Off Topic: Kitty's on Chemo

As many of you may know, my wife, Bonnie, and I have 2 cats: Buzz & Meep. Since both Bonnie and I work from home, both of "the boyz" are a pretty big part of our lives because we're fortunate enough to be around them most of every day.

Last week while I was out at MEDC, Buzz started having some pretty serious breathing problems so Bonnie took him to the vet. The vet was initially concerned that he was experiencing heart failure so she referred us to a Veterinary hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire: the Center for Advanced Veterinary Care. To make a long story short, after doing some further scans we found out yesterday that Buzz has Lymphatic Cancer.

Lucky for us the Veterinary hospital works directly with a Veterinary Oncology practice, the New England Veterinary Oncology Group. The Oncologists have their main office down in Waltham, MA but are at the Manchester hospital a couple of days each week. [ I actually didn't know that Veterinary Oncologists existed in private practice, I had thought that it was something limited to research. ]

Working with the Oncologist, we started Buzz on chemo yesterday. I have a fair amount of experience with chemo and cancer because a close family member had cancer (actually lymphatic cancer) several years ago and went through two very long bouts of chemo so I have some idea what to expect. What was a surprise, though, is the way that treatment is managed differently between people and animals.

As you know, in most cases, people are given chemo with the goal of eradicating the cancer and ultimately going into remission and then finally after 5 years in remission, most patients are considered cured. For animals (especially cats), the goal is very different. In the case of animals, lower doses (scaled of course) of chemo are given with the goal of adding time & quality of life for the animal. In the case of Buzz, we're told that with the treatments that he can probably maintain a good quality of life for another 12 months or so. For anything longer than that, we'll have to revisit things later.

Buzz is a pretty special kitty to us. Prior to getting Buzz, I had spent my whole life as a dog-person and was never very fond of cats but Buzz changed all of that. We got Buzz from an animal-rescue about 6 years ago (Bonnie has always been a cat person). Right from the beginning he was something special, being incredibly happy and energetic; in many ways he's been a great combination of the independent nature of a cat with the playfulness and interactivity of a dog.

We'll be doing all that we can to continue to spend as much time with Buzz as possible (but don't want to neglect Meep). One thing that is very important to us is that we let Buzz live his life. We don't want to keep him around just because there are drugs that can do so. The goal is for his good quality of life. As long as he remains happy and continues to purr when you scratch his chin, I think things will be ok. The hard part will be watching for that day when he's had enough and is ready to go.

I can't say enough about how great the doctors have been. From his regular vet, Dr. Wendy Wentworth, to the diagnostic work by the doctors at the Center for Advanced Veterinary Care, and the explanations and treatment provided by the New England Veterinary Oncology Group, they have all been fantastic. I know we're talking about an animal (not a person), but we do grow very close to our pets and it's hard to see them ill. These doctors have done a great job of being compassionate to our experience while maintaining pragmatism when working out the treatment and long-term care plan.

(If you're interested in more details, you can checkout Buzz's Blog. He's been maintaining that as he's gone through some of the process).