Updates on Snowy on Day 3 - it's not good news. Snowy is FeLV positive (which means he has leukemia), but FIV negative. However, he has lymphoma, which is a malignant cancer.
From Agnes:
Snowy has been taken out of the bubble from 10.00pm last night and has been breathing on his own. This was after the vet extracted 136 ml of bloody fluid from his chest cavity (Left 74ml, Right 62 ml). No fluid was detected in the abdominal cavity.
He's tested positive for Feline Leukemia (FeLV +ve) and lymphoma (cancer) that caused the fluid in his lungs, negative for FIV. Treatment for lymphoma is with chemo. Our vet has no experience with this treatment. Do the panel vets in Subang have experience on lymphoma chemo treatment? Can they estimate cost and period of treatment? Yes will try RetroMAD1 too, if available. It's ok with our vet to transfer him to another clinic for treatment.
Snowy is highly dehydrated. So he was put on the drip from 2.00pm today. The vet may need to fingerfeed him later with AD. Body temperature at 2.00pm was 38 degrees Celsius (which was still ok). So right now the vet has to stabilise him further so that he can undergo chemo treatment if that's the option for him. I told Maria to visit him today to comfort him coz she's the only person he knows but she'll go tomorrow before clinic closes at 2.00pm. Maria thinks he's suffering and doesn't want to prolong it. What she's more worried of is the high cost of treatment which is a already over RM1,000.00, itemised below. Need your help to tell her to work hard for the funds.
Oxygen therapy 32.75 hrs x RM20/hr............................655.00
FeLV/FIV test......................................................................80.00
CBC + Biochem................................................................110.00
PBF (wbc)............................................................................15.00
Thoracentesis to draw fluid............................................150.00
Cytology............................................................................. 15.00
Frusemide injection...........................................................20.00
Marbocyl injection RM20/day............................................40.00
ICU RM25/day......................................................................75.00
Total up to 12.00noon 20/8/11...................................... 1,160.00
After 20%...........................................................................928.00
X-Ray...................................................................................90.00
Total as of now...............................................................1018.00
The bloody liquid.
Inserting the drip.
FeLV positive (leukemia)
Shaven left side.
Shaven right side.
From the books.
I have spoken to both our vets in Subang and the prognosis, based on their experience, is poor. However, if treatment is opted, the chemo drug has to be specially ordered and the steroid Prednisolone should also be administered orally.
As for the initial bill of RM1018, Agnes can help Maria apply to PetFinder.my for financial aid, which will be up to 50% only. We hope Maria will also raise some funds, and we will cover the balance.
As for the subsequent treatment, we will help Maria source for a vet who is willing to treat Snowy and who can get the chemo drug. We will also subsidise the treatment should Maria opt for it.
Our help and subsidy in medical treatment is to provide the necessary treatment for any stray animal and this includes palliative care, which may be so in Snowy's case since the prognosis is very poor. Yet, in some cases, survival is possible. Whether the treatment is leading towards recovery or it is just palliative care for terminal cases, ie. making the animal more comfortable until life expires naturally, we still consider it as "necessary treatment".
We even provided reiki for Wendy when she was dying of distemper. Wendy was terminal too, but we cared for her until the very end.
In the final analysis, aren't we ALL also terminal? We are also trying our best to make ourselves as healthy and as comfortable as we can, until we die.
Life itself is a terminal disease, isn't it? The only thing we can be sure of is that we are all going to die. We just do not know when.
May Snowy recover soon. And even if he does not, may he be free from suffering.
Please pray for Snowy.
About lymphoma in cats: http://www.fabcats.org/owners/cancer/lymphoma.html
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