Jesse the Toothless Wonder in Full Remission

 Hi evfurrybuddy, this is Dori yoor Bweaking Nooz reporter for It's a Wonderpurr Life with incredibly good news. Jesse the Toothless Wonder is in Full Remission.

 

 Last September when our pawrents returned from a two week vacation, Momma noticed Jesse's eye looked very orange and strange. Our old veterinarian at the time was not able to determine the cause (and we later learned she had been giving ChauncieMarie the wrong type of insulin for feline diabetes so we bid her farewell)  and Jesse was taken to University of Florida Small Animal Hospital in Gainesville, Florida where they first thought he had a tumor, but later determined it was stage five lymphoma.

That started Jesse going for chemotherapy every week. However the two hour one way drive was very upsetting to Jesse, and when they tried to give him oral chemotherapy, his hyper salivating made it difficult. After this continuing for weeks, his doctors had a meeting with the big bosses to discuss this problem, and did the unthinkable. They asked if Mom would be willing to give Jesse his chemo pills. This isn't typical, but they were aware of Mom's lengthy cat rescue history and how she had been treating multiple cats for years for various problems. 

Recently there was concern because Jesse had lost a pound of weight. Because he's toothless, he cannot chew kibble, and if he enjoys too many, they bloat in his tummy and he will barf. Well, Daddy was giving him kibble before breakfast, unknown to Momma who also gave him kibble with his canned noms. And then she would give Jesse his prednisolone pill with a Churu to wash it down... resulting in barfs several times a week. 

Mom had tried to upgrade our noms to Weruva and Blue Buffalo, but Jesse wasn't thrilled with the new food and as a result he started eating less - although he begged snacks from Daddy a lot - resulting in mixed messages for all concerned. Finally Mom and Dad got on the same page. The doctor at Cat Care Clinic said to get 300 to 350 calories a day into Jesse. Mom went back to Fancy Feast pate - Jesse prefers the Beef flavored - and added kitten kibble to his meals. As a result, Jesse has gained back what he lost in two weeks.

Yesterday his university doctors wanted Jesse to have an ultrasound. They saw some more nodules so they took samples from his spleen, liver and kidneys. The samples were clear making them suspect this is just a part of Jesse's aging process. He will turn 15 on March 30th. They also gave him a B12 supplementation to encourage him to eat more.

We truly appreciate evfurryone keeping Jesse in yoor prayers. We are aware there are so many of  yoo fighting cancer, and want yoo to know we have yoo in our prayers too.

Until Next Time...

It's Wonderpurr to Feel Better

Dear Fwends, This is Dori back from being on a forced bweak from soshall meowdia. *wavy paws*

So it's been weeks since our last post, but taking a bweak managed to do one important thing: it opened Momma's eyes to how fweakin' old she's gotten! Sadly she's realizing that she can't juggle so many balls without dropping them ... watching them roll across the floor... under the couch... where they stay because her knees refuse to let her get down to retrieve them. I'm paraphrasing her.

Anyway! I'm happy to report that I'm all better after my surgery where I had to have rocks removed from my bladder. I would show yoo the surgery scar on my tummy but this is a pee gee rated blog and I'm not one of those meowdels who like to pose nekked. I'm very happy to report that I'm no longer invaded by aliens, nor do I have fire pee. I'm so happy to be better, that I've been playing and being silly more than I've done in months. 

While we were away, my sisfur ChauncieMarie is aging with grace and beauty as she celebrated her 19th birthday on February 9th. 

ChauncieMarie arrived shortly after my pawrents moved to our former home in Mississippi. She hung around the house of our neighbors who called her Chauncy, thinking she was a boy. But then she gave birth, and after her kittens were bigger, she left them with the family so they could give them a better life. She figured she’d always be homeless. But God knew what He was doing and brought her to our yard where she informed my momma that she was French. So, ChauncieMarie got a new name and a Forever Home. At 19 she's still spry, gleefully showing off her ability to maneuver pet stairs despite having diabetic sight and foot issues. She enjoys evening couch time with us, and snuggling with her buddy, Opie. And still wears her ear like a fascinator hat or French beret. After all, she's French.

Speaking of Opie, he just celebrated his Sweet Sixteen on January 28th. He enjoyed his favorite birthday dinner of tuna with a Churu for dessert. 

Momma loves to do photo shoots but with her time eaten up caring for us, this year's birthday shoot didn't happen. However good news is that while Opie has CKD, he's doing well and is living a happy life. And yes, he still loves to walk around crying with a ball in his mouth... especially in the wee hours of the morning.

Opie's long time lady, Peaches will be turning 16 in April. She's the birth mother to Jesse the Toothless Wonder, and also the Queen of the Wonderpurr Gang. While on break, Momma took Peaches to the vet because she's had the cold from hell for too long. 

We had another vet who sadly let us down in so many ways, among them not giving the right insulin to ChauncieMarie, and also not treating the feline herpes - slash - respiratory issues we all have. Peaches has suffered for too long, so when Momma took her to the Care Care Clinic we now go to, they helped Peaches with a Convenia shot. They also said her teeth were in bad shape - thanks to our old vet not addressing the dental issue. So Peaches will be going for dental very soon.

We had such a short winter here in FloryDa, that even though it's still chilly in mornings, the sun has been shining and I'm looking forward to my hammock returning to it's place in the window where I can welax and enjoy the view of deer doggos in our yard. 

Before I close, Jesse would like to bring yoo up to date on what's happening with him. In case yoo follow us on soshal meowdia, Jesse left his Instagram account and moved into mine, so we now share posting on @Shes.Adorapurr. Okay Jesse, it's yoor turn.

Frens,  Dis be me Jesse the Toothless Wonder back from my momma being “on break.” Although Ah dint see her breakin nuthin, but you know how Hoomoms hide how they’re really feelin’.

Anyway, Ah have a new motto for dis year: What Upsets N Scares Me Makes Me Stronger N Braver.

Since Ah went into partial remission, Ah no longer travel every week two hours to the University for chemo treatment. Intead, Ah be stuffed in da Bad Box every week to go to nearby Cat Clinic where they steal ma blood. Ah’m verra bothered by dis rood treatment but seems like dis be New Normal for me. 

Then the next day after ma blood is stolen, my mom gets a phone call from ma University doctor to go ahead an’ give me chemotherapy pills. Frens, Ah do not like them pills, and Momma has to wrangle me like a Yellowstone cowboy wrangles a baby cow. Sadly she’s stronger than me and so far she’s winning the battle. But Ah get a nice treat afterwards - clearly a bribe for me to like her again but Ah’m not one to turn down a Churu.

After all dis hoo ha bizness, Ah gets all frisky n brave, and trot round da house like Ah be da Boss. Ah gib dat Frank my best stink eye, and Ah let a certain AssRabbit know Ah’m not scared o him.

So Ah’m doin great and be a verra happy n good boi. Thankee much for sending nice messages of support. Momma read them to me and they made me feel warm in my heart. Lub you all. 💕🐈‍⬛ Jesse

Until Next Time...

Jesse the Toothless Wonder in Partial Remission

Frens, dis be me, Jesse the Toothless Wonder. Ah'm here to thankee all for your thoughts and prayers while Ah be fighting lymphoma. As of Thursday, ma doctors are verra happy wif ma progress and consider me to be in Partial Remission.

Every Thursday for weeks and week me and ma daddy have been getting up at the crack o'dawn to drive a bazillion miles to where Ah gets chemotherapy. Frankly, the trip is a real bummer for both of us cuz it lasts all durn day. The reason being they have to steal ma blood, and then send it to the Lab (still not sure if Lab is blond or black or brown, but that doggo be verra slow). By the time the Lab finishes doing whatever he's doing to ma blood, it's late and Ah still haven't gotten ma chemo. And when Ah finally get it, there's more waiting around for... who knows why.

All dis time Ah've not had a bite to eat, so Ah'm verra hungry and pretty durn crabby about it, too.

This past Thursday me and Dad left at 6 am and didn't return until after 7pm. Ah was drooling like that doggo in Turner n Hooch movie. Verra greasy and lots of it. The doctors wonder if Ah'm reacting to the stress of being at the hospital (ya think?) so now they are looking into changing how Ah get ma chemo jooce by having ma momma give it to me. This isn't a typical way of handling this, but ma doctors are clearly Pro Jesse and want me to do verra well.

Their notes from Thursday read "we restaged Jesse today with an abdominal ultrasound to see how his internal disease is responding to chemotherapy. Fortunately, his small intestinal wall, spleen, and intra-abdominal lymph nodes' appearance on ultrasound has improved significantly compared to his ultrasound performed on 11/17/245. We consider this a partial remission and wonderful respond to treatment.

Yay me! Here Ah am meowdeling ma Cancer Warrior collar with it's tribal print that Ah got from momma at Christmas. It's working!

 

Ma family is verra relieved that Ah'm doing so well, but Ah think it's because Ah've got ya'll cheering for me. Frens, you give me strength to keep going despite the awful tasting medicine. Ah'm deeply touched and want ya'll to know Ah thank the Lord every night for your love.

Stay tuned for future reports on how Ah'm kicking that nasty C Monster in the keester.

Until Next Time...

Jesse the Toothless Wonder

Dear Friends, Yesterday Jesse had his first appointment with the oncology team at University of Florida Small Animal Hospital. The ultrasound revealed lymphoma is present in multiple areas of his body, including his spleen which puts him in the Stage 5 category. However, the team notes that Jesse’s lymphoma has highly unusual or atypical features. His cells are intermediate, neither small which are good, nor large which are bad. They also cannot be 100% sure of what the organ of origin was. While technically very advanced because it is present in so many different places, he has apparently no clinical signs, which is usually not the case when the disease has spread this far.

Jesse was administered his first dose of cyclophosphamide, with a daily prednisolone prescription. His eye looks fabulous, so the drops are working to simmer down inflammation. Because Jesse is not checking all the typical boxes for a cancer of this type, his doctors want to see him in another week to determine how his body is reacting to the treatment.

The oncology team expressed yesterday, just like the ophthalmology team did back in November, that Jesse was “a very sweet boy” who took both the lengthy examination and treatment with grace. His Resident Intern Clinician mentioned that when cats react strongly to being in this kind of environment, their treatment can be negatively affected. Clearly, this won’t be a problem for Jesse. His lead oncologist is celebrity Dr. Rowan Milner, who has twice received Clinician of the Year awards. And in recognition of his development of a new melanoma vaccine and for other research, Milner was named Clinical Researcher of the Year by the Florida Kennel Club. He also won the Pfizer Award for Research Excellence and received a faculty enhancement opportunity award from the Office of the Provost at UF. Despite this heartbreaking diagnosis, we think Jesse is in great hands.

During these first couple of days while the cyclophosphamide goes to work, we have been told his poop and pee will require special care in handling. So, he’s hanging out in my office, which he thinks is great, to avoid the other cats from using his litter box.

We are all about positivity, despite having numerous senior cats requiring advanced medical attention, so please refrain from commenting with premature condolences. You would never know Jesse is sick to look at him. He’s eating fine, active, and strong. Thank you all for your prayers and support.  Kim

Mealtime Madness with the Senior Wonderpurr Gang

Gidget followed me into the cat apartment closet where I placed her dish containing a smidgen of Fancy Feast pate and a handful of Iams senior kibble on the rug, then closed the doors to prevent others from stealing her food. Over the past year Gidget has decided she’s not a fan of canned food – any canned food – so I mix her kibbles in with the pate to get something into her.

Next, I invite Peaches to join KC, Candy, and Frank in the kitchen where they dine atop a pink child’s table with the legs removed. However, she dives under the bed, leaving me no choice but to serve the Queen her cuisine where she hides, suspicious of my motives.

Meanwhile ChauncieMarie and Opie dine on top of the bed, happily lapping the Purina Pro Plan Hydra Care liquid supplement that I poured over their yucky prescription noms for kidney disease, mainly to get them to eat it. I hover, waiting for Peaches to finish. Naturally she slows her bites to the point of raising my blood pressure. Chevy and Nikolas are waiting for their dinner delivery, but I can’t leave, because the moment I do my French girl will immediately join Peaches and eat food she shouldn’t have. At nearly nineteen ChauncieMarie’s nose can still ferret out the food she can’t have and has a pattern of checking out Gidget’s closet to see if the door is adjacent, as well as any other bowl that smells better than hers. She moves amazingly fast for an old broad.

ChauncieMarie has had CKD for the past two years. This year Opie was also diagnosed with CKD. Telling my old ginger boy that he can no longer eat from everyone else’s plates has been an uphill battle, so I finally had to ban him from the kitchen. This is the main cause for Peaches being suspicious, because Opie has been her dining partner and best friend for nearly sixteen years. If he can’t leave the cat apartment, well… she won’t either.

I get down on my knees several times to check the Queen’s progress, receiving a glare each time I do. No one shoots a glare like my torbi. I finally risk it to run into the kitchen to grab the remaining dinners and deliver them to Chevy and Nikolas with apologies for being late. Bless them both, they hunker down over their dishes without complaint. At least at first. I will return in a bit to find if the flavor of pate agreed with them. Nik has become picky over the past year and sometimes will leave his meal untouched.  Chevy is a bit more happy-go-lucky and will eat just about anything. I deliberately give them something different in case they want to switch plates.

Recently ChauncieMarie turned diabetic, throwing an even bigger monkey wrench into my life with the Wonderpurr Gang. In all honesty I've watched this train coming at me for years. The train being that I knew when I adopted a group of stray cats all within a short time of each other, all pretty close to the same age, one day they would become seniors with varying medical issues. Well, now the train is about to run me over. I'm okay caring for them financially, but the heartbreak is going to be enormous. I'm certain every one of you reading this can relate.

Twice a week since October 18^th I’ve run ChauncieMarie across town to have her glucose checked to determine the right amount of insulin for her. I went through this with my tabby Buddy who passed at age 24 after being diabetic for ten years. Unheard of, but I don’t mess around when it comes to my fur babies. He traveled everywhere with me so I could give him his insulin twice a day. I would even leave parties to drive back home to give him his insulin at the same time. So, while I’m deeply sad about ChauncieMarie going through this, I’m devoted to give her the same dedication. God forbid anyone else becomes a diabetic – looking at you, Miss Candy Applebottom who needs to drop a few pounds. She tells me she’s not fat, she’s fluffy, but I digress.

Then on top of ChauncieMarie’s latest medical revelation, I now face even darker news. When we returned from our Alaskan cruise, I noticed that Jesse’s left eye looked a little weird. At first, I thought it might be the light. He’s not one to look me full in the face, rather he dips his head and looks away, especially when I aim a camera at him. So, getting proof that something was wrong took time. Finally, I got the photo. His left eye looked orange and the pupil was strange. I ran him to our veterinarian on the same day I took ChauncieMarie in to be diagnosed with diabetes. Doctor Feelgood tested his eye for scratches but as there were none, she determined it was internal. We chose to take Jesse to the University of Florida Small Animal Hospital in Gainesville where we had taken Buddy way back when we first adopted him as a two-year-old stray. He had an odd voice, and his breathing was noisy. Turns out he had a polyp growing in his nasal passage. With that a success story, we were confident that they could help Jesse.

Gainesville is two hours away via winding back roads. Jesse went with us to Ashville, North Carolina last October, so I knew he would travel well. And he did. At the hospital they gave him a once over to determine that he may have a tumor in his eye. Best news – it’s just in his eye and can be removed along with the eye. Worse case – it’s lymphoma and has attached to his eye, which means its elsewhere in his body. And, as if that was not upsetting enough, they told us Jesse tested positive for FIV.

 Jesse is fourteen years old. He is the son of Queen Peaches and was born (along with his now deceased brother Jack) under my neighbor’s deck on March 30, 2009. Never once had any vet told me he’s FIV+. That Chevy is FIV+ didn’t surprise me because when he first turned up, invited by his pal Nik to join the Garage Band, he was a friendly but feisty kind of guy. However, he sensed that Jesse and Nik were his only hope of getting a home, so he always got along well with them. No fighting at all. So, I’m not sure how Jesse, who has always been an introvert, never a fighter, got the virus.

 We return on the 17^th for Jesse to go through a full day diagnosis with both the ophthalmology and oncology departments involved. If you feel moved to say a prayer for Jesse the Toothless Wonder, we would sincerely appreciate it.

Ironic how November is not only National Senior Pet Month but also Pet Diabetes Month. 

Sadly, Dori, the President of the Ber Month Fan Club, is off sulking in her window hammock because her plans to celebrate Everything Autumn have been derailed due to time restraints that have kept me from performing my job as her muse and secretary. There's always next year, I've told her. I've even suggested she can celebrate Autumn all year long, which she may or may not do. You know how cats can't make up their minds..

I'm blessed to have cat loving friends who appreciate the trials and tribulations that go hand-in-hand with rescue. Upon hearing of Jesse and ChauncieMarie on Instagram and Facebook they've reached out to me with advice and reading material. I sincerely appreciate you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Kim

Until Next Time...

. 

Black Cat Diary of a Horrible Mornin'

Frens, dis be me, Jesse da Toofless Wonder. Nice to meet ya'll. Ah doan get much oppurrtoonitty to get off da kitchen counter an' socialize, but Ah had a rough mornin' an' so Ah'm takin' control of today's blog post.

It all started when ma Mama dragged me out of ma loft condo ‘n stuck me in a Bad Box. Bad Boxes only come out for visits to Doktor Feelgood. Affer a long drive in da car... Yup. That’s where Ah ended up.

While waitin’ ma Mama attacked ma claws with special clippurrs. Lemme tell ya, Frens, when you don’t have teef you gotta grow some pawerful murder mittens to protect yerself from ex-street thugs like Frank ‘n pretty lil scary grrrls like Dori (although she’s simmered down a lot and Ah’m not bothered about her no more.)

At home Ah’m verra determined not to give up even a small piece of ma claws - Ah eben put a formidable bitey on Mama once but she laughed ‘n said it tickled; so cruel to hear when Ah wuz being ferocious. Anyway, ma Mama be a sneaky Yankee grrrl ‘n quickly robbed me blind of ma claws while Ah was on da table tryin’ hard not to cry.

Jesse the Traveling Cat and Why I Wasn't Invited on Vacation

Hi evfurrybuddy, it's me Dori *wavy paws.* If yoo are reading this, I assume yoo have survived the weekend and the return of Monday with all it's despicable hekkishness. Purrsonally I am working on a serious letter to the gov'mint to abolish Mondays at the same time they kick Daylight Savings to the curb for once and for all.

So yoo may have noticed that I was virtually invisible last week to my social media frens. I am mortally wounded to the core of my little heart to be ignored, but my momma explained that she needed a bweak and unfortnately I was sacrificed along with her accounts and our IG Cattoon account.