Future Tripod Kitty
Jul. 24th, 2007 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deirdreWell, we took Scruffy to the oncologist today.
The tumor wraps around his joint, which we'd think of as the wrist joint. Vets probably call it that too, but I haven't asked.
She (the oncologist) points out that the purpose of radiation isn't to shrink the tumor, though it does shrink some forms of tumors. The purpose of radiation (especially the pre-surgery kind) is to sterilize the area around the tumor and prevent it from growing or spreading. (She also said that one of the open-ended board exam questions in veterinary oncology was about the purpose of pre-surgical radiation, and that if you answered "to shrink the tumor," you didn't get credit for the question.)
So he'd have to have surgery to remove the tumor. Plus radiation would be 5 days a week for 4-1/2 weeks, and he'd have to have short-term anesthesia every time.
Catch is, he has both some level of kidney failure (elevated creatine levels due to age) and restrictive cardiomyopathy. She explained that the anesthesia was cleared by the kidneys, and that in the case of kidney issues, they had to keep blood pressure elevated. She explained that was much more manageable during surgery than during radiation, and the risk of losing him altogether (or shortening his life) was significant.
Further, he might have to have amputation anyway, and there was still the issue of the problematic tumor removal.
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, she explained that dogs can withstand up to a grey scale (that's what she said, I haven't looked it up yet) of about 40. Cats, she said, tolerated oncology treatments of all kinds better, but this particular type of tumor would require a higher dose -- 57. That didn't sound like a lot of fun.
Therefore, she considered the one-time anesthesia option of amputation the better choice, and after she explained her rationale, we agreed.
We've made the appointment.
The tumor wraps around his joint, which we'd think of as the wrist joint. Vets probably call it that too, but I haven't asked.
She (the oncologist) points out that the purpose of radiation isn't to shrink the tumor, though it does shrink some forms of tumors. The purpose of radiation (especially the pre-surgery kind) is to sterilize the area around the tumor and prevent it from growing or spreading. (She also said that one of the open-ended board exam questions in veterinary oncology was about the purpose of pre-surgical radiation, and that if you answered "to shrink the tumor," you didn't get credit for the question.)
So he'd have to have surgery to remove the tumor. Plus radiation would be 5 days a week for 4-1/2 weeks, and he'd have to have short-term anesthesia every time.
Catch is, he has both some level of kidney failure (elevated creatine levels due to age) and restrictive cardiomyopathy. She explained that the anesthesia was cleared by the kidneys, and that in the case of kidney issues, they had to keep blood pressure elevated. She explained that was much more manageable during surgery than during radiation, and the risk of losing him altogether (or shortening his life) was significant.
Further, he might have to have amputation anyway, and there was still the issue of the problematic tumor removal.
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, she explained that dogs can withstand up to a grey scale (that's what she said, I haven't looked it up yet) of about 40. Cats, she said, tolerated oncology treatments of all kinds better, but this particular type of tumor would require a higher dose -- 57. That didn't sound like a lot of fun.
Therefore, she considered the one-time anesthesia option of amputation the better choice, and after she explained her rationale, we agreed.
We've made the appointment.