Patchy – Suspected Diagnosis

Patchy wearing a diaper

After weeks of unexpected and frequent accidents, I took Patchy in for another UTI check on Friday.  The previous two (one 2 weeks before, and the other a month or more prior) were both negative.  Though, the most recent showed evidence of an immune response, just no bacteria.  While taking a sample, the vet decided to take a closer look and scoped her vulva, finding an unusual mass.  When they both returned, she heavily suggested that we should look at it closer with ultrasound.

I scheduled an ultrasound appointment for the following Monday (yesterday) and dropped Patchy off early that morning.  I heard back at around 1pm.  The ultrasound seems to have confirmed her worries.  She suspects based on location and size, that Patchy has Transitional Cell Carcinoma in her bladder, and possibly metastasized to her liver.  The prognosis doesn’t look good, and there are limited treatment options (as the pdf discusses).

It does explain her difficultly controlling her bladder function, and likely her lack of appetite in the last week.

We’ve scheduled a consultation with an oncologist at VCA SF vet specialists for tomorrow.  My hope, is that the specialist will be able to confirm the diagnosis (or schedule a procedure that can), and talk about possible treatments, as well as what her current stage is.  And, what we can expect for remaining life span and quality of life.

Her ultrasound discharge summary, and her ultrasound report.

Oncologist update in this post

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