Thank you ThreeStep (and Pookie too, didn't thank you before) yes I have made the right decision for Jennie. Now that I see her on the gabapentin, I know that she has been having some discomfort or maybe even pain. So I will keep her on it every 8 hours.
The next step is to let the internal medicine vet and my vet know of my decision not to pursue surgery. Then she will prescribe prednisolone or metacam (anti-inflammatory medicines) and it comes down to palliative care for her, until her quality of life becomes poor. You know me I am a strong believer in too soon is better than too late and will not let Jennie suffer.
From what I've read, metacam is more specific to this particular cancer than steroids though I am not sure why. The problem with that is metacam is controversial in cats because it can cause acute kidney failure. A cat on it is supposed to have frequent blood tests to check the kidneys.
I've always said I would never allow a cat of mine to have metacam except in a last resort situation. Well, this would be the last resort situation, but I don't see a need to put her through a bunch of blood tests, when the result is the same no matter what, she is not going to be with me a whole lot longer. I will let the vets advise me regarding the anti-inflammatory choice, but if they say metacam, and then insist on blood work, I will request the steroid instead. If they say metacam and are willing to waive the constant blood tests, then I will go along with it. Steroids have side effects too, but they aren't as immediate as the kidney failure with metacam can be.
We're having a cozy afternoon all of us, on a cold pouring rain day. I got out and ran a bunch of errands this morning, including picking up a frozen pizza and a bag of crunchy Cheetos for myself. Comfort food that I only indulge in about once a year. Unfortunately I over cooked the frozen pizza so it's not as satisfying as it could be, and I find I am not enjoying the crunchy Cheetos as much as I expected.
Thing is what I REALLY wanted was lots and lots of ice cream. But I need to stay away from sugar for the moment so I went with salty and crunchy instead. I even had to forgo my coke I like to have with the pizza/cheetos day.