[conspire] CABAL kitty

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Daniel Gimpelevich (daniel at gimpelevich.san-francisco.ca.us):

> /me does a spit-take
> 
> Scruffy hurt his leg?

Hi, Daniel.  Thanks for inquiring, and my apologies for not having
clearly explained, earlier.

About a month or two ago, we noticed a lump growing on Scruffy's
left-front paw, had it examined and biopsied, and the results were
ambiguous (if I recall correctly).  So, since it was growing rapidly and
would have soon been a serious problem physically even if benign, we had
surgery performed to cut it out.  (Strictly speaking, there were two
lobes cut out at that time.)  The laboratory examination, following
surgery, revealed that it had been a fibrosarcoma, i.e., a cancer of
connective tissue, that is of a type that is invasive of nearby tissue
(thus, cancerous), but almost never metastatic.  Because of the high 
tumor growth rate (and thus size), it was only barely possible to cover
Scruffy's skin over the surgical incision.

We had _hoped_ that the tumor would not return.  Unfortunately, it did. 
Two separate growths were then visible, evidently from small pieces of
the original tumor that the surgeon hadn't managed to get.  One piece
was wrapped most of the way around his leg bone, raising additional
problems -- and both were again growing quickly.

We discussed various options.  (Deirdre just described these in the
posting she's sending separately.)  Ultimately, our only two real
choices were a live three-legged cat or a dying four-legged one, so we
opted for the former and had amputation of his leg performed two days
ago.  

He's still on serious anti-pain medication, and of course bandaged up
and under our careful care, but is showing signs of rallying.  We do need
to watch him and not let him slip out, among other precautions.

It is not certain that his cancer is gone, but it's likely.