Laser Therapy . . . For My Cat

I’m tired of cancer; tired of friends dying from cancer, tired of reading about cancer, and tired of thinking about cancer. I lost a friend to lung cancer yesterday, and with the “Angelina Jolie news” I feel as if I’m on cancer-news overload. As I’ve mentioned before, I never wanted to be “that person.” You know the one. Where everything is about cancer; cancer research, cancer treatments, the latest in cancer-whatever. But here I am. A breast cancer survivor and it is part of who I am. How I live with this invisible identity is my choice. And what I have chosen to do is to share my story with those who want to hear it, to be a friend to those in need, and to be a resource when someone needs advice or even statistics.

My (4½ year old) kitten has been struggling with some health issues of her own. Actually, given her behavior we never would have known something was wrong. The only reason we became aware of her condition was because we “caught” her having an accident on the dining room floor and her urine was pink. She was scheduled for a bath and a shave the next day and because she was not in distress the vet said she would take a look at what was going on when we brought her in. She had an infection and was given a shot of long-lasting antibiotic.

Fast forward to ten days later when we discovered a new accident in the kitchen. I called the vet on Monday and was instructed on how to obtain a urine sample from one cat in a two-cat household. I’m happy to report that Kiwi performed for us and I was able to get a good sample to take to the vet the next day. As the vet suspected, it was not an infection – the antibiotic had taken care of that. However, Kiwi had a lot of red blood cells, and even a few white blood cells, in her urine so I was asked to bring her in for an ultrasound so that Dr. Cooke could figure out what was wrong.

As you know, I have no children of my own, but in many ways I felt like a mommy. On Thursday, I dropped my baby off at the hospital (the vet’s) so that she could have an ultrasound done. I had two personal appointments that morning, so I called the office later that afternoon. I was given a pick up appointment so that I could go over the findings with the doctor. Knowing that she did not have an infection, of course my mind went straight to worse-case-scenario. What else could cause bloody urine other than cancer? She must have a tumor somewhere; her liver or kidneys.

It turns out her bladder is inflamed and she has a stone in her bladder. Fortunately, no stones in the kidneys and girl cats can actually “pass” urinary stones. However, we need to reduce the inflammation in her bladder but cats are not good candidates for anti-inflammatory drugs. For whatever reason, they do not react well to things like Advil or even steroids. So Dr. Cooke put her on a limited-time prescription diet (which Maria can also eat, so feeding will not be a problem) and six sessions of low level laser therapy. Modern medicine for kitties!

Treatments are done on an out-patient basis with her on my lap. Dr. Cooke is kind and gentle, and genuinely loves Kiwi. She has had her first two treatments and seems to be responding well. I have my cuddle-kitten feeling better, and best of all it has nothing to do with cancer.
 

 

 

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