purrs

And Update on Luna – Purrs Needed

Luna

Luna had her monthly check-up yesterday, and the news wasn’t good. The cancer is continuing to spread. Slowly, but nonetheless spreading, including internally. As a result, I made the decision to stop the chemo. It clearly isn’t having the effect that we wanted, and it is making her miserable. It’s tough to decide to suspend treatment, but it seems like the best decision for her.

Indeed, in the short term she will probably feel much better. And that has been born out by her more lively behavior in the past 24 hours. I even caught her running around and exploring like a kitten this morning; and she has gone back to her delightfully diva behavior of demanding her favorite foods and attention from me. She does, however, lose stamina more quickly and needs to rest a lot.

Luna behind the equipment rack.

Regular readers know I love Luna very much, and have tried to do the best for her I can. And now it seems the best is to keep her happy and comfortable and enjoy our time together. And of course spoil her rotten. She will get lots of love, attention, comfort, and the tastiest foods.

I neither believe in nor seek miracles, so our request for purrs and thoughts is to join us enjoying the time we will have together.

Purrs Needed for Luna

Luna on her pillow.

The news from Luna’s checkup this Friday was not good. After a couple of months where the cancer seemed to be in check, it has increased again. And she has lost considerable weight. This was itself pretty distressing, though I decided that we should continue the medication in the hope that is slowing cancer down. Over the weekend, however, she has seemed to go downhill. She has become very lethargic, and she has mostly stopped eating crunchy foods – though she still devours her wet food with a fair amount of enthusiasm.

On Saturday night, she seemed to be in a bad state, lying down next to me and refusing to budge – it almost felt that she was saying goodbye. She has rallied a bit since then. Under the theory that her eating problems and lethargy might be caused by nausea, I reintroduced the nausea medication on a regular basis. It will take a few days to know if nausea was in fact an issue. But it seems there is more going on that that – since mid-day today, she has started to walk with a bit of a limp. Though she does get up and move around, and even reasserted herself on her throne. And she can still project that modern elegance.

Luna looking artsy on her throne.

I have to prepare for the realization that we are in the twilight of Luna’s life. It could be a few months, it could be a few days. The goal is, as it has been all year, to give her the best quality of life I can for as long as I can. But I do feel somewhat powerless in that regard. I care for her, talk to her, and comfort her, but can’t fully understand what she is experiencing. And my own health issues over the past month – recovering from major surgery and its effects – have left me wondering if I missed warning signs that could have helped her because I was so focused on myself. I know Luna has been invaluable to me during this, even up through today providing love and comfort.

Luna providing comfort.

Through all of this, she hasn’t stopped purring loudly, giving me head buts, and kisses, and lending a paw like she did in the picture above.

We at CatSynth are not really the praying type, but we are the purring type and welcome your purrs and healing vibes for Luna. ❤️

Luna is home

Luna home after surgery

Luna has come home after her surgery. Basically, she had a full mastectomy and removal of a lymph node that was a likely target for spreading. She recovered well during her overnight stay at the hospital, and indeed was quite energetic and charmed the staff with her sweet and affectionate nature. She will have to wear the cone of shame for a while, but somehow she manages to still look good with it.

She’s going to need quite a bit of care and support over the next few days as she heals, including pain medication and comfort. And we are anxiously waiting for the oncology report from the removed lymph node later this week. This will determine our next steps, and right now we’re holding onto hope for a good result. So far she has been quite resilient through this ordeal, and hoping that will be a good sign.

As always, thank you all for your purrs and thoughts, and please keep them coming!

-Luna and Amanda