My cat with cancer and chemo

[Cind11]

I couldn't find my original thread back in November (?) I think it was, so I thought I would start a new thread. Quincy has a tumor on his neck below his jaw which has spread to his lungs. I couldn't decide what to do about chemo (what kind or whether to do it at all)and had a choice between Palladia (only for animals) or Carboplatin which is a human cancer drug. We started with the Palladia which went along fine until Quincy got wise to the pill thing and I just couldn't get the pills down him anymore. They would generally end up several feet away from where we were. So we had to go the Carboplatin injection route. He has had injections in November and December. Every time he has the injection the tumor gets smaller. I can tell it gets larger again by the time he is due for another injection. Two weeks after the injection he has his white cell count checked to make sure it hasn't gone down. Anyway, (knock on wood) he is doing really well. He is eating, and purring. The vet is really pleased with how he is doing. I wasn't sure if I should put him through this but she had told me most cats tolerate chemo really well. So, I thought I would relay my experience in case anyone else has a similar situation.

 

[Dandi]

Sounds like Quincy is a tough little guy! Having been through nursing a sick dog on chemo, I'm so thrilled for you that your puddy appears to be doing well. Thanks for the update!!

 

[movie zombie]

we have done chemo with two different cats. in one case i would not do it again. in the other we got another 6 months with the cat. these were not cases of visible cancers. a friend of mine lost her cat Boo last fall but had a few years more with her cat with mouth tumors as a result of the care of a holistic vet who used conventional vet medicine along with some not so conventional.

i'm so very glad you're having good luck with this.

we too rec'd a diagnosis this week that another cat has cancer. however, as the vet said, if you have to get cancer this is the one to get. its small cell lyphoma and does not require the "nasty" meds. however, our kitty is 18 this year and has heart and kidney disease. if he were younger we'd probably get years more with him. if it required the "nasty" meds i wouldn't put him through it.

by nasty meds i mean the ones where i had to wear gloves to treat him and he would have to go in for treatments also.

 

[stepcutnut]

Glad to hear your kitty's tumor is responding well to treatment! Sending you and your cat lots of well wishes for continued success!!!

 

[that_someone_special]

Oh wow. I am glad to hear everything is going well.
Major dust to him and his continued recovery.

 

[tyty333]

Thats wonderful! I hope he continues to do well!!!

 

[Amys Bling]

im praying for your cat's recovery!

 

[Cind11]

Sounds like Quincy is a tough little guy! Having been through nursing a sick dog on chemo, I'm so thrilled for you that your puddy appears to be doing well. Thanks for the update!!

Thanks DandiAndi! I do think Quincy is a "fighter".

 

[Cind11]

we have done chemo with two different cats. in one case i would not do it again. in the other we got another 6 months with the cat. these were not cases of visible cancers. a friend of mine lost her cat Boo last fall but had a few years more with her cat with mouth tumors as a result of the care of a holistic vet who used conventional vet medicine along with some not so conventional.

i'm so very glad you're having good luck with this.

we too rec'd a diagnosis this week that another cat has cancer. however, as the vet said, if you have to get cancer this is the one to get. its small cell lyphoma and does not require the "nasty" meds. however, our kitty is 18 this year and has heart and kidney disease. if he were younger we'd probably get years more with him. if it required the "nasty" meds i wouldn't put him through it.

by nasty meds i mean the ones where i had to wear gloves to treat him and he would have to go in for treatments also.

I wish we had a holistic vet around here. Sorry about your kitty, but I agree 18 is pretty old to put a cat through any regimen of treatment. Glad your cat has a "less bad" kind of cancer. I had to wear gloves when I was giving Quincy the Palladia. It rather "freaked me out". I am sort of glad that I don't have to deal with that anymore and we switched to the Carboplatin. The oldest cat I have ever had lived til sixteen. I would love to have one make it to 18. Quincy will be 12 in March.

 

[Cind11]

Glad to hear your kitty's tumor is responding well to treatment! Sending you and your cat lots of well wishes for continued success!!!

Thank you stepcutnut!

 

[Cind11]

Oh wow. I am glad to hear everything is going well.
Major dust to him and his continued recovery.

Thanks bean!

 

[Cind11]

Thats wonderful! I hope he continues to do well!!!

Thank you tyty!

 

[Cind11]

im praying for your cat's recovery!

Thank you Amy's Bling!

 

[junebug17]

Really glad to hear your kitty is responding to treatment and doing well! Great news!

 

[Missy]

Hi Cindy,

When we were doing chemo with our cat he sometimes became queasy and not interested in food so my dh would cook turkey and that helped. Baby food also helped his appetite.

That is great news about Quincy! Sending continued good luck and healing dust his way!!!

 

[movie zombie]

[quote="Cind11|1325991362|3097622I wish we had a holistic vet around here. Sorry about your kitty, but I agree 18 is pretty old to put a cat through any regimen of treatment. Glad your cat has a "less bad" kind of cancer. I had to wear gloves when I was giving Quincy the Palladia. It rather "freaked me out". I am sort of glad that I don't have to deal with that anymore and we switched to the Carboplatin. The oldest cat I have ever had lived til sixteen. I would love to have one make it to 18. Quincy will be 12 in March.[/quote]


having to wear gloves to give meds is creepy, isn't it?! i'm so glad you were able to move quincy to the other med and that the response is so good. may your quincy continue to do well. how long is the treatment? any signs of remission?

i've had a cat go to 22-23.....and i was with him 20 years......

kitty pets from my house to yours for quincy.

 

[Cind11]

Really glad to hear your kitty is responding to treatment and doing well! Great news!

Thank you junebug!

 

[Cind11]

Hi Cindy,

When we were doing chemo with our cat he sometimes became queasy and not interested in food so my dh would cook turkey and that helped. Baby food also helped his appetite.

That is great news about Quincy! Sending continued good luck and healing dust his way!!!

Thanks for the tips missy! He loves people food so I will keep that in mind. I have been giving him chicken when I cut it up for casseroles and tonight he got some of my hamburger since I didn't finish it.

 

[Cind11]

[quote="Cind11|1325991362|3097622I wish we had a holistic vet around here. Sorry about your kitty, but I agree 18 is pretty old to put a cat through any regimen of treatment. Glad your cat has a "less bad" kind of cancer. I had to wear gloves when I was giving Quincy the Palladia. It rather "freaked me out". I am sort of glad that I don't have to deal with that anymore and we switched to the Carboplatin. The oldest cat I have ever had lived til sixteen. I would love to have one make it to 18. Quincy will be 12 in March.

having to wear gloves to give meds is creepy, isn't it?! i'm so glad you were able to move quincy to the other med and that the response is so good. may your quincy continue to do well. how long is the treatment? any signs of remission?

i've had a cat go to 22-23.....and i was with him 20 years......

kitty pets from my house to yours for quincy.[/quote]

Yes creepy is exactly how I would describe it! The treatment will be ongoing I think. I don't know if he will ever be in remission. The cancer is in his lungs. The vet said the chemo is to give him a better quality of life. The tumor on his neck shrinks every time he has the injection.

I would be so happy to have a cat live to be over 20. My DH and I don't seem to have good luck with our cats living that long. They always seem to get some weird medical problem. I think it is because someone up there knows we will take care of them.

 

[aoslab]

Cind11, could you give lotsa hugs n kisses to Quincy on my behalf pls I have four cats from where I am, the oldest is 6 years old and the other 3 is 2 years old...I too hope they can live to over 20 years! Can't imagine losing them

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I'm so glad to hear that the treatment is going well so far! We also gave chemo injections to our dog for several months and had no issues with it whatsoever (except that his waste was toxic for 3 days after the injections, so we just had to be careful). I feel like we torture ourselves with the decision of what to do, but once the decision is made, it's easier.

 

[Cind11]

Cind11, could you give lotsa hugs n kisses to Quincy on my behalf pls I have four cats from where I am, the oldest is 6 years old and the other 3 is 2 years old...I too hope they can live to over 20 years! Can't imagine losing them

Aoslab, I will certainly give Quincy hugs and kisses from you. I have four cats too. They are all special and very sweet. Hope you get lucky and yours live to ripe old ages!

 

[Cind11]

I'm so glad to hear that the treatment is going well so far! We also gave chemo injections to our dog for several months and had no issues with it whatsoever (except that his waste was toxic for 3 days after the injections, so we just had to be careful). I feel like we torture ourselves with the decision of what to do, but once the decision is made, it's easier.

Thank you NewEnglandLady. I agonized over this decision but you're right once I decided to do it I felt much better. Supposedly Quincy's urine is what I have to be careful with. But I only touch the scooper so I am not too worried about it.