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I have two cats, from the same litter, about 8yrs old. About six weeks ago, one of the cats, Benson, started going to the litterbox quite frequently. Her turds would be solid, but just small - this lasted a week or so, but then gradually things got runnier, with spots of blood in. Of course, we went straight to the vet and the diagnostic process began; courses of anti-biotics, blood tests, fecal tests, ultrasounds, x-rays and the finally the diagnosis came in - she has lymphoma. The vet showed us the scans and pointed out that the wall of her bowel had thickened to 7mm, when it's usually 2mm, which explains why she's been struggling so much with the litter box. He started her on a course of Prednisone twice a day for her bowel problems, and Leukeran once every three days for the lymphoma. We are absolutely devastated that this had happened. We have recently moved half way around the world with our cats, so finding that one of them is terminally ill so soon after (and having neglected to arrange pet insurance too) has been a real setback. However, initial results from the Prednisone were encouraging - her diarrhea cleared up, no more blood in the stools, and she seemed a lot less lethargic. We also had some test results back from the vet that showed the cancer was small-cell, which gave us hope that her life would be extended. However, things seem to have taken a back-slide again. The problems began when we tried to bring her down her dose on the Prednisone from twice a day to once a day, as instructed by the vet. Within a day or two, her turds had become looser and we start seeing drops of blood and mucus, and she's going frequently again. The vet tells us to bump the dosage up again for another week, and we start her on a special bland diet of food from the vet - this again works wonders, and her symptoms clear up. Again, after another week, as instructed, we bring the Prednisone dose back to once a day, and her symptoms begin to flair up. At this point, the vet tells us she'll probably have to stay on Prednisone twice a day for the rest of her life, which is very disappointing to hear, but we follow her orders and bump the dosage back up. And that brings us to where we are now. We've been back to giving her the Prednisone twice a day since last Thursday (6 days now), and she once again has diarrhea, blood in her stool, and has started going for shits outside of the box. She's going to be going back to the vet today to see what's up, and I really hope they can give her something to calm her guts down. The Prednisone was so effective to begin with, and I don't really know why it's suddenly stopped working in this way. I'm wondering if it's a reaction to the Leukeran that could be responsible, as we were warned that this can cause diarrhea - she took her last frequent dose of that yesterday, and is now going to be down to once every three weeks, so perhaps that will help. Currently, aside from the making GBS threads, Benson seems in pretty good spirits, and is not being sick (which I gather is important). Part of me feels frustrated with our vet - although they have been fairly communicative when we call them, I'm gradually losing confidence in them. I'm not sure if this is entirely fair, because I expect the reason they've not been able to provide a solution better than 'ermmm, better go back to Prednisone twice a day for a week' is that there is no better solution, and our cat is terminally ill and it's going to suck basically. At this stage I'm strongly considering trying a different vet, but the prospect of having to pay thousands more dollars for new scans and tests is a real problem (this has already cost us over two grand). I'm not looking for veterinary advice here (although if there's any vets hanging around, i'd be happy to hear your thoughts), but I'm sure there's others here who have gone through similar ordeals, so would be interested to hear if your experiences have been anything like mine. I'm particularly interested in others' experiences with the drugs mentioned above and their side-effects. Needless to say, this has been an absolutely horrific few weeks, and i'm just desperate to get my kitty back to as normal as is possible, so she can enjoy the remainder of her life.
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Jul 29, 2014 14:20
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 01:49 |
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Part of the reason the Pred likely isn't working anymore is because it's cancer. The cells that respond to Pred by dying have been subdued; the cancer cells that mutated out steroid responsiveness were likely slowed by the Pred and Leukeran but now they're getting resistant to the steroids and chemo. It could be a Leukeran side effect, but cancer resistance is high on my list. Small cell lymphoma is an odd one because it shares a lot of similarities with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, so you see a lot of treatment parallels - such as the hypoallergenic diet and steroids - but unlike IBD, SCL can get bad faster. SCLs are also a spectrum, some move slower, some much faster. The Vet is handling this fine - lymphoma sucks. There are a few other medications to consider, but they're pretty minor for SCL and sometimes difficult to give to cats. Pred and Leukeran are the heavy hitters.
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Jul 29, 2014 15:13
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Hey, thanks for your reply. Definitely not the kind of thing that's nice to hear, but I fully appreciate that there's going to be tough times to come and I appreciate the honesty. I'm assuming that, if it's cancer resistance, we're pretty much hosed?
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Jul 29, 2014 15:44
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I went through this last year too. We saw a lump on his leg as he started pooping outside the box and we got the cancer diagnosis. Ultrasound revealed it had metastasized so we didn't opt for amputation. Oscar tolerated chemo really, really well, which is apparently common with cats. He was getting oral chemo at home and IV at the vet every two weeks. I will get the names of the drugs he was on and post back. The prednisone also seemed to help him a lot. We got to watch the lump on his leg shrink down, and he was an active, happy, kitty for about 6 months -- and then it came back quickly. Within weeks he stopped moving around, preferring to hang out in his bed with the heating pad we bought, and then he stopped eating and we knew it was time. It's going to be different for every cat. It just sucks. Keep quality of life in mind. Protect her from other pets if that's a problem. Prednisone tends to makes them hungry, thin, and cold. The heating pad helped. Find what your cat loves to eat and go nuts. For Oscar it was sliced roast beef. I'm really sorry you're facing this. It is not fun. edit: oral was cyclophosphamide and IV was doxorubicin IV. KS fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 17:41
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KS posted:I went through this last year too. We saw a lump on his leg as he started pooping outside the box and we got the cancer diagnosis. Ultrasound revealed it had metastasized so we didn't opt for amputation. I'm really sorry to hear about Oscar. I wouldn't wish this ordeal on anyone - it's been horrific. Thanks for the names of those drugs, too - I will definitely bring that up with the vet later. At this point I would definitely be happy if we could give Benson another comfortable 6 months, but at this stage I'm feeling extremely negative about the whole thing. The vet has been very non-commital with regards to Benson's prognosis (and I totally understand why), but he did say that the first month of taking the drugs gives a good indication of how well they're going to do long-term. Well, although we saw improvements initially, things have moved backwards with regards to the diarrhea, and we're currently on week 4 since she started taking her meds. The whole thing is just absolutely heartbreaking. edit: the vet called back and wants to put her on a course of anti-biotics - Metronizadole. I'm guessing this is to reduce the risk of infection from perforations in her bowel, and perhaps slow down transit to give her bowel a chance to recover? Without meaning to sound too skeptical, this doesn't feel like the magic bullet that's going to stop her diarrhea, but i'll definitely give it a try. an actual cat irl fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 19:32
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Zartans Lady Mask posted:
Metronidazole is an antibiotics that is often used for diarrhea, particularly if there is blood in it. It is sort of aimed at fixing bacterial imbalances in the gut, if certain bacteria have overgrown compared to the amount that should be there. That can happen especially with inflammatory bowel disease or other intestinal infiltration, like lymphoma
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Jul 29, 2014 19:49
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Dr. Chaco posted:Metronidazole is an antibiotics that is often used for diarrhea, particularly if there is blood in it. It is sort of aimed at fixing bacterial imbalances in the gut, if certain bacteria have overgrown compared to the amount that should be there. That can happen especially with inflammatory bowel disease or other intestinal infiltration, like lymphoma Thankyou for this info - that's really good to know. Definitely makes me feel a bit better. I really don't want to come across too negatively about my vet - tbf they have served us pretty well so far. My main gripe is that I don't think they've been especially good at explaining the condition and the treatment especially well, which has required a lot of back and forth phonecalls between us and them, for me to understand what's going on, hence me having to resort to posting here to try and get a better understanding of what might be happening. Another thing - Benson is a super fussy eater and getting her to take probiotics has been a nightmare. We've tried probiotic powder and probiotic paste from the vet so far, but she won't eat the food with the powder on, and she spits the paste out every goddamned time. I've just found online that they do probiotic tablets, which i think might work better (she's ok at taking pills) - are these any less effective than the things we've already tried? I definitely would like to give her probiotics, as I understand that may help, but it's been the one thing she's flat out refused to touch so far.
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Jul 29, 2014 20:23
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The protocol KS mentioned is different as KS' kitty sounds more like a large cell lymphoma as compared to the small cell lymphoma your cat has. Some of the veterinary probiotics do come in capsule form and should work just as well. See if your vet has the capsule form. Normally it's the opposite - cats generally are worse with tabs and capsules.
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Jul 30, 2014 00:06
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One thing I've had pretty good success with for powders is spray cheese. We have two cats that go crazy for it and one that won't touch it.HelloSailorSign posted:The protocol KS mentioned is different as KS' kitty sounds more like a large cell lymphoma as compared to the small cell lymphoma your cat has. Always nice that there are experts here. Thanks for clarifying. I hate to pass on bad info out of ignorance.
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Jul 30, 2014 03:17
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It's not bad info, there are some vets who will use a modified COP/CHOP protocol on small cell lymphomas that are out of remission, but many GPs won't try/be able to due to the dangers to staff of the injectable chemos.
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Jul 30, 2014 04:26
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Yeah, we were referred by our vet to a cancer specialist. I think we were lucky to be close to him. I just looked up CHOP on wikipedia and remember he was getting vincristine for a while as well.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:46
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We took Benson in for a scan this morning, and unfortunately it showed that the cancer had spread throughout her intestines and abdomen. Due to the speed and veracity that the cancer had spread, we took the gut-wrenching decision to have her put to sleep. It has been exactly one month since she was diagnosed with cancer, and I can't believe that this has happened so quickly. What a horrible disease. 
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Aug 1, 2014 02:31
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Zartans Lady Mask posted:I have two cats, from the same litter, about 8yrs old. This is what my grandmother calls "borrowing trouble." So what if you are a prude, as long as you're a happy prude? And why are you worrying about your future single self's ability to find someone to gently caress? You don't even know what your future single self will be like, so how could you POSSIBLY predict how attractive he'll be, who he'll know (and therefore who might or might not want to have sex with him) or even, you know, if he'll exist. This is a colossal waste of your time and energy. Take stock of what you like about your life and yourself, make a plan to fix the things you don't, nurture your marriage, and go have a beer or something; Jesus. Also, if you find that you have these kinds of thoughts persistently, or about multiple areas in your life, you might consider speaking to a professional about your anxiety levels.
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Aug 1, 2014 03:09
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Zartans Lady Mask posted:We took Benson in for a scan this morning, and unfortunately it showed that the cancer had spread throughout her intestines and abdomen. Due to the speed and veracity that the cancer had spread, we took the gut-wrenching decision to have her put to sleep. Dang dude. Smarmy John posted:This is what my grandmother calls "borrowing trouble." This is not the thread you are looking for. *waves hand slowly*
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Aug 1, 2014 03:34
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Smarmy John posted:This is what my grandmother calls "borrowing trouble." Your grandmother is kinda a bitch about cats. She should be nicer. Zartans Lady Mask posted:We took Benson in for a scan this morning, and unfortunately it showed that the cancer had spread throughout her intestines and abdomen. Due to the speed and veracity that the cancer had spread, we took the gut-wrenching decision to have her put to sleep. I'm sorry about Benson. Cancer sucks. She was lucky to have you love her.
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Aug 1, 2014 03:55
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 01:49 |
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I recently had my cat Crush put to sleep for similar symptoms. While he never had an X-ray, my vet suspected lymphoma. I went through the same medication-sometimes-working to stabilize his diarrhea symptoms (three years of alternating/trying pred, metronidazole, dexamethasone, diet changes, etc.), but ultimately his quality of life was starting to suck. I am sorry about Benson but you did the kindest thing you could for him.
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Aug 4, 2014 23:15
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