Ibd/ Gi Lymphoma - Keep Going Or Let Go...

[KristiKat#8]

My cat Cabea is ill. She is an indoor only 16 year old spayed female. She was well all of her life (a side from being chubby & having a bit of dirty but issues because of the weight & the way she's built) up until the last year. In April 2018 she was diagnosed as hyperthyroidism & had I-131 (RadioCat) treatment, she did fine with that & we resolved that issue. In August I noticed one of the cats started having watery diarrhea constantly (we had 8 cats then, I lost my 18 yr old last month) so I set up cameras to catch the culprit. When we knew for sure it was Cabela I took her to the vet. She was eventually "diagnosed" with IBD and/or GI lymphoma (not officially because she's not a candidate for sx to have biopsy done). Here is the list of all the things we've done for her (testing & meds):
• Fecal
• Giardia testing
• Fecal culture
• Several cbc/chem profiles
• Abdominal xrays
• Abdominal ultra sound w/ a specialist
• Maldigestion profile
• TK profile
• Metro 75mg SID (for 7 days - pills)
• Proviable probiotic
• Budesonide 1mg SID x 30 days
• CBD Oil tincture (still takes daily)
• Convenia inj for a bad case of "diaper rash"
• SSD cream applied daily to her butt for "diaper rash"
The latest was compounded liquid Prednisolone 10mg SID, starting 12/31/18. I'm kicking myself for giving in & doing Pred since she is now diabetic (last BG was 273). Shes's gain about 1.5 lbs in six week from the steroids & is eating & drinking a ton (obviously). She is currently on a decreased dose of 5mg SID going on 10 days & is having another BG tomorrow to see if it has gone down with the decrease of Pred but with the decrease she is having watery stools again. She was doing ok with the Pred, they were more pudding-y to semi formed stools. We also tried adding in compounded liquid Metronidazole because I can no longer pill her but she vomits instantly after she gets it so we did that for 2 days & stopped.

Also, food doesn't really seem to make a difference in this. She was eating her normal food through out it all & it didn't seem to affect the results of meds, etc.

She still has to have her butt wiped at least once a day & SSD applied because of the "diaper rash" but she HATES it & freaks out & tries to bite. She gets weekly back-end baths which stress her immensely & I'm afraid she might have a heart attack.

Her life is pretty crappy right now (no pun intended). She doesn't come up much, she usually hangs out in the basement. I'm guessing because A) she's hiding from me & B) she's closer to the litter boxes. At this point she doesn't like me & runs away whenever she sees me. I can't blame her. She doesn't get that I'm trying to help her.

Things I haven't done but am willing to...
• Slipper Elm Bark
• Hospitalized on IV Metronidazole
• Fecal PCR test
• Fecal Transplant (I have no idea where to get this done. If anyone has any experience please let me know.
• I just ordered her Max Potency CBD tincture so we'll see how that goes when it arrives
• Acupuncture (my 18 yr old got it for several years for his arthritis & it worked for that).
• Chlorambucil (Leukeran)
• ...or anything else anyone has gotten results from.

I'm also wondering if its just time to let her go. Now with her being diabetic I know I am fighting a no-win battle. I'm willing to do anything to help her & money/cost do not matter. It is getting harder by the day to treat her & get meds in her. I think she's miserable from being manhandled every day & I hate putting her through all this. I feel like I haven't done everything I can for her but I'm also not sure if she wants me to keep trying.

Sorry this is so long. I wanted to give as many details as possible.

Please let me know your advice, thoughts, suggestions, etc.

Thanks so much.
Kristi

 

[denice]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I let an IBD cat go a little over a year ago. He was well maintained on Prednisolone for 8 years, fortunately he didn't get diabetes. When it is time is very much a personal decision to be made with your vet. As an indoor cat I probably wouldn't pursue the fecal PCR test. I think, unless you also have indoor/outdoor cat then a parasite would be highly unlikely.

If your vet is willing to add Leukeran without doing a biopsy then I might try that. It has been effective with putting small cell lymphoma in remission as well as controlling severe IBD. It is given in conjunction with Prednisolone and you have diabetes to contend with. It might be worth a try but that is a personal decision.

 

[FeebysOwner]

She doesn't come up much, she usually hangs out in the basement. I'm guessing because A) she's hiding from me & B) she's closer to the litter boxes. At this point she doesn't like me & runs away whenever she sees me. I can't blame her. She doesn't get that I'm trying to help her.

Hi. I really can't help from a medicine standpoint, but I was wondering if you could make arrangements (e.g.; litter box, food/water if not already available) for her upstairs. Even though she may be trying to stay away from you as well, she just might spend more time upstairs if she knew she had box close by? I am guessing most of the time she sees you right now is when you have to do something to her that she hates - unless you already hang out with her in the basement otherwise? If she got to spend more time near you that doesn't always involve medicating/cleaning/etc. perhaps she wouldn't try to avoid you as much, and you could actually find some times that the two of you could just enjoy each other's company?