Fly Free, dear Teddy

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T

Teddy's mom

Member Since 2012
Teddy has been diagnosed with a large mass on his abdomen. We had him to two different vets, and the outlook was the same with both of them. It is terminal. Vet number 1 prescribed 5 mg of prednisone to be given one tablet twice a day for 3 days, then one daily for 3 days, then one every other day until finished. Within the timeframe of taking the one tablet daily for 3 days, we took him to another vet for a second opinion. She said he could continue taking the prednisone daily. It did seem to be helping him. It seemed like he had a bit of an appetite.

Saturday he was lying on the bed and jumped up and started running around like something was chasing him. He would stop and lick his paws, then his back. I was so scared for him. I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't let anyone near him. He then did the strangest thing. He ran to the basement and laid in the litter box. I didn't give him any prednisone that day. I figured it must have been what did that to him, since he isn't taking anything else. He hasn't done that since then.

Yesterday (Sunday) he was back to not eating and lying around listlessly. So toward the evening, I gave him a half of a prednisone pill. I had read somewhere that you are not supposed to stop taking it cold turkey, that it can do something to the adrenal gland. I gave him a half this evening also.

Do you think this is harmful, splitting them up? They don't seem to be having any good effect doing it this way. He still doesn't have any appetite. Would I be able to go back to giving him a whole pill every day? When I read the side effects, this episode that happened to him wasn't listed as one. I don't know what I should do
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

Giving Pred daily for life is a common treatment for cancer. It is usually give with a chemo drug but is also frequently given alone when no chemo is used. I would talk to my vet first. My Bailey was on it near the end.
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

My Payne takes pred. every other day, when she's worse .... every day. It works different for her. She is very prone to ketones, which love to go to DKA. For some reason pred keeps the ketones at bay. I change the dose a little as to how she's doing but no just don't stop it.

Laying in litter usually means I don't feel good but who knows? I would do whatever at this point to make it as easy as possible and pred. will help make it easier, my thoughts are with you.
Nancy
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

Hi, I'm so sorry that your kittie has cancer. One of my cats passed away from lymphoma so I know how difficult it is. I've been told that under 5mg's prednisone isn't effective in cats. You might ask your doctor for prednisolone - its a steroid but absorbed differently. There is also budesonide (more $$ because it has to be compounded) that is a steroid and is absorbed in the intestine. Steroids can slow the growth of cancer but it doesn't stop it - its just basically buying you a little time. Jan
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

I am so sorry to hear about your kitty. :sad: My experience with it isn't the best of news.. my girl had a diagnosed sarcoma on her neck, we tried to remove it and a few months later she began declining. We had her on .5mg once a day and it helped at 1st but in the end did nothing. In her last week with us before we made "the decision" she was going crazy around the house, sleeping in the litter box (even eating the litter) while still using it and not eating food at all... she was lifeless so we decided to end her suffering. It was about a year after being diagnosed.

Unfortunatly the prednigsone will only help with the pain until it is his time, do what you feel is best to help him. If it makes him feel better give it every day, at this point it will do more good than harm.

Good luck.
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

Thank you all for your kind replies. I was able to give him his pill tucked inside a whisker lickins treat. At this point, that's all he seems to want to eat. I think I may have taken him back a step by messing with the dosage. But that crazy episode he had was so scarey. I called the vet earlier, but she was doing surgeries and is going to call me back. This rather feels like running on a treadmill, in the end we are not going to have gotten anywhere. My husband says whatever I decide to do he will go along with it. But I don't want to be the one to make the decision. It's really hard when Teddy looks at me and acts like he wants something, but I can't give it. I have about 8 cans of food opened, hoping he will try one. Also, have been taking handfuls of dry out of three different bags.

The new vet gave me a script for prednisolone, maybe instead of waiting until the other pills are gone, I should go ahead and get this filled.

I can't believe my little guy has to go through this he is just the sweetest, most loving cat
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

I can't offer advice on this, but I do offer my sympathies. It is very hard to know the best thing to do for our beloved cats when they are struggling. My thoughts are with you and I wish you and Teddy the best.
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

My kitty Brie has a probable lymphoma. I started him on daily pred earlier in the month. His blood sugars have been running higher so I've had to increase his lantus. I don't understand your vet starting with a high dose pred and tapering it off for a diagnosis of terminal cancer. The cancer dose is 10 mg per day. Brie is on 5 mg per day life long. I'm not doing chemo. If it can help him be more comfortable for a longer time I'm all for it. You should never stop pred cold turkey. Have you asked your vet what to expect as your kitty's cancer progresses. I'm lucky so far with Brie because he is assymptomatic. No nausea or vomiting and he has a great appetite. Pred can increase a cats appetite. I'm guessing it's the cancer causing your kitty's inappetence.

Sandy
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

Hi Teddy's Mom
Brie is on prednisolone. Did your vet prescribe anything for nausea. I have a kitty with pancreatitis and he gets zofran twice a day and occasionally he gets cerenia. If by some chance your vet wants Teddy to have a appetite stim please get a script for an anti nausea med. Whatever you do do not give him reglan for nausea. Some vets still use this as an antiemetic

Sandy
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

traubboo said:
Hi Teddy's Mom
Brie is on prednisolone. Did your vet prescribe anything for nausea. I have a kitty with pancreatitis and he gets zofran twice a day and occasionally he gets cerenia. If by some chance your vet wants Teddy to have a appetite stim please get a script for an anti nausea med. Whatever you do do not give him reglan for nausea. Some vets still use this as an antiemetic

Sandy
Click to expand...

Hi Sandy, I'm so sorry about your kittie. It sounds like you are taking great care of him. Was he diagnosed with an x ray?

The first vet I took Teddy to was the one that prescribed the tapering off dosage for the pred. He also prescribed reglan for the nausea, which Teddy had a bad reaction to. The new vet I am going to is more open to suggestions, and I asked her about zofran or cerenia. She was not familiar with them, but did some research and gave me the cerenia. He is on .3 ml once a day for 7 days, then we are to take it every other day after that. I gave it to him yesterday (it is an injection) and not long after that he threw up. (He hadn't been throwing up previously) I am going to call the vet today and see if maybe the dose is too high. (maybe I should ask her again about the zofran?) They weighed him when I was there the last time, and he has lost weight since then. If only we could get him to eat, he really doesn't have any other symptoms. But he is going down hill fast from hardly eating anything. I hand fed him a little last night by taking a wee little piece of wet food and placing it into the side of his mouth, and then he started eating a little on his own. But it's hardly enough to keep a bird alive. I made him the kitty shake, but couldn't get any into him.
Every night I say tomorrow is the day........but then the next day he seems to rally around. I feel so selfish, but I just can't do it
Carol
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

BIG HUG CAROL! And another one just cos you need it too....

I'm so sorry you're dealing with cancer too - CANCER SUCKS! Did vet say anything about adding ab's too? Cancer and pred both caused very weakened immune systems, bugs can get a foothold easily. My HarleyDrooler who crossed June 19th from lymphoma was on pred and ab's for months. We did pred daily and ab's for 3 weeks/1 week off/3 weeks on...he felt good until literally the very end. One thing that seems to REALLY help is being sure to keep away from ALL grains. Since sweet baby is already on no grain food, that is a GOOD thing.

I send another big hug, adding lots of prayers and eating vines too....
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

Oh, Carol. I'm sorry to have abandoned you - I have been wondering how Teddy was doing. Did they do diagnostic testing to see what sort of cancer you're dealing with? Glad you got a new vet. The information in the link I sent you a while ago from when I was debating between zofran and cerenia was what convinced me that I preferred the pills to the injectible, even though Scruffy wasn't exactly a pleasure to pill.

Are you still giving him fluids? And have they considered giving cyproheptadine as an appetite stimulant? And, did I suggest to you that you might try using a kitten bottle to feed him? You can get something as simple as a meat baby food and mix it with a little (Can't remember the darn name of the powder! K&B? K&L? Whatever, it comes in a can for you to mix, or you can buy the already mixed stuff) kitten feeding liquid. It makes getting food into him easier, and even if he doesn't have the energy to eat much himself, you can feel better about his eating something. Somewhere I remember reading that one of the things that makes humans succumb to cancer more quickly is lack of nutrition; I'd imagine that's equally true with cats.

Call me if you want - tomorrow will be the last of the funeral activities here, and I'm going to just vegetate for a while....
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

Hi Carol
I'm sorry Teddy is not doing well. I don't think the cerenia caused Teddy to vomit. I'm assuming you gave it to him subq. Zofran is a pill that is given twice a day. My kitty Vandow has pancreatitis and is on 2mg twice a day. My vet had never used it before me. It is widely used my members in the feline pacreatitis yahoo group. Vandow was sent home on anzemet from a veterinary specialty center when he had his first attack. Anzemet and zofran are similar drugs that work on the same part of the brain. Anzemet is an injection that is given subq once a day. Cerenia works a little differently on a different part of the brain than zofran and anzemet. I use to give anzemet occasionally when I thought Vandow's pancreas was acting up. Back in April Vandow had a witnessed seizure. He started to wretch and then had a short seizure. My vet thought that the episode of nausea may have brought on his seizure so that is when I started the zofran. I was never really sure if the anzemet helped him. His appetite was off earlier in the week and I took him to the vet and she did give him an injection of cerenia and that did seem to help. I've had two different cats that got reglan in the past and it made them crazy. Vandow got really crazy and aggressive towards me on it. If Teddy has a large abdominal mass I would be suspect that he may have a partial blockage in his GI tract somewhere that is causing him to vomit. I hate to be doom and gloom but if this is the case this is not good. He could also be vomiting because the cancer has caused his liver enzymes and other bloodwork to go out of wack. If only we had xray eyes. If you would try and appetite stim make sure that he gets something for nausea as well. Cyproheptidine and mirtazipine are frequently used. The mirtaz is given every third day and is not without side effects. I've used it with Vandow in the past and it makes him restless for hours afterwards. I like cypro better. You are really in a difficult position. If Teddy does have a partial blockage and you give him an appetite stim it may make him eat but he may also throw up since his GI tract is compromised. I've used both zofran and cerenia at the same time with Vandow. I only use the cerenia on occasion. Cerenia also has different dosing protocals. Brie was diagnosed by ultrasound only. He had a kidney infection at the end of June. I did a followup US in the beginning of October to see how his kidneys looked and that is when they found a mass on his liver and enlarged gastric lymph nodes. In the beginning of November I did another US and it was worse. That is when he was started on pred. His sugars have been harder to manage since started the pred. He is totally assymptomatic right now. If I never did the followup US to check his kidneys I would be totally clueless that anything was going on with him. I opted not to do the biopsy on him. Whatever is going on is pretty aggressive and I just can't see putting him through chemo. He doesn't travel well. He also is in CRF too. I feel so bad for you and Teddy. I hope you can find something to make him more comfortable. Do you think that he is in any pain? Buprene is often used for pain management and it is can be given subq or orally depending on how you get it.

Hugs Sandy
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

Hi Carol
One more thing. Is Teddy getting any subq fluids? They can be helpful too. Hopefully Teddy doesn't have any cardiac issues. You may want to ask your vet. There are so many treatment options that we can do at home for our cats. Some cats are fine with pilling and fluids and some are not. You always have to consider how Teddy is able to tolerate doing these things and your own comfort level.

Sandy
 
Re: Need Advice on prednisone

So many thanks to everyone for your advice and caring. I can't tell you what it means. We took Teddy to a hospital where they could do an ultrasound yesterday. The two vets we had gone to didn't have the resources, we only had an x ray to go by, so we really didn't know for sure what we were dealing with. The ultrasound showed he had 3 masses in his intestines. They were cancer. I guess in our hearts we knew, but I just couldn't bring myself to make the decision with even a little doubt that there was maybe something we could have done. But it was not meant to be. We let our little guy go, and it was very peaceful.
I had taken a bed and blanket with us, and they let us spend some time with him after the ultrasound and consultation. He curled up in the bed and loved on us like he has done since the day we brought him home 11 years ago. He never turned you down for a hug and would put his paw in my hand like he was holding it. I never had an animal that showed his love for you the way he did. He always wanted to be where you were in the house.

We adopted him from Petsmart. We were in buying cat food for our other cat, and my husband went to look at the adoptees. Teddy reached his paw through the cage and touched him, and it was instant love. He was a cat you fell in love with, I love my other cat, but I fell in love with Teddy. Hard to explain. It was his nature to please you.
I asked my husband on the way home if he thought we gave Teddy a good home. He said yes, he did, but Teddy gave more than he took.
Thank you, Teddy, for what you gave me It is already unbearable without you
Your mummy loves you
Until we meet again and I know we will
 
Teddy's mom - I'm so sorry for your loss.

Something you said struck a cord with me:
"I fell in love with Teddy. Hard to explain."

It really is hard to explain. It was the same with me and my sweet Buffy - such personality in a cat !!!

Just wanted to say I understand that bond of love you have with Teddy and offer cyber ((((((HUGS)))))), condolences, and prayers. Take care.

Nancy ~ (Buffy's mom)
 
Carol, I'm so sorry. It's easy to understand how much you loved Teddy - he was your "heart kitty". The cat who you know the minute you first see him was meant to be yours, to love and care for and yes, to allow him to leave when he needs to.

I'm glad that you did the diagnostic stuff. You won't have to worry about having made a wrong decision, or about not doing something you could have. You and Jerry know that you gave him the best life, with the most love. I've always had this image in my head of the cats I loved who are gone, floating around just over my left shoulder. (Scruffy's still back there, even though the animal communicator said that I need to "let go of his string"... I just can't do it yet.) Teddy will be there, in your heart.
 

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My deepest condolences...You did right by your Teddy, you absolutely did. I KNOW you will be reunited one fine day...

Dear Teddy visit your mom n dad often, let them know the love is still there and you are just a whisker away. One day you will all be together again. Until then, enjoy those beautiful wings and SOAR...
God bless Teddy, please kiss his little head and tell him he is greatly missed,
jeanne
 
Thank you all for your condolences and kind words. It is comforting knowing others care so much, and I'm sure all of the love shown here was felt by Teddy as he crossed the bridge
Nite Nite my sweet boy
 
I'm so sorry Carol. Hugs to you and your family. You made the right decision. Now Teddy is your little angel. Run free and play sweet Teddy
 
(((Carol and dh))) I am so sorry. Fly free Teddy rb_icon

He sounds like such a love-bug! I lost my boy, Jeddie, to cancer also. It isn't fair and it is very painful, but I try to celebrate his life and cherish the good memories - as I hope you are able to do with Teddy.

He will always be in your hearts and he knows how much you both loved him.

(((hugs)))
 
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