- Joined
- Oct 19, 2014
- Messages
- 130
- Purraise
- 15
I've posted here several times in the past year, initially about my cat with hyperthyroidism and intestinal disease - she still lives with both -
and eventually about my big boy Willis. His "journey" through rhinitis/sinusitis started with a stuffy nose and noisy breathing/snoring over two years ago. It seemed like a simple URI and was treated with Convenia, then Baytril, and Lysine, none of which helped. He had xrays, deep nasal culture, nasal flush, biopsy testing of flush samples, went on docycycline, none of which helped. He tried prednisolone but only got worse. He made the three hour trip to see an internist at the specialty vet hospital for $3000 worth of CT imaging, rhinoscopy, biopsy which revealed lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis with sinusitus - kind of a fancy term for nasal inflammation with no known cause or cure. And blood work. So much blood work. Azithromycin gave him relief for a few weeks in the spring but was not lasting. He stayed on a low dose of Cerenia for its potential anti-inflammatory effect. He tried Zyrtec to no avail. Atopica brought him relief for the longest period of time, he was not symptom free but breathing much easier through the summer months.
And as quickly as it had started working for him, one day in September it stopped working. All the symptoms came back, this time accompanied by decreased appetite and loose stool. Another trip to the internist revealed a worsening of his condition, obviously not news to me. They offered more of the same diagnostics for another $3000. I said no, because what would it do for Willis if it was cancer and I was not going to pursue long distance, traumatic, expensive and rarely effective nasal cancer treatment? More trials of antibiotics, steroids, chlorambucil, even experimental laser therapy were unsuccessful. In fact the second round of laser therapy, which helps some conditions in humans and animals by increasing blood flow to the area, resulted in nose bleeds, in retrospect this was a really bad idea for Willis. Within a week the source of the bleeding made itself known. A fast growing - I assume tumor - appeared in his nostril and quickly filled essentially the whole opening. It bled easily. I bought the vet recommended nebulizer for vapor treatments, but this cat was literally terrified of the noise, so it sits unused, we reverted to steam treatments from the hot running shower. Willis was losing weight and strength, he was not eating much and sometimes not at all, appetite stimulants (which are actually anti-depressants) made him nervous and agitated, so I used them only sparingly. My formerly independent gentle giant became so very needy of close physical contact. When I was home he followed me everywhere and was on me the moment I sat down.
I had to learn to ignore the loud snorting, snuffling, snoring in my ear and just hold him. Where before I had been able to settle him in another room so I could get some relief from the loud noise of his breathing, it was clear now that he needed physical comfort. His nasal disease, which previously had tested negative for cancer, twice, had morphed into a cancerous process. It didn't take a three hour trip to the internist and a biopsy to know this. My home had become a cat pharmacy/hospice center. When I filled a bag with (not even) all of Willis' meds it was shocking how much medication I had purchased and tried with him. None of it would save my boy. So I held him, kept his nose and eyes as clean as I could, made him as comfy as possible and tried like hell to get him to eat. This past Monday night, after a protracted two year battle with this hideous disease, the final phase happened very fast, and by Tuesday morning my big beautiful brave boy, age 11 years 7 months, was gone. I am thankful for every minute I had with him.
My heart is broken, if I am experiencing a traditional grieving process, I guess I'm in the anger phase over the countless vet visits, testing, diagnostics, treatments, drugs, a couple of which brought fleeting relief, a couple of which made him sicker, and all of which amounted to a hill of beans in the big picture. I was so desperate to heal this cat that I got sucked into throwing every drug at him recommended by a vet or a sick cat forum, and I'm just struggling with how I feel about that in retrospect.
I'd leave a picture, Willis was very large very beautiful cat with Maine Coon build and features, but really just a plain old kitty cat, the best kind.
Anyway, apparently I "don't have permission" to attach a picture - ok
thank you
Laura
and eventually about my big boy Willis. His "journey" through rhinitis/sinusitis started with a stuffy nose and noisy breathing/snoring over two years ago. It seemed like a simple URI and was treated with Convenia, then Baytril, and Lysine, none of which helped. He had xrays, deep nasal culture, nasal flush, biopsy testing of flush samples, went on docycycline, none of which helped. He tried prednisolone but only got worse. He made the three hour trip to see an internist at the specialty vet hospital for $3000 worth of CT imaging, rhinoscopy, biopsy which revealed lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis with sinusitus - kind of a fancy term for nasal inflammation with no known cause or cure. And blood work. So much blood work. Azithromycin gave him relief for a few weeks in the spring but was not lasting. He stayed on a low dose of Cerenia for its potential anti-inflammatory effect. He tried Zyrtec to no avail. Atopica brought him relief for the longest period of time, he was not symptom free but breathing much easier through the summer months.
And as quickly as it had started working for him, one day in September it stopped working. All the symptoms came back, this time accompanied by decreased appetite and loose stool. Another trip to the internist revealed a worsening of his condition, obviously not news to me. They offered more of the same diagnostics for another $3000. I said no, because what would it do for Willis if it was cancer and I was not going to pursue long distance, traumatic, expensive and rarely effective nasal cancer treatment? More trials of antibiotics, steroids, chlorambucil, even experimental laser therapy were unsuccessful. In fact the second round of laser therapy, which helps some conditions in humans and animals by increasing blood flow to the area, resulted in nose bleeds, in retrospect this was a really bad idea for Willis. Within a week the source of the bleeding made itself known. A fast growing - I assume tumor - appeared in his nostril and quickly filled essentially the whole opening. It bled easily. I bought the vet recommended nebulizer for vapor treatments, but this cat was literally terrified of the noise, so it sits unused, we reverted to steam treatments from the hot running shower. Willis was losing weight and strength, he was not eating much and sometimes not at all, appetite stimulants (which are actually anti-depressants) made him nervous and agitated, so I used them only sparingly. My formerly independent gentle giant became so very needy of close physical contact. When I was home he followed me everywhere and was on me the moment I sat down.
I had to learn to ignore the loud snorting, snuffling, snoring in my ear and just hold him. Where before I had been able to settle him in another room so I could get some relief from the loud noise of his breathing, it was clear now that he needed physical comfort. His nasal disease, which previously had tested negative for cancer, twice, had morphed into a cancerous process. It didn't take a three hour trip to the internist and a biopsy to know this. My home had become a cat pharmacy/hospice center. When I filled a bag with (not even) all of Willis' meds it was shocking how much medication I had purchased and tried with him. None of it would save my boy. So I held him, kept his nose and eyes as clean as I could, made him as comfy as possible and tried like hell to get him to eat. This past Monday night, after a protracted two year battle with this hideous disease, the final phase happened very fast, and by Tuesday morning my big beautiful brave boy, age 11 years 7 months, was gone. I am thankful for every minute I had with him.
My heart is broken, if I am experiencing a traditional grieving process, I guess I'm in the anger phase over the countless vet visits, testing, diagnostics, treatments, drugs, a couple of which brought fleeting relief, a couple of which made him sicker, and all of which amounted to a hill of beans in the big picture. I was so desperate to heal this cat that I got sucked into throwing every drug at him recommended by a vet or a sick cat forum, and I'm just struggling with how I feel about that in retrospect.
I'd leave a picture, Willis was very large very beautiful cat with Maine Coon build and features, but really just a plain old kitty cat, the best kind.
Anyway, apparently I "don't have permission" to attach a picture - ok
thank you
Laura
Hugs, Wendy
