I sorta did a bit of an emotional collapse after getting this message from the vet two days after Cory’s appointment:
Hi Steph, reporting Cory’s blood test results. Good news is that although his Lymphocyte, Eosinophil and Monocyte counts are still all elevated, they are stable. At this point I really think the changes we are seeing are related to his allergy/skin disease issues and may be something we will always see on his blood work. Whether the oil will help with this, who knows? I think we can continue with medication and supplements as planned, and see if we can slowly wean down his buprenorphine. Call me if you have any further questions, but good news overall.
Not cancer. Still some odd autoimmune stuff, still some undefined neurological stuff that he is working through beautifully, but… NOT CANCER!!!!
And his whole response to my reaction has basically been, “Geez, Mom, what’s all the fuss? Put me down, I’m hungry.”
We’ve been working on getting his buprenorphine shots down as rapidly as we can while still watching for any trace of pain. Having started at 0.08ml twice a day, we’re now down to 0.04ml in the morning, and he had 0.02ml last night which will be the last evening shot he gets. I’ll bump tomorrow morning up to 0.05ml, just in case to make sure he’s not dropping too fast, but then we’ll go back to 0.04ml. I think we’ll keep him at that level for 2-3 days, then start reducing it again. Within a week or so, I think we can have him off it entirely, assuming we see no signs of pain!
The only reaction we’ve seen was once, while I was giving him a syringe of blenderized Fancy Feast. Quick troubleshooting established that it was because I was just a bit careless and didn’t warm it enough when it came out of the fridge. Apparently he has one or more cold-sensitive teeth. So do I, for that matter. He’s fine with his fountain, which is not heated, and with shower water even before it warms up, so I think as long as he’s in control he can avoid any discomfort. (I can suck on a small ice cube or have a cold drink, but dental cleaning makes me crawl out of my skin with pain, so I can relate.)
Otherwise, he’s his happy cheerful loving self, and he’s been extremely inquisitive.
We put down big leaf/garden waste bags for them now and then, it’s just heavy brown paper and they love it. I always cut an X in the bottom end so no one can get cornered in it – they’ll rip it the rest of the way if they need to. I also gave Cory a smaller one meant as a bin liner for organic waste, on my bed.
I’m not allowed to remove the one from my bed entirely. The other cats are not allowed to use it. They are allowed to use the big one near the balcony door.

This bag are belong to me.
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