Cancer in Cats

I thought that I would share some of what we learned from this sad experience with Brock. I did some online research, but also our vet called BOTH of us separately to discuss what happened. It wasn't her fault anymore than it was ours, but I think she felt bad for not preparing us for a diagnosis of cancer. She really did think it was a problem with a tooth, or teeth....?

But anyway, here is what I found out. Cats have a lower rate of cancer than dogs overall. BUT, cats have a much higher rate of oral cancer than almost any other animal. It is the most common cancer in cats, besides mammary (breast) cancer in cats that have not been spayed. It is believed to be caused by the grooming that cats do. Really, can you think of any other animal that does that? And while cats are certainly clean animals, it means that everything that touches their skin or fur eventually ends up in their mouths. Flea and tick treatments are being suspected as a leading cause. Also, second-hand smoke, household cleaners, lawn chemicals and pesticides as well as air pollution. You can't possibly monitor everything your cat comes into contact with, but indoor cats will be exposed to fewer toxins. Assuming you don't smoke, and assuming you make greener, less toxic choices for cleaning solutions.

I just thought I would pass this info on. It leaves me really torn about the flea treatment we use. It's a multiple purpose topical that also protects against heart worms. Our cats do go outside, but only in a protected enclosed area. We live too close to a busy road to let them free-roam. But Mosquitos are a problem. I may talk to the vet some more about it. Toxins from chemicals versus threat from heartworms....???

Of course, even in the most sheltered environment some cats are still genetically prone to cancer. There is no way to know as all of our cats are rescues. I can't exactly check their family medical history. But I will be more aware of what they are exposed to now though.

Tendencies

I am trying hard to keep everything (bad) that has happened this week, month...in perspective. It is my tendency to get so overwhelmed by negativity that I get mired in it, unable to let it go. This is one of those things I intend to work on this year. I either see the bad things as having happened because of something that I did, or failed to do. Or that there is some cosmic conspiracy set in motion to make me suffer as much as possible.

I just have to figure out how to step back, take a breath and realize that sometimes things just happen randomly. People get sick, pets get sick, things break, and most of the time? It has absolutely nothing to do with me, with what I did or didn't do, with what I said or thought. And more likely than not, I am not important enough in the cosmic scheme of things to warrant a huge conspiracy. It MIGHT be karma, but I try to be a good person, well most of the time. I haven't tortured any babies or murdered any nuns, so?

Somehow I have got to figure out a way to stop the negative things that happen, presumably to everybody at least once in a while, from taking up all of my attention. Good things happen too. I just need to remember that more often.

Not So Good

This week has not been so great. We lost one of our cats. He had been struggling, and not doing so well. We have made multiple trips to the vet, and once to our emergency clinic. It appeared as though he had an abscessed tooth. We scheduled the surgery for yesterday.....and our vet found a large cancerous mass in his jaw. There may have been tooth problems as well, but this was the main cause of why he was having so much trouble with eating. This was inoperable and there was nothing anybody could do. We thought it was a simple dental procedure, and then we lost him. We are still sad and shocked. It just sucks, and we both hate it so bad.

And although that was by far the worst of it, Stephen has been really sick, and we have ALL had car issues. And the cherry on top? I am having a bout of insomnia. Not every night, but enough. Anyway, the first month of this new year has left me very underwhelmed. I just hope things improve dramatically soon.

The Good, The Bad, and The Downright UGLY

The Good:

-Kitty is getting better.

-We have gotten a lot done this weekend, and I will start my week feeling halfway on top of things (always makes a difference).

-Its gonna be almost 70 degrees here tomorrow.

-We have a townhouse lined up in York England for March, and I can't wait to see my daughter!!!!

-I have done well with my healthier eating so far this year, and have lost a few pounds (although I am trying NOT to make it about weight loss).

-The new season of "House" starts tomorrow night....yay!

-Stephen has had some job offers, and a really good interview, but I don't want to go into detail and jinx anything right now.

-Erica is really making a go of it in her new job and new town. She seems content, and although I miss her, that makes me happy.

-Loving the new airline laws that forces prices to INCLUDE taxes, and makes them HAVE to change your ticket, or give a refund if you give them at least a days notice. Because seriously, all of that is such a pain in the rear. A ticket from RDU to London is $300...but oh wait....its really over a thousand once you add in these arbitrary taxes. If the price is a thousand, then so be it but SHOW it instead of making me feel ripped off.

The Bad:

-We have had nothing but gray days and rainy weather for what seems like weeks now. (I realize its probably not that long, but man oh man, it sure feels like it).

-My little netbook is slowly dying. The screen blacks out, sometimes flickers....and while I LOVE my iPad, typing something like this blog is harder with the touch screen keyboard.

-Speaking of this blog, I so want a new template, but just can't work one out or find one online, free or otherwise. I would be willing to PAY if I could just find something new, fresh, and easy to install. And a simple layout would be nice too.
Something that would allow me to change/use my own photos would be ideal......Anybody got any ideas?

The Downright UGLY:

-Tomorrow is Monday, and seriously, it just can't GET any uglier than that. I am trying hard to hang on for 6 more years until I can retire. I am practicing positive thinking, trying to view my job with a different viewpoint. I am trying to feel gratitude to have a job in a rough economy....everything that I can possibly do to make it tolerable. And still....on Sunday evenings, a feeling of dread so deep and dark just overwhelms me.

Oh well, at least the Good outweighs both the Bad and the Ugly, so I guess I can feel like I am ahead of the game. Right?

Precious Weekends

I have been playing around with the template again. I just can't get exactly what I want. I may explore blogger's new templates and try to customize something. I am not so good with html code, so it takes a lot of trial and error for me. Which means it is time consuming. But maybe I will eventually get it like I want it. Until then, I guess the snowman remains. I attempted a few templates with a Valentine theme, but it never came out quite right.

Anyway, we have been really busy this week with a sick cat to nurse back to health. There is improvement, though, so we are hopeful. It has been like having a baby in the house. Even Erica finally sent me email asking if we were still "alive", since I hadn't had time to bug her on Skype lately. LOL. We are having a quiet weekend. Its semi-rainy (although incredibly warm for January), and we just want to hang close to home and take care of kitty.

I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend. When you work, weekends are extremely precious.......There never seems to be enough of them to go around.

Dreams

You know those weird, extremely vivid dreams that feel sooo real? I was in the middle of one of those when I woke up this morning. Bruce and I had bought a condo at the beach. It was on a peninsula, so we had ocean views out of the front and the back. The front was total sandy beach, but the back was strangely just grass right up to the water, more like a lake. The condo was kind of old inside. A great porch with fantastic views, but the inside was going to need a major overhaul.

The part that was so real was my Mom. She was visiting (my Mother passed away almost 8 years ago). We were going through room by room (it was a small 2 bedroom so not so many rooms) with ideas and paint colors. I remember that the kitchen appliances were really cheap and old and we decided that would be the first thing to change.

And then suddenly, it started to look stormy and we saw that huge waves were brewing on the backside ocean view. They started rising over those weird grassy banks and before I knew it, water was pouring in windows and doors on the back part of the condo. I remember Mom asking me if we had signed and finalized the closing in hopes that we could still get out of this thing, but I knew that we had. We were stuck with it. I woke up so disoriented, feeling like I had just talked to my Mom, but knowing I hadn't. Feeling like I had made some huge error in judgement....oh well. If dreams are prophetic, I think it's safe to say I probably shouldn't buy any beachfront property today. So weird. I am still shaking off the feeling.

It goes like this.....

Every week day morning our alarm goes off at precisely 6:20 am (giving me the time necessary to make it in to my office by 8:00 with precious few seconds to spare). Consequently, our preset coffee maker is set to brew at 6:15, because waiting for coffee at such a rude and unseemly hour is just unthinkable. And every day, as that annoying buzz begins (our alarm clock has a torture feature that makes the buzzer grow progressively louder to make it harder to ignore) I have come to realize that a very similar string of thoughts play out in my head.

1. Buzzer goes off at a halfway civilized volume. It's not too threatening yet. I can ignore it and incorporate it into my dream....what's that? Maybe it's just my phone buzzing in the latest text message from Johnny Depp. Mmmmm, yeah. Definitely Johnny again. What? Didn't I tell you that Johnny texts me constantly in my dreams? LOL.

2. Buzzer begins to invade my consciousness. I WOULD regard it with growing concern, but obviously it's Saturday and we just forgot to NOT set the alarm. I only have to feel mild annoyance instead. I really must speak to my husband about not using the alarm clock on weekends. Its just the force of habit. Because it IS Saturday, right? Or Sunday? Really, I will gladly take either one. But surely that alarm has GOT to be a huge mistake. Right?

3. Buzzer is becoming increasingly obnoxious. Vulgar even. I feel offended by it. More than that, I feel positively violated by it as I begin to realize with dawning horror that
it is NOT the weekend. My mind starts racing....I could call in sick and
then snuggle right back into my dreams. Ooops, wait, already did that
LAST week when I was really sick. It probably wouldn't go over real well with the boss to do it again so soon. Damn it.

4. Buzzer is now screaming loud enough that the whole county is probably wide awake by now. I still lie, immobilized with dread, as I wildly grasp at mental straws and last ditch efforts. We could sell the house. After all, the kids are all out on their own now. We could sell everything and go be beach bums somewhere in the Caribbean. Buy a small shack, pick pineapples for a living....it would be great. Stress free, care free. I could just go
Back to sleep right now, at this one moment, and then...after we both get fired from our jobs, plan our great escape, call a realtor, google how one actually does harvest a pineapple.....

5. By now, the buzzer is deafening, so I finally reach over and shut it off. And all of this brainstorming over how to avoid starting my day has stirred up a HUGE craving for coffee. And then, oh well. Since I am up and have caffeine in hand, going on and getting ready for work seems suddenly like a whole lot less work than planning an escape. The path of least resistance, I guess. Maybe tomorrow I will come up with a more ingenious plan, or maybe it really will be Saturday. Who knows....maybe tomorrow will be the day that I wake up to an actual text from Johnny Depp. I like to believe that anything is possible.