Help supplement Vicky's cancer treatment

If you know Vicky, then you know me. I'm Dominique. Along with Rob, I've been Vicky's human for almost 5 years now. We began fostering her in January 2017 and quickly fell in love (foster failed!), officially adopting her in February.

 

From a small, sick kitten, Vicky grew into a -- well still small -- mighty, fluffy cat, fearless and full of personality. We believe that she might understand us based on her chattiness and the inflection of her many different meows. :)

 

Over the past 4-6 weeks, we've been in and out of the vet's office because her meow changed, and she eventually lost her voice and began wheezing. Her vet thought she might have laryngitis, so she was treated for that with a 10-day course of antibiotics and steroids. She showed some improvement -- her meow came back partially and the wheezing she had when she went to the vet subsided. But she didn't make a full recovery at the end of the treatment.

 

While waiting for a follow-up appointment with the vet, we had a scare, so we took her to the local animal hospital. (Her breathing got worse, wheezing resumed, she stopped eating, etc.)

 

Vicky ended up staying at the animal hospital for two nights, one for observation, and one to recover from the procedure where they sedated her to perform diagnostics. During her stay, the doctors expected to find a polyp (an easy-to-remove benign growth) in her throat. Unfortunately, we were not so lucky.

 

The type of cancer Vicky has is lymphoma, which itself is operable, but because of the location of Vicky's tumor, her case is not. We poured over the decision of how to treat her, and for now, we decided to pursue chemotherapy. From what we've learned initially, cats tolerate these treatments well because the dosage is not high enough to cause significant negative side effects. In fact, Vicky was given one chemo drug when the vets ran diagnostics on November 12th, and combined with the steroids, she has been doing well at home.

 

On November 23rd, Vicky started the first treatment of a 20-week chemo protocol. We have a long road ahead, but what matters most is that she maintains a good quality of life. If that changes, we'll discontinue treatment and keep her comfortable. The oncology vet is optimistic, but we do not know if we have 3 months (less than the treatment course), 6 months, or a year left with her.

 

Vicky has brought and continues to bring us so much joy to our lives. However, the vet expenses from the diagnostics were significant and the chemo will be even more costly. Obviously this is a choice, and Rob and I acknowledge that. But if you are so inclined, any support you might offer to supplement her veterinary costs would mean the world to us!

 

With love and light,

 

Dominique Covelli and Rob Elson