ButterBean Update

ButterBean went to the vet today to get his stitches out. He was Mr. Social at the vets and they all petted and loved on him. All of his stitches were removed while he purred the whole time. His places have all healed very well and she was pleased with him. She checked out the new spots I had found in the past two weeks and determined that none were of concern but to keep watch on them. As long as he is eating, drinking, pooping and playing some (he is 10) we leave him be. If a spot comes up we remove it. Shon picked him up and said he had a big play when he got home and then proceeded to smack everyone near him. The he assumed his position on the back of the sofa.

Patches and the babies are doing well. Their little teeth are starting to come in and they are moving a little more. She is VERY protective. I covered much of the windows tonight with sheets thinking that a "smaller" space would be good for her. She was moving about the room within an hour of that. I hope if she cant see the so much of the outside and the other cats out there that she will calm down some. She will let me pet the babies and I fed them some wet food the last 3 feedings.

Ill get some more pictures up this weekend

Last night and this morning (happy Friday)

Last night Patches let me pet her babies. It was really kinda sweet. She growled and rubbed and loved them and basically pushed them right over to me. Then she watched and growled as I petted them and picked them up and looked them over. I gave them back thanked her and sat there for a while before leaving.

This morning I went out and sat in the same place she growled some but not continuously and one baby came to me. I petted him and put him back, she nose bumped my finger. The baby came back and she was loving on him and I petted her, even gave her a little scratch between the ears. She hissed at me afterwards. I think that progress. I hope to have more time to spend with her tonight and this weekend. Id like her to be fairly friendly by the time she needs to be spayed.

A few pics from last night

Morning

Ive had several Mama Cats live in my house to raise their babies. There was Mama, Chickie, Mama Moo, The Mom cat 2 weeks ago now known as Reece and now Patches. Chickie was feral, never couls touch her but she wasnt vicious and she lives at my sisters now. Cant pet her but she will talk to you. Mama Moo was feral .. she always looked like she would jump out of her skin and she swatted me when I would come love on her babies., she went back to where we found her, after she was spayed of course. Patches she is feral and she is in full on mama cat mode. As soon as I open the door I can hear her growl. She gets the babies behined her and she crouches down ready to fight. This morning there was only growling, no hissing. I talked to her and left her food. As soon as I was in the hosue she was rubbing and loving on thoes babies. I have never seen a mama cat so affectionate to her babies it is really sweet. Equally, I have never seen a mama cat as agressive as she is.

I have to think this is best for her tho .. she is in a safe environment, that is temperature controlled, she is out of the elements, she has limitless food within feet of her and she has chairs and a table to get up on when she needs a break. Plus I will be able to have her spayed as soon as she has weined the babies. The babies are safe and they will be able to wonder around and play without worry of a dog or lawn mower or anything else and they wont be wild. She is eating and drinking and she is a good mama.

Bean slept with me last night. I think his stitches are starting to bother him. Its been a week .. he has a week to go ... Otherwise he is eating, drinking and pretty well back to him old self.

Patches first day

Today has been rough ... I was up at 4 and finally got Patches at 6. I put the babies in the dog crate with out the door on in the sunroom thinking Patches would go in there .. not so much ... Shon messaged me mid day to say she had not eaten and she was ignoring her babies .. I told him to take the babies out of the crate and place them on a rug in the middle of the floor .. within 30 minutes Patches had moved them to another rug and was licking them and feeding them. When I got home I fixed her a new plate of food. Dry and wet and went out she hid them behind her and was posed for a fight, hissing and growling. I left the food and came back into the house and I haven't bothered her. Im hoping by morning, 24 hours after being caught she will be calmer .... Her and I will need to have a talk .. as I want to touch those babies and make sure they are friendly.

Good news and News

I have the most wonderful vet(s) talked to one on facebook about Bean and this is what she had to say - I asked about the tumor and if she thought she got it all :

It seemed fairly well encapsulated, but they saw cells at the deep margins of the tissue. This is not uncommon for a Mast Cell Tumor. The biggest thing is we have to watch for local recurrence and remove if anything pops up. In a perfect world, you go a centimeter or more around all tumors. Unfortunately, we do not live in the perfect world, and there is no way to get that much of a margin on some parts of the body...like behind your ear. Way to go, Bean. We watch everywhere, really. If it's pink and raised on a cat...it comes off.

 

So my Bean has cancer ... and I have to watch him closely .. the only way to know if he has it someplace else or how aggressive it is will be to have him staged - that would have to happen at Virginia Tech. Staging a tumour often involves taking X-rays (or doing an ultrasound) to see if there is evidence of spread (for example to the lungs or liver), perhaps getting samples (biopsies or aspirates) from local lymph nodes, and checking blood samples. In Beans case he would have to have a bone marrow sample and a spleen sample done. I just don't think it fair to put him though all that when there really isn't a treatment.

Bean did a spin and a hop and a run down the hallway last night and he slept in the bed with me. He goes to hang with the Vet on the 31st to get his stitches out and they will weigh him and check his temperature and feel him all over for spots.

 

In OTHER News ... There is a cat that has been hanging around my sisters place for a few months. We have been talking about trapping her and having her spayed but she is fairly inconsistent - in fact I trapped Mr Ed when trying to trap her. My sister calls her Patches. Shes a tortoiseshell. So last evening I was feeding my sisters cats and she and her family are at the beach. My cousin lives next door and she yells to ask if Im missing a cat .. well.... Lil Miss Patches has KITTENS in the weeds. So I spent all night trying to trap her ... to make what would be a very long story shorter .. I did not have her in the trap at 430am .. but at 6 she was in there :) I had the babies in a small crate pushed up to the back of the trap so it looked/sounded like they were in the trap that way they were warm  and safe. There are only 2 babies ... both males - black and white and a yellow and white. Their eyes are open but they aren't moving much but to wiggle so Id say they are about 2 weeks old, The family is in my sunroom - now deemed cat rehab center. Patches is not too happy about the situation - I tried to get her into the dog crate but she pulled some kitty kung-fu and ended up out in the room, I figured she would eventually but I was hoping she would spend the day locked in with the babies. I gave them some KMR and she has a bowl of wet food, dry food, and water. Im hoping she will eat and take care of her babies in quick order. Here are some pictures ..

 

She is a pretty girl .... but not friendly at all ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESULTS

OK so the vet just called with Beans results and Ill be honest .. Im a little confused.

The one at the ear and the chin were both mast cell tumors – a majority of them in cats are benign however his had a much higher index and had rapidly dividing cells which is not normal in cats and so it is considered malignant. This type typically attacks the spleen and the bone marrow and to do the tests on these would be fairly invasive. There is a chemo to treat however its only been used in dogs and we would have to do a lot to see if a cat could even take it.

So for now we are going to watch him and see what happens … obvious signs of bad are weight loss and vomiting with blood in it. He will be ready for his stitches to come out on the 31st (next Thursday) so he will be spending the day there and they will check him all over and weigh him and all that.

Still no results

Still no results ... waiting and waiting .. Bean is sleeping on the back of the sofa .. here is to hoping for results tomorrow

Sunday

No results on Bean yet .. hopefully tomorrow. He has been rubbing his face on things, I guess those stitches are itchy .. Hes been laying on the bed and sniffing out the windows - we have had some nice cool days here. Right now he is having a snack Im sure followed by a nap :) Its a good day

Bean

Bean spent today in the back bedroom with the window open napping and sniffing. He got some good belly rubs and I wiped him down with a baby wipe a time to two.

 

THANK YOU to everyone for the purrs and kind words and thoughts.

As soon as I hear from the vet I will post the results.

 

These pictures are not very good but he would not hold still. He just wanted to be petted.

 

 

 

He looks worn out

 

 

ButterBean

Tuesday morning ButterBean and I were snuggling in the chair and I felt a small lump near his ear. was the size of the end of my pinkie or a pencil eraser. Mid-day I asked Shon to check on it and he said it was bigger and Bean wouldnet let him touch it. I called the vet for an appointment and got one for Thursday (today) Wednesday passed and it lump was a little bigger. He let me shave it so I could see it looked like a marble under the skin. Took him in today and it is/was cancer. The vet removed it and is confident she got it all, she also removed 2 other spots. one on his chin and one on his chest. She sent the one at the ear to Virginia Tech for analysis. We know its cancer what we don't know is the grade or aggressiveness of the cancer. Results should be back Saturday or Monday. In the mean time ButterBean is ok .. he is laying on the rug in front of the door enjoying the cool evening. Ill try to get pictures of him tomorrow to post.

Kitten update and TNR

The black and white kitten found a home. He has 2 dads and a kitty friend named Stevie. She is shy and 3 ... by day 3 she was cleaning him and they are already best buds. His name is Max.

The other 3 kittens went to the shelter on Sunday. The mom cat is still here. She acts as if she has lived here forever and none of the other cats have said a word to her. Havent come up with a name for her yet but we will. Shes a cute one.

Where she and the babies came from there are 3 other adults that I have seen. A light yellow male, a tortie female and an orange male. Tonight I went to get the yellow as he is mostly friendly. He came right to me and I put him in the crate where he proceeded to have a fit. I then set a trap to see IF I could luck out and get another .. and I did! The female!! YAY... they were worried she was pregnant. These two have eaten and are siting in the sunroom in their cages .. they will be fixed tomorrow and be picked up Friday morning and will go back to where I got them next week. One more to go .. :)

All kitten pictures

 

the black & white has gone to his forever home and I think its a good one.

the others still need homes