I need healing vines for my civie, Snugs

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FluffBunny

FluffBunny

Member Since 2014
I hope no one minds me posting this here. It's just that I know most of you from my ordeal with Oliver. Oliver's brother, Snugs, has had a rough few weeks. He was diagnosed with parathyroid carcinoma, heart disease, and hyperthyroidism two years ago, but he has done really well with chemotherapy and medication. However, about 6 weeks ago I started seeing blood in his stool. I took him to the vet right away, but they couldn't find anything. Then he started walking away from his food bowl. (This is a 20 lb. cat who will eat anything, so the lack of appetite really alarmed me.)

To make a long story short, he has been to my regular vet twice, the oncologist once, and an internist once in the last two weeks. He has had blood work, x-rays, and two ultrasounds. He seems to have pancreatitis and his blood glucose has been in the 120 - 160 range for a couple of weeks now. His appetite has improved, but he has had bloody diarrhea for two weeks now. His latest symptom is that his bottom seems to hurt him. He will walk a couple of steps, then gingerly sit down, then walk a few more steps.

The internist said his "gut feeling" is that Snugs has lymphoma. His pancreas is inflamed, he has three swollen lymph nodes in his abdomen, and there is one abnormal area in his small intestine where the wall is thickened. He has been on Tylosin for 3 days now, but it doesn't seem to be helping the diarrhea. Unfortunately, he can't take prednisolone because of his heart condition.

Please, send some healing vines his way. I am beside myself. I adore this cat. He is the sweetest boy and I can't stand the thought of losing him.
 
Sending healing vines. Try flagl for the diarrhea. What type of cancer was he treated for in the past? Is he getting cerenia or ondanssetron for the nausea? Bupe for pain? Did your vet run an fPL blood test to rule pancreatitis in or out? If it is intestinal lylmphoma and small cell it can be teated with pred and leukeran, both pills. Will any more diagnostics be done such as endoscopy? I hope this is p'itis and not lymphoma.
 
He was on Flagyl for a week and it just seemed to make the diarrhea worse. I have Bupe for him, but I haven't given it to him yet. He doesn't seem to be in pain. I have been giving him Cerenia and ZoFran for nausea, but he has been eating fairly well for the last couple of days, so I haven't given him anything for nausea since Thursday night.

He had parathyropid carcinoma, an extrememly rare cancer in cats. Unfortunately, he can't take pred because of his heart condition and he can't be under anesthesia for the same reason, so there are no more diagnostic tests to be done. He had a fasting GI panel and it definitely showed pancreatitis.
 
Thanks for the extra info. P'itis can be painful so if he stops eating again I would try it. Max seems to mostly need nausea meds when he has p'itis. He gets it for at least until he is eating regularly for several days and then I taper gradually so if Snugs starts eating less again I would give the nausea meds again. Tiffany had pudding like diarrhea that wouldn't go away with meds when she was diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma. If it persists would you vet consider trying leukeran? That would only work for small cell though but maybe worth a try??? Hugs.
 
A couple of thoughts....

You might consider trying a raw diet. It can help with the diarrhea in kitties with gut issues. In some cases, you want to briefly cook the food if there's concern about any possible contaminant in raw poultry. (See Dr. Lisa's site for more info -- http://www.catinfo.org).

If the parathyroid isn't functioning, calcium levels can be low. Make sure you're vet had calcium levels assessed in Snug's blood work.

I hope he starts feeling better.
 
Snugs has been taking Calcitriol every since his parathyroid surgery and he gets his ionized calcium checked every three months when he sees the oncologist. This latest problem seems to be unrelated to his other health issues. The problem is, we can't treat the lymphoma (if that is what it is) because of his heart disease.
 
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