It’s a good thing Mina is popular with all of her vets because I am certain they’re not so fond of me.
I called VIMP this morning because Mina just won’t eat anything in her bowl and she didn’t show much interest in my breakfast this morning. She slept most of yesterday but we did take three walks around the property. I don’t know where she gets any energy on the very few calories she’s taking in.
Dr. Birnbaum’s LVT explained that when Mina came in for her staging appointment that she was already down to 50 pounds. So to VIMP, she’s only lost a little more than a pound and it fluctuates back and forth. That’s why they’re not worried about her weight loss. I explained that in late February when Mina first started rejecting her food regularly, she weighed 54 pounds so, to me, she’s lost six pounds overall. At least now I understand why VIMP is so casual about Mina’s bones sticking out all over.
Dr. B. also called in a prescription for Mirtazapine again, so I’ll pick that up today and start her on it tonight. That’s the anti-depressant known as Remeron, that she takes before bedtime and wakes up ready to eat. It helped her appetite back in May so I’m hoping it will help again. Can’t hurt if it takes the edge off of Mina’s anxiety, either.
This morning we walked for nearly 25 minutes! Not bad for an arthritic cancer patient of 12.7 years. She wasn’t interested in her breakfast, which I served in a ceramic bowl inside her regular metal bowl because my dear friend, Jill, explained that chemotherapy leaves a metallic taste in human mouths and it might be the same for canines. So, I should cook and serve her food in non-metal dishes.
Then, she figured out there are pills in the tofu cream cheese that I made. She spit them out on the carpet, I retrieved them and pushed them down her throat, and Mina promptly heaved ’em back onto the carpet. I lost my temper and yelled at her and grabbed the pills and pushed them all the way down her throat. Then I sat at my desk and fumed for a bit until Mina came over, tail tucked, eyes wide and sorrowful, nudging my leg with her nose.
I petted her for a few minutes and then decided I needed to get out for some fresh air. I went to the Battlefield Park but that mission turned out to be a bust, so drove to the only store around that sells Earth’s Best Organic baby food and nearly cleaned them out of second year chicken and turkey jars. That was only eight jars, BTW.
When I got home we went outside for a quick pee and then I fed her two jars of chicken and sweet potatoes and a jar of turkey and vegetables. It keeps her from starving but it’s not the nutrition she needs. I noticed she’d been scratching the wound on her face so we cleaned that up with some iodine and Neosporin and I put more Vagisil on her ears.
Today we’re going to drive out to Amissville again to pick up our order of Chow Now. Tomorrow, Mina is going to visit Auntie Sue, Uncle Robin and feline cousins Amber and Pearl while I attend a friend’s vegan wedding. Auntie Sue has crafts planned for Mina, which is usually pretty cool. Last time Mina stayed for the day they made a plaque of pink homemade Play Dough and pressed Mina’s paw into it, inscribed it with her name and the year and it’s hanging by a ribbon above my bookcase.
Crappy cell phone picture - it really is pink!
I feel like I’m not sitting inside the roller coaster car sometimes, but hanging on to the last car for dear life.
s.
It's OK to Talk About the Cancer 