So we got a call from the oncologist's office this afternoon... they are currently booking six weeks out.  So the earliest appointment was October 19th.  And they wanted $100 to schedule the appointment, which would go towards the cost of the appointment.  So I talked with my husband and he wants to see if there is anywhere else we can get referred to, so he called the vet back and left them a message.  Good thing that things with Tara aren't super urgent right now, but still.  Husband was not optimistic about how much the appointment would cost if it was $100 just to get in the door.

Hi all - Kind of a non-update update, but oh well.  The vet was going to refer us to both NC State as well as the chain of emergency vet hospitals we have around here (who knew they have oncologists?) called Blue Pearl.  Originally they referred us to the Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital, but their appointments were 6 weeks out.  So NC State was booking appointments 8 weeks out, so the vet didn't even bother putting in a referral.  She said she did do the referral to Blue Pearl.  So hopefully they will call me at some point and I can schedule an appointment.  I get the feeling that we are kind of just doing this to say we got a second opinion and did everything possible before we did amputation.  So it could be that after we talk to the Blue Pearl people, if they also say amputate I think we will probably go back to our family vet and have them do it.  The guy who removed the tumor twice before is an orthopedic surgeon, so I'd rather have him do it.  Of course, I still want to schedule a pre-op appointment with him so I can ask all the questions like if you keep her overnight, will someone be here? etc.  

Before Blue Pearl became Blue Pearl, the chain was something like VCA but I don't remember what the letters stood for - anyway, they saved another one of our cats, Jake, who had eaten the tie from a sleeping bag (almost identical to a shoelace) out of stress about 2 weeks after we adopted him.  We took him in and they x-rayed him and it was all still in his stomach, so we then went to their other location which had better facilities and they pulled it out through his throat and didn't have to cut him open.  It was $$$ and Jake became my most expensive cat even though we had only had him for about two weeks at that point.  But those people were awesome and if it was still owned by them I wouldn't hesitate to trust them with the surgery.  But we have only been back once since it became Blue Pearl and that was for one of our dogs who had her eye sort of halfway pop out of its socket during some roughhousing with the neighbor's dog, and husband was not thrilled with them at all (though it was in fall of 2020, so things were weird due to the pandemic and that might just have caused some of the awkwardness of the whole thing).  They did just fine and took care of Bella and she came out of it with zero damage which was pretty amazing, but again husband wasn't thrilled with the way it was handled, largely due to COVID.

Tara is still in her cone.  I want to figure out what we are going to do and do it, all this waiting isn't doing anyone any good.

So I wrote a reply, but then somehow it was eaten.  Anyway, the oncologist called and we have an appointment on Wednesday the 27th for Tara at Blue Pearl, but at the location that is further away from us (actually the place that saved Jake when he ate the shoelace, though it was under different management then) because apparently that is where their surgery/radiation equipment/etc. is located.  I am not crazy about the practice because they are primarily an emergency vet, but I looked up the guy we are seeing and he got his DVM from Cornell which is pretty good (to my understanding).  He also did an oncology residency at Tufts.  So I guess we'll see what he says in about two weeks!  Tara is pretty stable and hopefully she will stay that way for now.

Yeah, I was told by my family vet that chemo doesn't really work for cats with this kind of cancer.  And yet this vet presented it as an option after I kind of declined the partial foot surgery.  I don't know what drug it is yet; I think he was waiting for the blood work results to come back first before deciding what to put her on.  I read a few of the posts about metronomic chemo in dogs and saw that a lot seemed to get an NSAID like metacam.  My heart cat Elly was actually on metacam for arthritis pain for maybe about 6 months near the end?  I know it can be bad in cats and cause kidney problems, but Elly always had great kidney function (we tested periodically) and the vet said there were really so few options for NSAIDs in cats.  She seemed to do better on it, though I think near the end she was in pain due to other things that it didn't really help.  But it seemed effective for arthritis for a while.  But once I know what drug it is, I'll post again and also do some research.

Apparently he examined her in the back when the tech took her to weigh her, she was gone a long time.  But I think they were mostly looking for a tumor (the tech mentioned looking at all of her toe beans and how patient she was) and she really doesn't have one right now.  They grow out of the left side of the large paw pad on her front left paw.  The skin on the pad is black, but when it grows it is pink.  They took her back in the back again later to get the blood sample and when they came back he showed me a picture he took of a tiny spot on her left front paw pad that may have been a scab (hard to tell and I haven't gone looking for it myself) so I guess he was there while the vet tech was looking or he helped look or something?  Husband wasn't really a fan of this guy up front (he was kind of loud and brash) but again, once he started spouting cancer words husband was very excited.  He did at least go put on a mask when husband asked (I am on a biologic to suppress my immune system and just had my regular infusion on Monday so I am at the lowest level of immunity right now, so I always wear a mask).  But yeah, the vet never touched Tara in front of us.  She was always in the carrier.

I will keep an eye on the paw chewing.  I have been working from home this whole week to deal with this, but next week I'm back in the office MWF and only work from home Tue & Thur.  Husband's job became 100% remote permanently in 2020 so he is always here (as is my father-in-law, but usually he is the culprit in taking the cone off to feed Tara and then forgetting to put it back on her).  She still sleeps on my pillow and bangs me in the head with the cone so I will keep looking at her paw and see how it goes.  Thanks everyone for the support, it really helps.