I just wanted to give an update on Prue, since folks have been asking!  I sort of got into a &l

I just wanted to give an update on Prue, since folks have been asking!  I sort of got into a “waiting until there was firmer info” mindset, but this has been a long process (and still is).So the diagnosis is that Prue has cancer – a tumor that is wrapped around the exit of her stomach.   That’s based on an ultrasound.  It’s in a tricky place, so there have been some differing opinions by various vets on how to even biopsy it; I’ve consulted 4 vets so far (for complicated reasons, mainly that each vet office can only do certain things so they keep sending me to another one for the next procedure).  So we don’t know what *kind* of cancer it is yet, and that will be necessary to figure out the best way to treat it.  I have an appt on 11/18 with a vet who’s going to figure out what kind of procedure to use to get the biopsy.The good news is that Prue has been doing a *little* better than that first week (in which she wasn’t eating, and we were having battles trying to give her medication).  She has been eating, although not as much as usual.  But I can get her to eat wet food (the tumor is restricting the exit of the stomach and that is part of what is making it hard for her to eat).  I bought the most Doritos-for-cats type of wet food, which she *loves*, and like, at this point I don’t care if it’s not the healthiest, I care that she eats.  Every day is about strategizing to see how much I can get her to eat.  But it’s good that she is actively interested in food. It means we don’t have the battles trying to give her medication.Her sister Piper (above upper left) has been *very bad*.  For the first two weeks, she hissed at Prue every time she even saw her.  We think this is because she could smell that Prue had been to the vet, and possibly could smell that Prue felt sick.  Still - very rude!  (Piper had a big dental procedure and lots of vet visits this past spring, and Prue *never* hissed at her.)  I got some of that pheromone diffuser stuff, and after a week, it seems to be working; or else Piper is getting used to Prue’s smell, or both.  Piper doesn’t react 99% of the time any more.  (But right after the above pic, she climbed down into the bed – they snuggle together *all the time*, see the My Cats tag – and then started hissing and growling, until I sternly told her off because I don’t want her chasing Prue out of the bed.)  Despite Prue looking kind of out of it in the first pic, she’s just sleepy, and it’s a good sign (I think) that she has come out from under the kitchen table and is willing to get into her favorite cold-weather bed; she also gets up on the table beside my computer to ask for petting, which is also normal.  Long story short – we’re in a holding pattern again.  The news hasn’t been *good*.  But so far the vets have thought that this is treatable. We just don’t know how yet.  I hate waiting and not knowing for sure.  Which is why I hadn’t posted.Thanks so much for everyone who has been concerned for Prue!  I’m still at work on commissions, and after I get through this first batch I will almost certainly take some more.  It seems like we’re in for a long haul. -- source link

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