I was going to insert a belated hurrah for the Jays winning the
World Series for the second year in a row, but...
 
The returns from the federal election are coming in as I "speak".
Too depressing to repeat.
 
Today we found out that Mocha has Lymphosarcoma.  It appears to
be limited to the lymph glands at the right side of her jaw, which
have ballooned up to about the size of a marble.  The diagnosis
was made by a thin-needle biopsy.  The lab always asks for a tissue
sample in cases like this, but the vet indicates that their thin-needle
tests have never given a false positive before.
 
Mocha is spayed and 8 1/2 years old.  She had gone through three previous
successful courses of HCG to bring down a swollen vulva over the past
year and a half or two.  None of these were associated with much hair loss.
This time her tail is essentially bald.
 
Her weight is still good, but she is having balance problems and is quite
inactive.
 
Surgery is probably pointless at her age.  The best route appears to
put her on prednisone and see what happens next.  The vet doesn't hold
any hope whatsoever.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0619]