Bitey Update: Wednesday, March 1st, 2006

I picked Bitey up at 9am from our local vet. He was quite alert, and immediately began trying to push his way out of his carrier. I know how I would feel about being crammed into a small black bag all the way down to Orange County, so I decided to let him spend the drive on the passenger side floor. This isn't something I would let a healthy cat get away with on a freeway drive, because it's not the safest mode of travel. But this is not a healthy cat, and I'd rather have him comfortably nested in a towel on the floor, licking his paws than going stir-crazy in a carrier for fifty-three miles.

We got to Irvine way ahead of our appointment time, so we took a little field trip to Newport Beach. (More on that later.)

Then we re-arrived at the kitty neurologist office. She re-examined Bitey, and told me that he wasn't feeling anything in his back paws. Which is bad. She also saw that Bitey was leaking urine, something I had already smelled on the drive down. This also concerned her, because it means that the mass may be spreading "south."

Then the kitty neurologist showed me Bitey's MRI films. It was chilling to see the cross sections of his spine. You could see where the "mass" was surrounding, then choking Bitey's spinal cord. Everyone is assuming that it's lymphoma, although without a biopsy there may never be a 100% positive diagnosis.

Then they took Bitey away for his first major treatment, a shot of allspar (?) The tech who brought him back said Bitey weighed a little over 14lbs. Is it possible that he's lost almost 2 pounds in two weeks? Part of the weight loss is muscle atrophy in his back legs.

We drove home. I brought Bitey into the house, the first time he'd been home since last Thursday. He was so deliriously happy to be home, purring like a maniac.

Later in the afternoon, I took him back to our local vet. After seeing his joy at being home, I was really resistant to the idea of leaving him there another night, but I know he needs their help with his bladder.

Fortunately, the vet agreed. He expressed Bitey's bladder as much as possible and told me to take him home. And that's where he is now. Tomorrow, a new doctor, who was praised by a friend as the "cocky, aggressive kitty radiologist." Will wonders never cease.