We brought Peekaboo home from the clinic almost a week ago, last Saturday evening to be exact. I thought that she’d slowly return to her usual self once she got home, but it has taken longer than expected. Reason: we ran into a few problems…

Problem number 1. Like most (all?) cats, Peekaboo was REALLY bothered by the Elizabethan collar, a cone-shaped torture device that prevents cats and dogs from licking or scratching or biting their wounds (Note: these three photos of Peekaboo are “post-Elizabethan-collar” photos. The white and red stuff around her neck is just a temporary bandage that doesn’t impede her movements and will come off next week).

Problem number 2. On Friday and Saturday, while she was still in the hospital, the vets had slowly weaned her off her pain medication. Too soon, evidently. By Sunday evening I knew she was in pain. She wasn’t purring or licking food off my finger anymore, so we had to feed her, and administer her meds (antibiotics, etc.), using the esophagostomy tube, which is a feeding tube that connects the esophagus directly to the stomach.

Furthermore, she was very lethargic and wasn’t moving at all, really. And she hadn’t used the litter box at all (even though we put one right on the bed).

I called the weekend vet who told me to give her more of the anti-inflammatory drug, which contains a painkiller, too. There wasn’t much else we could do on a Sunday evening, but first thing on Monday morning I took her back to the vet hospital, where they ran some tests and immediately gave her a shot containing a stronger painkiller. I gave her painkiller shots twice a day until Wednesday (at home). That at least got rid of the pain issue!

She peed inside the cat carrier in the car…so, er, that problem was solved, too! And in fact, as long as she wore the blasted cone, she peed only when we drove to the vet hospital. 🙄 

On Wednesday afternoon the surgeon removed her feeding tube. Consequently, off came the cone!

Life was good again. Peekaboo was back to her old self–happy, relaxed, hungry, and curious. Since then, it’s been all uphill. JOY!!!

Without the awful collar, in fact, she began eating and drinking on her own…she started peeing (etc.) in the litter box, not in the car (!)…she’s grooming herself (as you can see in photo no. 3), and she purrs and talks a lot…

So she’s doing really well. One of my MAIN concerns, in fact, before agreeing to the surgery, was HOW she’d be able to eat without half a jaw…But she is indeed eating–wet food only, right now–and it is such a joy to behold…Cats are such amazing creatures…

More good news: we have some partial biopsy results (from her jaw, which of course was sent off to the lab for testing):

• the cells aren’t dividing madly, as aggressive cancer cells do.
• there are indications that this type of melanoma is NOT aggressive.

This means that, IF the surgeon was able to remove every bit of the tumor, and IF no cancer cells have migrated to another part of her body (the lungs, usually), from now on she will lead a normal, healthy life.

Of course, these are big “IFs,” and Peekaboo will have to be monitored for some time…with periodic X-rays of her lungs, for example.

But for now, at least, Stefano and I can sit back and relax…