I have 4 cats and a dog. The love of my life is a big, fluffy, maine coon named Bosco (just don't tell my fiancee that!). Bosco came into my life 8 years ago, when I rescued him from the Winnipeg Humane Society. He was under 6 months old, dumped by his disgusting previous owners who said he was "too bothersome", but only after they ripped his claws out leaving him declawed for life.
Bosco had wonky legs. Sometimes when he'd walk, his knees would click, pop and move in ways they weren't supposed to. Turns out he has Luxating Patella's. For that reason and space reasons, he was up on the euthanasia list. I hesitated in taking him, because he just didn't stand out above the others, but something drew me to him. My oldest cat is over 20 years old, and has been with me most of my life, but Bosco is different. Bosco is the sweetest, most gentle cat I've ever met, and I've met a lot of cats. He is silly, but loving, and he's peaceful. He is the definition of zen. And so we go...
In September 2013, I took Bosco into an emergency veterinarian's office for crystals. He had struggled with crystals and bloody urine since I got him, so this warranted an ER visit. He also had a strange wound on his abdomen, what looked like he impaled himself on something, but he possibly couldn't have and he wasn't bleeding. The vet poked at it, cauterized it and sent us home with his urinary meds. He's an indoor cat so it was very strange. I racked my brain for days around what he did, or where he could have hurt himself.
In October 2013, that mysterious wound got bigger. It came back with a vengeance, and no amount of polysporin helped. So I took him in to his regular vet. He knew immediately it was a tumor, just didn't know what kind, so he suggested removal.
On October 24, 2013, Bosco went in for what would be his 1st surgery. He was cut open, stitched, and sent home within hours. He did great, and wasn't even stoned! He was running around as soon as he got home, happy as a clam.
October 29, 2013 - his life, and mine, changed. The tumor came back as rare Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma. Cancer. And the margins were not clean. This meant there was more, and they needed to go back in. The report had very little information on it, and no prognosis other than "dismal". It was like a ton of bricks hit me. I was crying at my desk, in the middle of the work day. I work in the social services field, so a big part of my job is keeping my shit together. That day I couldn't.
October 30, 2013 - Bosco goes in for a 2nd surgery to remove more margins in hopes to remove the entire cancerous tumor. Again, he bounces out of surgery like it's a piece of cake. Still happy as a clam. But the bad news is: a 2nd tumor was found under his armpit. The vet was not able to remove it all because of the location, but did send a piece away for testing.
November 2, 2013 - Good news, the 1st tumor has been removed successfully, clean margins! But there's more..... the 2nd tumor testes positive for Malignant Melanoma too. It was a devil spawn of the 1st tumor, and is growing rapidly. Vet says he can't go in and remove it, because its a real mess. He says sorry, but there's nothing left to do. No prognosis other than death. No time lines. No treatment options, nothing. This is where I start panicking again, and franticly google search this to no end, and find almost nothing. I also start Bosco on some Omega 3's + 6's, grain free food, and letting him sleep in our bed. (The other cats have their own bedroom at night, because they are loud, destructive little things). Fiancee isn't a fan of this because he has allergies, but he somehow manages to choke, and put up with it, for the sake of me.
November 9, 2013 - Time for a 2nd opinion. We go to another vet in the area who has an interest in oncology. There are no animal oncologists where I live. We do the meet and greet, go over the lab results, and discuss. This vet gives me hope that there is something we can still do. He will do some checking around with colleagues in other provinces and get back to us when we come for xrays.
November 20, 2013 - Xray time. GOOD NEWS! Everything from the armpit down, is clear. No cancer, no tumors detected. Organs are good, everything looks normal. Bad news: the tumor in the armpit has grown. It is now 4cm x 4cm, but we don't know what it started at since we didn't know to measure. But it's about the size of a golf ball now. Doctor says removal, or do nothing. Doctor then hits me with a price tag of $2,000 to do a 3rd surgery on him, to try and remove this new tumor. A board certified surgeon needs to do the surgery because of the location. There's still no gauruntee of it being removed, or not coming back. The other option is the Melanoma vaccine for dogs but there's no point in trying that while there's still an obvious tumor. The 3rd option isn't even an option - Chemo. Chemo does not work on Melanoma. Left the office feeling discouraged and heart broken. Bosco's already been through 2 surgeries, and his momma has already paid a small fortune in vet bills.
November 21, 2013 - Slept on it (but not really, because I haven't slept well since October 24). Opened a GoFundMe account ( www.gofundme.com/saving-bosco ), in hopes that total strangers hear our story, and can help. Surgery is still an option so much so that I cancelled a vacation we had planned, in order to use that money to do it, but I'm still short. Also awaiting to hear back from the vet office, and some answers about the surgery. It is still possible that the "do nothing" option is the best option, but I don't want to rule out the surgery yet. So far the GoFundMe account has been a blessing... there has been some money raised from angels who believe in Bosco as much as I do. It's more than I ever thought would come of it and I will not stop fighting for my boy so long as there is something in my control.
Will update as things progress. Hope this helps someone else out there whose fur baby is struggling with this form of cancer or any other kind.
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