Korey Atterberry’s Idle Chatter

Tang’s recovery is still going well. We thought you might enjoy seeing how he gets around on three legs, so we took a few short videos. He hasn’t seemed to slow down any!

Check out the videos.

We took a camping trip this past weekend, and arranged for family to come check in on Tang. We kept him caged up still so he wouldn’t hurt himself while we were gone. Upon returning, I hurried back to see him. Something changed while we were gone – he became himself again. That shine was back in his eyes, his fur was growing back, and he was ready to come out. We let him out, worried that the litter box, stairs, bed, etc. would give him problems.

Within the first 15 minutes, he had traveled down the steps, found his regular litterbox, climbed the steps and jumped up on the bed. Even the baby gates gave him little trouble. He’s very glad to get back to all his favorite spots: on our bed, in my chair and on our laps (where he’s sitting right now )

I imagine some folks will find these entries searching for information when their cat is facing some tough times. If you’re facing the decision whether to amputate a beloved pet’s leg to try to save him or her, my advice to you is don’t give a second thought as to how your pet will cope with only three legs. I read somewhere that cats have three legs and a spare, and I can assure you that’s true.

We got the results of Tang’s biopsy today, and the results were actually pretty good. The biopsy did determine that the cancer was fibrosarcoma as they thought. They gave his prognosis as “favorable” provided that the cancer had not previously metastatisized and that the tumor had been completely removed. Test results show that both of those conditions are true. They checked the “surgical margins” and they were clean, which means that the tumor had not spread past the parts they removed.

Tang is recovering nicely. He’s gotten pretty good at hopping around on three legs when we let him out of his enclosure. He’s still eating and drinking well, and his fur is regrowing nicely. I took some pictures and thought about posting some pictures, but it’s still not a very pretty sight. I’ll post some when his fur grows back.

Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.

After a lot of research and consulting with the vets, we decided the best thing to do for Tang was to have them amputate his leg as they suggested. His surgery was yesterday and he got to come home today. We’ve got him in a large enclosure in the bedroom right now, since we’re supposed to keep him from jumping up on stuff and hurting himself for a few days. It’s amazing how well he’s adapting already. He can hop, though a little clumsily, from one end of his cage to the other already and he’s eating and drinking just fine. He also wants his big bare belly rubbed

It’ll be several days before we hear the results of the biopsy, and regardless of the results his prognosis is still uncertain, but we’re hoping for the best. We also learned today that the company that manufactured the vaccine that made him sick will pay for a good portion of his treatment if the biopsy indicates that the cancer is related to that vaccine. Even if they don’t though, I’m glad we did the surgery. He’s been a good friend to us, and no matter what happens, I’ll be able to live with myself knowing we did the best we could for him.

About a week ago our big orange cat, Tang, jumped up on our lap while we we were watching a movie. I went to pet him and jumped – he had a large lump on his right hind leg. It hadn’t been there for long, since gets lots of attention, and we would have noticed that. We took him to the vet the next day and they checked him out. Their tests showed it was just a bruise, so they scheduled him to come back in a week to make sure the swelling had gone down.

Today was his follow up. The senior vet took a look at him, did some tests, and found a tumor underneath the bruise. They gave him a sad diagnosis: cancer, fibrosarcoma to be specific. Fibrosarcoma is very rare and vets are are starting to associate it with some vaccinations given. The reason why many vaccinations are now given in the leg is that, in the case of cancer, they can amputate the leg, since surgically removing the tumor requires a very wide margin around the tumor. That’s what the vets recommended, and they didn’t share a prognosis. Unfortunately, most of what we’ve read online doesn’t look good, even with treatment. He’s lost almost two pounds since his last vet visit in November (but he’s a hefty kitty to begin with), but he got a clean bill of health in November, and he’s been acting fine. I’m expecting a call from the senior vet tomorrow morning so I can ask a few more questions.

Tang’s going on seven years old- we rescued him from the pound back in 1999. He’s been a very important part of our family for a long time, and it’s pretty sad in this household right now…

We’d appreciate some good wishes and prayers for our poor kitty. We’re trying to maintain a positive outlook and giving him all the attention he wants (and even a little steak from dinner tonight). I’ll likely be using this blog as a distraction to help get my mind off the sadness.