Updates from our vet visit yesterday

I really like the vet we are seeing now. At Monty’s check-up yesterday, the vet asked about Zeus first.

I said he was symptom free and doing really well. He said that is the best possible outcome. I asked if he could read the future to tell me what will happen – will the tumour grow large again, or will something else happen.

He said that is likely, but since we don’t know what cancer it is, it could grow large in a lymph node in his neck next, or in his abdomen. He reiterated that Zeus has a prognosis of one day, to several, to maybe a few months.

He said he’ll likely have a bad day here and there, but as soon as he has about 3 in a row, there is no turning it around and I should help him go.

He said that if I had taken a referral from him to a cancer specialist, they would have put him on chemo and he never would have had this quality time and the outcome would have been the same, with probably the same timeline.

I have been trying not to worry about July, but we will be away from home for a few days in a row. I know if I board him… if anyone would even board a cat who needs a pill every day, who isn’t friendly, and who has terminal cancer… he would just be completely stressed out. The vet agreed and said he’d likely not eat and it would be very stressful. So, if Zeus is still around, the vet has a shot he can give him, that isn’t as good as prednisone, but will get Zeus through a few days without a pill and then he can stay at home where he is comfortable.

Then it was Monty’s turn. He had to get a few of his shots updated for the boarding kennel. He is 70.8 pounds and healthy. I had the vet check out a growth Monty has on his side. The vet said it is the harmless kind (it looks like a big nipple). He said young dogs get them often and they will go away about 50% of the time, or more. This one is bigger and might not go away on its own, but as long as Monty isn’t bothered by it and doesn’t scratch or chew at it, it is fine. He said he could take it off, but he just took one off for another dog and that dog has been back twice to get its stitches redone and he seemed to suggest they should have left it alone.

I let him know that Monty had an uncle (Winger) who died of mast cell cancer, so I’m nervous about bumps and lumps. We discussed it quite a bit – he is great for being thorough and sharing information. He said, after hearing Winger’s history, that his immune system was so messed up that he was more susceptible to something like a mast cell cancer. He said Monty is so healthy, never had a hot spot, that if he had one bad cancer cell in there, his immune system would be better equipped to handle it.