Buprenex vs Tramadol. Kitty has cancer, when to let go?

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Lexifilly1

Member Since 2013
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My Meow Man was presenting which what appeared to be diabetic neuropathy. I was going to treat that, though wanted him checked as I was not pleased with his weight. His lungs are filled with cancer, though he is in no distress when breathing. He may have other tumor tissue on nerves causing his odd walking/stiffness. His appetite is great, he even ate a can while waiting for his blood results at the vets which was only about fifteen minutes. I am just concerned that he maybe in pain. He does not cry out and still attempts counter to counter jumps, but I put his food and water down off his counter tonight, worrying he was going to fall. I am putting him on pain meds to see if I notice a difference in him. Has anyone used either of these. I am wondering if they found a big difference in their cats signs of pain. If I do,notice a difference, I do not know what to do. Do I continue to give him the meds or is it pts time? He is patient with getting the oral liquid. The other one is pill form, but it is small and can be put in butter. He is getting subcutaneous fluids and is very patient with that. Sorry to go on, I thought diabetes would be his end.
 
i'm so very sorry your kitty (and you) has to go through this :cry: my siamese got stomach cancer at the age of 13. he had lost some weight and then his stomach filled with fluid and it looked like he swallowed a balloon. he was acting normal, eating, drinking, all the same things he always did. he didn't seem to be in any pain. vet said he'd tell me when he was done. he would stop eating and drinking. and sure enough, he did. so that is when i took him in and had him put down. i never tried pain meds because it didn't seem necessary- he honestly acted perfectly normal until the last 2 days (he stopped eating and using the litter box one evening and by morning he wouldn't really get up at all. so i took him in that day).

i can truly appreciate what you're going through. i'm not sure there's a right answer necessarily. you know your cat best and know the signs that something is wrong. trust that and do the best you can. :YMHUG:
 
If the 5 Ps - purring, playing, preening/grooming, peeing, and pooping are ok, he is hanging in quite well.

When he won't eat or drink, he is letting go and letting you know.

Cats are very good at hiding pain and signs may be subtle - discuss pain meds with the vet.
 
So sorry for Meow Man. I am with the rest, as long as kitty is eating, playing & acting normal I will treasure the monents with him. No pain med since it might upset his stomach & spoil his appy.
He will let you know when he is ready. Take care.
 
Hello

I am sorry Meow Man has cancer. I had a kitty with a lung tumor who was diagnosed in January of 2010, with no intervention she had a very good quality of life until June.
I asked the vet how would I know when it was time to let her go and the vet said when she stopped eating it would be time to PTS. So I agree with the others if he is still eating and drinking and acting normal I think he is doing very good at this point.

Terri
 
Thank you every one. This morning is his first day he has not wanted to chow down a can or two for breakfast, though last night was his first dose of pain meds. I won"t give any today and see if my chow monster comes back. Also I will call my vet asking about his specific pain med. I will be a "crazy" client to the techs, but I do not care. My vet knows how I am about my cat thank you all so much, true cat people are not always at hand.

Dorothy
 
Any narcotic type pain meds often have the effect of slowing down the gut, possible causing nausea.

The doses are very small for cats, but you might ask if it is possible to give a lower dose than you had been given. That might provide a workable compromise.
 
Dorothy,

I am sorry, when Ally had her lung tumor I kept Buprenex on hand for her. She seemed to do well with that although did not like it a bit when I would give it to her.

Terri
 
I am sorry to hear your Meowman has cancer but he sounds like he is doing pretty well asides from the weight loss and stiffness. Does he seem normal otherwise?

If his 5PS are in place like BJ said then he probably isnt in pain... so personally i would take him off the pain meds for now and see if you can get some weight on him (depending on his weight to start off with). Since he has cancer, I would look to having him about 1lb over his ideal weight since they lose weight so fast when they are sick. If and when you do see pain, I would start the meds then.

The legs still could be the diabetes, or arthritis, or inflammation or something. I would try and get his blood under control, and treat with methylcobalamin wont do any harm if it is the diabetes and/or nerve issues.
 
I never used it for my Smokey who has lung cancer. He has rapid, shallow breaths. I had to syringe feed near the end.
Buprenex is better tolerated my most cats than tamadol but tramadol is much less expensive.
 
He has crashed yesterday and after a long talk with my vet, out came she was going to be ok with it if I had made the decision the other night. I needed some one who knows him and has seen him to tell me it was time. It is hard because having worked so many years at vet hospitals I saw more animals than I care to remember that were left until they were skeletons. At ten he will be gone and so will a BIG piece of my heart. He was living out of a dumpster and got trapped while I was trying to distinguish him, from my missing cat of the same description. The animal control officer found the trap with him and called me all excited. When I saw him and told him, which cat it was and that I would get him neutered, tested and vaccinated at no charged he lectured me on trapping and set the cat free into the cold of winter here in NEw England. Later I realized he thought I was tricking him out of the $1000 reward I had out for the other cat. Months later we got a call. Someone had coaxed him in their home. It took time to get him used to us. He tried to hide. As time passed, he followed me about for attention. In the spring I was sure he would not leave and let him out, HE JUMPED AT THE WINDOWS TRYING TO GET BACK IN. It was so sad to see. I put in a cat door for him and then he chose his days outside hunting away, until I brought him in at night when I worried about the dangers. He grew up 30 feet from the busiest road in this town and I live on a dead end street. I know the differences in opinions of outdoor cats, but he was so happy once he had his door. He loved gardening and walking with my two rescue pittbulls which always got shocked looks from strangers. He was king of the house, but tolerant of new cats I'd bring home. We had a mole infestation one spring from under a kiddie pool, large blow up type. He took out at least ten a day. Fine for me and the lawn, I just did not watch. I can not stand to see any suffering, though admit was quite proud of my hunter that sadly caught a rabbit now and then. For him it was not to play, it was survival. I think even though he had his food in the house, it was still in his head that you needed to hunt to stay full. He let all the children handle him with never a scratch, would just walk away if they became too bothersome. Not my children, I do not have any, but my four legged beauties. What will my cat do without him? I have never had just one cat. Back to the last few hours with my boys. Sorry for the long post. I am just so proud of the cat he was, especially after being let down by whom ever abandoned him.
 
You don't want him to suffer, feeling exhausted, uninterested in food, unable to play or enjoy life.

[[hugs]]
 
Lexifilly1,

I was saddened to hear of the loss of your Meow Man. It is never an easy decision to let go of those so close to our hearts. You gave him your last bit of love, setting him free.

Fly free little one. You will be sorely missed by all your family, furry and human.

Thank you for sharing his story with us. Remember Meow Man in your heart.
 
:cry: I'm so sorry for you! :YMHUG: He will be waiting for when you are again reunited. rb_icon
 
I am so sorry. I know how you feel. I adopted my Mister Blue in 2005. He was truly the love of my life. I went to the Humane Society to adopt my Hurricane Katrina kitty and they were like: Oh we are so cramped for space after getting all these cats in from Katrina, if you adopt one, you can have anothr for free... I was dead set against it and had already decided on my Akasha, but I went to this walk in kennel and this teeny Russian Blue was all over me. He would not leave me alone. It was almost like it was his instincts that told him that I belonged to him. Needless to say, I went home that day with 2 kittens, Akasha and Mr. Jackie Blue. From that very day, he was my constant companion. Always by my side, always waited at the door for me if I left until I returned. I feel like that kitty was my pet "sole mate". In Oct 2011 he became really sick, not eating, losing weight, so I took him to the vet. He had IMHA (a disease where his body was destoying his red blood cells faster than it could produce them basically). I went through unholy hoops trying to save my Mister. I syringe fed him, vet visits every week, sometimes 2 times a week, babied him around the clock. Finally, he became really weak and I knew in my heart, though it took every ounce of courage that I could muster up, that it was time. I seriously felt like I wanted to die. I feel like I lost such a huge piece of my heart and I am crying writing this now, so my pain hasn't went away even now. In Jan 2012, I took him and held him while it was done. My vet and I both cried- he was purring until the very last second, always purred when I held him against me.
I also had a Great Pyrenees dog, my Zoi and she had epilepsy. There were several times in the last 2 years that she was with me that she had to be hospitalized for cluster seizures. In October of 2012, on Halloween, which happened to be her birthday, she began having really bad, almost non stop clusters. I took her to the vet- she was hospitalized for 2 days and when she woke up, she wasn't able to use her back legs. I did bring her home, took care of her, moved her legs every few hours in bicycle like exercises and rehabilitated her. She began to walk again after a week and a half. We stuck with a strict med schedule- always on time- always. She did really good until Jan of 2013. She began having the seizures again and they were worse. I rushed her back to the vet, and trust me getting a 130 pound dog in the back of your Dodge Neon all while shes having a seizure is no easy feat. We found out that she had a brain tumor and there was nothing to be done. So, once again, I had to say good bye for now to another huge piece of my heart.
I still miss them both immensely and at this moment, there are tears streaming down my face and a giant, painful lump in my throat that will not go away. I feel sometimes that I betrayed them. BUT I know what I did, I did out of love. I could not sit by and watch Mister shrink to bones, nor let Zoi suffer anymore, just to keep them with me so I wouldn't be without them. That in itself was too painful to imagine doing to either of them.
I am so sorry. I am sending you tons and tons of hugs. Just remember one day, you will see your Meowman again. I only tell them goodbye for now, mommy will be seeing you soon. Hugs and lots of love o:-)
 
What a wonderful bean MeowMan chose in you. Because of you he's had a most wonderful home all the way until the end. Bless you. I'm sorry it's nearly his time.
 
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