Not too much longer

So I was chatting with my vet yesterday after another brief episode of behaviour change.  I fed my lady on Wednesday (I think) and after her dinner, she came out of the room that I feed her and just wandered.  She was looking all over the place like she was lost, like she had no clue about where she was, or who I was.  She puttered around the main floor for about 5 minutes like this.  I didn't intervene as I thought I'd just wait and see how long it lasted.  I started doing the dishes and that seemed to have been what brought her out of her episode.  She has a bit of OCD now and she needed to be on the counter, licking the flavoured water out of the dishes on the counter before I washed them.  I spoke to the vet the next day, and she suspects it is the meningioma (not surprised).  I asked what Dock's max dose of Prednisone is, so I can increase as needed.  Also to get an idea of how much longer I'll have her.  Looking up the dose, my vet said that she is already at her max maintenance dose.  We can increase it temporarily, but for only 5-7 days.  Right now, she is not acting oddly enough, consistently enough for me to do that.  I'm going to see how she does, then increase when I feel she needs it.  One good thing though is my vet does not believe she is in pain.  If she was, I would increase her meds, then look at the hard choices this week.  But right now, she seems happy, and that is all that matters to me.

I'm back

I haven't posted in a bit.  I was enjoying the summer like weather last week too much and spent quite a bit of time enjoying the back deck with my book.

Dock has been doing good, but I do feel she is slipping a bit.  Not enough to warrant an increase in her meds yet.  But I do find she is a bit more sluggish (perhaps she is a bit more sore) and a bit more demanding.  I found last week that she tended to follow me around the house.  If I was in the kitchen, she was there.  If I walked from the living room into the bathroom, she would try and follow me.  She's not travelling upstairs anymore, and I saw her going down into the basement to use the litter very gingerly, and slowly coming up the stairs.  Her appetite is down a bit, and she was sitting under my computer desk last night. Another place she never stays.  Her hair is also thinning.  It is like she has no undercoat, and when she lays down, it parts a bit and you can see her pasty white skin.  The vet says that maybe due to the steroids.  The prednisone can affect her hair growth, and besides lowering the dose, we have nothing we can really do for that.  She's still my beauty, and will always have a nice soft coat.  I can't reduce the pred as she gets wonky really quickly.  We'll wait and see, but we may need to up her pred within the next week or 2.

Week off

I am off of work this week.  I'll be able to get a better idea of how Dock is in the daytime.  I found urine again in the bedroom where she eats, but that is because she is blocked in (or Mace eats her dinner) and cannot get out to get to the box.  Found another this morning in a plastic mat by the door for the "mucky, wet winter boots".  As it has gone unused for the most part, I took the carpet off of it, only to find that it has been soiled as well.  Will not mat there, I was able to see another spot that someone is seeming to enjoy christening.  I still suspect Dock, as she is arthritic and I've seen her go up and down stairs quite gingerly.  I may decide to put a box on the mail level, though not sure where to locate it.  Then I think Mace will be lazy though and not go downstairs....oh what to do?!

Sunshine

The weather is incredible for mid March in St. Cat's.  It is 20 C and so nice that the windows are open in the house, and I sat on the deck to soak up some sunshine.  Dock is feeling the effects of the nicer weather too.  She is enjoying the open windows and the sunshine, taking in  every odour her little sniffer can find.  She has always been a fan of the sunbeam, and today is not an exception, sitting in a window, watching the world pass her by.  I am hoping that the re-emergence of our winged friends the house fly will keep her spirits high as both her and Mace enjoy playing with them, chasing them, and eventually eating them.  Mace is watching one right now and talking to it, almost trying to coax it into flying out of the window so he can practise his unique catching technique.

Who's been peeing in the computer room?

Right, it's been Dock.  With 2 cats, it's hard to figure out who is peeing where, especially when it is not in the litter box and you don't see them.  I have found a few spots lately, and they have been in various places including the computer room where Dock eats her meals.  Now, male cats tend to have a few more issues with this (and Mace would fit that bill) because  they tend to get stressed more due to lack of enrichment, exercise, attention, etc.  Dock being so relaxed, and Mace being Mr. Crazy Pants, let me believe it was Mace.  But if it has been in the computer room, then I suspected Dock.  And due to the early kidney disease, and the pred, I was pretty sure it was.  Well literally about 5 minutes ago, she was on the cushion my hubby had put on the floor.  (His back was a bit sore, and needed it for a bit of lower back support while on the computer).  It was the kind of cushion you have tied to your dining room chairs, and it has a few sewn circles to look like buttons. Well, Dock as pawing at them (never seen her do that).  I thought, why is she playing with those circles, do they feel odd on her paws?  then she lifted her tail ever so slightly.  I caught her before she started.  Whew.  So once she's done her breakfast, I'm sure she'll make a break for the litter.

Open Window

So it's 10 C here now.  Spring is on it's way (not that we had much of a winter)  I have temporarily turned off the furnace and decided to open a window.  It is quite breezy, and there is a chill to the wind, so it won't be open for long.  But Dock has always loved sitting at open windows.  I opened it, and put her on the table I keep by the window for such an occasion.  She's not moving so fast today, maybe her arthritis is flaring up a bit.  But she did sit at the window for a few minutes, listening to the birds and sniffing the air.  Mace even came up to join her for a sec before he got too cold.  She is now sitting by the heat vent again, likely waiting for the heat to come on.  Sorry sweetie, but it is too nice.

Medication is Good!

So Dock getting back to herself.  My last post was Sunday morning, but Sunday afternoon/evening was when the fun started.  Her behaviour worsened.  Spent the day sleeping/sitting in odd places (odd for her I should say).  Including sitting in front of my computer for an hour by herself when I went out to get groceries.  In the basement, on the island in the kitchen on some papers, on the stove, and she actually laid down on the hubby and slept on Sunday night.  These odd behaviours is what tipped us off to the meningioma to begin with.  This morning appears to be a bit better, though she is full out lounging in front of the heat vent instead of her usual sleep curl.  I'm hoping she's at least feeling ok, and doesn't have some wicked migraine.

She makes me giggle when she does these things, and I try to look at it in a positive manner, with humour and wonderment.  But I'm starting to think about how much time I have left with her.We still have some play room with her meds, and I'm not looking to send her away for quite a while still, but these things are ultimately out of my hands.  I'll continue to medicate her with what is needed, and continue to love her until she no longer can do it.  I know her well enough that SHE will let ME know.  Everyone love your pets and hold them tight, even if only for a few seconds.

No Meds Means Not Good

I've had a stiff neck and a pulled back this past week, so my sleeping is bad.  I woke up yesterday (Saturday) after 2 hours of sleep to feed the 2 monsters (Dock and Mace) Because of my shortened sleep, I was hoping I would go back to bed without a problem, so I figured I would forgo Dock's meds then and give them to her later in the morning.  Well, I felt horrible, and wasn't able to get down on the floor too well to give them to her. My Hubby would not be able to either, as he has never had the experience of shoving a pill down her gullet, and squirting in 2 oral liquids.  That being said, Dock did have an off day.  She was a bit dazed, and a bit weak.  She feel off the couch during an intense petting session where it appeared she forgot where edge was.  She also was not able to jump as easily and fell off the first shelf of a book self which she uses routinely.  No seizures noted, but I could tell she didn't feel right and was sore.

So this morning, I gave her everything (thanks to some prescribed medication for myself, my back is much better).  Opened the door to where she eats about 40 minutes later, only to find she had vomited up her breakfast.  No knowing how much of her meds she had actually absorbed,  I went back to bed, deciding I would think about it when I got back up.  Dock then proceeded upstairs with me back to bed, and laid down on my pillow for the 2 hours I was back asleep.  She then left the pillow to go sit on my dresser, of which she never went.  Now she is just puttering around me as I type, looking for those important pets.  I know we have alot of play room with her pred and gabapentin, so I think I will give her another dose of each today.  I hope she feels better