Gastric Tumour

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biscuity

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I'll call them in the morning. It is late here now.
 
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biscuity

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Marmite does not have cancer.

They have found 2 additional problems, gastritis & a spiral bacteria which can be treated. They believe that this answers her response to treatment & the symptoms she has been having. It means an additional 2 medicines for 3 weeks, but with a likely success rate of 90%. They want her back in January for another endoscope where they can check the ulcer & biopsy for the bacteria. The last trip was hugely stressful for Marmite & I have to consider what would be best for her. I'm wondering if the endoscope is just a matter of the vets ticking all the boxes, or whether she really does need another one to check out everything.
 

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:woohoo: :woohoo: That is FABULOUS news!!!!! I am sorry about the gastritis and spiral bacterial - but a treatment success rate of 90% sounds VERY promising! And you're already treating her ulcers.... so I hope that all of this means that the prognosis is good that your little girl will be back to herself soon! :hugs: :hugs: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes:

I KNOW it's a lot of medication, and it's stressful for all of you.... but you WILL get through it!

About the endoscope.... I'm thinking that's an AWFUL long trip and very stressful. I'd go through the cycle of meds she needs, and have a chat with your local vet. :nod: If all they'd be doing is "looking" to see if her ulcers are healed, well.... I have to agree, it may not be worth it.

Our Lazlo has had bleeding ulcers twice now because of his cancer. The first time he seemed much better after three weeks of meds, and for whatever stupid reason, the vet(s) (he was seeing two) said to take him off those meds. Well, chemo is hard on the body, and his cancer is a mass in his stomach, so whatever possessed everyone to think that is beyond me. When he started throwing up blood again... :rolleyes: He's back on the meds, and this time we're leaving him on them.

I don't know what caused her gastritis/ulcers - I suspect they don't either. Perhaps it's the bacteria? I don't know. But keeping her on an acid reducer, at a minimum, may help.

For now, do your best to give her the meds. As a treat to all of you, skip the least important of them every once in a while... and see how she's doing after a few weeks. You can reevaluate things then. :nod:

Aw, this is just FABULOUS news! :bigthumb:

Continued :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: for all of you, especially little Marmite!
 
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biscuity

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Thank you

We are giving Marmite 3 lots of medication at the moment. After Friday, we can skip the pain killing one as we were supposed to give that for 1 week & the vet has confirmed that we can stop that one.

For the past 2 days, Marmite has been less active, sleeping a lot more. She is getting stressed from the meds, but I will have to report back to the vet any unusual behaviour.

About the check up trip, I will talk to my regular vet on Monday about it. It's a difficult decision.
 
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ldg

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Well, depending upon the antibacterial they've given her, it may zap her energy (especially in combination with the pain killer). Don't know if you've ever been on a heavy duty med, but sometimes they just knock you (well, me anyway) out. :nod: Of course, it is ALWAYS best to consult with the vet. :)
 
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biscuity

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Marmite is not yet on the anti-bacterial meds.

Today, we have dropped the pain killers, so she is taking an anti-acid & ulcer meds.

Over the past few days she has been getting very stressed. She sleeps a lot of the time & is not inter-acting much with us. She has also sicked up her breakfast both yesterday & today. I think that it may be stress. She is getting picked up & tortured twice a day every day now for a week & that follows on from a week at the hospital from the week before. She is not happy. The past few days she is not eating her full meals & I am having to tempt her with treats.

My inclination is to give her a day off the medication torture, but I will check with the vet about this.

I got pretty badly scratched this evening, holding her for her meds.
 
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biscuity

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Thanks for the link, I will look for that, but how to we get an unwilling Marmite in there!

Marmite was sick again last night & she has now been sick every day for the past 3 days. For the first time in years, she did not sleep on the bed with, but slept in her little covered bed on the floor. She has spent most of today in there too. She is not happy at all & may be in pain, or avoiding us. We gave her the meds this morning & she was sick afterwards. We were going to go back to 3 lots of meds per day, but she has been in the covered bed all day today & we would have to be very aggressive to get her out of it. I have just this evening managed to tempt her out with her water bowl & she has come into our home office - where she generally spends her time with us. She is on her radiator bed & we will leave her there for an hour before giving the meds. We are not going to be able to do 3 lots today either because it is now so late. I called the pet hospital & the vet who worked with Marmite will ring back on Monday. I also have my local vet ringing back on Monday too. I am very worried about this as Marmite now seems worse than she has ever been. She is not sleeping much, but resting with her eyes open. She does not like us approaching her, but will still watch me when I talk to her. I'm worried that as we have dropped her meds to 2x per day instead of 3x, that we have not been treating her properly. I had another tearful time today, I'm so worried about my little friend.
 

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Just thinking of you and Marmite - bless you for loving her so much.
 
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biscuity

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Thank you darlili

We had a reasonably good meds this evening. Instead of a towel, we used a wool blanket to hold market. She opened her month to complain & my wife managed to get the whole load of pain killer into her. We then spent a few minutes calming & talking to her, before the next one. Once again, we spent a few minutes calming her. It seemed to make the treatment easier & also Marmite got pretty well the whole lot of everything, although she dribbled out a little bit. I then spent the next half hour sitting with her & talking to her, before she decided to go upstairs. I offered her a drink & a treat, but she wasn't interested, also she didn't want me too close. We then went downstairs to have our dinner & coming up just now, Marmite was in her radiator bed looking a little brighter. She has still not eaten though. I think that tonight, I will leave her a little food as she has hardly eaten a thing today & not much yesterday.
 
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ldg

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When you talk to the vet(s) Monday, ask about an anti-nausea medication. I know she's on the ulcer meds, and that includes an ant-acid. But our Lazlo needed specifically an anti-nausea med to help him want to eat.

Aw.... poor Marmite. I just don't know what to recommend. It's so hard to know what to do when they need the medication - but getting it into them is so traumatic. :(

What I wonder is why her stomach would be so acid that she developed ulcers to begin with. And when did they expect you start on the antibacterial?

Do they have compounding pharmacies anywhere near where you live? Or do local pharmacies offer compounding? Around here, many local pharmacies will make children's medicine taste like something a kid will swallow. We had Tuxedo's medicine fixed up at a compounding pharmacy where they made it taste like tuna. You might want to ask around to see if there's anything like that possible. Tuna, cheese, beef, liver, chicken... whatever she loves (and will hide the flavor!) the most! It's the only thing I can think of that might turn "medicine time" into "treat time." :sigh:

:hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes:
 
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biscuity

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I will ask both vets about compounding pharmacies, thank you. Also one of my clients runs a small pharmacy, I could ask him.

About the acid, the hospital vet mentioned that Marmite's breed is pre-disposed to gastritis, I suspect that also leads to acid. I will check.

My wife wondered if some sort of mild sedation may help. Marmite gets so stressed out with the meds & we think that she hurts herself trying to get away. In a way, we want her to feel happier, but also more relaxed about the procedures.
 

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A sedative is definitnely worth asking about. Of course... you'd have to get the sedative in her. But if she will only need the antibiotic/pain killer for a few weeks, it might be worth having her a little dopey until you're over the main hump of medicating.

I'm assuming she'll need at least the antacid for the rest of her life... but if you get it down to just that one medication, it may be much easier for all of you.
 
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biscuity

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We were told that the anti-acid & ulcer treatment were just for 3 weeks. Although the hospital wants to check her again in January to check on the ulcer, we were worried about the effect on Marmite of another long trip. Next week, we will also have the gastritis & bacteria medicines too.

This evening, she seems to be feeling a little better now that we have the pain meds in her after stopping them yesterday. She started purring as my wife was talking to her just a moment ago.
 

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Sending good thoughts out to you & Marmite.
 
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biscuity

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Poor Marmite was sick for most of yesterday & getting very unwell. We took her to the vet who conferred with the small animal hospital who had done the testing on her. She gave Marmite a steroid injection to reduce her tummy swelling which was hoped to stop her being sick. With an hour of the injection, she perked up & was my Marmite again. Coming to see us both then laying in her special place between my computer screen & keyboard. She felt well enough to have something to eat so I gave her a little bit & she ate about 8 kibbles of food. Within an hour, she was sick again. Then last night she was sick at 2am & again at 6am. I clean up immediately after she is sick & always try to sooth her. My little darling actually went to her litter tray to be sick the 3rd time. We called the vet again this morning & she conferred with the hospital again & asked for Marmite to be hospitalised at the vet place until Friday. We took her to the vet place about lunchtime & she is there now. My poor baby was in her cat basket shivering because she was scared. I had her basket open so I could stroke & talk to her. The vet told us everything they would be doing to help Marmite & most of the meds will be given by IV. She will also have a pain med & two oral meds for the ulcer. It was very hard to ask too many questions as we were both in in tears when we left. The vet was very kind with us. I'm so very worried about my poor Marmite, I'm scared for her. Most of this afternoon we're both been in tears. I hope that the vet can help her.
 

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I'm so sorry that Biscuity is so poorly. As you'll see from my posting I'm new on this site - my cat 19 year old Katie is also under the wonderful small animal hospital at Liverpool- the vet we see (Katherie) is fantastic. Biscuity is in the best hands! We are waiting for a phone call from vet tomorrow to tell us if Katie's suspected intestinal tumour has spread to the liver and spleen. Biscuity sounds a very strong cat and I'm sure that this combined with the excellent veterinary care will help her get better. Good luck xxxx
 

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sorry for thinking your cat was called Biscuity ......best of luck to little Marmite .... my Katie is sending her lots of purrs too! xxx
 
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