Possible intestinal cancer in my 15 yr old cat

My cat is 15 years old and was diagnosed 4 years ago with CRF. He is on a renal diet and gets subq fluids at home. He has been doing well until the last few months. I noticed his appetite was less and he was occasionally vomitting. I took him in to check his levels and they came back as "high normal" (I can't remember the actual BUN and Creatnine levels), but not high enough to be the cause. About two weeks ago he started vomitting again and I woke up to find what I thought was diahrrea (dark green/brown in color and bad smelling) on my couch. I took him to the vet that day and he had lost a pound since he was there a month ago. The vet ordered an abdominal ultrasound. The night before the ultrasound I was home to see him vomit up this stuff which I thought was diahrrea. The ultrasound revealed a thickening on his intestinal wall. They couldn't tell how large it was because he is quite hard to handle. The vet said he is pulling up content from deeper than his stomach and with the ultrasound results this would be cancer or possibly IBD. They said I could do a test which would pierce his intestine to remove fluid and then test for cancer, but he would need to be sedated because he is so hard to handle at the vet. He has a heart murmur which they said is a concern with sedation. They also told me the treatment, if I didn't do chemo, for cancer and IBD would be the same which is steroids. I decided to go ahead with the steroid because I didn't want to put him through more stress or the risk of sedation. He went for a steroid shot last Saturday and the vet I saw put him on I/D. The follow up was to reevaluate in 10 days to see if he should continue on steroids at home. The day after the steroid shot he threw up a small amount of liquid. On Monday and Thursday of this week he threw up the dark matter again. He also isn't pooping much and they checked him for constipation when he was there. He isn't eating much of either the K/D, IVD or I/D so I have been poaching some chicken or turkey and giving it to him as is or mixing it with rice for him which he will eat a bit of. I know this is not a balanced diet and yet I want him to eat. What are safe foods I can cook for him? I am going to call the vet tomorrow. I somewhat prepared myself years ago that it would be his CRF that I would have to put him to sleep for. I have been crying almost daily. He is always at my side and I can't imagine him not being here. He still wants attention and is easy to make purr. From what I have been reading over some of the posts this doesn't sound like IBD. Any info and advice is appreciated.

Coco has had Ibd when she was 10. They gave her Metronidazole for it. She did throw up from it but it was nothing like your Cat is doing. She is 16 now and is always Constipated. Here is some info on Ibd http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=304. See if anything sounds like Ibd to you.

mews2much thank you for your response. I read through the link you posted several times. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like he has IBD. The only part that fit was throwing up and yet he isn't even throwing up food or bile it is this dark stuff that smells bad. Thanks again for your help.

Dosent sound like it to me either. I hope it isnt Cancer.

I'm so sorry you and your kitty are going through this. I know it's scary and upsetting.

Your cat might have IBD or a condition called Triaditis which is a combination of IBD, liver disease and pancreatitis. There are a couple of good support/info groups to look into about this:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineIBD

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/F...titis_support/

Did the vet give your cat a shot of DepoMedrol? That's a very strong steroid which, if effective, can last several weeks to months before he needs another. It's given when there is suspected cancer or IBD. One of my cats was given this shot, but no additional steroids to do at home, so I'm wondering if your kitty got this particular med or something else. The Depo made a world of difference for my boy.

It's good that you're doing the fluids. If your cat won't eat enough on his own, you should assist feed. This site will help you: www.assistfeed.com On that site you'll see a link to another support group that's very helpful.

You mentioned your cat was constipated - did the vet say there was a lot of stool in his system? Being constipated for more than a day or two can make a cat sick - the longer he's constipated the more serious the condition becomes.

I know it's very hard for you to do this, but be strong for your cat's sake. He needs you to be cheerful and reassuring. You know how intuitive cats are and he will pick up on your distress, which isn't good for him. Be as positive and loving with him as you can. He just wants you to do and say the same comforting things that you always have. Keep his world as normal as possible though yours is anything but normal right now...

Please let us know how your baby's doing. Lots of good wishes for you both

I took a few days off from the computer. My old and very best friend has just had a good two days. He wants nothing to do with the prescription diets and nothing to do with me making him poached chicken/turkey with rice. I went to the premium pet store and bought a few different brands. Since he wasn't eating I didn't have the option to slowly introduce food. I know it is best to slowly introduce any new foods, but what if your cat isn't eating? So far his pick is Max Cat which I have to make a very fine mince of. He will eat a 1/2 tsp a few times aday. I also have been giving him CatSure ( I believe this is similiar to KMR). He is also getting a dose of Prednisone and Metronidazole twice a day. Because of the pills he is now very hard to give Sub-Q fluids to. He sees me coming and hides. I am just glad that I found something he will eat, even if it is in very small amounts

When Mary got sick with what we discovered was her exposure to distemper I fed her baby food and she liked it. I fed her chicken flavored babyfood which is soft and has plenty of water in it for hydration.

Originally Posted by MaraC

I took a few days off from the computer. My old and very best friend has just had a good two days. He wants nothing to do with the prescription diets and nothing to do with me making him poached chicken/turkey with rice. I went to the premium pet store and bought a few different brands. Since he wasn't eating I didn't have the option to slowly introduce food. I know it is best to slowly introduce any new foods, but what if your cat isn't eating? So far his pick is Max Cat which I have to make a very fine mince of. He will eat a 1/2 tsp a few times aday. I also have been giving him CatSure ( I believe this is similiar to KMR). He is also getting a dose of Prednisone and Metronidazole twice a day. Because of the pills he is now very hard to give Sub-Q fluids to. He sees me coming and hides. I am just glad that I found something he will eat, even if it is in very small amounts

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I'm so glad your cat's had a good couple of days.

I agree you didn't have the option to slowly introduce new food, and I'm glad he's eating some Max Cat. But "1/2 tsp a few times a day" is *not* enough food. Since he isn't eating enough on his own, you need to assist feed him. He's not getting enough calories and nutrients and too little food will cause more health problems.

I had given you some info about assist feeding in a previous post - please take a look at that website. It was a great help to me when I first started doing that. It's a good idea to read through it to familiarize yourself with the process, which isn't hard (but can be a little messy at first!) Your vet can give you some feeding syringes to start; I use 10cc size, but a 6cc or even a 3cc would be ok too. I've been assist feeding for years, so if you have any questions, I'll be glad to help you.

Another benefit to assist feeding is that you can mix your cat's meds into the food, eliminating the need to pill them separately.

I'm glad you're doing fluids - they're very beneficial. Just wondering - did your vet tell you to warm the fluids before giving them?

Thank you for the update - I hope your kitty continues to have more good days.

MaraC - Just wondering how you and your kitty are doing.