Willy might have cancer / high-grade lymphoma Treatment thread

[catloverfromwayback]

Last update, late in the night of Thursday 11/2:

He pooped! It came out in a few small pieces, but I'd have expected nothing else. First BM since before chemo on Monday.

I am so happy as I go to bed tonight. During the day today, he had much more energy, much more appetite, drank plenty of water, urinated normally, groomed normally, window-gazed like he always used to, had a bowel movement, and his masses shrank noticeably.

And he is sleeping next to me, comfortably, after this full day.

Today was a good day.

SUCH good news! Keep it up, Willy!

 

[white shadow]

He pooped! It came out in a few small pieces.......

.
The separated little bits are indicating dry stool. 'Normal' for that BM would have been one small cyllindrical segmented piece >>>>> insufficient water in the colon and stool is the cause of the small bits. Considering that's the first BM in three days, I'd call it constipation.

You need to get water into the GI system and keep it hydrated.

You said you have Miralax on hand. "If he were here", I'd get 1/4 tsp* into him right away and watch/wait. Through the day Friday, I'd offer as much wet foods as he'd take. If there weren't any BM by suppertime, another 1/8, then watch/wait.

* Miralax is tasteless and mixes easily with a 'serving'/small quantity of liquid treats, a tsp of wet food, a couple of ounces of the broth from wet food, tuna water etc. Small amounts will guarantee complete consumption of each dose.​

[It would be useful for you to learn how to palpate his abdomen to determine what's in his colon and where it is. You'll need to learn this slowly, so no crash course here. At the bottom of this page you'll see two illustrations, a cat's GI system and colon. Start with the paragraph just above there. Again, slow learning. (I love the analogy there of the fingers in the pocket. Perfect.) To further enhance your lesson, bring that page to your next Vet visit and have her fine-tune your skills.]

We'll be watching and waiting too.

 

[Kwik]

.
The separated little bits are indicating dry stool. 'Normal' for that BM would have been one small cyllindrical segmented piece >>>>> insufficient water in the colon and stool is the cause of the small bits. Considering that's the first BM in three days, I'd call it constipation.

You need to get water into the GI system and keep it hydrated.

You said you have Miralax on hand. "If he were here", I'd get 1/4 tsp* into him right away and watch/wait. Through the day Friday, I'd offer as much wet foods as he'd take. If there weren't any BM by suppertime, another 1/8, then watch/wait.

* Miralax is tasteless and mixes easily with a 'serving'/small quantity of liquid treats, a tsp of wet food, a couple of ounces of the broth from wet food, tuna water etc. Small amounts will guarantee complete consumption of each dose.​

[It would be useful for you to learn how to palpate his abdomen to determine what's in his colon and where it is. You'll need to learn this slowly, so no crash course here. At the bottom of this page you'll see two illustrations, a cat's GI system and colon. Start with the paragraph just above there. Again, slow learning. (I love the analogy there of the fingers in the pocket. Perfect.) To further enhance your lesson, bring that page to your next Vet visit and have her fine-tune your skills.]

We'll be watching and waiting too.

Agreed- cannot express how very important it is,to be more specific DURING chemotherapy to stay well hydrated- I know I sound like a broken record about the broths but the added moisture in the digestive tract is extremely beneficial.....

Concur -100% with white shadow cmshap

 

[cmshap]

Agreed- cannot express how very important it is,to be more specific DURING chemotherapy to stay well hydrated- I know I sound like a broken record about the broths but the added moisture in the digestive tract is extremely beneficial.....

Point is well-taken. Right after the chemo, I rarely saw him drinking water, but all day yesterday, he was drinking very well. And early this morning, I've already seen him drinking.

It's not an excessive level of drinking, BTW... it's normal for him. He is usually quite a good water-drinker.

I am keeping extra bowls of water around the apartment, and keeping them filled with fresh, cool water all the time. When I see him walking past one, he almost always stops and takes a drink.

I think his BMs should become normal again soon; at least I hope they will.

 

[cmshap]

Beg him for forgiveness because of trying the above suggestions, and take multiple pictures.

I appreciate your suggestions, but I already know they wouldn't work.

If I were to bring a piece of paper anywhere near him, he'd immediately start biting/shredding it (I posted about his obsession with shredding paper). I also can't imagine him not biting at a Dixie cup and thinking it was a game/toy.

The tumors are also definitely starting to get squishier, as my oncologist informed me would be a positive sign, making them even harder to measure.

I am currently just taking a ton of pictures. I am placing a finger on each side of a tumor, spreading the fur away as much as possible, and snapping pics each day. Also taking pics of his profile, from which you can see changes over time in how much his fur sticks out.

I will post a progression with dates at some point.

Edit: Another noticeable reduction in size overnight. When I say "noticeable" I mean a reduction that I can notice by feel -- meaning enough that exceeds my doubt that I'm just imagining things. I'm always a skeptic, so when I post there was noticeable shrinkage, I'm sure of it.

Another edit: He is scratching at the tumor below his ear occasionally. He is NOT scratching at the surgical site (I looked closely, and he hasn't scratched at the surgical site for some time)... more like at the general surface of the tumor. I get the feeling that something to do with the shrinkage is making him itch there.

With my limited knowledge, I am hoping that's a good sign. Healing always itches. I know, personally, from my own significant surgeries/procedures in the past.

 

[Kwik]

I appreciate your suggestions, but I already know they wouldn't work.

If I were to bring a piece of paper anywhere near him, he'd immediately start biting/shredding it (I posted about his obsession with shredding paper). I also can't imagine him not biting at a Dixie cup and thinking it was a game/toy.

The tumors are also definitely starting to get squishier, as my oncologist informed me would be a positive sign, making them even harder to measure.

I am currently just taking a ton of pictures. I am placing a finger on each side of a tumor, spreading the fur away as much as possible, and snapping pics each day. Also taking pics of his profile, from which you can see changes over time in how much his fur sticks out.

I will post a progression with dates at some point.

Edit: Another noticeable reduction in size overnight. When I say "noticeable" I mean a reduction that I can notice by feel -- meaning enough that exceeds my doubt that I'm just imagining things. I'm always a skeptic, so when I post there was noticeable shrinkage, I'm sure of it.

Another edit: He is scratching at the tumor below his ear occasionally. He is NOT scratching at the surgical site (I looked closely, and he hasn't scratched at the surgical site for some time)... more like at the general surface of the tumor. I get the feeling that something to do with the shrinkage is making him itch there.

With my limited knowledge, I am hoping that's a good sign. Healing always itches. I know, personally, from my own significant surgeries/procedures in the past.

Lol- Willie just loves to shred ,doesn't he? I could just picture his little face lighting up with excitement when he sees paper in your hands- he's so darn cute!With a pack of loose-leaf Willie can have a new toys everyday-lol he's such a character

 

[cmshap]

Lol- Willie just loves to shred ,doesn't he? I could just picture his little face lighting up with excitement when he sees paper in your hands- he's so darn cute!With a pack of loose-leaf Willie can have a new toys everyday-lol he's such a character

Shredding paper is actually a great way to get him to play when he doesn't have his younger/healthier-self's level of energy. If he won't chase after a crumpled paper ball, I can give it to him my pushing it in his direction, and then he can have fun pretending that he "caught" it, and continue to shred it for a while. It may not really be exercise, but it is enrichment.

My living room floor is constantly covered with ripped-up bits of paper, which I am constantly cleaning up. I've gone through like half a pack of printer paper over the past month. I'm sorry, trees.

 

[Kwik]

Shredding paper is actually a great way to get him to play when he doesn't have his younger/healthier-self's level of energy. If he won't chase after a crumpled paper ball, I can give it to him my pushing it in his direction, and then he can have fun pretending that he "caught" it, and continue to shred it for a while. It may not really be exercise, but it is enrichment.

My living room floor is constantly covered with ripped-up bits of paper, which I am constantly cleaning up. I've gone through like half a pack of printer paper over the past month. I'm sorry, trees.

So it's always " snowing" inside- lol

 

[misty8723]

I don't mean to turn this thread into a discussion of something else, but I feel like atheism often takes on this cold reputation. But like I said in my previous post, I believe in love between people, animals, and each other. That's real to me, because I can feel it and see it.

I'm not religious, but I am spiritual. Love is all that really matters.

 

[misty8723]

It's horrible. In one attempt I drove all over the place and blew $300 on assorted cat food. Only to have sammie hover over the bowl. lick it and walk away. Feeding time used to stress me out so much. I was afraid to see if he would actually eat or not.

You might want to try giving him Temptations or Greenies cat treats. From past experience, Temptations are like crack to cats. Churru squeeze up treats are also good but since he won't eat Delectables he might not eat those. I have a video on my youtube channel of my cat Teddie stealing Churrus off the kitchen shelf and Samantha scavenging treats out of a food puzzle.

I have done the same thing trying to find food they would eat, spent a fortune. I have had two really fussy cats, one semi-fussy, and one who would eat anything. I just wanted to drop in to say when my Darcy got a devastating diagnosis of FIP (she was under a year and the sweetest cat I've ever know) we did everything we could to keep her going as long as she felt good. One of the few things she would eat was Temptations Catnip treats and she got as much of those as she wanted. The other thing we could get her to eat was Recovery. We were syringe feeding but if I put a little taste on her tongue she would likely eat more of it on her own.

I think the important thing is to make sure he is getting calories and don't worry so much about it being "good" food.

 

[cmshap]

I have done the same thing trying to find food they would eat, spent a fortune.

Thanks for your input. I'm glad I read input like yours before deciding to spend a fortune, which would likely have been wasted.

Between the day when I posted my frustration about his appetite, and today, we are in a totally different stage. He is eating better, but I still feel like I have to babysit him to eat at his optimal level.

Sprinkling kibble in front of him, when he is exhibiting interest in food (by getting up from his sleeping spot, and walking over towards his main food/water station), gets him to eat almost 100% of the time. So I watch for that and respond with a handful of kibble, always.

Any food that's sitting in his dish, if it's been sitting out, he seems to be uninterested it.

I interpret that as Willy not having his normal appetite quite yet, but he does have a returning appetite. So he's much more interested in fresh food, or food that hasn't been sitting out.

This is frustrating, because to get him to eat, I have to constantly watch and try to intervene and serve fresh food right at the moment he seems hungry.

 

[white shadow]

Remember, if the plumbing is 'constricted', he'll feel bloated.......that makes for minimal appetite. Without a BM, there'll be none eventually.
.

 

[cmshap]

Friday 11/3 update (a little over 96 hours after chemo):

Willy continues to do better. I posted a little about this earlier today, but his tumors are remarkably smaller now, compared to just two days ago. I would estimate, just based on my palpations, that they are 50% smaller since before chemo.

Not necessarily in diameter/width/length. They are a little bit smaller in terms of the amount of space on his skin they occupy.

But the most drastic reduction is in their outward protrusion/depth size. When I say they are about 50% smaller, I mean in terms of volume. But the outer borders of the tumors aren't that much smaller (although they are indeed smaller to some degree).

He had another bowel movement today that looked more normal, so I have not given him any Mirilax. Whenever he is hungry I am trying to give him the juiciest parts of wet food that I have (because he won't eat the solid part anyway), so I've lately been taking cans of salmon wet food, and squeezing the juice out onto his plate. He usually licks that up, and he usually eats small handfuls of dry food that I spread on the floor in front of him when I can tell he looks hungry.

Appetite is not what it used to be, but he was always an overeater, so what I am used to from the last 9 years is an always-hungry Willy. And I've never had a cat before him, so I don't have other points of reference. But I do believe that his appetite is still not quite as good as a normal, healthy appetite.

I don't know whether to pick up the mirtazapine yet... It's going to be like a $50-60 expense, so I've been waiting. Everything with this treatment is going to be affected by budget, so I'm always playing everything by ear, while being hyper-vigilant about what happens. It's stressful, even though I am very relieved that he's been doing much better today and yesterday.

Two days ago I thought he was in serious decline and I was trying to prepare myself for the end. Today I actually have been able to play with him a little, and am much more hopeful. And his alertness has been at about like 75% of what it normally is.

He slept in his cat bad today. The reason I mention that, and consider it a big deal, is that when he's not feeling well, he is GLUED to my lap. He won't sleep anywhere else. At least, so far (maybe if he's feeling really, really bad he will start hiding from me, but so far, whenever he's felt moderately bad, he's stuck with me). When he actually leaves my lap and takes a nap in his favorite cat bed, I have found that to be a sign that he's feeling better.

He's still drinking plenty of water, by the way.

Overall, I'm very happy with his progress today.

Edit: And I might have mentioned before, but I forgot to include in this post that his tumors have definitely started to feel squishier, as I was told by my oncologist would be a good sign that the chemo meds are working.

Edit: Can anyone speak to the itching? As his tumors shrink, he seems to be scratching them. Again, this is not scratching at the surgical incision sites (as was previously commented on, his surgical incisions were very small and precise, and at the edges of the tumors, so I could tell if he was scratching at those sites)... he's scratching at the surface of the tumors.

 

[IndyJones]

Excelent update.

 

[iPappy]

Friday 11/3 update (a little over 96 hours after chemo):

Willy continues to do better. I posted a little about this earlier today, but his tumors are remarkably smaller now, compared to just two days ago. I would estimate, just based on my palpations, that they are 50% smaller since before chemo.

Not necessarily in diameter/width/length. They are a little bit smaller in terms of the amount of space on his skin they occupy.

But the most drastic reduction is in their outward protrusion/depth size. When I say they are about 50% smaller, I mean in terms of volume. But the outer borders of the tumors aren't that much smaller (although they are indeed smaller to some degree).

He had another bowel movement today that looked more normal, so I have not given him any Mirilax. Whenever he is hungry I am trying to give him the juiciest parts of wet food that I have (because he won't eat the solid part anyway), so I've lately been taking cans of salmon wet food, and squeezing the juice out onto his plate. He usually licks that up, and he usually eats small handfuls of dry food that I spread on the floor in front of him when I can tell he looks hungry.

Appetite is not what it used to be, but he was always an overeater, so what I am used to from the last 9 years is an always-hungry Willy. And I've never had a cat before him, so I don't have other points of reference. But I do believe that his appetite is still not quite as good as a normal, healthy appetite.

I don't know whether to pick up the mirtazapine yet... It's going to be like a $50-60 expense, so I've been waiting. Everything with this treatment is going to be affected by budget, so I'm always playing everything by ear, while being hyper-vigilant about what happens. It's stressful, even though I am very relieved that he's been doing much better today and yesterday.

Two days ago I thought he was in serious decline and I was trying to prepare myself for the end. Today I actually have been able to play with him a little, and am much more hopeful. And his alertness has been at about like 75% of what it normally is.

He slept in his cat bad today. The reason I mention that, and consider it a big deal, is that when he's not feeling well, he is GLUED to my lap. He won't sleep anywhere else. At least, so far (maybe if he's feeling really, really bad he will start hiding from me, but so far, whenever he's felt moderately bad, he's stuck with me). When he actually leaves my lap and takes a nap in his favorite cat bed, I have found that to be a sign that he's feeling better.

He's still drinking plenty of water, by the way.

Overall, I'm very happy with his progress today.

Edit: And I might have mentioned before, but I forgot to include in this post that his tumors have definitely started to feel squishier, as I was told by my oncologist would be a good sign that the chemo meds are working.

Edit: Can anyone speak to the itching? As his tumors shrink, he seems to be scratching them. Again, this is not scratching at the surgical incision sites (as was previously commented on, his surgical incisions were very small and precise, and at the edges of the tumors, so I could tell if he was scratching at those sites)... he's scratching at the surface of the tumors.

If the tumors are shrinking that quickly (AWESOME btw!!!), they might "feel weird" to him. I've had very vague aches and pains over the years in my shoulders, and while I wouldn't describe them as stitching pains or burning pains, I'm "aware" of my shoulders and find myself massaging or rubbing the area a lot. Is he scratching the tumors violently or making them bleed?
Also, what kind of bowls does Willy have? I was doing some reading awhile back and one author who was writing about pets with cancer that are on chemo said she's noticed that a lot of them seem repulsed by anything made out of stainless steel or metal. Sometimes, a bowl won't do but a plate will. I'd experiment.

 

[cmshap]

Is he scratching the tumors violently or making them bleed?

No, it's not at all approaching that level of bad.

Perhaps I am just overanalyzing everything at this point. I'm constantly vigilant about everything that is happening with his body... so I didn't mean to indicate that this was a serious problem. But I'm just reacting to everything right now.

Those of you who have gone through illnesses with your cats understand what I'm talking about. Again, this is my first time dealing with any kind of situation like this, with my first cat ever.

Also, what kind of bowls does Willy have?

I'm using all ceramic bowls and plates for his food and water. They are all the same bowls/plates I eat out of, as I am washing/cycling them through this situation as we go.

Edit: He seems to enjoy when I lightly scratch on the surfaces of his tumors, so they are definitely itching him as they shrink. Better that I do the scratching with my blunt human fingernails, than he does with sharp cat claws.

 

[cmshap]

[It would be useful for you to learn how to palpate his abdomen to determine what's in his colon and where it is. You'll need to learn this slowly, so no crash course here. At the bottom of this page you'll see two illustrations, a cat's GI system and colon. Start with the paragraph just above there. Again, slow learning. (I love the analogy there of the fingers in the pocket. Perfect.) To further enhance your lesson, bring that page to your next Vet visit and have her fine-tune your skills.]

I didn't want to let this post go without acknowledging in a follow-up that I am definitely going to read this carefully and work towards learning this skill.

Also, in a semi-related question... when Willy was having his urinary retention/blockage problem, I was trying to quickly learn how to palpate for his bladder, if it was in a state of blockage. I tried several online guides and never could achieve success on my own.

My vet DID say that his bladder was full when I brought him in, so she did detect that with her own palpation, but I was not able to before I brought him in.

This palpation stuff seems so difficult to me at this moment, but I am very good at reading technical instructions, and really want to figure out what I'm doing, so I will try.

 

[silent meowlook]

It helps if you close your eyes and actually visualize what you are palpating.
I don’t palpate my cats at home and I do know how to do it. I don’t want to be doing hospital things for them at home if I can help it. Also, let’s say I palpate something abnormal, I am not going to change what I am doing without a vet checking them anyway. Also abdominal palpating can be uncomfortable/ painful.

 

[Kwik]

Regarding the scratching I can maybe speak for Willie,lol

When these types of tunors shrink you get very weird sensations as though something is crawling under your skin-best way I can describe the feeling and it is indeed itchy.....full blown the skin is taut,it's solid,doesn't move and is not really bothersome but as the mass shrinks beneath the skin faster than the skin can keep up you feel " movement" - very strange sensation

 

[cmshap]

When these types of tunors shrink you get very weird sensations as though something is crawling under your skin

Very interesting. I appreciate this insight.