Unwell Cat (suspected cancer)

Hello.

I am new to this forum.I have had my cat Snowy since he was a kitten.He is 8 years old.

Unfortunately since the start of December he has been very unwell.
It started off with him trying to eat his cat litter.
At first we put it down to stress as we recently moved into a new property.
But soon he developed diarreah and his appetite was not as it use to be.
The vet checked him over and says all appeared to be fine but if I was concerned then to bring him back in a few weeks time.

His diarreah has not improved plus he was hardly eating and the weight just dropped off him so back to the vets we went.
His blood tests came back clear and he was given antibiotics.
After Christmas I took him back as I was still very concerned.
He had an ultrasound and surgery afterwards and unfortunately he has a growth.

His liver,bladder etc are all working fine but the growth can't be removed due to it being attached to some organs.
I am heartbroken.I feel so much pain as he is my first pet and I always thought he would go much later.

We are waiting on results of a biopsy but the vet says he was 99% sure it was cancer of the lymph nodes. Lymphosarcoma (?)

Is there anyone here who has/had a cat with a similar diagnosis?
I would appreciate some advice and request that you keep my Snowy in your prayers or thoughts please.

Thank you for reading.

I'm so sorry this has happened to your little guy

There are several cats here on TCS who've been diagnosed with Lymphoma.  Some with Large Cell, some with Small Cell.  I believe the treatment is different depending on what kind it is, so it might be best to wait and see exactly what you are dealing with before getting opinions (and quick research shows that Lymphoma and Lymphosarcoma are the same thing)

One thing you should know though, is that cats can tolerate chemo much better than humans! 

So...once you get your results, if it IS cancer, you should be referred to a cat oncologist, and they'll go thru the options for you.  All is not necessarily lost

Thank you for your kind reply and advice.
I guess I just need to wait for the prognosis.
In the meantime I am trying my best to make things as comfortable as I can for my lovely boy.

I am so sorry for your your cat. I experienced the same thing, but for my beautiful Little Girl it was to late. She died in our home 2 days after ultrasound and the cancer started by the heart to her liver. I pray for your baby.

Thank you little cutie66.I am so sorry for your loss.
It must have been a very difficult time for you.Much love.xx

I am so very sorry to hear about your little one. I had a cat, Tigee, pass away from cancer in 2007 and I still tear up when I think of him. Don't give up the battle. My grandmother has a cat with Lymphoma and she was giving her the chemotherapy treatments in pill form. Then she found a product online that helped her a lot and she's been in remission for months now. I tried to find the website but can't seem to locate it. Grammy says the product is call virax for cats (she just text me). I'm a firm believer that lots of love can heal any illness - so be sure to shower him with all of your love and positive thoughts. I will say a prayer for him. 

Thank you CatLadyLover.I have noted that medicine down and will ask my vet about it.
Snowy does not have much of an appetite unfortunately so the vet has ordered some tabs to help encourage him to eat.
I have been using a shringe to give him water and attempting to handfeed him some high colorie Hills patè.
I just hope he gets better.I am so lost without having him be his usual self.

WHEN are the biopsy results due in?

The results should be with us by Friday hopefully.
He hasn't been eating so he had to do end the day at the vets.
They put him on a drip to rehydrate him.

His blood test results showed low level of protein and his breathing was quite bad do they did an x-ray and discovered he gas fluid on his lungs.
So he had some medicine for tht plus a tablet to encourage him to eat.

I bought him home am hour ago and he has half a sachet of wet food which he gobbled up.
I have never felt so happy seeing him eat.
I just hope it continues.

The vet said he really needs to eat so he gets strong enough to heal and start on steroids.

It is just so worrying.I feel lost without him in the house do I need him to get better.Plus I really am worried about how the kids will cope.
They love him so much and we had such a difficult year during 2015 that I wanted things to be better this year.

Oh I am so happy his eating, I pray he fights this. Much love.

Thank you lilCutie66.
His breathing is quite crackly today.
He had a steroid injection at the vets and he has tablets.
Need to take him back tomorrow.

Hi snowycat, how are you? Haven't heard from you. How's your furry baby. Thinking of you. I pray all goes well. Much love xo

Hello.

Sorry I have not updated my post sooner.
Unfortunately it is Lymphoma.It is low grade but the Vet has advised me against going for chemo.
Snowy is on a higher dose of steroids and we are just taking each day at a time.

It is so upsetting to see my lovely alert cat go downhill so fast.He means so much to me and I can't imagine what I will do without him.

He has been eating only a tiny amount of food but has been drinking loads of water.
He is also unfortunately constipated and has not had a bowel movement since Tuesday evening so I am hoping the vet can help today when we go and see him.

Much love to you all.

Oh honey I know the feeling, just kiss and love him. Make him comfortable. I know it's hard to watch. But keep whispering in his ear how much you love him. It will give him comfort. I pray for your little one. Much love xo

I am so sorry to hear about the results. I know its scary getting a lymphoma diagnosis but its Very treatable. If you want there is a group on Facebook for feline intestinal lymphoma-there are some people who have treated small cell lymphoma and its a pill that is given either once every 2 weeks or a smaller dose every 4 days-the one every other week is called the pulse dose for small cell lymphoma and taking pred also helps immensely.

Yahoo also has a group-same people as Facebook but bigger group and its strictly email-called discussion about feline lymphoma-there is a certified oncology doctor Dr Jory from Atlanta Georgia who helps answer questions weekly. I recommend joining either group and we can help with things that we can do to make them more comfortable. I call it kitty nursing care. Things have changed immensely in the last 10 years when it comes to treating illness.

I had a cat who passed several years ago to bone cancer-that's when I joined that group. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do all the things to help BUT I have learned many tricks to help sick kitties.

If your kitty is still not feeling well they can do a few things:

Sub Fluids (if a cat is dehydrated-they wont eat-this helps hydrate and increases appetite most times as well as constipation)

Anti nausea pills or injections-if a cat is nauseated from dehydration or illness-it often wont eat-this helps stop the signals of vomiting to reach their brains

injection of pepcil-not as strong as above but it helps in acid reduction

Appetite stimulants-these are used AFTER the antinausea meds are given. If a cat is nauseated they will develop food aversion-this helps increase appetite IF the steroids don't increase appetite

injection of different levels of steroids=there are short term ones and long term-mostly they recommend oral pills incase of side effects.

I call this type of treatment above ^^^^ intense nursing care for our cats.

I have had good luck with Cerenia for anti nausea and sub fluids together-my cat often gets upper respiratory infections so she cant smell her food and feels yucky. Usually within the hour after Cerenia she perks right up and eats. there have been occasions I have had to add an appetite stimulant at times.

You can ask the vet to pill kitty for most of these meds before they send them home with you so you can at least not have to struggle with kitty.

My cat will NOT take pills-I learned to cut them in half and roll in butter then pill or feed baby food and hide a piece in a glob of baby food on my finger and she would eat it-these two tricks saved my hands from getting chomped. or youcan try cheese-roll it into a piece of cheese or pill pocket. or any other yummy maul able type of food to disguise.

Keep us updated with Snowy-

I hope some of this information can help make Snowy more comfortable.

Tonda n Honeybee, Floey, Pumpkin Face and angel Flash

SnowyCat said:

Unfortunately it is Lymphoma.It is low grade but the Vet has advised me against going for chemo.
Snowy is on a higher dose of steroids and we are just taking each day at a time.

It is so upsetting to see my lovely alert cat go downhill so fast.He means so much to me and I can't imagine what I will do without him.

He has been eating only a tiny amount of food but has been drinking loads of water.
He is also unfortunately constipated and has not had a bowel movement since Tuesday evening so I am hoping the vet can help today when we go and see him.

Much love to you all.

Click to expand...

Gosh, I'm sorry that it turned out to be Lymphoma after all.  But low grade is the better one, so I've heard.  I'm awfully curious WHY your Vet doesn't want to do the chemo? 

It's possibly the high dose steroids that's causing the constipation.  Miralax might help him out in that department. 

My one BIG concern right now is that steroids can cause diabetes,and with him drinking loads of water, that is a sign of diabetes.  Did you mention that excessive drinking to the Vet?  Did they run another blood test since he's been on them?  It might be worth mentioned about the water, if you  haven't already.

I'm attaching two threads about other cats with the same issue for your to peruse, just for information:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/302330/lymphoma-diagnosis#post_3794192

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306209/small-cell-gi-lymphoma (warning...THIS cat did not make it, but it may not have been the cancer that killed him.  There may still be good information in the thread for you to know about)

 

Thank you all for your kind replies.

Snowy unfortunately was very dehydrated today so is staying overnight with the emergency vet having some fluids to refresh him.
HE has refused food and only took a few sips of water.
I tried to shringe feed him but everything just was getting spat out and he was getting very stressed.

Foxxycat I will speak to the vet tomorrow about the pill you mentioned.
Thank you for your advice.
At the moment I am crushing his meds and applying them to his lip to lick off.I will try some mixed into butter as tht might be easier.

Mrsgreenjeens Thank you for the links.
About the chemo my Vet said as Snowy struggles taking whole tablets it won't be safe for me to crush them and give then to him.Plus he said it will just distress Snowy further.
Snowy also has not been using the litter tray so the Vet mentioned that there is a health risk if he is soiling soft furnishings.
He did mention some other factors but I was crying so much I really could not make sense so hopefully tomorrow I am going to see the vet again and discuss meds and my Husband will come with me.
They have not ran anymore bloodtest on him and I mentioned the water but they didn't say anything about diebetes.
He has only had 2 doses of the 5mg steroid (prednicare) so I don't know if that is making a difference.

He had an appetite stimulant last Monday and he perked up a bit.But again the vet said it is not right to keep him it again.

Last but not least Little Cutie66 your prayers mean so much to me so thank you.

I never thought I would be dealing with this.
I have had such a terrible time personally in the past year I thought things could get no worse.

aww I am so sorry=yes your vet is correct about the meds getting crushed for chemo=BUT there are pharmacies that can compound medications into a treat/flavored suspension/transdermal gel-

I will go look up the link for the yahoo group for lymphoma or you can go on facebook and search: Feline intestinal lymphoma-many many kitties have done well with chemo=the biggest thing is that there are two very separate ways of treating for small cell vs large cell-in order to do this its very important to do a biopsy and make sure what is present is the correct thing. Prednisolone is probably what kitty is getting-but it is bitter and most cats don't like it-I roll it in butter after I cut the pill in half. They are usually in 5mg tablet style=I cut in half roll in butter=feed kitty butter then sneak in the disguised butter covered pill-followed by with meat baby food or anything he loves to eat=turkey/kfc chicken debone/deskinned.

also its a really good idea to do iv fluids-if a cat is dehydrated they will not eat. and dehydration makes them feel like crap. Let me go get that link for the yahoo group for feline lymphoma.

hang in there-yes its a lot all at once-I would be crying too-Sending MANY MANY hugs!!!!

xoxoxoxox 

Thank you

I think there is no point though.Sorry I kniw that sounds like I am giving up.
He has been at the vets on iv fluids for almost 24 hours and there is no change.
He actually sounds worse (very shallow breathing and sounds very bunged up)
Vet said that if there us no change we really need to discuss putting him to sleep.

We have bought him home and explained to the kids.
It was so hard.
He has been sleeping.He does wake up to have water every now and again but not interested in food at all.
But I think that is more to do with him not being able to smell it.

The vet gave him a appetite

(Oppps submitted too soon)

The vet gave him an appetite stimulant again but so far no interest in food.
He did do a huge wee on the sofa as soon as we got home though (lol little bugger probably getting his own back)

I need to take him again to the vets in the morning and we will take it from there.
I just feel Snowy is telling me he has had enough though.