Suspected IBD or Lymphoma... is surgery worth it?

[rockitorknockit]

That update post sounds so flippant, I just want to re-emphasis what a relief Oscar's visit was today and how helpful you all have been regarding telling me about the chemo and Zofran. A weight is lifted, for now, knowing the choices I am making are helping. Thank you all.

 

[rockitorknockit]

You OK?

For some reason my post went through as just "Update" a minute ago... sorry! lol

 

[Margot Lane]

HOOORAY!!! Yay for you and the Orange boy!

 

[babiesmom5]

That is wonderful news that things are moving in the right direction. When you are feeling better about things, your orange boy will pick up on your mood and it can only help him more. Thanks for the update. May there be many more positive updates to come!

 

[Margot Lane]

Hey a new IBD person named “Bella blue” just chimed in on TCS w/ experiences similar to your own! Sounds as if from your latest bulletin you’d be more apt to offer advice than I, as my IBD cat never vomited. How is Oscar?

 

[Margot Lane]

How is your Oscar doing these days?

 

[rockitorknockit]

How is your Oscar doing these days?

Thanks for asking.

He's doing okay. Today and yesterday he's seemed a little down/puny again. My wife is constantly trying to remind me that he is chronically sick and it should be expected that he sometimes has days where he feels worse than others through no fault of ours.

I've been trying to add in some more interesting wet foods for him. It's just so hard to know if it's okay for his sensitive system. He always seems like he's deigning to eat the normal food I give him because he's hungry and it's all that's available. When I give him a special food, he eats way more, but I guess because it's like a treat.

 

[rockitorknockit]

Still worrying about Oscar. Lots of him just sitting around being tiny. Worrying he's continuing to lose weight, can't believe how bony he is now. I weighed him last week and he was a pretty even 9 pounds which is technically lower. Having a hard time telling if he is nauseous or not. He is meatloafing often but his head is up... I have some Zofran I have not given him yet, wondering if I should give him a dose and see what happens? He's sitting in a dark spot under a chair right now, which is making me worry more. He purrs and sits by me at night when we are having dinner still. He is still eating teeny tiny amounts. He gobbles up his meds with a temptation treat, but otherwise seems to just have a very small appetite, or he gets hungry and eating starts to make him feel crappy maybe. Not sure what to do, if anything. Trying not to panic and just see where riding the wave takes us while it's all so murky. Any input on trying a Zofran on top of his Cerenia to see how it does? Are there risks to that?

 

[babiesmom5]

I wouldn't do Zofran at the same time as Cerenia without vet's direction. My IBD girl was recently hospitalized for pancreatitis and given Cerenia in the morning and Zofran at night. She still gets 1/2 Zofran at night which helps prevent morning nausea. She wakes up hungry and lively.

The fact that Oscar is meatloafing may indicate nausea. Also, he is hiding under the chair, another sign.
Cats won't eat if nauseous.

Are you giving any appetite stimulant? This is very helpful. My girl gets Mirataz gel in the ear each morning.

 

[Margot Lane]

Hard for me to know what to say, as I can’t say “increase the pred,” due to his heart condition. But I’d tell the vet and get some kinda suggestion, if he’s not eating a lot.

 

[rockitorknockit]

I was told by the vet that Zofran and Cerenia together was fine, was more so just nervous about giving him a new med and wondering what y'all's anecdotal experience has been. After I wrote this post, I went and checked on him and he actually got up and followed me to eat a good amount more, so maybe it was just some morning nausea. If he starts looking poorly again, I might just try to Zofran to see how it goes. The vet did say some appetite stimulant could be added if it comes to that.

 

[rockitorknockit]

Oscar has ended up handling the last couple of chemo doses much better than the one three doses ago, which made him sick as hell for whatever reason. Still had a dip but not quite as panic-inducing.

He's lost more weight, though. About a week ago he was down to 8.6lb. After yet again dealing with the absolutely horrendous communication of all my vets, I was finally able to obtain some Mirataz for him. I've been giving it to him for three days now and I have to say I can't tell if it is even doing anything.

He's acting hungry during his usual times of day but is really starting to turn his nose up at anything healthy. It's like he'd rather sit and starve than deign to eat the prescription food that was completely fine for him a while ago. But he gets super excited when he thinks I am opening a treat for him or when we are eating interesting human food. Yesterday I had three different foods open in various places for him and he would only nibble the one that was new (but he did eventually eat it all... it just took literally the entire day). A few minutes ago he was doing the thing again, where he acts hungry but won't eat, so I finally said F*CK IT and opened up a can of his old fav, the fancy feast savory centers. Low and behold, he ate half the can ON THE SPOT! I'm screaming.

I ordered a sample pack of koha limited ingredient pates and a really fancy dry raw topper to try. Maybe just a full diet change needs to happen. I don't see the harm in trying, anyway, since nothing has changed his poop and now he's losing weight. Trying to still feel out some healthy options before resorting to just giving him treaty food constantly. Really frustrated the Mirataz isn't helping more... would give almost anything to see him eat more like normal and put on a couple of pounds.

I still have never given him the Zofran. I really am not sure nausea is what's causing his pickiness at this point. Sometimes he meatloafs but his head is up and his eyes are open. This morning I had an ah-hah moment - he had been meatloafing but looking okay... but when I sat on the floor he came and sat on me. I realized he was SHIVERING!. I think he's COLD!!! Poor baby! He's thin, not eating much, and has a naked belly... my apartment is cold, I am wearing sweats! I feel like a dumb ass for not realizing this, and it makes a few other things make a lot more sense. I'm going to do what I can to help him get warmed up now and see if he doesn't look more comfortable. He has never liked being under blankets but we have a heated blanket I can sneak under his bed. Another one of those times I really wish they could talk - I am sure he would be telling me all about how he feels and what he wants to eat. I love him.

 

[di and bob]

Get him a cat heat pad, my cats absolutely adore them. K&H makes good ones. With his weight loss he could definitely be cold, and the chemo will make him feel cold too. At this point, and i had a sweet boy with bowel cancer, I would feed him what he wants. ANYTHING he wants. My Burt ate Arby's roast beef and a McDonald's hamburger patty for the last year of his life. My cats have Leukemia and I give their meds every morning in Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors. I also keep it around if one loses their appetite, they seem to love the stuff, and will ALWAYS take at least a few licks. My heart breaks for you all, I pray your sweet boy will continue to see improvements, miracles still happen you know!

 

[rockitorknockit]

Get him a cat heat pad, my cats absolutely adore them. K&H makes good ones. With his weight loss he could definitely be cold, and the chemo will make him feel cold too. At this point, and i had a sweet boy with bowel cancer, I would feed him what he wants. ANYTHING he wants. My Burt ate Arby's roast beef and a McDonald's hamburger patty for the last year of his life. My cats have Leukemia and I give their meds every morning in Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors. I also keep it around if one loses their appetite, they seem to love the stuff, and will ALWAYS take at least a few licks. My heart breaks for you all, I pray your sweet boy will continue to see improvements, miracles still happen you know!

I give Oscar all his pills by wrapping them in bits of pill pockets and then smashing that to a Temptation Treat. He gobbles them up no matter how else he feels. Even if he's super poorly, drooling and sick, he gets me at 6:30 on the dot for his meds/Temptations! That feels like a blessing - I am glad he likes them, and I am glad I don't have to torture him with horrible pilling. Sometimes I think about what will happen nearer the end of his life - I imagine getting a giant bucket of Temptation treats and just letting him go swimming in it. And maybe some vanilla ice cream.

I'm definitely getting close to the "just feed him what he'll" place. We'll see how the koha and toppers do. Again, really hoped the appetite stimulant would help more, but alas. If I have to feed him savory centers and tuna juice until the koha arrives, I might. (My boy has always loooooved tuna and salmon more than anything else!)

 

[rockitorknockit]

Just coming back to vent to those who can relate.

Every day is the same cycle right now:
Oscar is clearly hungry.
Oscar will only nibble at the healthy options when he's absolutely desperate.
He would clearly rather literally starve than eat anything good for him. I don't know why he's suddenly picky like this, but he is.
Novel proteins, fancy toppers, nothing makes him eat more of anything I wish he'd like.
I offer him a little bit of fancy feast savory centers because I am worried he's truly starving... he gobbles it up as if he were a man at an oasis in the desert. He's literally just refusing to eat anything he doesn't want. He eats entire cans of savory centers in one sitting, though.
He poops and it's almost completely liquid. I worry to death.
I ruminate endlessly... Are savory centers going to hurt him? Should making sure he eats more be the priority? Does it even matter what he eats when he has horrible diarrhea no matter what he eats anyway?
Lost, frustrated. Trying to place a Chewy order and honestly not sure what to get. More of what he'll eat? Or more trying to force something he refuses?
The last few days I've been tricking him into eating a little koha but just mixing it with some savory centers. Just to get more in him and displace some of it with something healthier. I am sure it makes ZERO difference to his guts, but I'm not sure what else to do.

Should add... He's hovering around 8.5/8.7 pounds right now. I honestly can't believe he's so thin and small. That's literally half the weight he was when he was his biggest. Now he's like a tiny little bag of bones I can accidentally fling across the room if I move too quickly. It's heart breaking and difficult to accept. I'd love him to not lose anymore, gaining would be a dream come true. I don't see how he could possibly lose more without it having serious ramifications. I am comforted by the fact that he's obviously still in there trying to be okay.

 

[Margot Lane]

…any way your vet would permit an increase even a tiny bit on steroids? The other thing about having the runs for this long is dehydration. How is his water intake? This is exactly the way Zorro was in the beginning, minus vomiting, causing me sleepless nights, and the prednizlone saved us. He eats well, poops well, and has good quality of life for 16. I feel for you…sounds like you’re feeding him good stuff when he lets you…my guess it has to do w/ bowel inflammation, which Prednizalone alleviates.

 

[daftcat75]

Just coming back to vent to those who can relate.

Every day is the same cycle right now:
Oscar is clearly hungry.
Oscar will only nibble at the healthy options when he's absolutely desperate.
He would clearly rather literally starve than eat anything good for him. I don't know why he's suddenly picky like this, but he is.
Novel proteins, fancy toppers, nothing makes him eat more of anything I wish he'd like.
I offer him a little bit of fancy feast savory centers because I am worried he's truly starving... he gobbles it up as if he were a man at an oasis in the desert. He's literally just refusing to eat anything he doesn't want. He eats entire cans of savory centers in one sitting, though.
He poops and it's almost completely liquid. I worry to death.
I ruminate endlessly... Are savory centers going to hurt him? Should making sure he eats more be the priority? Does it even matter what he eats when he has horrible diarrhea no matter what he eats anyway?
Lost, frustrated. Trying to place a Chewy order and honestly not sure what to get. More of what he'll eat? Or more trying to force something he refuses?
The last few days I've been tricking him into eating a little koha but just mixing it with some savory centers. Just to get more in him and displace some of it with something healthier. I am sure it makes ZERO difference to his guts, but I'm not sure what else to do.

My Betty may be pre-IBD. I am still thinking she just had a string of bad episodes (hairballs, ate a rubber band, was eating carpet from a frayed cat tree for a bit before I discovered it and threw out the tree.) I think that’s left her irritated and inflamed. Waiting to talk to the vet about it tomorrow after I missed her call yesterday. The ultrasound said thickening of the intestines. But she doesn’t throw up food. If she does throw up food, it’s always secondary to whatever else made her spit up (hairballs, carpet fibers, etc.)

Ask me a couple of months ago about prescription food and I’d tell you it’s junk and a rip off. But after the last very pricey urgent care visit for a hairball that just wouldn’t quit (she got it out alright but kept spitting up for hours after), I decided to humor the vet and take home cans of the Hills I/D. To my shock and surprise, the Hills I/D stew is the first food she really got excited about. This past weekend I learned about A/D as kitty crack and a way to get them to take medicine. I picked up a couple of cans of A/D and she likes this stuff even more than the I/D. Since the A/D comes in 5.5 ounce cans which is too little for a daily portion and two is too much for her, I mix the 3 oz I/D cans with half the A/D can making the A/D last two eating shifts (daytime and nighttime.) But also that means pure A/D remains such a treat to her that I can use it for her medicine. Right now she’s taking Cerenia once a day, Pepcid once a day (might need twice?), and a probiotic that she may or may not have liked mixed into her food. Now I stuff them into gelatin capsules for her (size 5 = smallest), coat the capsule in A/D, and place the coated capsule on the carpet. Placing it on the carpet makes it harder for her to lick the food off the pill. If she wants that morsel, she has to bite the whole thing up, pill and all. Once she’s done that, I give her a few more grams of the A/D by itself on a plate like a chaser. No pills are spit out and I don’t see any reactions like she tasted the medicine. This tip may help you get meds into Oscar if you have been struggling.

Ask your vet about the I/D (Betty likes the stew more than the pate) and A/D (only comes in a kitty crack soft pate that Betty adores!) If they work for your cat, it’s better than the “devil’s bargain” (Fancy Feast savory centers which don’t seem to be agreeing with him.)

 

[di and bob]

I would feed him what he wants. Maybe try some lickable treats. It's just not worth it to make him unhappy.

 

[rockitorknockit]

…any way your vet would permit an increase even a tiny bit on steroids? The other thing about having the runs for this long is dehydration. How is his water intake? This is exactly the way Zorro was in the beginning, minus vomiting, causing me sleepless nights, and the prednizlone saved us. He eats well, poops well, and has good quality of life for 16. I feel for you…sounds like you’re feeding him good stuff when he lets you…my guess it has to do w/ bowel inflammation, which Prednizalone alleviates.

At this point I'll try anything. You have a point... I might shoot the internal med doctor a message to see if she thinks elevating the steroid would make any difference, but it never did make a difference to his poops and I think she is as doubtful as I am. But who knows! he has an appointment for the 21st or so as well as it is.

No concerns about dehydration here. Oscar drinks water like we breathe air. He liked water anyway but the meds seem to make him want even more. Tons of water bowls that I am cleaning and refilling daily for him. (Made them check his blood sugar last time as well, and it was fine.)

 

[rockitorknockit]

My Betty may be pre-IBD. I am still thinking she just had a string of bad episodes (hairballs, ate a rubber band, was eating carpet from a frayed cat tree for a bit before I discovered it and threw out the tree.) I think that’s left her irritated and inflamed. Waiting to talk to the vet about it tomorrow after I missed her call yesterday. The ultrasound said thickening of the intestines. But she doesn’t throw up food. If she does throw up food, it’s always secondary to whatever else made her spit up (hairballs, carpet fibers, etc.)

Ask me a couple of months ago about prescription food and I’d tell you it’s junk and a rip off. But after the last very pricey urgent care visit for a hairball that just wouldn’t quit (she got it out alright but kept spitting up for hours after), I decided to humor the vet and take home cans of the Hills I/D. To my shock and surprise, the Hills I/D stew is the first food she really got excited about. This past weekend I learned about A/D as kitty crack and a way to get them to take medicine. I picked up a couple of cans of A/D and she likes this stuff even more than the I/D. Since the A/D comes in 5.5 ounce cans which is too little for a daily portion and two is too much for her, I mix the 3 oz I/D cans with half the A/D can making the A/D last two eating shifts (daytime and nighttime.) But also that means pure A/D remains such a treat to her that I can use it for her medicine. Right now she’s taking Cerenia once a day, Pepcid once a day (might need twice?), and a probiotic that she may or may not have liked mixed into her food. Now I stuff them into gelatin capsules for her (size 5 = smallest), coat the capsule in A/D, and place the coated capsule on the carpet. Placing it on the carpet makes it harder for her to lick the food off the pill. If she wants that morsel, she has to bite the whole thing up, pill and all. Once she’s done that, I give her a few more grams of the A/D by itself on a plate like a chaser. No pills are spit out and I don’t see any reactions like she tasted the medicine. This tip may help you get meds into Oscar if you have been struggling.

Ask your vet about the I/D (Betty likes the stew more than the pate) and A/D (only comes in a kitty crack soft pate that Betty adores!) If they work for your cat, it’s better than the “devil’s bargain” (Fancy Feast savory centers which don’t seem to be agreeing with him.)

Thank you!!!

I/D is what I've been feeding Oscar since his IBD/cancer diagnosis stuff began. At first he liked the wet food, but he stopped eating it entirely pretty quickly. He consistently ate the hard food version, so I was primarily feeding that. Now he only deigns to eat it if he's desperate and I'm refusing to give something better.

Have been trying Koha wet foods, which is what I am mixing with his savory centers today... He clearly does not like them much. The rabbit one seems to cause the least annoyance for him, but all of the bird ones (turkey, duck, even tried chicken) piss him off.

Had not heard of A/D and will def ask about it. He much prefers pates so it sounds like it is definitely worth a shot.

"Devil's Bargain" is such a fitting turn of phrase for what it feels like!