[DynamiteKitty]

Hi, I have a little girl, Skittles, who's approaching a year and a half.
Before Christmas, I took her to the vet, concerned about some swelling. Long story short, we discovered that a tumour, 1/3 of her body weight, which we removed but were still left with the question does she have cancer?
This is a possibility as some growth was still left, otherwise I would have had to put her to sleep, or cells elsewhere in the body.

It's been 4 weeks since her operation, and she's being doing okay. To be honest, I wasn't sure she was going to make it this far, but she's gained over 100 grams in the past 4 weeks, but I have been feeding her high protein and occasional fatty foods and reducing her carbohydrate intake. But she started quilling this week. At first I wasn't that worried as it was only minor and I thought it could be related to stress, depression and hormone changes as a result of being spaded due to the cancer. Though it's gotton a lot worse.
Concerned about this and her stitches, I took her in today, and the vet is also worried. We are now going to do weekly check ups as we're worried that the cancer is returning, aggressively. We will not x-ray her unless necessary, because if this is the case, I want her to have a good quality of life, not to be stressed out and unhappy.
She is currently not receiving kemo or any cancer related drugs, just simple antibiotics.

Is she simply quilling due to stress or hormonal changes - or is it something worse?

Also, it looks like she is also shedding a bit of hair on her favourite blanket, it isn't too much of a concern, but this is also starting to build up too.

Any help will be appreciated, thanks.

 

[Nancy]

From what I've experienced, 4 weeks is a fairly typical time frame for a stress related qulling. The weight gain is very possibly a combination of of the food, hormones and I assume her activity level was much less after the surgery.

How is she behaving otherwise? Is her appetite and activity level good?

 

[DynamiteKitty]

That's what I was thinking, I'm not too worried, but it's still a possibility. Actually, her activity level has increased dramatically. I got worried when she wasn't being as active, which was one of the reasons she got taken to the vet in the first place, I think she's more comfortable with moving about more now and can find its easier for herself to do that, so I wouldn't say it's any worse than it was. Somedays she's not very active.
Appetite has improved too since her operation, I'd be concerned if she was getting the point where she's being a little picky or not eating anything.

In terms of behaviour, she's been having on/off days, which I would probably put down to possible depression, caused by the hormones. She never bites me and sometimes she has a little nip, but otherwise she seems fine and shes only done this out of 2 days of the past 4 weeks.