Feline bladder tumor found; hemobartonella question.

[Poozemom]

Hi,

I am brand new here. I am searching for information to help our kitty Meep. Meep, who has many nicknames, is 14 years old and has only a tiny bump for a tail. We first named her Bump! We still call her Bumpy sometimes. My husband actually called her Countess Bumpula for awhile.

Well, poor, little Meepy was being treated for a UTI a couple of months ago. She seemed to get just a little better, then blood in urine again. Back to our kindly vet a couple of weeks ago. Treating for UTI and vet palpated a large stone in the bladder. Urine came back negative for bacteria; blood work all OK. Vet says get an ultrasound, which we did on Saturday morning at another vet's office. He is supposed to be very good at doing ultrasounds. Anyway, the 2nd vet did US and found a tumor in the bladder, along with the fairly large stone. Previous x-ray did not show tumor, of course, since the tumor is soft tissue and the stone is not. Meepy was kept in the vet's office until they could "catch" a urine specimen from her to have looked at for cancerous cells. We should have an answer by Tuesday when our regular vet will call us. My husband spoke with our usual vet by phone after the ultrasound. Our vet had already done some research and had found only thirteen documented cases of similar tumors in cats. So our kitty has a rare problem. When the tumor is located in the higher part of the bladder, it can sometimes be successfully removed surgically. Meepy's tumor is down by the urethra--the worst place it could be. I am hoping that a veterinary school will be interested in trying life-saving surgery on our little "rarity." The vet who performed the ultrasound is in his 50's and he said that this is the first case he has ever seen. So nice to be different! But not in this situation.

Our vet told my husband that some cats have been able to survive OK with up to one-third of the urinary bladder removed. However, Meep's tumor decided to set up house in the worst possible place. Our vet is very kind and I know she must be quite upset by this very unexpected turn of events. She did not anticipate a tumor in addition to the stone, so I guess she feels broadsided--as do my husband and I, of course.

Can anyone help me with information on this subject? Has anyone been through something like this and had a happy ending? I read a tiny amount of info about a drug called Feldene being used to try to shrink tumors; don't know much about it. GI side effects.

Meep's mama came to us as a stray kitty over fourteen years ago. Lucky had a short tail, something had bitten her close to her tail, and her ribs were showing. And it was summertime! Not a good hunter, I guess. Well, OF COURSE we brought Lucky home from our cheap, short vacation in NY state--ostensibly to "find her a home," in my husband's words. I already knew of a home for her. HA-HA! Well, after quarantining Lucky for ten days in our basement (we had four kitties already) to check for rabies, Lucky joined the family. She was examined by our vet, got well, and put on some weight. And more weight. My husband finally said, "I think Lucky's pregnant!" And I said, "No--she is just eating well!" This is kind of funny because I was working for an OB-GYN at the time and I could not detect the pregnancy. Yep--she was! Six weeks after Lucky graced us with her presence, she gave birth to five babies! We filmed her delivery. I showed the movie at my sister's baby shower--before she gave birth to her first baby. Lucky loudly yowled a few times during our documentary and my sister held her belly and looked scared. Probably not the best time to show her our movie. We figured out finally that Lucky's short tail is indeed genetic, as four of her five babies had strange tails! There is Meep, with the bump; Dex, her brother, has a slightly longer bump; Sluggy's tail is about five inches long; Miss Bear has a pouf of a tail that resembles a bottle brush; and Garfield, the freak of the family, has a long, beautiful orange and white striped tail. EVERYBODY was spayed or neutered (a busy and expensive year), but I have often wondered what the babies' babies' tails would have looked like! Would have been fascinating to find out.

Miss Bear was cured of hemobartonella about a year and a half ago. She lost a lot of weight and was down for the count when a keen-eyed pathologist finally discovered the hemobartonella. Miss Bear is now quite plump--fine by me--and at her last visit her doctor said to her, "There's a lot of you!" I'm glad there is a lot of her. Another vet missed this diagnosis; our usual vet was away for many days. Anyway, I would be interested to learn about hemobartonella, too. No one seems to know where it comes from--? Also, none of our other kitties was affected. Why? I really want to know. I would like to avoid what happened to Miss Bear if I can. Can anyone tell me more about hemobartonella?

Thanks to everyone who reads this. I hope some of you can offer information and possibly hope. I'm going to give Meep her treatments now.

Thanks again for any help.

Beside myself with worry,

Poozemom

[vene]

and welcome to the board. *Hugs* I can't imagine what you are going through right now. I don't know anything about the 2 conditions but I hope it will be ok.

[Poozemom]

Thank you for your note. Your kindness helps.

I am beat and haven't slept all night. I could not figure out my GMT; I am in eastern Pa. and we are in the Eastern Time Zone.

I see you write to a lot of people. You are helping many others to deal with difficult problems. Hope you have a good day!

Poozemom, aka Michelle