Brothers cancer kitty won't eat- suggestions?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Complick8d

Complick8d

Very Active Member
My brothers cat was just diagnosed with cancer that has spread. The vet seems unsure where the cancer is and basically told my brother he's stumped and theres no hope. I've asked for the blood test results and any other tests that were run (I think they only did blood tests and cell tests, no ultrasounds or anything) but my brother seems to be putting all his faith in this vet and doesn't realize that even if a cat has cancer, you can still be proactive about keeping them eating and comfortable until their time comes. By my standards, his vet is not at all proactive. He gave my brother no ideas on encouraging him to eat, no appetite stimulants, no anti-nausea meds (when he goes to eat, he sniffs the food and licks his lips, but then turns his nose up and I attribute that to nausea), no pain meds (and he has obvious discomfort), and no discussion of syringe feeding. I only have 1/2 of an appetite stimulant left so I don't think that would make much of a difference for him. I've given him various tips... pureed foods instead of chunks, parm cheese, kitten food, foods with gravies, cat nip, syringe feeding, baby food, crumbled treats on the food, etc. but he's reluctant to do anything because his vet has him convinced that they've done everything. Sooo... for the next 3 days, my mom is caring for Gilbert and she is irritated that more hasn't been done to help encourage him to eat and be more comfortable during this time (she watched all the care that I have given Willow and my other cats who have been ill over the years and knows that more can be done than just watching them suffer and starve) so we will be doing everything possible to encourage eating and get some nutrients in him. I am coming to my FDMB family for help. Please give me any and all ideas you have that I may have overlooked or not thought of for encouraging eating and just keeping Gilbert comfortable during whatever time he has left.
 
(((Jordan))) I am so sorry to hear this :?
This is a condo from the other day for a kitty who wasn't eating.. until others answer.. you may find some good info posted in it Kitty Not Eating
 
Best of Luck to you. I'm glad you're there to help him. I hope you find a way to get him comfortable, and feeling better.
Sending Eating Vines
smiley-eatdrink022.gif
to Gilbert.
 
I had fostered a kitty with cancer and she did not want to eat either. I recommend try giving the kitty some Catsure or Clinicare. Also because of the licking of the lips try giving the kitty a 1/4 tablet of Pepcid AC to help calm the tummy. I didn't know she had cancer until it was too late. I tried everything and was aggressive with trying to treat her. Gave apptite stimulants which didn't help at all. Everything at the end she would try to drink the Clinicare and Catsure. This is a high calorie diet supplement and I had some good tries with it. Hope it helps
 
Complick8d said:
no pain meds (and he has obvious discomfort)
Click to expand...
Jordan, this is very troubling. Cats are very good at hiding pain; if he's showing it, he's in a lot of pain. It may be the reason he's not eating. I agree with you that you can still be proactive about keeping them eating and comfortable until their time comes, but that's only if quality of life can be maintained. And that means pain meds, and good quality pain meds at that (no torb!). Otherwise, it would be kinder to let him go. Can you or your mom talk to your vet about getting pain meds for him?
 
My brothers cat was just diagnosed with cancer that has spread. The vet seems unsure where the cancer is and basically told my brother he's stumped and theres no hope. I've asked for the blood test results and any other tests that were run (I think they only did blood tests and cell tests, no ultrasounds or anything)

how did the vet make such a dx w/o knowing where it is and w/ only b/w? ( and if he doesn't know where it is how could he know it has spread? )
Please post if you able to get the labs.
How old is this kitty ?
what symptoms your brother's cat having? Is there anything other than inappetence ?
There are certainly other illnesses that could mimic cancer.
I would urge your brother to take the cat for a second opinion.
__
ETA: IF it is cancer, you are right, there are certainly palliative measures that can be taken.
ie. steroids, pain med, nausea med, appy stims. to name a few.
__
In the meantime, here is a list that I have posted before to help kitties who are not eating well :

Remember -- getting to the bottom of why he is not eating is most important. That way you can treat the underlying cause ( or symptoms of underlying cause) . It is always very important to get cats to eat, as they can quickly develop hepatic lipidosis from lack of food.

Here are some things you can do do entice your cat to eat:

-sometimes in order to get a cat to eat you even have to resort to dry it is more important that they eat. there are a couple low carb / grain free brands -- EVO and wellness core.

-making a buffet to give him choices
- heating food

sprinkle food with :
- forta flora -- a probiotic you can get at vets or online. is very smelly and cats love the taste of it.
- parm. cheese
- smashed crumbles of dry food
- bonito tuna flakes
- halo chicken treats -- crumble into dust over food -- my Wolfie loves this stuff.
- poor a little water from tuna in water over food ( I use low sodium/no sodium added as other kinds in water has veg. broth in it and I assume that means onions, which are toxic to cats-- check labels)
-powdered oregano. yep sounds weird . but some cats like it and it will entice them to eat.

other ideas of foods to offer your kitty to stim appy:
- trader joe tuna for cats
-baby food -- beechnut turkey and broth or chicken and broth. they have no onions or other additives. some babyfoods have onions . please read labels if you can't find beechnut.
- kentucky fried chicken
- deli turkey /chicken
- plain cooked ( boiled or baked ) chicken breast
-canned chicken for people (watch the label that their are no onions)
- chicken broth -- low sodium

If enticements don't work, you should consider:
-assist feeding ( syringe or make little meatballs and place in mouth)
-and/or talking to your vet about appetite stimulents ( mirtazapine or cyproheptidine)

and if those fail talking to your vet about feeding tubes
- Here is Dr. Lisa's link on feeding tubes :

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=feedingtubes
 
Cheryl and Winnie said:
how did the vet make such a dx w/o knowing where it is and w/ only b/w? ( and if he doesn't know where it is how could he know it has spread? )
Please post if you able to get the labs.
How old is this kitty ?
what symptoms your brother's cat having? Is there anything other than inappetence ?
There are certainly other illnesses that could mimic cancer.
I would urge your brother to take the cat for a second opinion.
Click to expand...

I'd like him to take him to Gilberts original vet (my vet) for a second opinion while he's here but I don't have the money at this point. My brother paid over $1000 for whatever testing the vet did in Maryland. The diagnosis was Metostatic Neoplasia (basically just cancer that's spread from it's original site to other sites). While I do agree, it is likely cancer it's just a very general diagnosis if you ask me. When I asked my brother where the cancer was located or had originated, he said they weren't able to tell him (this makes no sense to me, even if they can't say where it started, they should be able to give locations for where it is). My brother doesn't seem any closer to giving me the records to look over. I know that Gilbert has a large mass near his kidney. He doesn't want to be picked up and I think his discomfort/pain is mostly localized to his abdomen. My mom said that she thought one side of his underside felt hot to the touch today. He is 11 yrs old. Main symptoms are inappetence, extreme weightloss (he was a big boy and now many bones are prominent), lethargy, and discomfort. I seriously feel bad for my brother as this cat is his life and losing him is going to devastate him. I just wish he had waited to get the testing here so that he would've dealt with a more proactive vet. I think now that he's heard there's "no hope" so many times from his vet and since they didn't discuss making Gilbert comfortable nor did they even suggest that he might be having discomfort, he doesn't understand that it is something that can be done even if it can't save his life.
 
well, they'd have to get an aspirate at least to determine its origin.
first thought would be nausea causing the inappetance so i'd recommend something like ondansetron that helps cancer kitties a lot.
is the cat on prednisolone at least? that steroid at 5mg or less has antiinflammatory powers and can also help jumpstart appetite. it can weaken the immune system, but in many cat cancers pred helps a ton to make them feel stronger and hungrier.
appetite stimulants can be hit or miss with cancer kitties. if they're too far gone sometimes those meds have no effect. but mirtazapine or cyproheptadine are both appetite stimulants that have worked well for kitties here.

gerber's 2nd stage chicken baby food is my cats' favorite treat, as is rotisserie chicken. both of those have helped with inappetance here.
dry food is another suggestion. we try to stay away from it but inappetance is serious in kitties and whatever they will eat becomes a priority. i'd just try to keep it low carb like wellness dry or evo dry, as carbs feed certain types of cancer.
 
My understanding was they did do the aspirate, which is why I still don't understand the generic diagnosis. They didn't put him on anything at all, nor did they suggest anything. I do agree it's likely nausea causing him to not want to eat. Ondansetron is Zofran, correct? My former boss took it during chemo. I'd never heard of giving it to a cat. Hmm. Willow took both mirtazapine and cyproheptadine at various times. Cyproheptadine is what I have 1/2 a pill of. Nearly all my previous cancer kitties were on pred, same with my older dog who has it. My brother never understood the low carb diet that Willow is on, and despite my insisting that Gilbert be on low carb wet food, he continued to feed him dry during the week and a can or so of wet on the weekend as a treat. At my parents, he has access to dry Wellness at all times and is offered canned food several times a day. We bought chicken baby food tonight and I gave my mom some of Willows FF. She said he ate about 1/4 of the can. We haven't tried Rotisserie chicken yet, so that may be on the menu tomorrow.


Thank you everyone for your advice. Now if I could just talk my brother into getting a second opinion.
 
if a vet will write the script, you can try Periactin 1 mg 1/2 hr before meal...comes in liquid or 4 mg tablets that I used to give Lucky 1/4 tablet. Some other vets have had luck with giving valium tablets or vit B12 shots to stimulate appetite. Good luck, I hope the kitty eats! Periactin always worked for Lucky.
Marsha & Lucky (GA)
 
yes, ondansetron is also called zofran. many cancer kitties take it too to help with nausea from chemo. my cleo took it for nausea/vomiting from lymphoma as well as the chemo. (too bad your former boss took it or i'd be asking him/her for a little to check out (guessing you're not still in touch). nowadays it comes in tiny little vials.)

it's usually injected into the scruff, but some cats are very sensitive to it (seems like it stings), so they end up getting it with their subQ fluids. i use a U100 syringe to inject it, and in that syringe it ends up being about 11u, injected once a day.

honestly, tell your brother that carbs often do feed cancer so it would be a good idea to give a low carb diet during this time. every little thing helps, as far as i'm concerned, but of course with inappetance we don't care so much what they eat as getting them to eat whatever tempts them.


can't say i haven't had this problem, but i just wish a vet would give the client all the information he needs so he can make the decision for himself. regardless of what kind of chance the vet thinks the cat has, he's alive right here and right now so why not do all you can to keep him healthy and comfortable as possible in the time he has? and many cats do better than expected. unless he's in so much pain that it would be better for him to be put to sleep, why not treat now? i just don't understand it. part of that is knowing what kind of cancer we're talking about here, so your brother can make the best decision he can for his own cat. very sorry he's going thru this.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top