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On Friday, Apryl and I took Eva to the vet around 8:30am. They needed to prep her up for surgery which actually started around noon. This was her third trip in two weeks to the vet, so she wasn’t too happy about it. After dropping her off, we tried to keep our minds off of everything (if that was possible) by going out to breakfast at Milk and Honey and making a trip out to Ikea in the suburbs. After hours inside Ikea, we came out with a $6 reversible lampshade that we would later discover to be malfunctioning. As we checked out and headed to the parking lot, we got a call from Eva’s doctor.

She told us that the surgery went well. And that the lump wasn’t on a muscle, which is very good news since there is more of a chance she’ll fully recover the strength in her leg. Still, we won’t know until possibly 10 days if the removed lump was cancerous or not. We were then informed that we could pick her up in a couple of hours. When we got back to the city, we went straight to the vet to pick her up.

It was a bit shocking seeing Eva so drugged out on examination table. I think that was more surprising than the shaved back leg with the long line of stitches. No wait, the oddest thing was Eva’s lampshade over her head. Apryl calls her Conehead. The funniest story about the vet was her doctor telling us how sweet she was all morning. All the way up until they brought in another cat, and then she started her low growling noise. Apparently, she doesn’t like to share the attention.

When we brought her back home, she staggered around like a drunk person, knocking into a wall or a chair or anything in her way. Still, she seemed to be aware of where her things were located especially her food bowl. Even through all that, she hadn’t lost her appetite. And she sure didn’t forget how much she loves Apryl’s lap. Unfortunately, she scrared Apryl twice when she fell out of her lap and on to the floor. Don’t worry, she wasn’t hurt. That night I slept with her on the couch.

The next day she was pretty much back to her old self. She was even getting use to the lampshade, even though she still attempts to rub her face against everything with no effect. Well, the effect is plastic scraping across anything in her path. Also, we really get a kick out of her attempt to bathe parts of her body that she’s not able to reach because of the lampshade. Instead of realizing that it’s having no effect, she just goes ahead and licks the inside of her lampshade. I should try to get video of this and post it later. We even got a call from her doctor making sure everything was going alright. Thanks Dr. Rachel!

So, she seems to be doing really good right now. In three days, she can remove the lampshade and finally get full licking access. Thanks everyone for your well wishes. They were much appreciated. I’ll keep you posted on the results of the lump when we get them.

– Expect upcoming posts this week of my dad’s weekend trip and the return of Sox baseball!

Well, I was hoping for better news. I got a call from our veterinarian last night around 7 o’clock that Eva’s lump was suspicious enough to have it removed. It definitely appears to be Feline Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma, which might be the result of a rabies shot she was given in `06. So hard to fathom that something that was supposed to help her could later be the cause of cancer. How rare is this? The statics aren’t completely clear but somewhere between 3 in 10,000 and 1 in 1,000.

The next step is to remove the tumor. And for this to be successful, the surgeon must have clean margins, which our veterinarian believes she has with Eva. Just in case, more around the tumor is cut due to the fact that the cancer might have already started spreading. That is if it is cancer. After the lump is removed, the vet will know within 7–10 days whether or not the lump was cancerous. I suppose I’m just trying to stay realistic.

Now, if it is in fact sarcoma, there is a 60%–80% chance that it will come back. In that case, we will have to have Eva’s back leg amputated. My goodness, that sounds so bizarre. Still again, staying grounded here. So next Friday, Eva will go in for surgery to remove the lump. And then we’ll just have to go from there. I will certainly keep you posted on any new developments with her condition.

For right now, Eva is completely herself. Lazy one second, and a bolt of energy the next. As I write this, she’s napping on my arm. Luckily, not like this:

This photos always reminds me of Laser Cats!

Here’s another link: This one is for a petition demanding safer vaccinations for our pets.

Today, I had to take Eva to the vet so she could get a small lump on her leg checked out. The lump, which is on her upper back leg, doesn’t seem to cause her any pain or discomfort but is still alarming. Since Eva hadn’t been to the vet in Chicago yet, I had to do some research on Yelp. Luckily, I found a favorable vet called My Vet which is located in our Bucktown neighborhood. Both the people and the service were fantastic. And Eva was a very good girl.

The lump could be any number of things but the scariest possibility is cancer. The vet took a sample, and we should get the results by Thursday or Friday. Until then, any good vibrations you can send this way would be greatly appreciated.

Eva relaxin’

Since I have nothing to blog about, I thought I would post a photo that Apryl took of Eva Cat sunbathing on our computer table. Okay, that is all.

Well, Eva finally dragged her water fountain as far as the electric cord would allow. I moved it back to its original position in fear that she would break it if the cord was yanked anymore. And, of course, it’s already back on its course to the point of no return.

Below, Eva displays more odd behavior by staring down the blue water reserve. Often, it is after one of these staring contests that she flips out and starts the head buttin’.

I’m in the middle of another work edit, so posts will be coming less frequent until I am finished (which should be around next week). However, I thought I would briefly share with you the recent odd behavior of Eva Cat. If you’re a pet owner, you understand that certain behaviors come and go; however, there is never a shortage of new and more strange nuances just around the corner. Recently, Eva has decided that wherever her water fountain rests is not a good enough position. Thus, it must be moved to a more desirable location. So, Eva proceeds to headbutt the back of the fountain, until the fountain ends up several feet away from its original location. Apryl decided to allow such behavior as long as the fountain wasn’t pushed beyond a certain point. Of course, Eva pushed those boundaries, and the fountain was now blocking the hallway to the kitchen. Now, we had recently moved her fountain from one side of the kitchen to the other, so we figured that she was merely homesick for the old days. So, we moved the the fountain back to its past location right next to her food (the reason for the inital move was due to a dangerous plug outlet). However, it wasn’t long before we started to hear that familiar sound: plastic being scraped along vinyl flooring. The picture below catches Eva right after the act of moving the fountain a few feet from her food dish:

Later on, Eva continued to move her fountain a few more feet toward the door.

What’s going on here? I’m not quite sure, but it sure is funny catching her push that fountain around with her head. Below, Eva takes a break from all her hard work with a nap on Apryl’s leg:

Sleep tight, Eva Cat!