Chemotherapy has resumed

Well, I was right about the withholding of my food last week 'cause the next morning (which was a Thursday) I got stuffed in my cage and got taken to the vet and they did all sorts of things to me, or maybe I should say, what didn't they do to me? 'Cause first they shaved my belly and did an ultrasound and then they took my blood pressure and then they put little patches on me and did an electrocardiogram, and after all that they gave me chemotherapy! And I had a new doctor this time named Laura since Dr Peter was on vacation, and Laura and nurse Naarah gave me a different chemo drug this time called Mitoxantrone, which they hope will knock me around less than the Doxorubicin did. And they gave me less sedation than they did before, so I didn't feel as goofy this time when I got back home, but I did feel a little weird all the next day.

And here's what I look like after they shaved me in various places for my ultrasound and ECG:

And Laura said that the ECG shows that I have a heart murmur, which might be caused by one of the walls of my heart starting to harden, either with age or as a result of my high blood pressure; but she said the heart murmur wasn't "clinical" so it didn't prevent me from getting chemo again. And for the first few days after my chemo I felt awful and climbed the stairs very slowly and even felt a little dizzy when I got to the top, and I didn't want to eat very much at all, but Daddy and Uncle Kevin did coax me with some people-food like chicken and fish.

On Thursday night I was wide awake and couldn't settle down, and I was kinda the same on Friday, and I kept myself pretty quiet:

And occasionally I would stretch out next to the heater, but still be very quiet:

But on Friday night I crawled into bed with Daddy, which I haven't done for a long time, and I slept next to him the whole night without waking him, which I REALLY haven't done for a long time! But over the weekend I still didn't eat much and wasn't looking very good, and I did vomit twice, so Daddy got the vet to prescribe me some anti-nausea pills called Maxolon, which he was able to pick up on Tuesday, and ever since I took them, I started eating a bit more. And on Wednesday I just wanted to be held so I clung to Uncle Kevin's belly:

And when I wasn't on his belly, I was at the top of the stairs enjoying the sunshine:

And on Thursday morning my Daddy stuffed me in the cage again and took me to the Carlton vet where the doctor weighed me (I was 5.23 kg, which is about 11 and 1/2 pounds) and then she took my blood, but I didn't fuss this time. At least Daddy didn't have to starve me this time! And when I got back home, Daddy took the day off work and I sat on his lap ALL DAY, except for when he fed me more chicken.

And on Friday the vet called to Daddy to say my white blood count was fine, and they also did a test to see if my thyroid was acting up, and the result was negative, so my heart murmur isn't being caused by any thyroid problems. (I remember that my brother Gerald had thyroid problems many years ago and had to have radiation treatment; he was even radioactive for a week afterwards!). And on Friday I started feeling a bit better and I ate more and more hard kibble.

And today was Saturday and I was such a good kitty that Daddy gave more chicken in the evening, and I keep eating hard kibble and wet kibble, and Daddy and Uncle Kevin get more and more happy when they see me eat more and more. And I always drink plenty of water, too:

So tonight I curled up on the Kevin pillow and soaked up all his attention 'cause I'm a good kitty.

And Daddy and Uncle Kevin will watch me closely every day to make sure I'm recovering OK, and I'm due for another chemo treatment on September 30 but I remember Daddy saying he'd like to talk to the oncologist about switching to a different chemo treatment where I take a special chemo pill every day instead of a big intravenous treatment every three weeks; but I'm not sure what that's all about so I'll have to wait and see. In the meantime it's time for my evening nap, so good night all!

Oscar update

It's been a long time since my Daddy updated my blog but that's because he's been enjoying my company and devoting himself so much to spoiling me that he hasn't had any time to type my blog. But I'll try to summarize all the things that have happened to me as best I can.

At the end of July Daddy took me to the Carlton Vet to have me weighed and have a urine test to make sure my kidneys weren't affected by the chemo I had. And I was furious when Daddy put me in the cage:



And I gave my most pitiful yell that sounded like a human child:





And when I finally came home and was let out of my cage I let Daddy have it and led him straight to the kitchen where I knew my wet kibble was hiding in the fridge...




And so he gave me the kibble and after I gobbled it down I made myself comfortable on my heated pad:

And Daddy was concerned that I had lost quite a lot of weight during my chemo, so he decided to give me a rest from it for about two months so I could get my strength back. And I sure liked that idea, so every morning I would wake up Daddy at 3.30 a.m. for my first breakfast and then again at 6.00 a.m. for my second breakfast, and then during the week Uncle Kevin would be home and give me my elevenses after my morning nap, and then my afternoon snack after my afternoon nap, and gradually I gained my weight back:

And every once in a while Indy would come walking through the backyard and I would want to see her:

And it got really COLD in July and August, since that's winter here, and it got so cold that some more MICE started coming into the house. And on August 1, which was a Sunday morning, Uncle Kevin actually caught a mouse in the kitchen, but I slept through the whole thing until I heard the mouse thrashing about inside a plastic fruit container.

And Uncle Kevin sat me down next to the mouse to see if I would be scared of it; and of course I wasn't, and whenever the mouse would run around in the box, I would bat at it with my paw; but if it stood still, I would just stare at it until I was bored with it. And in the end I got bored with it, so Uncle Kevin took it out to the park where he released the other two mice last year, and we haven't been bothered by any mice again since then.

And Daddy and Uncle Kevin had a very busy time in July and August, 'cause at the end of July they went to Sydney for a weekend, and in mid-August they had to fly to Hobart for a weekend; so both times our neighbours Auntie Fiona and Uncle Nick looked after us, and they were great 'cause they SPOILED me, and I especially liked Fiona because she's a girl and I don't have many girls that get to take care of me.

But I know that tomorrow I have to go to the doctor again since Daddy has already started withholding food from me so I can guess that something big is going to happen. So I'll write again after I find out what the very has in store for me.