My 17.5 Year Old Cat Has Ibd Or Small Cell Lymphoma

[Cara80]

I'm feeling devastated. My cat Buddy had been diagnosed with early kidney disease last Summer and has been doing great all year, then last month I noticed his appetite wasn't so good. At first, I assumed his kidney diseased progressed which would explain appetite issues. Good news is that his kidney levels have improved over time, bad news is that he now has another health issue to deal with. I took Buddy in for an ultrasound which showed thickened intestines.

Today I talked with my vet and she mentioned we won't know definitively what's going on unless he gets a biopsy performed. I can't afford the biopsy and also don't want to put him under and open him up for surgery at his age. I also keep thinking if he does have cancer, would it be fair to make him go through chemo? He would be on steroids, chemo, and anti nausea drugs for the rest of his life. My vet gave me the option to treat with just steroids which would help both IBD and lymphoma, but if he does have cancer it will only help for a few months and his cancer would then progress and we'd see the symptoms return. My boyfriend and I talked things over and we're not going to do further testing and just treat with the steroids.

I'll be honest, i'm terrified. I'm not scared or upset about my cat passing because he's had such a good, long life. My fear is seeing his body slowly deteriorate from cancer.

Maybe i'm overthinking everything, because he could just have IBD. But Buddy doesn't seem to have any symptoms I come across when I read about IBD, he doesn't throw up, doesn't have diarrhea and I don't notice him reacting to the foods I feed him. Right now the only sign he has is the lack of appetite. His appetite is bad enough that I can only get him to eat 50% of his daily calories on his own, and then I have to syringe feed him wet food at night, which is incredibly stressful.

Was wondering if any of you have knowledge on these issues. Could IBD present with just inappetence? Also, what should I expect in terms of symptoms and quality of life if he does have lymphoma and i'm only treating with steroids? Thanks for any help, and please let me know if you have any questions

 

[LTS3]

These two web sites are helpful:

IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time
Raw Feeding for IBD Cats

IBD and lymphoma have very similar symptoms. Only a biopsy will tell which one a cat has.

You can ask the vet about using an appetite stimulant on the days when your cat doesn't want to eat or feeding a high calorie supplement like Clinicare. On days when your cat sort of eats, you can try adding toppers to make the food more appealing.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Do you have any Nutri-cal? At least you can get some high energy calories into him using the gel. Try rubbing some on his paws and he'll lick it all off.

 

[Cara80]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm really hoping the steroids help with his appetite. I'm going to pick up the nutrical and try to find a higher calorie food to feed him. I have some mirtazapine, but it makes my cat behave strangely like he can't get comfortable, paces and meows and breathes faster. I've tried lowering the dose, which lessons symptoms but not enough that I feel ok with giving it to him again. I think there's another appetite stimulant I could ask for, but i'll try and see if the prednisolone helps first.

Anyone have experience with IBD/lymphoma, does it take a while for the steroids to help?

 

[LTS3]

I have some mirtazapine, but it makes my cat behave strangely like he can't get comfortable, paces and meows and breathes faster.

Those are typical side effects. There are other appetite stimulants you can ask the vet such as cyproheptadine.

Anyone have experience with IBD/lymphoma, does it take a while for the steroids to help?

One of my cat has IBD. The prednisolone does help keep flare ups to a minimum. The main side effect of prednisolone, and any steroid use, are diabetes-like symptoms of increased urination and water drinking.

Cats with IBD often have a sensitivity to food such as chicken. My cat can no longer eat chicken without an IBD flare up. I'm feeding him novel proteins like rabbit and lamb. What are you feeding your cat?

 

[Cara80]

I was feeding him royal canin k/d pate, have tried hill's science diet adult ( he hates it) and now giving him fancy feast salmon pate which he really likes but can't keep giving it too him because the phosphorous levels are so high and not good for his kidneys.

I wonder if he was reacting to the royal canin? these ingredients don't look so great

Water sufficient for processing, pork by-products, chicken liver, chicken, chicken by-products, brewers rice flour, salmon, brewers rice, powdered cellulose, pork plasma, fish oil, potassium citrate, guar gum, calcium carbonate, carrageenan, taurine, fructooligosaccharides, vitamins [L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), DL-alpha tocopherol acetate (source of vitamin E), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), niacin supplement, biotin, D-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement], choline chloride, DL-methionine, natural flavors, cysteine, sodium silico aluminate, glycine, marigold extract (Tagetes erecta L.), trace minerals [zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite].

 

[laura mae]

Awhile back I had a cat who had repeated bouts of colitis. Wellness pate turkey and chicken seemed to work well for her as did the Wellness Core. She ate anything and everything and so it didn't seem to matter. Some cats don't like Wellness though-I kept it to the pates. The cats I have now enjoy those pates and so Wellness is in their rotation.

 

[LTS3]

Royal Canin doesn't have the best ingredients. You might find suggestions for the kindey issues that won't affect the possible IBD very much here:

Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Which Foods to Feed, and Which to Avoid
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease- Canned Food Data USA

For IBD, novel proteins (anything that isn't from a chicken which is a common cause of food sensitives and GI issues) are helpful.

 

[Cara80]

Wanted to give an update, the steroids already seem to be helping his appetite. Such a relief after dealing with his appetite being off since late March. Hopefully they continue to help. i'm so worried it's cancer but trying to not let myself think about it too much and enjoy what time we do have left.

 

[Timmer]

Cara, I lost my Timmer to IBD and possible GI lymphoma within a month after he was diagnosed. He never responded to Prednisone or the chemo. I spent all the money and had a colonoscopy done and the biopsy. The biopsy did not show cancer but my regular vet said he suspected he had it and that GI lymphoma is so hard to diagnose because you really have to take a biopsy from an effected area, not just anywhere in the gut.
I'm glad you cat responded to the prednisone.
It's heart breaking. Timmer just never responded and eventually his colon swelled shut and he couldn't move his bowels. I don't even want to think about his last days and how hard it was. He tried so hard to go and just couldn't because it was all swollen shut and I couldn't do anything else for him.

If your cat responds to change in diet and the anti-inflammatory, that is great. I think that most cats do respond but unfortunately, mine did not.
Please keep us posted.

 

[Cara80]

Poor Timmer Please don't think about his last days. The last cat I had that passed away we weren't even sure what was wrong with her, but her last week was awful. It really helps me to remember that 99% of her time with us was incredible, she was spoiled and so happy. I did dwell on her passing and couldn't get the image of her last week out of my mind for a while, but now a year and a half later most of my time thinking of her are the really good memories like her cute talkative, sassy nature, the warmth of her laying on my lap all day, the morning head butts and purrs

 

[Timmer]

Thanks Cara, that's a good point to think about what a great life they had with us, but I just mourn him so much. Anyway, I don't wanna take over your thread with my issues. :-)
Please keep us posted on how your kitty does.

 

[Cara80]

Today is day 9 of Buddy being on prednisolone, he was on 4mg per day and now down to 2mg per day.

The first 5 days were tough, I noticed just a very slight improvement in appetite and the steroids had him either pacing around, constantly drinking water or sleeping under blankets. He would get a little nervous when we tried to pet him, which was tough and we were concerned that he was in pain. Turns out the steroids were affecting his mood.

By the 5th day at night, we decided to give him a dose of buprenophrine (thinking he had pain issues, didn't realize it was steroids affecting his mood), and he seemed calm, happy, came up to us for snuggles, and seemed like his old self again.

Day 6 and 7 noticeable improvements in appetite, he's back to his old routines and enjoying being pet. Finally some relief after weeks of him struggling.

Day 8 was first day on tapered 2mg dose and he ate well at around 250 calories, now that today is his 2nd day on tapered dose, i'm really crossing my fingers and hoping his appetite stays this way. He hasn't needed cerenia or pepcid, but will continue to keep an eye on him to make sure he's not in the meatloaf position

 

[Timmer]

That sounds really good! I'm glad things are looking up and I know you must be very relieved!

 

[Cara80]

Buddy's appetite is still good and he's now eating and loving Weruva, which is a better choice for his kidneys over the fancy feast classic pate. Really happy to see him eating well and even meowing for food again.

Some bad news though, Buddy started occasionally bumping into things again at night and it turns out his blood pressure is very high still which has caused tears in his retina. Ugh, we had dealt with vision issues 6 weeks ago which improved with his BP medicine amlodipine. His retinas aren't fully detached and still has some small amount of vision, which is good news I suppose, but I feel bad about his vision issues and wish I had scheduled a follow up with the vet earlier. I've read treating the high blood pressure can reverse damage (which it did 6 weeks ago), but there's no guarantee so this could be permanent or maybe he'll just regain some sight? we don't know.

So now Buddy will be getting 1mg amlodipine and 4mg benazepril 1x daily for his high blood pressure. Previously he was on 0.625mg of just the amlodipine daily. I'm hoping he responds better to this increased dose and added new drug, really high BP is not good and can cause strokes, seizures and heart problems. His systolic pressure is 200, which is quite high.

I do have a couple questions. Does anyone have experience in treating cats with high blood pressure? What do you think of his new increased med dosage? When should I schedule a follow up appointment to check his blood pressure again? And one last question, could the prednisolone have had an affect on his blood pressure?

 

[brittpatt]

Praying for you. Thank you for alerting me to Weruva.

 

[Timmer]

I don't have experience with high blood pressure but I have a friend who just lost her kitty because of kidney failure and the kitty also had high BP. I don't think you said how old Buddy is. did you? I know my friend had her kitty on BP meds for a couple of years. I think she only took her kitty in every six months but why not call and ask your vet these questions?
What is he on the prednisolone for?
I'm so sorry about the site issues. You are doing a great job taking care of him, that's for sure.

 

[Cara80]

Thought i'd give an update. Buddy was doing well for most of May in terms of his appetite, though he lost his sight temporarily from high blood pressure and the new blood pressure med he was on last week did not sit well with him at all. After the 1st dose he had less of an appetite the next day, after the 2nd dose I woke up to 4 piles of vomit and he has had diarrhea since. He was at the vet today and is now on flagyl and forti flora for the diarrhea and his steroid dose is being increased temporarily. We have another follow up appointment in a week.

Good news is that he hasn't lost any weight. I know weight loss can be one symptom of cancer, so i'm a bit relieved although my vet mentioned we won't know if he has IBD or small cell lymphoma until more time goes by.

 

[Cara80]

Today was Buddy's follow up appointment. The metronidazole, increased prednisolone dose to 4mg per day and forti flora probiotic have not helped his diarrhea. Was also really upset to find that he had somehow gone down from 9.4lbs last Monday to 8.9 today. Buddy has been eating 250 calories a day and at that amount really should not be losing weight.

My vet suggested we stay on the higher dose of steroid and try a new probiotic called proviable. I want to remain hopeful, but if this is cancer I don't that there's anything that will help his diarrhea. Past few months have been so heartbreaking

 

[Timmer]

My heart goes out to you. I know how you feel. Sick about it. Hopeless. Frustrated. All kinds of things. Lets hope this stuff works for Buddy. Just love him up all you can.