UPdate on Jordan

Well we went the vet today. I think I cried almost the entire time I was there despite trying not to. The spot in his eye appears to be a calcium build up from the high level of calcium in his blood. The vet got a good look at this eyes and did not see anything else wrong with them. They did blood work which of coarse will not be back until Monday. He did gain 2 pounds over the last two months. The vet said that is good because with cancer you usually see a loss of weight, but is still afraid he's got cancer hiding somewhere. In addition Jordan has a small buldge on the right side of his body just behind the ribs. The vet tried to feel (Jordan is not a cooperative patient) and said it felt like his kidney. He said it's hard to tell but feels slightly enlarged and is suggesting that I have a repeat ultrasound done by one of their vets. He said that if all he wants to eat is chicken baby food to let him eat that because it's more important that he continues to eat something. So basicly I have no answers, but at least the spot in his eye is not a confirmation of cancer. In addition he said it would be OK to take Jordan with me to Michigan for Thanksgiving. So that's the latest not much of an update and I'm trying deperately to hold it together and not make my anxiety affect how he feels.

I wish it were better news, but that isn't the worst you could've been told. Take things on day at a time & love Jordan for all he's worth....

Oh, gosh, you know Jordan has my best wishes, prayers, and healing vibes directed at him. Go and enjoy your holiday time TOGETHER, and may there be good news for you waiting.

I'm glad they have figured out his eye spot. It's also good that he's gained weight. I hope the bloodwork and ultra sound shed some light on what's causing the worrisome lump.

Still sending good vibes for Jordan.

My thoughts are with you. It could be a lot worse, though I know how worried you are. Good vibes for you and Jordan, and enjoy Thanksgiving.

It sounds like you're on the right track, and I hope that things w/ Jordan continue to improve.

Take him w/ you, and enjoy every moment you can w/ him!

I will continue to keep y'all in my prayers.

~KK~

Well he ate really good Saturday night & then not so good at dinner time last night, but then he woke me at 12:30AM. I thought well if he will eat I'll get up & sure enough he ate about 1/8 cup of dry food. This morning he ate a little F.F. He still seems a little tired, but he's hanging in there. I should be talking to the vet after work today. Normally I'd call & tell him to call me at work, but I'm going to be out of the office this afternoon at some training. So I'm hoping to get home before they close and catch him. At this point I think if I increase his pred until they can do an ultrasound it should help. I am also now thinking that depending on what they find I may at least give Chemo a try. For crying out loud he's only 4 and I know I'll always regret it if I don't atleast try.

Rang I am at a loss for words right now. I just wanted to say hugs to both you and Jordan.

So I talked to the vet. His blood calcium did infact spike again. It's not at the highest it's every been, but it is 11.8 & I believe 10.8 is the top of normal. So he's going tomorrow for the ultra sound, and the vet is looking into another medication that is now being recommended for cats with idopathic hypercalcimia. So please send good vibes for him & calming vibes for me. I'm going to have to leave him at the vet all day tomorrow and I hate doing that.

So he's there & I'm here at work. As if that's not hard enough I got a call from our corprate office I have to go over there today, so I had to call the vet back & leave a number that I can be reached at over there. I hated leaving him there. He gave me that look like what's going on. It was really hard because he was such a sweetie last night & he slept with me for 2 or 3 hours purring away the whole time. I got a great nights sleep because of that.

I was just thinking about him this morning and saw your update. Sending vibes for Jordan.

So he had his ultra sound yesterday. It was mostly good. His kidneys look normal, his intestines, lympnodes, and parathyroid all look normal. The only thing that looked a little off is that they vet that did the ultra sound felt that there was a small area of thickening in his stomach around the pimitrial (sp?) valve.
So my options are as follows;
1. Start him on a special diet in the hopes of getting his calcium down (did this but he didn't want to eat again this morning)
2. Give him some Pepcid, or other drug with the possibility that the lack of appitite is a stomache problem due to the pred.
3. Give him another drug that will bring down his calcium; however, this drug is $400 - $500 is given IV & needs to be given every 6 weeks. (To me this is a lot of money to treat a symptom and not the cause)
4. Have an exploritory surgeory done to see if there is cancer somewhere.

I'm trying to decide this is just so hard. I don't want to put him through a surgeory, but it sounds like without a biopsy the vet won't do chemo. I'm just at such a loss. I have no idea what is best for him right now. He was so crabby when I picked him up yesterday he even lunged at me a time or two.

Hi Rang
I'm keeping your sweet Jordan in my prayers.

When Cleo was first diagnosed with CRF, she also had an elevated Calcium level (my vet also mentioned the "C" word.) I had her Ionized Calcium and Intact Parathormone levels checked (which were elevated) and started her on Calcitriol. Her Calcium levels quickly returned to normal. Now, honestly, I don't know if Jordan's problem is the same as Cleo's, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to inquire, do the test, or see if Calcitriol would be of any help to control the Calcium levels. I'm going to include the link where I discussed Calcitriol with another member re: CRF, but the info is still relevant here.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...142945&page=3p

I would certainly try other options before resorting to surgery/biopsy or chemo. Good luck....you both are in my prayers.

Keep those vibes comming. Between the Pepcid & your vibes things are looking up for my Jordan Noah. He's eating better, and last night he was chasing the other cats around and actually playing with them. Sunday night he at a whole can of FF Medolies & then woke me at midnight & ate 1/8 cup of dry food, then for breakfast ate another whole can of FF. (I know it's too much but I was so thrilled that he was eating) Then last night another can of FF Medolies & another 1/8 cup of dry food around 1 AM Then about 3/4 of his can of FF this morning. For a cat that was eating nothing but chicken baby food a week ago I'm amazed.
I talked to the vet & he did give me a bit of good news. He said cancer is still a definate possibility, but that Lymphoma is actually becoming less of a concern. He said it's still possible that the pred has kept the Lymphoma in check, but that usually cats with Lymphoma don't live very long. So basicly the longer he hangs on the less the chance it's lymphoma. I was thrilled to hear that because Lymphoma is so hard to treat and takes them so quickly.

I'm so glad to hear this! More vibes coming.

Rang my Claude has kideney issues and has to be on a special diet. His Calcuim levels were high intially. I had a hard time getting him to eat his perscription wet food. Here are some of the things I did that worked for me.
1.) If Jordan had an old wet food he was eating try mixing a tiny amount in with the perscription food and water it down some.
2.) Heat up the perscription food & mix in some water before you feed it to him. I am doing this now now with Claude and he is eating the perscription food on it's own now without the old food mixed in.

I hope this helps. Also see what options are avaiable for the perscription food Jordan needs maybe there is another comparable perscription food you could try.