Large-Cell Lymphoma

That is such good news.  I really hope he goes into full remission and stays that way for a long time.

That's great! Continued !!!!!!

Brilliant. So happy for you

Hi again everyone,

So things were going so well. Maui was finally starting to gain weight and the chemo stopped making him sick. AND the vet couldn't find his tumor at all on multiple visits. When he was supposed to have his ultrasound a few weeks ago to say whether he was in a full remission or not, they said that it wasn't necessary because he was doing so well that they could say that he had a much better chance of living longer than the average.

This was all until last week. He had chemo on Monday. Monday through Wednesday nights he threw up once each night but seemed to feel fine. No change in appetite, behavior, or drinking. Until Thursday or Friday. He lost his appetite and hasn't really eaten much since then. He's been getting Mirtazapine (appetite stimulant) and Maropitant/Cerenia(anti-nausea) every day since Sunday but it hasn't helped. His behavior has been the same: outgoing, vocal, super cuddler.

Some of the things I've tried:

-baby food

-various canned foods

-various dry foods

-beef jerky

-tuna

He'll eat a few bites of something with a lot of encouraging but not nearly enough to sustain himself. The vet has prescribed Cyproheptadine to see if it works better than the Mirtazapine.I will also be getting some fluids with electrolytes to give him subcutaneously. Other than trying to force-feed him with a syringe, I'm not sure what to do. The vet is suggesting that he have an ultrasound on Monday when he goes for his chemo to see if it's a progression of his disease. I don't get it. How could he have gone from doing so well to crashing? Could his cancer really have come back that quickly despite how fast it went away with chemo?

Has anyone had any experience with this? Is it just a temporary thing or a reaction to the chemo? Any experience with Cyproheptadine?

Thanks for all of your help!

I know lots of people have used the Cypro for appetite stimulation.  Some like it better than the mirtazapine, some don't...just depends on the cat.  Does Maui seem extra nauseated?  Maybe he needs MORE anti-emetic?  (is that even possible?)  That could certainly be why he doesn't want to eat though, and you already said he has been on the Cerenia since Sunday, AND vomited even with it.   Are you giving him an antacid too?  I know Lazlo developed ulcers when he was on chemo for his large cell lymphoma.  (not MY cat, someone else's) 

At this point, I would say you definitely need to syringe feed him because you certainly don't want him to develop Fatty Liver on top of everything else. 

Here's hoping this is just a little bump in the road

Hopefully this is just a little blip in Maui's remission.     My Sebastian has chronic pancreatitis. He's on a lot of the same meds that a cancer kitty would get. Because of the chronic nature of his pain, nausea and anorexia, he's on Prednisolone, Cerenia and Pepcid AC daily, and Mirtazapine and Buprenorphine as needed. For the Cerenia, Sebastian has a maintenance dose and a flare dose.

Thanks for all the support! I'm so glad that I found this site! I don't know what I'd do without all of your help and advice, though I am sad that you are all speaking from experience.

Maui is in the hospital. Initially, after getting his x-ray results, they thought that he would have to be put down today and/or that there was a good chance that he wouldn't make it through the night. After doing an ultrasound, the vet said that she was much more hopeful about his prognosis and he could come through this and be fine. They suspect that his intestines haven't been moving things along so his stomach was full of fluid and food. The ultrasound found areas of his intestines that looked constricted. The vet thinks that this isn't the case and they could've just caught the intestines at the wrong time when they're not expanded. They're giving him some medications that will help stimulate his intestines. If he does have a constriction or obstruction, it could potentially kill him. When I visited him a couple of hours ago, he seemed better than he was this morning (and the vet said that his quick improvement gave her even more hope) but still not anywhere close to 100%. She just called to say that she tucked him in as she was leaving and his condition hasn't changed. She said that because the drugs were fast acting, he should have started showing signs of declining by now but it's possible that he could still get worse. Right now, it seems hopeful but there's still a small chance that he could die. Hopefully this is just a bump, as you said, and I'll have my little snugglebug back tomorrow!

I'm hoping for you and Maui. My kitty had lymphoma, too. We did not treat as she was a big homebody and I felt it would've been torture for her. But you are really deserving, dedicated kitty parents for trying!

How is Maui today? 

Hi Raintyger, I'm sorry to hear about your cat. It's tough when it's already decided for you that treatment isn't a good option. I have to say that I think it's really great of you to put her feelings first and do what's best for her happiness.

Thanks for asking mrsgreenjeans. Maui isn't doing very well today. He improved a little overnight but he is very nauseous today. They're going to keep him overnight again tonight and see what happens. I'm guessing that if he still doesn't improve, his chances of recovery aren't high enough to justify putting him through this. but I'm going to visit him and talk with his doctor at 4 so I'll have a better idea of what the options will be after tonight.

Hi all,

I visited with Maui today and he looked quite a bit better than yesterday (but not even close to himself).

When I saw him, he was sitting up and was very alert. When they opened the doors of his cage, he meowed at me. (He's very vocal and always greets me with some meows at home). His drooling wasn't as bad as yesterday. When I touched under his chin, he moved his head up for me to pet under his chin. He even got up and walked over for me to pick him up and hold him. They said that he even had a couple licks of food. All of which is much better than yesterday. but about 15-20 minutes into the visit, he moved into the corner and it was clear that he wasn't feeling well again.

The vet called about an hour ago and they want to put a feeding tube down his nose for a couple of days to see if getting some food will make him better. If he continues to decline food after that, they want to put a more permanent feeding tube in (an esophageal tube). I'm not sure what to do about the more permanent tube. If he improves but he still doesn't eat, doesn't that mean that he's given up? I don't want to force him to live if he doesn't want to. I don't want to torture him; I want him to live a normal life. I think that the feeding tube is too much and a bad idea but I would need to do more research before making a solid decision. I will make a separate post about my feeding tube concerns but I would definitely appreciate any feedback here that any of you might have.

Thank you and I hope you and your kitty (and possibly human) families are doing well!

I guess like any cancer in humans, there are good days and bad days. With Maui's tumor shrinking so much, I'm really hoping he gets through this and has a full remission.    I agree that he needs nutrition. From what I've read of others' experiences, feeding tubes actually reduce stress for both the cat and the parent. As long as he isn't in too much pain, I guess you'll just have to gauge his quality of life in other respects. 

Thanks, GoHolistic.

Unfortunately, Maui is about to cross over rainbow bridge. He had a rare reaction to the chemo where a small section of his intestines is constricted or blocked so food and fluid can't pass beyond that point. The only options are surgery to remove the damaged portion of intestine or a feeding tube inserted into his abdomen. After all that he's been through, I think it is more humane to end his suffering than to put him through an intense surgery and recovery or an abnormal life with a feeding tube. I'm about to head to the hospital to be with him one last time.

Oh no! I am so, so sorry.    This is so heartbreaking. My thoughts are with you during this difficult time.  

Oh, so sorry. It is good of you to consider Maui's feelings, though.

Thank you everyone for all of your help through this whole battle.

Maui died peacefully in my arms almost 25 hours ago. It's still hard to accept that I'll never see him, never hear him "talk", or never cuddle with him again.

I just want to post about what happened to him in case someone else can find it useful. I will also post the results of his autopsy. and if you were wondering, I requested that his body be donated to science, which apparently means that they do an autopsy on him. So not only do I have the benefit of knowing that he can help people even in death, but I also get a report of what went wrong.

Back to the point, what happened to him is *extremely* rare and they've only heard of one other cat that experienced this event. Both cats responded extremely well to chemo. but they think that when the chemo shrunk the tumor, it created scar tissue on that part of the intestine. As time progressed, the scar tissue constricted the intestine to where food was unable to pass through it. The only options are surgery or a feeding tube that bypasses the blocked portion of intestine.

They said that there was nothing that I could've done to prevent it but I can't help thinking that maybe he would still be alive if I had put him on a raw diet (or at least grain-free), given him probiotics, and made a better effort to be aware of what causes inflammation and how to avoid it. Maybe he would still be alive if I had done more research and taken better care of him.

Oh, mauers. I'm so very sorry about all this. Thank you for sharing the details. Please don't blame yourself. Sometimes even the best diet and supplements doesn't prevent cancer. There are also genetic and environmental factors we can't control. You and Maui had a wonderful 12 years together. I know this doesn't make it any easier. You're feeling a great deal of pain and loss. I offer you my heartfelt support and pray for your strength to get through this. 

I agree completely with GoHolistic.  There are no guarantees that even fed the best diet in the world from the time you adopted him would have kept him from getting this terrible disease .  Sometimes bad things just happen and I'm so sorry this time they happened to you and Maui   And what a double whammy that he was doing SO WELL and overcoming it, and then this oddity had to happen . 

I am so, so sorry for  your loss. 

I'm so sorry. Our wee Daisy has been given a few weeks to live after her chemo stopped working. I have been questioning whether I could have done more but the reality for us both is that cancer is cancer and sometimes the best care in the world is just not enough. I am really feeling it for you. Take care and don't doubt yourself. You did everything you could. X

Thank you. It's so difficult to accept that it was just an unlucky circumstance rather than something that I could've done something prevented or fixed.

tinybash, I'm so sorry to hear about Daisy. I hope that she can surprise everyone and live longer than a few weeks.