Scrappy's Little Helper
Mama Doe
Apologies for not visiting the forum for a while. I hope everyone and everybun is doing well.
I just wanted to share some news on Fudgie. She was sadly diagnosed with a thymoma back in August and is currently under the care of an exotics specialist. Given her age (she's estimated to be around 11, almost 12 years old) I didn't think it would be right to put her through aggressive treatments such as surgery or radiotherapy. I felt that palliative care would be the better option for her and she's since been on a course of daily steroids. We started her off on a high dose but have tapered it down to a maintenance dose due to the risk of infections from a compromised immune system.
So far she seems to be doing well. She's eating well (and has regained the weight she'd lost when she was initially diagnosed) and is still pretty active. She's still running around lots and has been busy with her DIY projects. Fortunately she's been very good with taking her medication. It took a bit of trial and error but I found she takes it very willingly if I mix it with apple juice and put a tiny bit of mashed banana on the tip of the syringe. Not the healthiest, but I figured it was a lot better than having to stress her out every day by force feeding.
Long term, the prognosis is of course not good and the specialist has said she is unlikely to survive more than a few months. In the meantime, I'm just going to try and keep her comfortable for as long as possible.
I just wanted to share some news on Fudgie. She was sadly diagnosed with a thymoma back in August and is currently under the care of an exotics specialist. Given her age (she's estimated to be around 11, almost 12 years old) I didn't think it would be right to put her through aggressive treatments such as surgery or radiotherapy. I felt that palliative care would be the better option for her and she's since been on a course of daily steroids. We started her off on a high dose but have tapered it down to a maintenance dose due to the risk of infections from a compromised immune system.
So far she seems to be doing well. She's eating well (and has regained the weight she'd lost when she was initially diagnosed) and is still pretty active. She's still running around lots and has been busy with her DIY projects. Fortunately she's been very good with taking her medication. It took a bit of trial and error but I found she takes it very willingly if I mix it with apple juice and put a tiny bit of mashed banana on the tip of the syringe. Not the healthiest, but I figured it was a lot better than having to stress her out every day by force feeding.
Long term, the prognosis is of course not good and the specialist has said she is unlikely to survive more than a few months. In the meantime, I'm just going to try and keep her comfortable for as long as possible.