My kitty might have cancer and I am scared to death

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arinlars

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Missmindy I think you wrote it somewhere but what is she eating ? I hope you and her feel better
 
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missmindy

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Missmindy I think you wrote it somewhere but what is she eating ? I hope you and her feel better
She is currently eating iams canned tuna. I know it's not the best, but it is about the only thing she shows interest in. She had some baby food along the way too. We give her bites of chicken too. She's showing more interest in treats now too. Plus she gets her pills hidden in cheese and thinks that's just the greatest.

We are meeting with the oncologist againin next week. This is the man who was rough with her. He is on board with treating her but wants to make sure her strength is up. I'm going to let him know up front that he really traumatized her last time. He won't give her the leukeran without seeing her again, so we are kind of stuck now. I hope another week doesn't make a huge difference in her treatment.

Our problem now is that she is starting to show more signs of pain. We are not sure if this is from the cancer or her arthritis. The shot yesterday helped, but we can't go every day. Her vet offered metacam or tramadol. She hated tramadol last time she had it and I understand the metacam is not good due to her being on prednisilone. She has taken it in the past with no ill effects though she wasn't taking any other meds at the time. I'm going to call her regular vet again tomorrow and ask about some of the other medicines I've read about on the board and see if she might have any other options.
 

arinlars

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Mindy dont feel bad about the cat food. If that makes her happy now then that is what she will eat! Even friskies.

You know what helps my kitty when she is stressed? She is the most stressed little kitty always scared, but we made a 16 hour fright across the world and feliway helped a lot. I bought the spray and sprayed the cat carrier for 3 days before the trip. She was feeling comfy and I do that whenever we visit the vet too.

Poor kitty that is in pain.. I am sorry, I know nothing of painkillers.
 

rubydoo67

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Hi MissMindy

I just read your story and want to say how sorry I am. My cat also had cancer, large cell lymphoma. I was devasted. I didn't pursue chemo as my cat was terribly stressed and the internist indicated it wouldnt buy her more than 9 months. Of course, there are always exceptions

The symptoms seem to follow a particular pattern as does the cancer as it progresses. I had never even heard of lymphoma in cats before this

All I can say is enjoy Mindy, make her happy. I gave my cat crappy food and then switched to a grain free wet food which she seemed to enjoy until she stopped eating completely

Best wishes to you and Mindy
 
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missmindy

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@arinlars-Mindy has had a few great days in a row. We are still working on eating more but she is doing good. She seems to be feeling better and is getting into mischief.

@rubydoo67 thank you- I'm making the best of every minute. I really struggled with the decision to treat a lot. I still don't know what kind of time she might get. The oncologist said anywhere from 1-6 months which made me think they just really dont know. I promised her though that if treatment gets to be too much or upsets her we will quit and just keep her comfy.

Best wishes to everyone's kitties :vibes:
 

misty8723

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@arinlars-Mindy has had a few great days in a row. We are still working on eating more but she is doing good. She seems to be feeling better and is getting into mischief.

@rubydoo67 thank you- I'm making the best of every minute. I really struggled with the decision to treat a lot. I still don't know what kind of time she might get. The oncologist said anywhere from 1-6 months which made me think they just really dont know. I promised her though that if treatment gets to be too much or upsets her we will quit and just keep her comfy.

Best wishes to everyone's kitties
They really don't know how long. I think they don't want to raise your expectations and then you would be devastated if it didn't pan out.  My Cindy is still hanging in there, she went through 6 chemo treatments and it's been a year and a half since she was diagnosed.  She has some really good days, and some days where all she wants to do is sleep, but I don't regret for a minute our decision to pursue chemo.

My hope for you is that your Mindy is one who beats the odds and makes a full recovery.  And in any case, love her all you can and treat her like the special little kitty she is.
 

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:( :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: I'm so sorry for the diagnosis and all you're going through together. As the others have said, you have such a wonderful attitude and approach. You baby is lucky to have such a wonderful, caring you. :heart2:

For the bladder issues that have been ongoing. Whether or not this is related to her other problems, I don't know. I do know I have a kitty with bladder inflammation issues. She started to develop what seemed like may become chronic infections, having had two inside of a little over a year. The vet did show us how to give her sub-q fluids at home, and we regularly give these to her, as - according to our vet - keeping their bladder flushed and full helps make them more comfortable and reduces pain. It can be scary at first, but once you get a routine down, most find it's not difficult. So I do suggest asking your vet about administering sub-q fluids at home. Especially for kitties with issues of a lack of appetite, the fluids really seem to help perk them up.

Something else to ask about is B-12 shots. Even when B-12 numbers in their blood values are normal, it's a safe adjunct therapy (given excess is secreted), and this often helps give them a bit of an appetite and some energy.

Other things I use for Spooky are corn silk tea, and d-mannose. Your vet may be familiar with these, they're not way-out-there treatments. I just add a tablespoon of organic corn silk tea to Spooky's food at each meal (three meals a day) when she was having a flare-up, and I would continue that for a week or so, and then give her a tablespoon every day or two. The corn silk has mucilage in it which is soothing to an inflamed bladder, and properties of the tea help bind excess minerals, which can also cause kitty discomfort.

Your vet may not have heard of d-mannose per se, but may be familiar with cranberry. D-mannose is a sugar from cranberry, but it is not metabolized (by people or cats), it passes through the system undigested, and once in the bladder, it binds with the bacteria that are the most common cause of bladder infections, helping prevent them from attaching to the bladder wall and reproduce, thus helping prevent infection. Here are several articles on it:

http://www.vetinfo.com/d-mannose-for-cats.html

The instructions given there are for use for one or two days only. My vet says to prevent infection, it must be given daily. I've started using the supplement Vet's Best Urinary Tract Support. It has other ingredients also known to be soothing and healing to an inflamed bladder.


I know someone here recommended curcumin. This is a powerful and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. If you are not going to pursue chemo with the Leukeran, then this might be something to consider. But if you are going to pursue chemo, this will interfere with the treatment. Antioxidants should not be given during chemotherapy. They can be used as supportive treatment after chemo, but not during.

For the arthritis, do ask the oncologist if you can use krill oil during chemotherapy. My Flowerbelle has terrible arthritis in her hips. Omega 3s are known to be very helpful in reducing inflammation due to arthritis. I had her on salmon oil, and saw no difference in her mobility. I switched her to 500mg of krill oil a day (she hates it, so I pill her with it, it's a small capsule - I use NOW Neptune Krill Oil - but many cats like it and readily eat it if you puncture the capsule with a thumbtack and squeeze it onto the food and mix it in), and I saw a major difference, and pretty quickly. I mentioned this on the forums, and a person with arthritis in their hands switched from fish oil to krill oil, and is now able to sew again. So the claims about the bioavailability of the omegas in the krill oil being superior do seem to be true.

My thoughts and vibes go with you and Mindy. :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes: :vibes:
 
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arinlars

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My Mimi is on her bad days now with her ibd flaring up . Hang in there missmindy and misty you are doing your best and you love your kitties so much . You are great cat parents
 

arinlars

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LDG do you know what herb helps with diarrhea ? That was very good information !
 

ldg

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arinlars, I do have information that will be helpful to you. But we're having a huge storm, and cell signal is in and out - and I'm dependent on that for internet. So I'll try to get this posted, and I'll reply tomorrow, when hopefully this has blown through.....
 

arinlars

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arinlars, I do have information that will be helpful to you. But we're having a huge storm, and cell signal is in and out - and I'm dependent on that for internet. So I'll try to get this posted, and I'll reply tomorrow, when hopefully this has blown through.....
Oh!! Be safe!!!:kitty:
 

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tinybash

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I'm sorry you are going through this. It's so traumatic. Our Daisy had lymphoma. Chemo bought us an extra 6 months. We lost her in March but were grateful for any extra time. I hope things pick up with Mindy. Daisy had no side effects on chemo.

I know how hard this is.

Good luck
 
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missmindy

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@LDG   Thank you so much for all of that info!  I will talk to Mindy's vet!  She's continuing to have flare ups.  The buprenorphine helps, but I hate to medicate her around the clock.

Everyone you are so supportive.  It means so much to me and I can't thank you enough.  Mindy was supposed to go to the oncologist again on Tuesday to start Leukeran, but he has rescheduled for Thursday.  That will be 2 full weeks now since she was diagnosed with cancer.  I'm concerned about making her wait until then and am kicking myself for not getting her into someone else.  He had told me then without treatment that she wouldn't last the month.  Hopefully the prednisolone is doing its' job for now and she will be ok until Thursday
 
 
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missmindy

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Mindys's oncologist cancelled on her again. Of course this is unacceptable and I was so upset. Her regular vet was able to touch base with him and we are proceeding without his direct involvement. Mindy had her first dose of leukeran this afternoon. She seems a bit off her food but nothing else of note. Fingers crossed for her. We are doing smaller doses every few days as opposed to a bigger dose every 2 weeks.
 

arinlars

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Unacceptable!! Why did he cancel?? Is another oncologist you can see? I m praying for mindy I really do.:vibes::vibes::wavey:
 
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missmindy

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I think he thought Mindy would be too difficult to treat since she was so scared with him, and he didn't seem to be a very patient person.  She's been taking her pills and such with no problem at home.  For now my regular vet is going to treat her using the oncologist's treatment plan.  If she/I have any questions, he is willing to consult.  If she needs to be seen by an oncologist in person though, there is another specialist in the area I would take her too.  I'm hoping no more vet visits for a while for her though!  We will redo bloodwork in a month or so to see how the treatment is working.

Best wishes to all the other kitties on here too!!
 
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