Kitty Diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia) Just Started on Raw

[esrandall2000]

My kitty, Whimsey, who already has inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, mild kidney failure, and a heart murmur, has now been diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia).  This is the long, slow, form of leukemia where I can (hopefully) have the pleasure of his company for another couple of years rather than the acute form where he would have been gone in a couple of weeks.

I'd been feeding Whimsey baby food (along with supplements) on the advice of my holistic vet, but when this latest diagnoses came down, I switched all my cats to raw food.  He can be INCREDIBLY picky, but he has been eating his new meals with rare enthusiasm.  He has gone the longest between meals without vomiting since he has been on raw.  I've been using the Rad Cat organic chicken and turkey raw. 

Is there anyone else out there who is using raw for cancer?  With all of his issues, I don't hope for a cure, but want to keep him as happy and comfortable as I can.

Just FYI, he gets the following meds/supplements:  Pepcid AC, milk thistle, Standard Process Vitamins, Organic Minerals, and Enteric Support, prednisolone, weekly subq fluids, and Vitamin B12.  He may be a candidate for leukeron down the line, but not yet.

Best,

Elizabeth & Whimsey (aka my soul mate)

p.s. Please excuse any errors in this posting.  It has been YEARS since I last visited TCS!

 

[kittylover23]

Aw, hon, I don't have any info my heart goes out to you. I just had a kitty pass from renal lymphoma a few months ago. for you and Whimsey!

 

[esrandall2000]

Wow!  I'd forgotten how powerful TCS vibes are!  Thank you!  What I forgot to mention is that for a cat whose lab work it totally depressing, he looks to be absolutely in BLOOMING health.   I've heard an old saying that said something to the effect of treat the cat and not the lab results.  That is what keeps both of us going.  Thank you so much for your kind words!!!

Elizabeth & Whimsey

 

[ldg]

Awww................... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad he's feeling so well! That's great. :rub: I'm especially glad he's enjoying his food! When it comes to terminally ill kitties, I really think that's one of the most important things. They need to enjoy themselves. :heart2:

Yes, the raw food is VERY helpful to their systems, especially if he's dealing with IBD too. Have you asked the vet about digestive enzymes? That might help ease the load on his kidneys and his pancreas. :dk:

Lazlo was diagnosed with lymphoma last July. He had a "massive" tumor in his stomach. Without chemo, he was given about 4 weeks to live. He went through the chemo. His story, in fact, is here: (He's the cover kitty in this month's issue of Catnip Chronicles. ) http://www.catnipchronicles.com/july2012/kitty.htm Here's the cover .... http://www.catnipchronicles.com/july2012/index.htm (Proud mama here :lol3: ).

Anyway, we switched him to raw before chemo was done, in January. He is doing SO well. He doesn't have an issue with hairballs any longer; no more vomiting (though that really tapered off with the chemo and ulcer treatment). He doesn't have IBD. So for us, it's just keeping his immune system as healthy as possible.

We keep him on the pepcid a/c to prevent ulcers. He - as all the kitties are - is on a probiotic (an acidophilus supplement with 10 billion active cultures) daily, and an omega 3 supplement (all the kitties are on that too). I also give them raw egg yolk twice a week and a sardine once a week. He's also on prednisolone, 5mg daily.

You know - I know Whimsey's already on a lot of things, but most kitties love the probiotic. I just sprinkle it on one of the meals. And it would be the same for a digestive enzyme. :nod: And omega 3 is VERY anti-inflammatory. I've been using it... I'm not sure how long. I'd have to look it up. But Flowerbelle has asthma, arthritis, and high blood pressure, so all the treatments for either asthma or arthritis are contra-indicated because of either the asthma or the high blood pressure. The one thing I found was the omega 3. I noticed today we haven't heard her cough - in at least a few weeks. And I thought she wasn't in pain, but I've noticed that when she runs around playing now, she's doing more leaping about. :nod: The omega 3 is supposed to be very anti-inflammatory, and almost everything your Whimsey has is a side-effect of chronic inflammation. Just a thought.... (I use a 1,000mg supplement - salmon oil - and pop it with a sharp knife, and just drop 4-5 drops on at each meal. They eat three meals a day. :nod: ).

:rub:



I feed boneless frankenprey. Lazlo doesn't like the fresh organs, so I don't force it any longer. He loves the Wysong Call of the Wild (which is a supplement that makes meat complete, including calcium), so that's what I use for him.

 

[barbb]

Hi, I am also sending you vibes 

for Whimsey! 

My boy Toby was diagnosed with large cell lymphoma about six weeks ago, although his pathology report minus the diagnosis pointed to small cell. I even have a bottle of leukeron in the fridge, his oncologist gave it to us and then the pathologist said nope it's large cell. So he is being treated the same as Laurie's Lazlo right now, with weekly injections of chemo. He just started his second round today after his ultrasound showed minor improvement but nothing substantial. We decided to continue since it appears the chemo has stopped his vomiting and shrunk his lymph nodes a little bit, and hopefully there will be more after round 2 i.e. another 4 weeks. 

Like you I had not been on TCS for a little bit until Toby started vomiting and losing weight, The good folks here also steered me in the direction of raw food. Toby had been eating natural balance wet and Iam's weight control dry along with his three sisters lol. Now they are all eating grain free wet food, and I have added Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw food, (the chicken brand along with the chicken/salmon brand). I leave out the dry raw food as a substitute for their crunchies at night, and in the daytime I add water and reconstitute it. Two of my cats love it, and two of them ignore it :-).

I am going to incorporate more raw food once Toby feels better- for now I am focused on keeping him eating although the prednisolone seems to make him hungry ALL the time as he eats constantly. I also think he is very happy not to be vomiting anymore and he must feel wonderful to eat as much as he wants without throwing it up. 

.

My regular vet is also holistic. Here is her prescription for Toby. Like Laurie, I give Toby 1/2 pepsid twice daily. The aloe vera juice also seems to help a lot. It is just like water so it is easy to add to his food and he cannot tell the difference. I've started using some of his stuff for myself LOL. Also like your kitty, I give Toby a shot of b12 once a week. How much do you give Whimsey? The DHA algae is the omega 3 for Toby which is a great anti-imflammatory and the GI Def is 2 docs pet wellness GI Defense powder. It is for treatment of IBD and has a lot of anti inflammatory ingredients that make it easier for him to process food, since his small intestine is primarily affected. 

Toby's fur is still bad, rumpled, and he has not gained back his weight although his diet is so different now that I don't think he will ever be as heavy as he was before he got his cancer. I will attach his picture below. There is a thread about him, I posted it when he was showing symptoms. Toby's is a VAS vaccine associated sarcoma. Don't ever give your cat any vaccine unless it is merial purevac. Most others use an adjuvant which is a serum designed to increase the potency of the vaccine. In felines it can have idiosyncratic effects such as cancer or other severe allergic reactions. Here is Toby's thread. I am so glad you posted and I hope you will keep us advised of Whimsey's progress. Our doctor may switch Toby to the oral chemo after this round depending on what happens. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/243465/toby-vomiting-and-losing-weight-fine-otherwise

	Toby's daily medicine and food
	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Hoxsey  1xday	1 in AM	1 in AM	1 in AM	1 in AM	1 in AM	1 in AM	1 in AM
GI Def.  1xday	1/8 tsp w/food	1/8 tsp w/food	1/8 tsp w/food	1/8 tsp w/food	1/8 tsp w/food	1/8 tsp w/food	1/8 tsp w/food
DHA Algae form 1xday	1/4 tsp w/food	1/4 tsp w/food	1/4 tsp w/food	1/4 tsp w/food	1/4 tsp w/food	1/4 tsp w/food	1/4 tsp w/food
B12  1xweek				25cc  SQ
Vit A  3xweek	1 drop on food			1 drop on food	1 drop on food
Aloe juice  1xday	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp
Coconut oil  1xday	1/4 tsp	1/4 tsp	1/4 tsp	1/4 tsp	1/4 tsp	1/4 tsp	1/4 tsp
Pepsid  1xday	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet
Sucral. 1xdaymax w/sard or tuna	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet	1/4 tablet
Prednisone  5mg 1xday	1 tablet	1 tablet	1 tablet	1 tablet	1 tablet	1 tablet	1 tablet
Special instructions- Tylan as needed for diarrhea 1/16 tsp in semi-frozen butter.
Massage as instructed. Use vaseline, not laxatone for hairballs and stools.
shopping list:
sardines
coconut oil
aloe juice
darwins frozen raw food

 

[esrandall2000]

Thanks so much to both of you for both the support and the information about the supplements.  I can start adding aloe vera right away as I have it in the **** for me.  Whimsey gets 3 quarters of a cc of B12 along with his 100 ml of fluid that I give him once per week.  He gets 5 mg of prednisolone every day.  I will start adding some of the supplements that you've mentioned.  I've always been terrified that one day he would just stop eating and admit that I have created a monster who knows that he can wake mom up at 4 am and know he will get a meal.

  He is so rarely in the mood to eat, that I take every opportunity to get calories down him whenever he is  even remotely in the mood.  The good news is that he stays pretty constant at 12 lbs.

 

Thanks so much for everything!  I'll keep you posted as to developments.

Elizabeth & Whimsey

 

[ldg]

:lol3: Yeah, all during the chemo when Lazlo's appetite was so off, we fed him whenever he'd eat. I had transitioned them to all wet food months before, but he loved kibble - I kept a baggie of it under my pillow so I could give him some the every half hour he was asking for food throughout the night. Talk about a spoiled monster! :lol3: Wouldn't trade it for the world, it's all worth it.

That's great his weight is stable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[barbb]

Laurie, I'm so glad you said that about Lazlo, I have the same thing with Toby, leaving food out at night and keeping a can plus fork and plate upstairs in case he starts crying for it at night. I'd give him kibble too if he wanted it, but after all his vomiting before he was diagnosed, he doesn't seem very interested these days. 

I posted his pic on the other thread but I'll do it again since he is laying beside me as I type this, little baby.

 

[ldg]

Awwww.............. (and the picture with the glasses is just TOO CUTE!)

Yeah, well the other cats caught on pretty darn quickly, because Lazlo would announce his hunger (and wake me up) with a loud MEOW! So I had to get up and go feed him in the bathroom anyway. That was five very sleep-deprived months. :lol3: (The 6th wasn't as bad. He started eating more at meals - and once we switched to raw, he stopped really wanting food between meals).