December 12, 2017. Second Visit To U.C. Davis Veterinary Hospital – Emergency Amputation Scheduled in Two Days!

December 12, 2017

In the afternoon, I drove to U.C. Davis after an anxious day. Cream Puff is walking terribly. Her leg cannot always support her and she falls on her face. How could she go from a slight limp on Friday to unable to walk on Tuesday? I got to U.C. Davis without the usual traffic, I got a wonderful parking spot and got in right away.

My doctor was Dr. ‘G’, a nice student. She loved Cream Puff. Everybody does. She and an assistant took Cream Puff back and did tests on her. They confirmed that it looks like osteosarcoma, but they cannot be sure. It might be a fungus. They hustled her in back to redo the blood tests, take another ultra sound, do x-rays, and a battery of other tests. They had her for several hours. I ended up going to the cafeteria, called Scrubs, and having a salad.

They confirmed the worst. But there is hope. Osteosarcoma is bone cancer and rare in cats. It is a highly aggressive cancer, but if caught before it metastacizes, there is an 80 percent chance the cat will recover completely with amputation. Dr. ‘G’ went over all the tests and made the recommendations. Unfortunately, the cancer is at the place where the left front paw joins the shoulder. So the entire paw, including the clavicle (collar bone?) must be removed. But the x-rays and ultra sounds both show no sign of other cancers. Then in came Dr. ‘B,’ the lead resident. She critiqued Dr. ‘G’s’ performance. She said it was good, but asked me two more questions. I asked that, since they cannot be sure whether it is cancer or (remote possibility) a fungus, whether they could do more tests. If it is a fungus, couldn’t they treat it without surgery? I was told no, the treatment (amputation) would be the same.

The surgery is set for Friday. I am to bring her in on Thursday for admission. I will pick her up on Saturday. That seems early. Do they release a cat after a radical amputation after only 24 hours?

I drove home with poor Cream Puff. It was rush hour, and it took a long, long time. Cream Puff cried the entire way.