Over the last 36 or so hours Ollie, who has previously been a fairly mellow character, has left me and been replaced by an angry, growly, snarly hissy spectre who I honestly think would hurt me if I handled him when he didn't want me to. He cornered one of my girls just now and I'm not entirely sure what would've happened if I hadn't intervened.
His pain's generally been quite well controlled, he's still eating and drinking and he had his DepoMed jab last Wednesday, which, as usual, reduced his inflammation levels down to the point where he regained some decent coordination - enough to come upstairs, which has always been a good indicator of how he's feeling.
I don't even need to touch him for him to growl - really growl, the kind of noise that makes you look for a burrow to escape down - hiss and spit, and if I do touch him he goes to claw or bite. To be honest, he's frightening me.
My thoughts are either that the tumour has intruded into an area of his brain that's causing more serious problems than the dizziness and confusion that he's had this far, or that he's developed bone metastases and is actually now in an immense amount of pain. Which generally is enough to make me go "ok, it's time to go now".
But.
He's still bloody playing!
Like a kitten, no less. Pouncing and dashing around, grabbing things...
I'm lost, guys. I really don't know what to do. I don't know what he needs - I don't feel confident that he's at the end of his life while he's playing like this, and until yesterday he was VERY snuggly and purry and generally appreciative of a warm, soft bed... but he can't go on like this and neither can I.
Your suggestions are welcome.
