Scout’s biopsy results came back today and the oncologist is confident that she should be cancer free!  YAY!  It was a neurofibrosarcoma, does not involve bone and should be completely removed.  I’m so relieved.  Scout’s general recovery continues to go well.  We are so fortunate and I am so grateful for how well everything has gone to date.  I have been worrying for no reason.  For example: Yesterday, day 7, I thought I would try letting her out of the tent for a bit because I was worried she was depressed.  While in the tent she spends most of her time laying down with a blank stare.  She gets up to use the little box and eat but then flops over and stares.  In between working I crawl in as much as I can to cuddle and she purrs but she’s pretty lazy the rest of the time.  That’s what we want.  Right?  So I let her out so she has an idea that the tent is temporary and the rest of her home is still here.  And she is all over the place.  Running around like a mad woman.  She goes right up to her new stairs onto the bed and back down again.  Checks out the kitchen, the bathroom, goes back inside the tent for a snack and back out to lay on the living room rug.  Everything was fine.  Well until she started crawling through bookshelves, knocking things over and trying to fall off of everything.  So back into the tent she went to finish her healing.  We’ve backed off to meds every 9 hours yesterday and it’s going just fine so tomorrow we’re trying to back to every 10 hours.  I’m monitoring her closely to make sure it’s not too soon.

I was prepared for Scout to ignore the new bed I bought her but she is loving it.

Things are still pretty uneventful here at chez Scout Kitty.  I am so grateful that things are going smoothly.  Last night Scout slept in her onesie only (no cone) after I tailored her shirts a little more to avoid slipping.  I think I have the confidence now to leave her in them full time.  She is still eating and drinking just fine and had her first poop yesterday!  The warm compresses will stop today and I am beginning to lengthen the time between pain medication.  To be on the safe side I stuck with every 8 hours for a few days but we’re at 9 hours now with a goal to get to every 12 hours by this weekend.  Scout was in so much pain from the tumor presurgery that I feel it’s my duty to try to avoid her from ever hurting again.

Her rockstar vet (shout out to Dr. Matt Murphy at Dallas City Vet!) called yesterday to check on her and offered to do the suture removal if her oncologist didn’t need to see her for follow up. Dr. Murphy is right around the corner while her oncologist is quite a trek so it was nice of him to offer.  I think Scout is likely more comfortable there since a) She’s been seeing him for 10+ years now. b) It won’t smell just like the horror place where she lost a leg.  Of course I’ll differ to the oncologist’s recommendation.

As I type this I am in the tent with Scout.  So far so good on the recovery front.  She’s eating a little, drinking a little and mostly laying around.  She is sleeping less than she did yesterday but is still not very active which is a good thing.  I want her to heal up as best she can so she can get back to having the run of the apartment.  We’ve been doing her warm compresses and the incision is still looking good.  Last night I was nervous about going to sleep with only the onesie so I switched her to a comfy cone over night.  It wasn’t her favorite thing but she tolerates it much better than the inflatable donut.  She really hates the inflatable collar.

I was worrying yesterday because she wasn’t getting the hang of moving around on 3 legs.  After a few hops to food or litter she quickly rolled over in defeat.  Today I can tell an improvement and it’s a reminder to be patient and she will eventually figure it out.  Her little voice box is broken and it’s so sad.  I don’t know if it’s due to the trauma of the last few days or just plain exhaustion but she sounds like a squeak toy when she tries to speak to me.  Sometimes she doesn’t even make noise when she meows, just mouths it.

Here’s hoping for another uneventful day of rest and recovery!

I am relieved to report that Scout’s surgery went well and she is doing just fine!!  I dropped her off Thursday morning at 7:30 AM and headed into work.  I spent the next few hours glued to my phone waiting for the news.  At approximately 1PM I got a call from both the oncologist (who is handling her recovery) and the surgeon that the procedure went well and her vitals were stable.  What a relief!  They expected to keep her two nights for monitoring and I could visit her Friday.  They discouraged me from visiting the day of surgery so that she could rest.

Friday morning I got a follow up call that she was still doing well and that they were going to check her renal levels to make sure everything was holding in a good place (what I was most worried about).  That afternoon I got out of work early to go visit her.  The nurse mentioned she hadn’t been eating and brought some food to me so I could give it a try.  She gobbled it all up immediately.  It was hard to see her with the large incision and heartbreaking to watch her try to move.  She is slowly getting better but that first day after surgery she could hold herself up and each step was followed by a nosedive into the floor.  I spent that evening sewing arm holes closed on baby onesies.  Let me tell you that trip to target was FUN.

Saturday morning I went and picked her up and she shot into her carrier as soon as it was presented.  I knew she wanted to come home too.  She is resting in her tent and has eaten, enjoyed some cat milk and used the litter box.  All good signs.  Thankfully the onesies are working out and she is out of the cone.  I did have to make a modification to the shoulders to keep the head hole small.  The first attempt resulted in her wearing it as a tube top.

For others about to go through this for reference Scout is about 9 pounds and is wearing the 0-3 month size.  I followed the instructions from this post from Purrkins with the addition of sewing the shoulder folds closed to make sure the head opening did not stretch.  I purchased the newborn size as well but that fit tightly on her body and I was concerned about the pressure on the incision and it being uncomfortable.

I am spending a lot of time with her in the tent.  She falls fast asleep as long as I am in here with her and gets a bit restless when I leave.  So far day 3 as a tripawd and day 1 home is going well.  What a relief!

It’s Scout’s last day with all 4 legs.  Tomorrow morning I’ll be dropping her off for surgery and thanks to the Tripawds community I’m a lot less stressed about it.  I am staying positive and assuming that everything will be perfectly fine.  The tumor has been so aggressive it’s as if I watch it grow real time.  Every day it looks bigger and I know Scout can’t wait for it to be gone.

Scout’s oncologist was insistent that Scout remain confined with limited jumping for the first 2 weeks of recovery.  Confinement is somewhat of an issue in a loft space where the only closing doors are to the pantry and bathroom, neither of which are pleasant to stay in for 2 weeks.  I have settled on a tent option.  My very best cat lady friend gave me this idea when I was looking for confinement options for a kitchen and bathroom renovation and it should work well for this.  Side note: kitchen and bathroom renovations have been canceled for obvious reasons.

The tent option allows her light and fresh air with plenty of room for me to join her in it for cuddles.  I’ll be staying home with her for the first week but will unfortunately have to return to work the following week.  I’ll have a pet sitter checking in on her at lunchtime (I work too far away from home to do it myself) and I’ll feel better knowing she isn’t cooped up in a stuffy bathroom.

I began setting up the tent today so that she could be with it before it’s just some weird thing she’s trapped in when she comes home.  Good news is she’s going into it on her own.  I’ve got the door open so she can wander in an out of it and I’m going to serve her dinner in it tonight to try to associate it with more good things.  I have some more blankets to fill it with so it smells even more like home and then it will be ready.  Wish her luck tomorrow.  I’m just hoping she doesn’t have to suffer too much. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!