Chin Soon and Nyssa Go To The Vet

Chin Soon and Nyssa went to see Dr. Sarah Wolfe, their vet, today.

For Nyssa it has been more than 16 months since being diagnosed with lymphoma. She has managed to maintain her weight at 753 grams (1 2/3 lbs.) over the past two months after a long period of weight loss. (Thank you, Bob Church's Chicken Gravy). She also now has at least a couple of masses in her abdomen. Dr. Wolfe is now certain Nyssa has adrenal disease too. Nyssa's left gland adrenal was removed four and a half years ago and there is no way she could survive a second surgery at this point. Up until now Nyssa's hair loss had been thought to be either adrenal or a side effect of prolonged high dosages of steroids (depo medrol plus prednisolone). Nyssa has had lots of lots of nasty black ear wax requiring daily ear cleanings and Dr. Wolfe told me that's another adrenal symptom.

Nyssa received her depo medrol injection today and Dr. Wolfe has ordered lupron to start as soon as it arrives to hopefully relieve adrenal symptoms. Podo was in the same situation when he was nine and a half and the lupron worked wonders for him. Other than that Nyssa's medication has worked well and we are staying the course. The one other change is that I also have permission to giver her a higher dose of pain medication if Nyssa should need it. She will likely sleep on the higher dosage but at least she'd be comfy.

Finally, Nyssa has been having pain defecating. She's been on Kaopectate twice a day. If I reduce her dosage she has terrible diarrhea and becomes incontinent. I had discussed her previous diarrhea/stomach medication, diarsanyl, which Dr. Rosing had given her in Cincinnati with Dr. Wolfe. Diarsanyl worked well for both Nyssa and Lady Ayeka. Dr. Wolfe has never used it before so she did some research and... it turns out it's horse paste! It's mostly made from clay and glycerin. It does coat the GI tract, it does help with diarrhea, and it may well be gentler than Kaopectate. So... it's on order and we'll switch Nyssa back to it, mixed with water to create the thick brown liquid form that she and Lady Ayeka had before. Dr. Wolfe called it "hokey medicine" but there is clinical evidence it works and if it's easier on Nyssa she is all for it.

All of this adds up to relieving symptoms and keeping Nyssa as comfy as possible for how ever long she has left. Dr. Wolfe really didn't expect to be writing new renewals for Nyssa's prescriptions at all. Nyssa is simply amazing everyone. She is still active and at times downright playful. She's run around carrying her doggie twice this week and has even played with Chin Soon some. We're just over a month from Nyssa's eighth birthday. She wasn't expected to see her seventh.

Little Miss Chin Soon has fits of something that sounds like something halfway between coughing and choking, a really nasty hacking sound. She's had these since I adopted her. Lately these episodes have gotten more frequent, as in once or twice daily and I've started to get worried. These episodes always happen when Chin Soon is resting, not when she is running around like a little hellion. I pick her up and pat her back, kind of like burping a baby, and it usually stops quickly.

Dr. Dan Hudson, our original vet in North Carolina (now retired), attributed these attacks to a partially collapsed trachea and said that if they get worse or if she has difficulty breathing to bring her back. That was in the summer of 2004. Dr. Wolfe disagrees with that diagnosis. She says the pat on the back would make a collapsed trachea worse, not better, and the fact that it only happens at rest isn't consistent with a collapsed trachea either. Dr. Wolfe also said a radiograph can often be deceiving when diagnosing something like this.

Dr. Wolfe mentioned a procedure, the name of which escapes me at the moment, which is the equivalent of a real time X-ray and would give a definitive diagnosis. I would have to take Chin Soon to Madison for that. Dr. Wolfe is only going to recommend that if things get any worse. Her guess is a birth defect of some sort, possibly something malformed around her larynx. She also said there is a vet in Florida who does microsurgery in cases like this and if it becomes severe that is where she would send me with Chin Soon.

It sounds like Chin Soon could become one expensive little weasel if things do get worse. I've called Chin Soon "Ms. Pertwee" because of her super high energy level and her personality. I hope she doesn't imitate Pertwee's penchant for weird and expensive illnesses.

Playtime was normal tonight: lots of high energy antics from Zephyr and Chin Soon, lots of affection from Ella and Nyssa.

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