Life sucks ...

Round 2 of chemo last night. Got home and scoffed half a fish and 6 chips. 3 breakfasts this morning.

Pills aren't too bad now as he knows that he gets a treat afterwards and has started to go to the cat biscuit pot straight afterwards.
 
Sounds like he's coping well, Redhead - best of luck to you both!

Good news on the cat with leg in trap story - cat now home, with his leg still intact and he is starting to bear weight on it.
 
I'm known by husband and friends as a mad cat woman as I seem to attract strays, we've had a lot come to us. They have big hearts, despite what some people will tell you, and seem so grateful for being given a home. Once you earn their trust of course. We've got two ferals now who were born wild, one has tamed down and the other still prefers his own company but will come when called.

Being stray and put through so much does harm their immune systems. Cats do like their comforts as much as anybody. But as said, they are tough animals and can survive things which others would die from.

Thank goodness he tested negative. This means his immune system is not compromised by that and hopefully he can fight the cancer.

I had a brilliant vet once who had nursed quite a few cats through this and he recommended getting a cat comb and combing the cat gently as it helps cat to relax and keeps circulation going, which helps to drain the glands. Sun is also good for them, but be careful he does not run away as when ill cats take themselves off.

I use Bach Flower Remedies on my cats, I'm a qualified practitioner, if you want to know about them send me a pm. If you do know about them I'd recommend Star Of Bethlehem, Crab Apple and Walnut 3 drops in his water and food, first thing in morning and last thing at night. You can also make it up into a mix in a bottle and put drops on his neck when you cuddle him. I keep Rescue Remedy in my handbag at all times for emergencies and this could be used before and after his treatment as going to the vets is so upsetting for cats.

I'm keeping everything crossed for you, really hope he can beat this. He is young so has that on his side.

PS Have a look at this website, lots of useful info on here, but they are not vets, just a good source of experienced people.

http://felinelymphomacaregivers.org/index.html
 
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I concur with what you say about feral cats' systems being compromised, Isi. When I went out to Saudi, there were many ferals (and I guess there still are) roaming around. The oil company used to have cull (humanely trapping them or darting those who wouldn't fall for the trick), putting them all to sleep. The first cat I had was a female from a very wild, all-black female who wouldn't approach people herself, but who very cleverly insinuated her baby into our shared dormitory house.

I called her Sammy and I soon found out that she was already pregnant. She produced three all-black female kits and one all-white male, who was stillborn. I found home for two of the girls, but the third was very tiny and wobbly, and eventually after having her tested, the vet decided she was spastic. Her name was - er, Kitty. Sammy lived to be 12 before having to be pts after a very rapid weight loss - cancer had just ripped through her. Kitty, tiny, wobbly, and very peevish to the end of her days, lived to be a good 14, before her system just seemed to crash very quickly, and just as the vet was trying to rehydrate her, she passed away.

I took on Sunny, a very feral Mum and her four kits. Sunny lived to be approximately 10 before succumbing to kidney failure and one of her female kits, Poppy, had to be pts because she contracted FHIV. The little boy I kept, Rusty, suffered from a thyroid condition which stunted his growth and made his fur very coarse. They all developed wonderful, individual characters - Rusty was tragically killed when following his sister across a road, when she returned to the house they'd all been born at and lived in. I had to move when the company decided to demolish the houses, and I blame them for Rusty's death!

But, as you can see, while most of them lived fairly longish lives, they all suffered complications with organs or growth, due no doubt to the rubbish fare their poor mothers had to forage for when pregnant. I feel they enriched my life and have left me wonderful memories of fun with them, though, and I hope I gave them all longer, happier lives than they'd have had otherwise.
 
We've got a stray at work, I guess it's a queen as she's very taken with the Security men, especially her Uncle "Funtime" Frankie.
 
Funtime Frankie - good name for a racehorse (or a stripper)!!

Thank you all for your support. Dougal is less "washed out" than he had been for a few days before I found the lump under his chin. He's quite perky at the moment and spent last night outdoors under a glorious full moon.

I had to take him back to the vet last night as I couldn't remove one of his stitches. Poor little lad was shaking like a leaf, but she didn't keep us long. When she had finished he jumped back into his basket as if to say "That's enough. Take me home, please".

He discovered another treat last night. I had bought some mini Pepperami's for my other cat Tilly, who goes mad for them. Dougal's nose started twitching as soon as he caught the scent of garlic and he kept pestering until I had let him have a piece.

Pill time last night was very good. I shut the living room door and rattled the pill bottle. Dougal jumped up on the sofa and lay down, let me give him his pill, then jumped onto the coffee table and pointed at his treats.

I agree with you all about their immune systems being damaged by living wild, although Dougal did start off in a home but kept coming back when they moved to the other side of the village. His family kept coming back to find him for a few months, but he obviously started to roam further afield and they gave up.

Bach Flower remedies sound good, Isinglass. He never used to be bothered by his trip to the vets until they took his temperature a few weeks ago!!! Now he does get a bit worried, so it would be good to give him something to help him cope with his nerves. I note your suggestion about combing too, and will try that, although he is not too keen on being groomed.

He has 2 more weekly trips for chemo, then it switches to monthly, so hopefully we can both can start to unwind a bit (or rather I can, as he sulks for half an hour and then comes round).

I'm just glad that I managed to win him over as he has come so far in a couple of years. He didn't even know how to open a door, much less use a catflap. I think had he known how to use a catflap he would have fared much better on the food side of living wild.

Good news about your friend's cat, Songsheet. Hope all goes well for him.

Oh great. Dougal's just found a new game. I have just put a stack of papers ready to go into the recycling bin. Dougal has just jumped onto it, scattered it and is now using a magazine to "skate" around the floor - front end resting on paper, back end providing propulsion. Paper everywhere. Thanks Dougal!

He loves paper. I think he must have found it a luxury to sleep on when living rough. Dougal's idea of Heaven is a pile of paper to dive into, play in and sleep in.
 
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Do take a clip of him Yours-skating and send it in to 'Animals do the Funniest Things' - it'll earn him some money to help pay for his treatments, apart from amusing an adoring public! If you can get him to skate on Yours itself, the mag might like to do a little feature on him and his life story - I'm serious, there are many animal magazines, too, which will pay you a few ££ for a heart-warming tale of a characterful kitty.
 
If they send a photographer - particularly if it's a man - they're more likely to get a picture of Dougal pretending to be a carrot and hiding in the veg-rack!

Truly, that is the first place indoors that he found to hide in. He was missing for ages the first time he heard the bin men. I only realised where he was when I heard a rustling while I was making a cuppa and found him cowering amongst the onions.
 
Really glad to hear things are going well woth Dougal. If you ever want to to talk just pm me. He sounds like a wonderful guy.

Krizon, I did not know you were out in Saudi for so long! Sounds like you made a real difference to some of the cat population there. I had only 3 weeks in Bahrain and was out of my mind about all the stray dogs and cats.

I worked for the Cats Protection League and then for Celian Hammond for years, (as a volunteer), and my main aim was to get low cost neuter clinics to help keep the numbers down. I am sad that after so many years it seems to have slipped and there are, once again, far too many cats and dogs born who have no future.
 
I was in Saudi from May 1972 to same time 1992, 20 years, man and boy, Isi. Before that, a year in Libya and previously some 12 years in S. Africa/N. Rhodesia, just up to before it became Zambia after independence/liberation, depending on your stance.

I'm with you on the neutering projects - it's disgusting that we throw away tens of thousands of 'pets' every year, pretending we're a nation of animal 'lovers'. God help them if we weren't!
 
Round 4 of chemo tonight. Bit worried though, as I have found another lump in his throat. May be nothing but ...

He's been off his normal food for a few days, but has discovered the joys of fish pie and rice pudding.

I have noticed that he starts to wind down before each dose of chemo, and he is a bit tired today.

Have the most awful feeling that this is one fight we are not going to win.
 
Perhaps its just the side effects of the chemo kicking in maybe, keep your chin up & give him a cuddle from me, we are all thinking of you both

Helen
 
Thanks Helen.

It's difficult at this time of year to keep track of what is normal (moulting and off feed because of the heat) and not confuse it with possible symptoms or side effects.

He looks unbelievably scruffy at the moment as he is just shedding the last of his winter coat, so there are tufts of new growth and old fur sticking out all over the place. Added to his liking for exploring under cars and the resulting patches of oil all over him, he looks like a feline version of Just William.

He is happy at the moment, that is the main thing.
 
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Amazing.

I've just been grooming him and found last night's tablet in a tuft of fur under his armpit, of all places!!!

Flabbergasted!
 
Wow! How funny. :lol:

My cats are shedding big time at the moment too. They all look like mammoths. I comb them all the tiome (well, the ones I can catch as 2 are feral) and get masses of fur.

So, fingers crossed that he is just reacting to summer time.

Hope the lump on his throat is nothing important.
 
Thanks Isi.

I've never had a long-haired cat before, so the difference in their moulting and a short-hairs is quite noticeable. With short-haired cats you just get a "film" of loose hair over their coats, whereas Dougal has tufts of old fur hanging out in some places, and tufts of new growth in others.

Do you have as much fun grooming as I do? Dougal will tolerate it on his top half, but once I start working down his sides he gets a bit annoyed and I am asking for a clout if I even try to brush his breeches. He does have a bit of a temper and has belted me before now, although his patience does last longer these days as he has learned a few manners - and gets treats afterwards.

I'm still baffled as to how that tablet got under his armpit. :blink:

I hope so, too, about the lump. It does feel different to when his glands came up as it is softer and more "mobile", but being in the same area ...
 
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Oh yes, grooming is always fun! :whistle:

Two of ours are short haired but the male who is quite wild has very thick hair and he has a low patience and pain tolerance. Same as Dougal you cannot get near his trousers. I have to catch him in a crush cage which I bought from a cat protection place, and this keeps him calm while I brush. he drops off to sleep, but after a few minutes has had enough. He growls if I take too long. Has never been aggressive but he is massive, would not wish to make him too mad at me.

Our tame kitten is grown up physically now but mentally still a baby and she is semi long haired, has weird double fur that gets matted all down her baggy trousers and rear end. But she is a Tortoiseshell and they are notoriously stroppy, she is no exception. I have scars to prove it. :)

Our black cat Minnie is very loving and timid, she is officially semi feral now as sleeps on the bed and cuddles up on the sofa. Likes being brushed but only on her terms, although very affectionate she too can cuff with a paw if you go too far.

I like the way that cats have this dignity and demand our respect.

It just makes looking after them more interesting .......

Dougal must have conceled the pill for ages and then put it under his arm when you were not looking. :<3:
 
I'm glad it's not just me!

I got so used to Oscar being groomed and loving it. He would stand all day and be brushed if you'd let him. The two I have now are such a contrast.

When I first got Oz, I taught him to be hoovered - honestly! Using the brush attachment. He nearly freaked the first time that I tried it because the noise of the hoover scared him, but halfway through the brushing he realised it was rather nice and started standing up and pushing back against the brush, the way a horse will.

In his old age (19), Oz used to lie down in front of the hoover and demand to be brushed. It used to take ages to do the sitting room because I had to keep stopping to hoover the cat!

Dougal and Tilly on the other hand hate to be groomed with an ordinary brush, let alone the hoover brush. Tilly (Miss Hiss) willl hiss and clout if the brush even goes near her, while Dougal loves his head and back being brushed but is not too keen on anywhere else. I too have the scars to prove it. He once punctured my thumbnail, but he is not quite so fiery now that he has learned that he gets treats afterwards.

I've never met a semi-long-haired cat, but I know a naughty tortie.

My mother's cat, Maxine, hated to be groomed as well. She would slap, rather than clout, though. Always with the pads of her paws and never with the claws out. You could hear the slap across the room. She once slapped my brother's face for blowing raspberries at her (she hated that).

I have been very lucky to know some terrific feline characters. It seems that you have to be a real cat lover to experience a cat's personality though, almost as if they keep it to themselves until they have sussed you out. Some people keep cats and never see them as anything other than the family pet.

Oh well, I had better load The Red One up as it's time to go to the vet's. We will just have to stop at the chippy for fish on the way home, I'm certain.

Thank you all again for your kind support. I will keep you posted.
 
My 14 year old loves being combed, and will let you do it for as long as you can be bothered, and then wiped down with papertowel soaked in cold water.
 
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