We are honored to present Boo Campana as the Companion Animal of the Month for October 2007. Boo is a 15 year old Domestic Medium Haired cat who is the shy but devoted companion animal to Stephanie and Eddie Campana. Boo was adopted by the Campana's at the tender age of 6 weeks from a co-worker at the local high school where Stephanie works. She was found as a newborn and was hand fed with an eye dropper until she was able to eat kitten food. Boo was taken home in October of 1992, and in recognition of Halloween the Campana's named their new kitten Boo.
Boo
can be best described as a loner, she enjoys spending her time lounging on
window sills and watching for birds and squirrels to run by the window.
She also likes to get inside objects such as bags, boxes, and baskets and hide
in them. Boo is a very striking cat, her bright orange eyes fit her name
and also help her to
stand out. Boo knows that she is a pretty cat, as she grooms herself
thoroughly on a daily basis to maintain her looks despite her medical problems.
She is an extremely resilient feline with a heart of a lioness.
Boo stayed relatively healthy for the first 14 years of her life. In late 2006 she presented to Atlantic Animal Hospital initially for a severe oral infection and pain. She was treated medically a few times with antibiotics and pain medications. In early 2007, a mass was found inside her mouth on the maxillary gingiva. In April 2007, her blood work looked okay and a mass removal and biopsy was done along with a complete and thorough dental cleaning. Unfortunately the mass turned out to be an adenocarcinoma possibly from the oral mucosal or salivary glands. Boo made a fast and complete recovery from the surgery but the Campana's understood that the tumor was likely to spread and cause similar or worse problems in the future. The goal was set to provide Boo the best change at a good quality of life without chemotherapy or radiation, as she is not a good candidate for either at her age. The Campana's have continued to help Boo by seeking and combining over the counter herbal therapies with the medical treatments provided by Dr. Sukhija. Boo had a second surgery for the mouth tumor in June and another in September. Every time she amazes everyone by making a great recovery and returning back to her normal habits and routines. However, Boo is showing some evidence of cancer metastasis (spread) to the skin on her body. Despite having cancer and several surgeries to remove it, Boo is determined to go on with her live and the Campana's are there to help her do this.
Boo is an exceptional cat, who has handled all of her surgeries and oral medications extremely well with the help of her loving family. She would not be with us without the excellent home care the Campana's give Boo on a daily basis. The staff of Atlantic Animal Hospital help companion animals recover in the hospital, as well as provide families like the Campana's the information, education, medications that they need to for adequate care at home. However, only the companion animal and the human caretakers can assure that the therapies are provided correctly for the best results. All of the credit for Boo's survivability goes to Boo herself and the Campana's. We are happy to highlight this great example of the human-animal bond and veterinarian-patient-client relationship.