Should I say goodbye to my cat?

[Manxiee]

Hello everyone, I have a cat, Asha, who just turned 10 in February. Also In February I found out she had two lung tumors and the vet suspects it is lung cancer. Her first symptoms were coughing so I suspected it to be asthma.

The vet decided to put Asha on steroids and for about a month she handled them well, less coughing basically. eventually they stopped working as well so, a few days ago I took her to the vet due to her noticeable decrease in water and food intake and as well as the coughing.

They put her back on steroids, antibiotics, and a appetite stimulant. I am currently not giving her the steroids Or antibiotics because she seemed so stressed when I tried to give it to her, coughing fits, drooling, open mouth panting…

A few minutes ago she just had her worst coughing fit and it lasted a minute with the drooling and open mouth panting.

in summary, she still wants everything to do with me, will kinda eat and drink, and will play a bit. I absolutely adore her and my family says it’s not time to put her down.. but I don’t want to see her condition get worse and worse. Please give me some second opinions.

 

[Shadow's owner]

If it was me i wouldn't want to see Asher's condition worsen either but i dont know if i could put my baby down before their time either but i definitely understand cause i couldn't handle seeing my fur baby condition worsen either

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. If you would like to keep Asha around a while longer and feeling as good as she possibly can, then you need to find a way to give her the meds. Steroids can be given via injection, so you might talk to the vet about that. As far as the antibiotics are concerned, find out what the vet thinks they are going to accomplish, and go from there. Some sort of possible bacterial infection in her lungs? There is a good chance that she might not routinely need the appetite stimulant when she is on the steroids, as they sometimes will act as an appetite stimulant.

Generally speaking, all of the meds should be able to be crushed up and hidden in a bite of food, or a lickable treat (there are tons on the market you could try), and/or even baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut). Other cats do well to have meds hidden in the 'juice' from canned tuna (or chicken) in water, with a bite of the meat as a treat afterward. The meds can also be compounded into a flavored liquid by a pharmacy to help mask the medicine taste. The liquid meds, whether or not compounded, can also be hidden in all of the above suggestions.

If you think that she may also have asthma, are you talking to the vet about a chest x-ray to see if that might be the case? She may do well with some asthma meds. The x-rays might also denote the tumors - and, if she had x-rays before, they could be compared to see if there are any negative changes. Is that how the tumors were found in the first place? If so, the vet should have been able to see some signs of asthma as well at that time.

Any consideration of treating her with chemo? Cats typically do pretty well with it - the doses are not given as high, relatively speaking, as what humans get, because the goal is not to cure but rather slow down the progression.

 

[neely]

If you would like to keep Asha around a while longer and feeling as good as she possibly can, then you need to find a way to give her the meds.

I'm sorry Asha and you are going through this difficult time but I agree with the above advice. Trust me, I have also had difficulty giving cats' meds but there are so many options available that hopefully one will work for you. The reason I'm saying this is because without giving her the meds long enough to see if they will help you may not have peace of mind knowing you tried everything possible. Once again, you know her best and this is your choice. We can only offer our personal experience and give you support. Would it help to get a second opinion from a Veterinary Internal Medical Specialist or Oncologist?

Thinking of you and sending special thoughts to Asha.

 

[Manxiee]

Hi. If you would like to keep Asha around a while longer and feeling as good as she possibly can, then you need to find a way to give her the meds. Steroids can be given via injection, so you might talk to the vet about that. As far as the antibiotics are concerned, find out what the vet thinks they are going to accomplish, and go from there. Some sort of possible bacterial infection in her lungs? There is a good chance that she might not routinely need the appetite stimulant when she is on the steroids, as they sometimes will act as an appetite stimulant.

Generally speaking, all of the meds should be able to be crushed up and hidden in a bite of food, or a lickable treat (there are tons on the market you could try), and/or even baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut). Other cats do well to have meds hidden in the 'juice' from canned tuna (or chicken) in water, with a bite of the meat as a treat afterward. The meds can also be compounded into a flavored liquid by a pharmacy to help mask the medicine taste. The liquid meds, whether or not compounded, can also be hidden in all of the above suggestions.

If you think that she may also have asthma, are you talking to the vet about a chest x-ray to see if that might be the case? She may do well with some asthma meds. The x-rays might also denote the tumors - and, if she had x-rays before, they could be compared to see if there are any negative changes. Is that how the tumors were found in the first place? If so, the vet should have been able to see some signs of asthma as well at that time.

Any consideration of treating her with chemo? Cats typically do pretty well with it - the doses are not given as high, relatively speaking, as what humans get, because the goal is not to cure but rather slow down the progression.

Thank you for responding.
I was going to see if there was a way to get steroids that can be applied on her inner ear. I have tried mixing the medicine with some of the squeezable paste and I think she realized it was in there so it didn’t work too well. Her current steroids are a liquid I inject to her mouth and after she would go into a coughing fit and seem really stressed.

I mentioned the asthma because that was what I suspected she had before I found out she had the tumors. They do not think Asha has asthma at all and just suspects it is lung cancer. I should of worded it better.

I did think about chemo, and did research it fairly well. I was going to wait until her first steroids were finished but by the time it was finished she seemed to be getting worse and worse, also traveling and vet visits stress her out the most and I didn’t want to put her through all the visits for her diagnosis. I want to keep her as comfortable as possible.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I was going to see if there was a way to get steroids that can be applied on her inner ear. I have tried mixing the medicine with some of the squeezable paste and I think she realized it was in there so it didn’t work too well. Her current steroids are a liquid I inject to her mouth and after she would go into a coughing fit and seem really stressed.

While you might end up wasting a few more med doses, please try the canned tuna/chicken in water or the baby food meat. The tuna 'juice' worked really well with a med Feeby had to take that would literally make her cough, hack, and foam at the mouth when given via oral syringe, and yet she took it without question when mixed with the 'juice'. But, yes I know, some meds just can't be hidden. I tried giving Feeby liquid compounded famotidine mixed with some of these 'treats', and that was an absolute no on her part - she wouldn't even taste test it.

As far as lickable treats, I have had success using the following with Feeby - Temptations Purrrrees, Delectable Squeeze Ups (those two are her favorites), Vitakraft, Catit, Inaba Churu, Wholehearted, and Fussie Cat. I use them interchangeably so she won't get tired of them as quickly.

If/when needed, Mirataz is a transdermal gel appetite stimulant that can be applied to the ear too. Feeby takes Mirataz this way. You can simply trade off ears for the different meds. Be sure to clean her ears in between applications so that residue doesn't build up which can render the meds less effective. I use unscented hypo-allergenic wipes with a splash of witch hazel.

 

[vince]

There are transdermal patches for some steroids. I would suppose that holds for what Asha gets. Probably would require you to shave a part of her skin. You should check on that.

Will she take liquid medications? My vet gives me those sometimes and my cats don't have too much trouble when I administer them.

 

[ramscici]

I’m so sorry you and your kitty are going through this. I want to echo everyone else’s advice though and say that to me, it doesn’t sound like “the time” to let her go. She’s still eating, doing things with you, and she had responded to a course of steroids initially. I’m not diagnosing her, of course— only a vet can do that— but I personally wouldn’t feel like I have tried everything at this point. I would give topical medications a chance if possible. My cat Celeste has recently had to start taking gabapentin for pain and possible hyperesthesia and it’s so far been very easy to pill her using tiny tabs of the medication in Pill Pockets. You can get those on Chewy and she loves them. That’s also worth a shot.