Georgia Update

Gemini was nice enough to let me use the blog to let all the other kitties know what's going on with Georgia.

Through the day yesterday she seemed to become more unsteady and then this morning before the vet, I noticed her eyes were not dialated evenly. This is nearly ALWAYS a bad thing. I had one cat do that when she knocked her head really hard, but I SAW the accident and it went away pretty quickly, lasting only a few hours. Given the other symptoms were either pain in the rear legs or something neurologic, the uneven dialatation signalled something really bad.

It turns out that the vet is fairly certain that Georgia has a brain tumor. The prognosis is probably two to six months, depending upon the type and how aggressive it is. They are doing blood work and will decide upon steroids or antibiotics when they get the restults back. The care is palliative, of course.

These vets have just been wonderful here. They actually take me seriously about all my cats and seem very concerned on making the pet as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. At my vet from my other city, I have no doubt I would have been sent out with steroids to see if they helped and some fluids and no real hope or concern for me and my cat.

No one brought up euthanasia at this time, because Georgia is so obviously pretty content. She eats with an appetite and she drinks plenty of water. She is much more unsteady than she was 24 hours ago. Her attitude is good, though she seems confused by her body's strange responses, or lack thereof, when she wants to do something.

We have a split level home and later this afternoon we'll be out to get a baby gate so she can't fall down the stairs. We've moved the litter box upstairs for her too and I will feed her up here. If she seems to want downstairs, I can carry her.

While the two to six months is an estimate on her time, if it turns out to be a lymphoma, rather than the more common brain tumor, it could be faster. Of course, the quality of her life is certainly the biggest factor. The vet has hopes that if there is inflamation, the steroids should make it much easier for her to function but relieving that.

Right now Gemini and Chey are sleeping on the bed with her--though I have to get back to go read on the bed, as I think she will hurt herself if she tries to leap down, her legs are so unsteady. She definitely needed help to ON the bed.

Gemini seems perplexed about why Georgia isn't swatting her when she rolls on her side and head butts her--this was always a signal that they would play. Cheysuli seems much more aware of the seriousnes of the situation and has been surprisingly gracious through the last ordeal.

My other Siamese was that way also. I thought she hated my Iggy cat but when I had to leave him at the vet once, overnight, she couldn't be comforted. When he returned, she took a swat at him and turned tail and left! I suspect that if Georgia were to make a miraculous recovery, Chey would do the same--though I there seems to little reasonable hope that that will happen.

Chey and Gemini will keep the cat blogsphere updated on Georgia's progress and what's happening, as I don't think she'll be feeling up to blogging soon. It's hard enough for their big old paws to hit the right keys and she's having enough trouble just placing them to walk a semi straight line.