Take that you evil Lymphoma!

Murphy's Mom here...just thought I'd take over the blog from Murphy for a moment to share some good news. Its been 3 years since Sophie KitTON was diagnosed with feline lymphoma and so far the cancer seems to be running scared!

Sophie was just 14 years young when she was 1st diagnosed. It was a pretty scary time...she had been doing a funny open-mouthed breathing for the past several years and had been to the vet numerous times to try and find out what was going on. It just wasnt normal, and I knew something was wrong. Xrays and blood tests all showed a normal healthy cat though, so the her regular vet recommended a cardiac ultrasound to see if she was in the early stages of cardiac disease.

Fortunately, during her exam at the specialist, they palpated a mass in her abdomen that her regular vet had missed somehow. After doing an additional abdominal ultrasound, the vet suggested exploratory surgery...there was an egg size mass in her belly. How the 1st vet missed that, I'll never know.

Exploratory surgery was done and the mass was removed for biopsy. A few days later...the results. 1st good news, the mass was nothing but inflamed tissue. Quite possibly from a foreign body of some sort that Sophie's body had walled off. Phew! Then, the bad news. Low grade alimentary lymphoma. Fortunately, it was a treatable kind of cancer...the doctor was encouraging, but realistic. Some cats respond well to chemo, others dont. The longest cat she had treated survived 4 years. 4 years, I thought! That would put her at 18 years old...quite a nice long life for a kitty.

So, treatment began. Chemo in pill form, along with a whole host of holistic remedies recommended by a great doctor in North Carolina. I had used Dr. Loops previously with both Bristol & Tyler when they were diagnosed with osteosarcoma, so I was hoping he would be able to help Sophie as well. Fortunately, Sophie is about the best patient I could ask for. She is really good at letting me pill her, and loves taking her liquid remedies...slurping them directly from the syringe. She even comes running when she hears her pills being prepared because she knows a pile of wet food is to follow.

Now, all of a sudden, its been 3 years since diagnosis. Wow! Sophie KitTON is doing great. She vomits occassionally, and has been switched to a new chemotherapy after the 1st one stopped working last November, but overall she is a happy, energetic, frisky feline. She routinely kicks Murphy's butt and puts him in his place, but I know she secretly loves having another dane in the house.

I am hoping for countless more years with my beautiful feline friend, and if you ask Murphy he'll tell you her secret. She's really a vampire kitty and has special powers which make her immortal. They also make her strong and able to fight off the evils of the lymphoma. If you look close, you can see her lil fangs....

I'm ok with that. As long as she is with me forever.

~Murphy's Mom