else who seems to be currentlyd ealing with the suffering of animals).

Fuck cancer.

dfs · Post by **dfs** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:52 pm

It's never easy. My sympathies are with you.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 2:50 pm

Something I thought fellow OO pet owners should see.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 6:40 pm

Well at least some better news for a change... it took a few days for the steroids to take effect, but they've made a huge difference in Isis.

She's gotten her appetite back and is eating pretty much whatever we put in front of her now, and she hasn't puked up anything in days. She's still sleeping a lot, but she's been a lot more energetic and I feel like I've at least gotten my old cat back for a few more months or weeks which is more than I had been hoping for after all the bad news last week.

She still seems to have problems getting to the litter box at times, even the special one we setup for her, and her poop is absolutely ghastly to have to clean up, but compared to everything else it's really a pittance to have to put up with it at this point.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:18 pm

That's a nice respite.

I'm afraid Iggy's days are nearly over, but I'll update his thread later on.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:41 pm

Well, after a couple of good weeks and after starting to think the steroids might help keep her in good shape for a while yet Isis started losing her appetite again over the last week, and her health took a real dive over the weekend. I was afraid we'd lose her last night she was looking so tired and weak.

We already had an appointment to get her looked at this morning and see how things were going, but she was obviously in a lot of pain, and it was clear the cancer was starting to eat away the lining of her stomach, so we made the choice to have her put to sleep today.

I thought I had come to grips with things pretty well the last couple of weeks, but it didn't help much when I was in the vet's office. I was at least strong enough to stay with her to the end and keep stroking her head as the sedatives took effect, but it's going to be a bit hard the next few weeks to not have her there to welcome me home from work every day.

RIP Isis
5/2005 - 2/2015

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:55 pm

Aw man, I feel so sorry for you, especially having been through it so recently myself. I frequently glance at Iggy's old favorite spot on the table by the window over the radiator, where there's now a small bouquet of flowers and a little pine box with his ashes. It's so hard to let go, even when you know that it was the right decision.

cheeba · Post by **cheeba** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 4:08 pm

Very sorry for your loss

.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 4:12 pm

I'm sorry to hear this, and you need to know you absolutely did the right thing.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 6:29 pm

Ya it wont feel like it but you did right for her. Im very sorry for the loss.

Z-Corn · Post by **Z-Corn** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:03 pm

Hard decision but you did the right thing. I'm sorry for your loss...

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 9:30 pm

That is so sad.

WYBaugh · Post by **WYBaugh** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 10:04 pm

So sorry!!

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:39 pm

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. I'm just getting to the point where I can read through the thread here without choking up.

I really thought I had come to grips with it after she was diagnosed, but it's really sinking in today how much I miss that she was always trotting along behind me when I was home and cheered me up when I needed it. She slept next to me at night, waited for me outside the door when I showered in the morning, was waiting for me in the window when I got home from work, and if she wasn't eating or sleeping she would always find the room I was in to settle down with me or take a nap.

We still have 3 cats and I love them all in their own ways, but I feel a bit bad thinking that I'd trade any of them for Isis back.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:27 pm

This seems as appropriate a place as any to post this. I got a call from my wife tonight as I was about to leave work that she found one of our three remaining cats dead on one of our couches. He had been getting a little slower lately and had started to lose a bit of weight, but he was happy, active, eating and drinking, and I just chalked it up to him just growing a little older, but we had no idea he was getting that tired.

It looks like he curled up for an afternoon nap and passed in his sleep sometime today.

My wife adopted him a little before we met from a shelter where they said he had lived with an old lady until she died and that he was "talkative". They didn't know the half of it, but I'd give a lot to hear his mewling right now.

So please, give your pets an extra hug or good scratch tonight and spare a thought for Godzilla aka Stupid Shithead aka Fatty aka Dipshit aka Mr. Kitty (all nicknames given lovingly).

RIP Godzilla ?? - 12/28/2018

Edit: The little guy had a bad habit of pooping on the linoleum in one of our bathrooms sometimes, and god help me I just starting crying when I cleaned up the last little present he left me today.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:38 pm

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Dec 28, 2018 10:01 pm

I’m sorry for your loss. And I’m glad he didn’t suffer.

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Fri Dec 28, 2018 10:08 pm

What a beautiful cat.

Sorry for your lost