We Might be Losing Maxwell

I took Max and Lily to the vet today.

I thought Max's recent weight loss and inappetance was his kidney disease progressing. Nope, he has a large tumor on his liver. The tumor was clearly palpable, and X-Rays confirmed it. Liver values are through the roof.

The vet is going out of town this afternoon for the rest of the week, so he can't operate until Monday. Vet said that he would open Max up and see exactly which organs are affected, and whether he could remove the mass. If not, he suggested not waking Max back up. Vet also said that as sick as Max is right now, he may survive the anesthesiology. I was instructed to say my goodbyes to Max before I drop him off on Monday. The vet said that waiting in his office for the outcome of the surgery would not be a good idea.

Vet gave me the name of a nearby veterinary surgeon in case I did not want to wait until Monday. Said it would triple the cost, but that a far more skilled pair of hands would be in there. Well, now Max gets anything he wants to eat. Even the evil dry EVO. Getting some weight back on him might help build strength to get through this.

At the urging of some members of the FDMB, I have scheduled Max for an abdominal ultrasound on Friday. This will give us a better idea of the nature of the tumor and its involvement with organs other than the liver. If it appears limited to the liver, he may have a fine needle aspiration to draw out tissue for pathology. (Unlikely the pathology would be available before Monday.) It the tumor/growth appears to be diffuse throughout the abdomen, there is no need to open him up, just make the decision to PTS at the appropriate time. I would like to find a vet who could come to the house to do it. Baring that, I may take him to the vet who put Bailey down in such a gentle way.

On a side note, civie Lily has now joined the kidney disease club.