My Gitzie has liver cancer :(

[Destroit]

For anyone that has met her my kitty baby Gitzie is my life. Pestilence even thinks I <3 her more than him, so needless to say I'm devastated.

She was breathing odd last week, nothing too weird figured maybe she had a respiratory infection, brought her in to the vet. Instead of just giving her antibiotics and sending her on her way this vet, who is solely a cat specialist, had x-rays taken of her chest. The doctor was troubled by what she was seeing. What appeared to an extremely large heart was, seemingly, POSSIBLY pushing on her lungs which was causing the breathing, not an infection. Of course this made me panic, but the doctor said it would be treatable and manageable and since she's been going her whole life that was that it isn't necessarily a death sentence. However, the doctor examined the x-ray further because there was something troubling about this "heart", it didn't look right and just didn't add up, which leads me to the next part of this horrible nightmare.

I've always said my Gitzie is special, mostly jokingly, she does very odd things and is the most unique baby I've ever really come across. This is further confirmed by what the doctor then realized. The vet discovered that Gitzie's heart isn't enlarged and it is actually very strong. So what was the giant grey mass in the x-ray photo? Her liver. The vet said in all her years she has NEVER come across a case like this. Gitzie, apparantly, was born with her liver (or a big part of it) ABOVE her heart, as opposed to behind it. This is shocking, the vet says, because 99% of cats with this die in the first few years of life, but Gitzie is such a zesty little girl she has had the fight to live and be happy inside her so much that she has been going on for SEVEN years so far, COMPLETELY unaffected by this condition. The vet says this, in itself, is a miracle and cat's bodies hardly ever adapt to a serious congenital defect such as this and almost always die within the first few years, however not only did Gitzie adapt and overcome she's been living life to the fullest like nothing at all is wrong or out of place.

The bad part about her liver, however, is that there were small white granules in the x-ray. The doctor said this was most likely cancer, however, she ahd no idea what kind of liver cancer it could be due to the fact that it was in small granules instead of one big tumor. At this point she started questioning whether Gitzie even HAD a respiratory infection...she had thought maybe it was a polyp/tumor in her little brain that must've broken off and traveled through her blood stream and planted itself several places in her liver since there was no one BIG tumor anywhere in her body to be found. BUT in case it was just a sinus something-or-other, she sent us home with an antibiotic regimen.

The goodish-news: The sinus infection is gone This means that it WAS a respiratory infection and NOT a brain tumor, which the vet was ecstatic to hear. But the bad thing is the odd legions in her liver (only one or two lobes, cats apparantly have six lobes to their liver) that are so odd in form that the vet cannot place a finger on it. She would need to do surgury to the tune of $5,000-$7,000 which would most likely kill her anyhow due to the placement of her liver. If the surgeon tried to move her liver and put it back in place she can die instantly since her body has become accustomed to having it where it is, either a clot could be dislodged in it or just the shock alone could kill her (and most likely would). Also there a high chance that the anesthesia would also put her under permanently because although her heart is beating strong her circulation is slightly compromised. And after all this, IF (and a big if) she survived the surgury, if it did come back as a bad case of cancer, she would probably die anyways.

Now, the mixed-news: The doctor is iffy about her prognosis, since it's very odd and very rare. She could, for instance be propulsed into failing health within weeks, but since she's had her liver oddly placed and it hasn't bothered her and these "growths" are so different and odd that we don't know if they're cancerous and how cancerous they really are for all we know she could live for months, years, or even go into remission. Hell for all we know these granules could be odd clots or something from having an oddly placed liver her whole life. She's absolutely fine and dandy also, which the doctor says is not very cancer-like, she's frisking, eating, etc. She's on antibiotics and getting over that sinus stuff so she's lethargic, but other than that she's 100%. She even stayed out until 3:30am last night killin' stuff and had momma worried all night.

I am depressed more than I've ever been in my entire existance (or will be if she gets worse). I'm trying NOT to be depressed right now because she's still with me, she's still Gitzie, I <3 her and she <3s me, she's in good health at the moment and is still enjoying herself, but IF and when she begins to deteriorate it will hit me harder than anything I've ever been hit with in my life. If anyone sees me at the club and I look more gothily forlorn than usual, don't ask me what's wrong, just understand that I'm going through possibly losing my precious baby child. Please do not treat me differently than you have in the past, I'm trying hard to be happy around Gitzie and treat her 100% the same because I don't want her constantly knowing or reminded that there's something wrong, I want what could be her last days to be happy, so please do the same for me.

I have my hope. It's not 100% a death sentence necessarily, God might me listening and send me a miracle....I need one so badly. Last night our friend Tim treated Pestilence and I to Chinese buffet. At the end of the meal our fortune cookies came, I grabbed the one that had the fortune cookie oddly sticking halfway out of the cookie, I grabbed it because it was the special one. When I opened this deformed fortune cookie I broke down right there at the table in front of everyone. It read: "Hope is the most precious treasure to a person" It seems that the "defective" fortune cookie was meant for me to pick, much like Gitzie was, and I'm sure it was no coincidence.

What I'm asking for is anyone that may have ANY sort of medical/holistic advice for anything that could possibly help. If anything...I'm asking for your hope and a prayer, I really cannot do this...I can't lose Gitzie...she's my little girl.

Thank you to anyone who cared enough to read this far and maybe say a little prayer for my Gitzie <3

Edited August 1, 2009 by Chernobyl

[jynxxxedangel]

:cry :cry :cry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There isn't anything I can do, but send my hopes and prayers for your dear kitty. I can only imagine what you're going through right now.

[Head Wreck]

this is sad :(

why cant this happen to things that deserver that only

[TygerLili]

I wish I hadn't just done my eye make-up for work, because now it's running down my face. *Note to anyone who ever wants to see TygerLili cry, just tell me a story about a sick animal and I'll lose it. Doesn't matter if it's an animal I haven't met.*

I'm so sorry to hear this. I don't really have any advice for you. You could always take her out to the Michigan State Vet Clinic for a second opinion. I know they have some cancer treatments for animals, and, if nothing else, they might have seen a few cases like it before and have a better idea of her prognosis. It would probably cost an arm and a leg, though.

My childhood cat, who I got when I was 7, developed breast cancer when I was 16. We had them remove the tumors, and she was good for a few years, then we had to have more tumors removed, and she was okay for a few more years. It wasn't until I was 24 that the cancer spread to other parts of her body that we finally lost her. She lived a good 7-8 years after they told us she had cancer, and was very healthy up until the last few months of that, so, even if it is cancer, there's hope.

I'll keep you both in my thoughts.

[Destroit]

My childhood cat, who I got when I was 7, developed breast cancer when I was 16. We had them remove the tumors, and she was good for a few years, then we had to have more tumors removed, and she was okay for a few more years. It wasn't until I was 24 that the cancer spread to other parts of her body that we finally lost her. She lived a good 7-8 years after they told us she had cancer, and was very healthy up until the last few months of that, so, even if it is cancer, there's hope.

This made me feel much better. My aunt also had a cat, or has rather, that got liver cancer and went into remission on her own for some odd reason. It happens, it doesn't happen all the time, but it can. Gitzie is a special cat, she's special enough for her liver to be out of place and live completely fine all these years, I'm hoping she'll be special enough to pull through this.

7 years is not a long run for a kitty...but as odd as this sounds, I was comforted when the doctor told me about the thing with her liver being out of place and how she shouldn't have made it past age 2. I'm grateful that even with her congenital defect she's been a miracle enough to come this far and live a happy healthy live until now (and continuing, as I said she's still 100%)

This does explain her odd build though. I've always wondered why her back part is "skinnier" than the front and now I know it's because towards the back she's lacking in organ and up by her chest there is too much. I always just thought this was how she was built due to no obvious signs of any health issues and attributed this to her mix breed. She was never supposed to happen, she was from an accidental litter which is why my ex got her for free. She is a VERY odd mix breed, her parents were show cats, and her mother was a Persian and her dad was an Egyptian Bosko (think I spelled it right), and well much like mixing a Pitbull with a Chihuahua, some breeds just DO NOT mix well. This also may be why, well most likely IS why, she has the defect in the first place. Persians and Boskos are SO different in build that her body probably got confused on where to put her liver. Persians are flat faced, rounded head, fluffy as all fuck, short stubby fat bodies with short legs whereas Boskos are like Ancient Egyptian cat statues and are practically hairless with long pointy faces, very slender bodies, LONG bodies, with very long legs and long tails.

So she ended up, and this is cute this is why I always said she is special, with a long body, yet short legs, and a face that has a VERRRRY odd structure to it (yet very cute structure as you can see from the pics ) since her body probably didn't know whether to make her face long and slender or round and flat, it's kind of a mix and because of this her tongue is too big for her mouth and tends to stick out all the time. And she's not long haired, she's not short hair, she's medium haired. She's not white like her Persian mother and she's not black like her Bosko father...she's both . And whenever she lays on my black clothes trying to blend in, she never quite gets that she has white paws and it gives her away (that's why we started calling her "special" because, well, let's just say Gitzie is one can short of a six-pack in the ditzy department). And she is the SOFTEST and SILKIEST cat you can ever put your hand on, it's the most amazing feeling to pet her.

Heh I named (or renamed rather, I didn't like the name my ex picked) her Gitzie in the first place because she reminds me of Michael Alig's girlfriend in the movie. Very trusting, kind of passive, kinda air-headed, and doesn't get enough of anything evar.

*siiiigh* And thanks HW and Jynxxxed for your kind words and thoughts. I will periodically keep this thread updated with her status and pics and such for anyone who is interested or cares.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Chernobyl

[Onyx]

(((hugs)))

I don't know anything about it myself, but this site has a library of articles you can look through for holistic care and here is one with a link to cancer care info along with some holistic vet searches.

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/KnowledgeBase/knowledgebasedetail.aspx?articleid=30

[creatureofthenyte]

I hope things work out for you & Gitzie.

I had a cat that lived for 21 yrs, she was solely an indoor cat.

Around early January '05, she was(her name was Kitty; an all black cat)wasn't eating well, and was fallin on her ass sometimes.

The vet found that she had a bad kidney, and because of her age, and the progression of it, it was decided it would be best to put her down.

Point being, I hope you have better luck then I did. I know what this situation is like. My cat was as much of a part of my life as Gitzie is to yours.

*Hoping for the best*

[dragonluv]

I am sorry to hear this. I send hugs for the both of you.

[bean]

*hugs* This is so sad. My thoughts are with you and Gitzie.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

It is destressing but try not to let it ruin the time you have with her. So far she is still "Ok" right? Thats great! Sure things could take a turn, but it will make the current time with her more precious, try not to let it get you down so much that you miss out on the time you have with her.

My grandfather lived for another 10 years after they gave him 6 months. My friends dog who had cancer surgery twice, and was not given a very good prognosis (horrible actually) Lived for another 5 years after the last surgery and seemed pretty dang cheerful to me and was friendly and outgoing up until the last few weeks. My mother had cancer and was only given a 50% chance to live through the procedure she had, that was 5 years ago and she has no cancer at all yet. Not to give you false hope but there is hope.

I spent an hour or so just now reading about cancer in animals and the non-quack stuff really does seem to require a vet and specific medical research / info about your specific kitty. Cancer in animals varies so widely, and with Gitzie being such a special case, it is not going to do very well to try and guess at what to do with say some miracle snake oil herbs or some such. One thing that did seem similar to these granules are the nodules caused by Cirrhosis. I had an online friend that had liver cancer, his problem seems to really not be with the cancer itself but this cirrhosis in his liver that they thought was caused as a side-effect of the cancer. Part of the description was small "nodules" all over the place in the liver (and what gitzie has sounds more lick rock-salt sized things rather than little "balls" (nodules) in the liver?) . That is just wild speculation on my part though, can't make a connection that easily between a story i have about a friend and what you posted about gitzie.

Just to throw it out there.. I did actually read everything above. Very interesting and distressing at the same time. Just wanted you to know i care about you and Gitzie's situation and didn't just skim over it all and post some off-the-cuff response.

I hope you and the kitty are doing well. *hugs*

[Destroit]

Gitzie seems to be doing fine . I've started her on milk thistle, which isn't just used holistically but has been shown in actual clinical trials to help reduce liver tumors and restore function and has been widely used on pets and people and almost always yields great results. She's perked up, her respiratory infection is completely gone so we know that she does not have any tumor in her head, it's only the little specks in her misplaced liver that they believe is cancer (they aren't 100% sure what it is especially since she's such a RARE case).

Hopefully this stuff will help her, it seems to already, and even the vet told me that it is very effective in felines (moreso than most western medicine she said, at least she's honest) and they take to it well with awesome results. She's been a miracle cat in the past, let's see if she can pull through and do it again. Even if she doesn't completely go into remission and eventually succumbs on her cancer, I have a good hunch that it will be maaaany years down the road.

She's been feeling so good in fact that last Wednesday, on the full moon, she felt it appropriate to keep me up all night worrying about her when she didn't come home, only to stroll in around 7:35 the following morning like that was just fine to do. The following night I went out to have a cigarette and found a dead robin on the patio with his neck snapped. Yeah...I have a feeling she's gonna be just fine . Her appetite is 100% too, as a matter of fact she's been eating MORE in the past few days (probably because of the holistic medicine, since her liver is functioning better and her circulation is better, it's probably helping her metabolism also).

So thanks to anyone and everyone who has been keeping her in your thoughts and prayers (it definately seems to be working ).

Edited August 9, 2009 by Chernobyl

[bean]

Yay!

[creatureofthenyte]

YAY Gitzie !!!!!

[TygerLili]

Glad to hear she's doing better!

[Onyx]

So glad to hear that! :)

[Homicidalheathen]

Hurray for milk thistle! This is good to hear, thanks for posting! I will remember this.

Hugs to you and your kitty baby

[Enishi]

I hopes your kitty continues to get better.

[hunhee]

OMGz NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Brenda Starrr]

I hope that she continues to get better. She's such a beautiful girl!!

[freydis]

awww.....i will keep your kitty in my thoughts. I know if either of my kitties were sick, id be devastated too....

[Troy Spiral (13)]

[~Tszura~]

Hooray for you and your little one!! Great to hear Gitzie is doing better!

[eatdirt426]

I'm glad your kitty is doing better you're both in my prayers. I cried when I read the first post, she looks like my pookie. Except pook's fur isnt really long.

[Destroit]

Thanks everyone, and all this has been made EXTRA hard for me recently because we had to put down my childhood cat, Kitty Whiskers, on Sunday :. In our family pets are considered to be people more than most of the actual people in the family so I am fucking wrecked. He was 19 and we SPOILED him like nothing else. He's been on boats, to the mall, every holiday he at 800 lbs of food, he got Christmas presents, and in his life he's consumed so much crab, lobster, steak, and shrimp to make what he's going to get in Kitty Heaven look like nothing . I have no regrets about his life and as odd as it sounds his death went beautifully. The vet told us his lymph system failed (or what they assume) and his inner cavities were filling up with MASSIVE amounts of fluid which were pushing on his organs. At his age, even if they could drain it, it would just make it worse and it would end up just filling right back up again. We decided, painfully...that it was time :.

Both Boshy and I were there with him until the very end. I couldn't believe it was happening, I was holding everything back because I wanted Kitty to not have his last moments be of us crying over him and freaking out, but rather of us being happy around him and loving. It worked, until his soul left his body and I broke down so hard the vet almost had to call an ambulance because I couldn't breath. But alas...it is over, what has been done cannot be taken back, and although it WAS unarguably his time and that he lived the best possible life a cat could ever life (got to go outside all day to kill birds and bask in the sun and then at night he had a loving family to come to with food and a warm house), I will miss my little brother every second of every day for the rest of my entire existance.

The vets even let us take his body home, which I always thought was against policy since you are not supposed to bury animals on your property due to water-table issues. This vet had the option for you to take the animal's body to "arrange for a burial at a pet cemetary" and the vet technician said "or *wink wink* bury them at home, but pretend I didn't say that." I was pleased, I didn't like the thought of not only having Kitty's body shoved into an oven by people he didn't even know, just...and burned, the whole thing didn't sit well with me. After it was all over and his body was lifeless they put him in a box for us and we got to spend the last moments with his body that we could. We wrapped him in a white shroud and I put some catnip in with him, a shrimp from the refrigerator, and a big blade of grass because he was a little moo-cow and he loved eating them. We dug a hole in the middle of the garden where he likes to sit and that was that...we buried him. I also got snippings of his fur so I can have something tangible to cherish and remember him by.

But Gitzie? Well she's the good news. She's fucking crazy, she did a backflip trying to catch a bird FOUR FEET in the air a few days ago. Two days ago she killed a bunny AND a rat in only four hours and left the blood all over the sidewalk, making the little kids in the neighborhood cringe in the morning when they came out and saw it. Also, last night was a full moon, so she thought it would be appropriate to stay out from 6pm last night all the way until 9am this morning even though I called her name trying to get her in the house all night. The vet said if she DID have serious cancer then she would definately be showing clear signs by early September, and yet, she's 100% right as rain. This is causing me to believe that it could be something non-cancerous OR her body has/is taking care of it on its own (normal people get cancer constantly and fight it off. Some people even get SEVERE cancer and live with it without being hindered and never die from it).

Soooo...bad news good news. That's how this whole summer has been for me, if anyone has wondered why I have been missing. The last three years I spent 100% broke so I wasn't out at the club much but was on DGN a bunch, but this summer, after my money woes have almost vanished, I keep having an odd mix of news.

I sell my condo on July 7th - Good News

Gitzie gets scary diagnosis August 1st - Bad News

We close on the house 8/11 - Good News

We find out the plumbing has been stolen from the new house - Bad News

We find out said plumbing wasn't as costly as estimated - Good News

We find out the front window will cost us an arm and a leg - Bad News

We get a cheap hot water heater and now I have all utilities - Good News

Kitty Whiskers has a bad health turn almost overnight and had to be put down on Boshy's birthday - Worst News EVER received in my ENTIRE life

Gitzie seems to not only be doing fine but is ridiculously active. I start to wonder if she really is undead like everyone keeps telling me - Great News

I start school 8/26. Fuck my life - Bad News because I'm so fucking busy with the new house how the fuck am I going to do homework?

*siiiiigh* The days of our lives, man...srsly...

So do not worry my DGN fam, Cherny is around and trying to pull through, and am trying to look at the bright side, which I might add, is odd for a rivethead. Whatever, it's what I've been having to do. All of you WILL come to my new fucking house, damnit! We've already been partying hard there left and right and we don't even have our shit moved in or even a Certificate of Occupancy . I did find out that we get free cable atm - the last people living there were stealing it.

Anyone wants to stop by and comfort dear old Cherny and catch up, PM me for my celly and directions. Enishi will vouche, the new house is more fun than a barrel of monkeys that are on fire and being hurled into Saturn.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Chernobyl