Hi al!
Back story: I posted in here a few days ago about my 14 year old cat Petey and how he has been throwing up liquid with specks of blood in it. He is currently on Amitriptyline and miralax for constipation. The vet did X-rays and took bloodwork and said that he possibly has hyperthyroidism and early kidney failure. He had lost 2 lbs at that point (from October-Jan). His WBC was high, so the vet gave him an antibiotic.
Fast forward to two days ago. Petey threw up blood again and this time, although not a ton, it was more than just some specks. I thought we were maybe looking at an ulcer or some irritation caused by the miralax.
They got him in today and kept him for most of the day and we did not get news that I was prepared for.
They redid bloodwork and did an ultrasound. The vet called me this afternoon when it was finished and although he put it in better terms, he basically said “Peteys WBC is back to normal(cue me thinking “yay!” , but he’s dying(cue me thinking WTF!!???””.
I know he didn’t mean to get my hopes up, but I’d much prefer bad news to be shared first. I thought we were in the clear for a too brief moment.
Basically, the bloodwork came back better than last time, aside from still high creatinine, but the ultrasound showed masses on the lining of his stomach. The vet said “We aren’t just looking at one small spot either”. He’s fairly certain they are tumors based on what he could see, and he believes that at Peteys age and the issues that he has, doing biopsies to find out what they actually are for certain is not recommended. He pretty much said that (I’m not sure for what reason, I was really upset and didn’t process it all) sedating him and doing biopsies would shorten his life faster than letting this progress itself.
Currently, as far as I can tell, Peteys only symptom is vomiting approximately once a week that sometimes has a little blood in it.
He seems otherwise normal, but my heart hurts so much thinking that he may be in pain.
The vet said that for now, since he is showing no signs of pain and isn’t vomiting super frequently or having other digestive issues that we should hold off on pain management medications, but that when we need to he will prescribe prednisone (I think that’s what he said) and something that starts with a C to help ease the stomach.
In the meantime, do those of you who have went through similar things have any suggestions I can do for him to make him more comfortable Or just any suggestions in general?
The vet said I should continue the amitriptyline and miralax for now (amitriptyline is prescribed to him for anxiety, but also helps with pain management). I can’t help but eye miralax curiously though, all the symptoms seem to have started when I started giving him it. Coincidence maybe, but I was thinking of trying slippery elm to see if it helps?
I have cried about 99% of the day (I think the vet felt so bad that he only charged me 1/5th of what was quoted and didn’t charge an exam fee at all, bless him). It’s kind of unreal to look at him and think that he has cancer, he just seems so normal aside from the occasional blood. Oddly, I haven’t noticed his feces being super dark. Which I figured would happen if the blood is from a tumor(s) in his stomach lining.
I’m praying for a long time of decent quality of life, but trying to prepare for it progressing quickly. Hurts my soul.
Back story: I posted in here a few days ago about my 14 year old cat Petey and how he has been throwing up liquid with specks of blood in it. He is currently on Amitriptyline and miralax for constipation. The vet did X-rays and took bloodwork and said that he possibly has hyperthyroidism and early kidney failure. He had lost 2 lbs at that point (from October-Jan). His WBC was high, so the vet gave him an antibiotic.
Fast forward to two days ago. Petey threw up blood again and this time, although not a ton, it was more than just some specks. I thought we were maybe looking at an ulcer or some irritation caused by the miralax.
They got him in today and kept him for most of the day and we did not get news that I was prepared for.
They redid bloodwork and did an ultrasound. The vet called me this afternoon when it was finished and although he put it in better terms, he basically said “Peteys WBC is back to normal(cue me thinking “yay!” , but he’s dying(cue me thinking WTF!!???””.
I know he didn’t mean to get my hopes up, but I’d much prefer bad news to be shared first. I thought we were in the clear for a too brief moment.
Basically, the bloodwork came back better than last time, aside from still high creatinine, but the ultrasound showed masses on the lining of his stomach. The vet said “We aren’t just looking at one small spot either”. He’s fairly certain they are tumors based on what he could see, and he believes that at Peteys age and the issues that he has, doing biopsies to find out what they actually are for certain is not recommended. He pretty much said that (I’m not sure for what reason, I was really upset and didn’t process it all) sedating him and doing biopsies would shorten his life faster than letting this progress itself.
Currently, as far as I can tell, Peteys only symptom is vomiting approximately once a week that sometimes has a little blood in it.
He seems otherwise normal, but my heart hurts so much thinking that he may be in pain.
The vet said that for now, since he is showing no signs of pain and isn’t vomiting super frequently or having other digestive issues that we should hold off on pain management medications, but that when we need to he will prescribe prednisone (I think that’s what he said) and something that starts with a C to help ease the stomach.
In the meantime, do those of you who have went through similar things have any suggestions I can do for him to make him more comfortable Or just any suggestions in general?
The vet said I should continue the amitriptyline and miralax for now (amitriptyline is prescribed to him for anxiety, but also helps with pain management). I can’t help but eye miralax curiously though, all the symptoms seem to have started when I started giving him it. Coincidence maybe, but I was thinking of trying slippery elm to see if it helps?
I have cried about 99% of the day (I think the vet felt so bad that he only charged me 1/5th of what was quoted and didn’t charge an exam fee at all, bless him). It’s kind of unreal to look at him and think that he has cancer, he just seems so normal aside from the occasional blood. Oddly, I haven’t noticed his feces being super dark. Which I figured would happen if the blood is from a tumor(s) in his stomach lining.
I’m praying for a long time of decent quality of life, but trying to prepare for it progressing quickly. Hurts my soul.