Hi Everyone!!

Thanks again for all your input and recommendations!!

Before I switch to nutrition I want to let you all know that Jimmi had his after-chemo-scan and it turned out CHEMO WAS SUCCESSFUL! YAY!!!!!

The single larger metastasis he has shrunk a little and the micro spots around the larger one show no progress and didn't spread any further. Nothing entirely disappeared, but we didn't expect this anyway. The vet told us in advance the best result we can get is to STOP the progress and we are so happy Jimmi reached this goal!
Usually, the vet told us, diagnosed at this stage there isn't much time left. Normally, if there are metastases already, osteosarcoma in cats tends to spread drastically within 6 weeks. Jimmi got diagnosed last october, so this is really good news.
We asked if we now have to worry about progress after chemo is over, the oncologist said statistically the effect of a chemo with Doxoribicin lasts about 1 year - we can hope for one year Jimmi being stable now.
Nobody can tell for SURE of course, but this is how the situation statistically looks like.
They will keep him monitored, in 2 or three months he'll have his next scan.

When Jimmi was under anesthesia and they intubated him they noticed one of his canines and some molars don't look good. They recommended to take care of this immediately instead of laying even more stress on him with another appointment and another anesthesia, so we agreed. They pulled his right lower canine and removed retaining roots of 3 molars.
When he arrived at home he first looked really distressed, restlessly scampering around with a long string of bloody drool hanging out of his mouth. But thankfully my own crisis about this was worse like Jimmi's. After only two hours he started eating and playing and was all himself again. Our little cat man is such a trooper and I'm so relived the affected teeth are out, one thing less to worry about, and it's evident he feels much better without them.

They weighed him, he did not lose more weight (good), but didn't gain any, either, despite of eating really really good.
We bought some sort of critical care in a tube, which he refuses to eat (can't blame him). Mixing it under his food didn't work, either.
But we additionally give him some protein/vitamin flakes and those seem to go down well.

We stopped limiting his diet to grain-free cat food, currently we just let him eat what he craves the most, always good quality though.
Gaining weight is more important now.

He is SYMPTOM FREE, nobody could tell he's already 15 years old and went through so much. He's super active, talkative, playful and a really happy boy!

While I'm typing this he's exploring the "benefits" of his slim shape - all happy that now he's able to cram himself into even smaller boxes like before 

Always on the bright side of life 

Sending bags full of love to all of you. This of course includes all your furry ones!!!

Bettina

THANK YOU both! I hope Jimmi's story can help others in their decision whether to amputate or not.
I can really say we don't regret anything. He made it through chemo without dramatic side effects and it's such a joy to see how he is enjoying life to the fullest.

In the most cases with existing metastases I read of vets saying as soon it spread they don't recommend amputation anymore.
I can't tell if our story is an exception, but we definitely would do it again.

All our fingers, toes and paws crossed for similar cases. We don't know what the future brings, but 7 months symptom-free after amputation to us is a victory already.

I'll sure keep you posted!