Introduction - Dinah and her complicated story

[Aisfororiginal]

Hi! My name is Amber and the cats who rule my world are Dinah and Sampson. They are brother and sister and will be 11 in February.

Back in March of this year, Dinah was not eating as much as normal and throwing up when she did eat. Lots of tests later and the vet said IBD. We tried lots of novelty protein diets with no results – steroids were also prescribed at this time. Diarrhea was added to the list of symptoms and we ended up in the emergency clinic because I was so worried. They did an ultrasound and determined there was thickening in her bowel wall – they suggested exploratory surgery for biopsies to determine if it was cancer and the price tag was about $5000. I opted not to do that and searched for another option. Finally found someone who could get a diagnosis through fine needle aspiration at a smaller cost (although not much!) and a diagnosis was finally made.

Small cell lymphoma. Cancer. That news was super hard to hear but I was determined to treat her so long as it made sense for her – not for me. Although my cats are my life, I would not make them suffer just to extend my time with them.

She has been on chemotherapy and steroids since diagnosis. I thought having to deal with chemo was tough and scary and then came the diagnosis of diabetes because of the prolonged steroid use.

I am feeling so lost and worried for her. It’s overwhelming, as I am sure you all know! I do not have a local support system as I recently moved and my closest family is almost 4000 miles away. Every day is a struggle but so long as I can tell she is feeling okay, it’s worth it. Every minute she is not in my sight, I am worried something is going to go tragically wrong. It's all I can think about sometimes.

Vet has her one 1 unit of Lantus twice a day and of course wants her to come in to the office in a few weeks for the curve. I am hoping to be able to do that at home so it’s less stress to her so after I post this, I am off to search for a home testing kit and start my research on that.

We just started insulin this morning but I am struggling to get her to eat enough as she does not seem to have much of an appetite these days. I am also challenged with finding a pet sitter willing to deal with all this who I can trust as I would really love to see my family for the holidays.

So, there is our story for now! I’m sure I will be lurking on these forums going forward and asking a lot of questions because this diabetes things is super scary and I really don’t want to mess it up!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

That's a lot to have on your plate. The good news is that there are members here who have kitties who have some of the same issues. I'm hoping that the vet prescribed budesonide rather than prednisolone. The former acts more at the level of the gut vs predictable being a more systemic steroid.

There is a very good Yahoo group for lymphoma. You can find some help there. With regard to food, it may help to find a low carbohydrate food that Dinah likes. I don't know if an appetite stimulant is in order. Does your kitty seem nauseous?

It's great that you've decided to home test. I think I had my vet do a curve once or twice and then I learned how to test. It's far better to test at home -- no vet stress to try to factor in to your dosing decisions. This is a link to information on home testing. We also encourage everyone to set up a spreadsheet in order to keep track of Dinah's progress. It's also a way to share that progress with us so we can offer suggestions.

Since you are using Lantus, there is an overwhelming amount of information about Lantus on the Lantus/Basaglar/Levemir insulin support group page. We generally recommend that new members get started in the Health forum. Members will help you with some of the basics -- spreadsheet, testing, what to feed your kitty, etc. Once you have the testing and shooting and spreadsheet figured you, please join us on the Lantus forum.

And, welcome to FDMB -- the best place you never wanted to be.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

The yahoo groups are gone as of a couple weeks ago, the Feline lymphoma groups is on groups.io now https://groups.io/g/Feline_Smallcell_Lymphoma

Hello and welcome. I am on my third kitty with small cell lymphoma. Only the first had diabetes, though she had that first. I was glad I know how to home test to keep an eye on their sugars. For appetite, the SCL group will be able to help, but bottom line, anti nausea drugs and the proper chlorambucil dosing method can help. Plus these kitties can go into remission.