MD/DC/NOVA vet recommendations please - gastroenterology/digestive health?

[yssie]

No real updates here.

Drain is draining still - he can come home once that’s out, but it’s too high an infection risk whilst it’s in.

He’s eating well by mouth, alert and bright, and I can’t wait to get him home. He went into the ER August 8. We’ve set the big dog cage up to keep him contained.

Day by day here. No biopsy results yet.

Pics from my last visit.

 

[tyty333]

He looks wide-eyed and like he's enjoying your visit. I hope he continues to get better so that you can get him home soon!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Sending you gentle hugs and cat kissss Jimmy (and Yssie too)

 

[OboeGal]

That's great news that he's eating well by mouth! Hoping he'll be home soon.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Sounds great Yssie! Hope he is home with you soon!

 

[yssie]

He went #2!! One of the vet techs called me very excitedly
Solid and firm. That's GREAT news for him!! Means All The Gastric Things are starting to work the way they should again


TMI? I spend a nontrivial amount of energy being excited about animal emissions

 

[carbonfan]

So glad to hear this update, and here's hoping that it is only onward and upward from here! I'm sending loads of good thoughts and dust your way in the meantime in hopes that even better news is on the horizon. Your adorably sweet boy is so lucky to have you!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

He looks great and also good news on the digestive front!

 

[CMN]

Fingers crossed. Sending well wishes to your little boy.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Great update!

 

[CMN]

Hoping things are continuing to improve.

 

[yssie]

Thanks for checking in CMN. A huge thank you to everyone for your support in this thread. It really has helped so much the past few weeks

Jimmy's home again. And the drain's out. Eating well (without the blasted tube). He’s easy to pill, so since he doesn’t need to be tube fed I’ve been giving all medications by mouth and just flushing the tube twice a day.

The tube is… A real pain. I have to say. It goes directly into his stomach, and it’s stitched up on the outside - and he’s got this stretchy clingy sweater thing that catches all the sharp edges and keeps everything near his body.

To flush it (meaning - use a syringe to force water through, takes about three minutes) technically all I need to do is either roll the sweater up to his front legs, or take the sweater off his front legs and roll it down to his hindquarters. In reality I wind up having to take the sweater off entirely every time, because for whatever reasons he’s apparently terrified of having it just bunched up anywhere on him. Must be a pressure sensitivity thing?

So twice a day - take sweater off unhappy and squirming cat, hold unhappy and squirming cat still for tube flush, medicate, put sweater back on unhappy and squirming cat making sure all the pokey bits of the tube are caught in the right places. Thank goodness he’s not the fighting biting sort. Small price to pay to keep him alive of course but definitely looking forward to this thing coming out!

Medications… He’s on presnisolone (steroid), zeniquin (antibiotic), cisapride (gastrointestinal motility fixer-upper), and a bundle of food-related add-ons (appetite stimulant, nutrients, etc.). His biopsy came back, pathology indicates small cell lymphoma. Not the diagnosis we were hoping for, but pretty much what we expected. It’s about as good a cancer diagnosis as it’s possible to have, if one can say such a thing - slow progressing and manageable. Typical treatment is prednisone, which he’s already on, and an oral chemo. We’re going to see the oncologist next week.

I’m relieved and wiped out. He was in the hospital for sixteen days, all said and done. Thank goodness for pet insurance. If anyone US-based is looking - we have our lot insured with three different providers: Pets Best, PetPlan, and Lemonade. Quick fuss-free payouts from all three. The paperwork is kind of a pain but you expect that.

He’s trying to groom himself. Hasn’t registered that all he’s doing is cleaning the inside of his cone very very well. You’d think he’d figure it out at some point prior to Day Three.

 

[Lookinagain]

I'm so sorry for the diagnosis and for all you have to go through to take care of him. You are a great cat mom! Also glad to hear that the oral chemo should help and that it's slow progressing. Thanks for the heads up on the pet insurance. I've never purchased it but you have me thinking I should check into it.

 

[yssie]

I'm so sorry for the diagnosis and for all you have to go through to take care of him. You are a great cat mom! Also glad to hear that the oral chemo should help and that it's slow progressing. Thanks for the heads up on the pet insurance. I've never purchased it but you have me thinking I should check into it.

Thank you
We mostly went without whilst ours were younger, but the past few years have just been a total sh*tshow on the animal front. Seven of ours have all either had serious health issues or had prior health issues come to a head - it's luck of the draw of course but for us it's been worth it. Even if I know that I can afford to pay their treatment without insurance, when there's a crisis actually happening it's such a mental load off to be able to say "do the tests you need to to figure this out" and not even think about how much that extra technically-unnecessary-but-potentially-super-useful CT might run. Or whatever! In our case we've - unfortunately - actually come out ahead with the insurance, go figure.

 

[MrsBlue]

Aww Jimmy's face looks so sweet and alert. He makes that sweater and cone combo look like the latest in avant-garde fashion.

It must be a joy to you both to be home together, despite all the tube and treatment heartache. Best wishes for his continued comfort and stability.

 

[tyty333]

You both sure are troopers! Sorry to hear about the diagnosis. I'm glad to hear it is one of the better ones to have. Sounds like
it is manageable. I'm sure he is ready to have the stomach tube out too. I'm hoping he continues to regain his health and is
able to get back to his old happy self!

 

[rungirl]

So glad to hear that Jimmy is home. His face is so sweet! Sorry about the diagnosis, but glad that it is manageable.

I had a cat years ago that had radiation and then chemo. As you probably already know, pets generally tolerate chemo better than humans. So that is good too.

Sending all good, healing wishes for you and Jimmy. Please keep us posted on his progress.

 

[Cerulean]

Man, what a tough run you’ve had, and Jimmy too. None of that sounds fun at all, but I’m so glad that the difficulty is paying off regarding his health and that he’s home. 16 days…I can’t even imagine the bills. It does make me wonder about insurance…but of course a few things have been documented with mine already, so wouldn’t be covered.

Anyways…it really is amazing that his temperament even permits such intervention! I have two semi-ferals, and I can tell you they’d be an absolute nightmare with all of this! I’d be covered in bites and scratches! It just speaks to Jimmy’s nature.

Poor little bean trying to groom. A+ for effort though, bud! He will get there soon.

 

[mary poppins]

So glad to see Jimmy is back home and doing relatively well. Sorry to hear about the diagnosis, but at least you have an answer now which is better than wondering what's going on.

I hope he continues to improve.

 

[Matata]

@yssie, well dang, not the diagnosis we wanted to hear. I hope you and your oncologist come up with a treatment plan that is comfortable for Jimmy.

Prognosis is usually 1-2 yrs. After consult with Taji's oncologist, we're treating only with prednisolone at this point. I don't know if I'll opt for oral chemo. With oral chemo, blood tests are required every two weeks for a few months and then decreasing after that depending on whether the chemo causes decrease in red blood cells. Prednisolone runs the risk of diabetes and brittle bones. Taji freaks at the vets which is why I doubt I'll opt for the chemo when the prednisolone is no longer effective at keeping his symptoms at bay. Our oncologist said the 1-2 yr prognosis is pretty much the same with just prednisolone as it would be combining with the oral chemo. The prospect of putting him through stress while his little body is dealing with cancer is a bit too much to think about at this point.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you and Jimmy have lots of good times ahead of you. As always, sending hugs.

 

[adlgel]

We had a cat diagnosed with likely large cell lymphoma. Prognosis was 50% odds of getting another 12 months with chemo. We opted to not do that for many of the same reasons Matata voiced and put her on a prednisoline regimen.

We got 6 more months with her and most of those 6 months were actually pretty great. But at the end we were doing a lot of hand feeding to try to get her to eat, she developed diabetes and was getting multiple UTIs. So we let her go. My thoughts go out to you @Matata and @yssie as you walk a similar path.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Welcome home Jimmy
there is no place like home and ones own bed
what a good boy you are letting mommy fiddle with the tube
Im glad you are eatting and popping and grooming
Take care little one, mommy loves you and a whole scary bunch of cat ladies on the internet wish you well

 

[CMN]

So pleased to hear that he is at home, improving, and that you have a diagnosis. At least now you can plan and decide on a way forward rather than dealing with the worry that the uncertainty as to the cause of illness brings.

 

[stepcutnut]

@yssie I am sorry to hear about Jimmy's diagnosis, but am glad he is home and improving with your love and care. Sending lots of healing dust your way!

 

[yssie]

Some long-overdue updates here!

Jimmy continues to eat like a champ. We haven't used the tube once for food since we brought him home!! I do use it for medications, because they're all liquid at the moment and he'll froth at the mouth to spit liquids out (he does great with pills).

The oncologist recommended continuing prednisolone and Cisapride and adding chemotherapy - Chlorambucil once every two weeks. He had his first dose yesterday. No side effects that I can see other than eating less than he has been... He might be a bit more tired than usual today, too? Just a bit. We'll see how he does tonight, and if he shows he'll tolerate the chemo decently we'll get that feeding tube out - and then he can go back into general population

Unfortunately Alex - our three-legged other cancer survivor - has been losing weight. We had bloodwork done and the vet confirmed he's got diabetes. Poor boy really hit jackpot. My other half picked insulin up this morning and it's $300 a month Thank goodness for insurance!! Again!! (This is obviously my mantra of the year...)

 

[yssie]

Jimmy had his feeding tube removed yesterday!!

He’s doing really really well. Eating well, drinking well, using the litterbox… He’ll have to stay in a cone until he stops licking his stitches - I keep giving him opportunities to prove himself worthy of going forth with free neck and he keeps squandering them

Oh my goodness, I’m glad to have that thing out of him!! He was playing with it, batting at it, getting it wrapped around his legs… One truly dreadful thing that I didn’t come to appreciate until he was well into recovery and active again - the tube holds only maybe 3-5ml of liquid total. And his went straight into his stomach. So when he moved, when he rolled over, when he did anything to flex his tummy - water, meds, and decomposing food would come out. At you. I hope never to rinse half-digested cat food out of my trousers ever again.

Such a relief to have him better again. Garett was always our first miracle baby… Jimmy is our second

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

your looking good Jimmy

 

[rungirl]

So happy to hear this wonderful news! I'm sure it makes all the difference having you as such a devoted caregiver.

 

[siamese3]

Yssie, I just read through this whole thread and I'm so sorry that you have all been through the wringer.. it's so emotionally draining. I was happy to get to your most current post and see that things are going much better!! So happy for Jimmy and you!!! It's so evident how much you care for your furries. They are lucky to have you

 

[yssie]

Jimmy has hit twelve pounds!! He’d lost so much, this feels like we’ve passed a safety bar