Jeddie update 6-8-12

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Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Member Since 2009
(I posted this at the bottom of the previous thread, but no one noticed it - should have started a new thread yesterday).

It ended up taking another day and a half to hear back from the oncologist about putting him back on fluoxetine, and two more phone calls from me, but they said it was ok for him to take it. Of course, the Rx expired while all that was going on and it has now taken two more days to get the vet and the pharmacy to agree on this - still don't have that accomplished yet. I have today's (Thursday) dose, then I am out.

But he is not doing well today. He was OK yesterday, eating and going out on the balcony in the evening. Cuddling with Beau. I fed him right before 1am and he ate, but today he is not wanting to eat the same food, but even more disturbing is that when I got up today his face and paws were filthy with dark rusty stains. I have tried cleaning him twice and it looks like it might be blood, but his drool is fairly clear, so I don't know what is going on. It was a new food, so it could be food dyes. He ate his turkey after his test this morning and ate some food and he went outside earlier, but now he isn't eating what I offered and seems more lethargic to me now. I was gone for a couple of hours. Maybe he ate when I was gone from the bowls and got it all over his face. I don't know.

This whole thing is so stressful. I can't keep him going, chemo response or not, if he won't eat. He looks miserable being dirty too, but maybe I am projecting that on him since he had such beautiful white fur on his nose and muzzle and it is all rusty gray now.

I did get on the floor with him and brush him and he purred. Then I wiped his face off again and he didn't like that and left.

So, of course, with only one dose left I turned my back on the table for a second and turned back only to see Ariel gobbling up his fluoxetine because she loves the pill pockets! I yelled, "no!" and she actually dropped it and I was able to salvage the dose. Whew!

I did get him to eat last night, at 1am again, and again this morning. Small amounts like maybe a half ounce or a little more. He just ate his shredded turkey after his test/shot - maybe a half ounce. And he went out on the balcony for a bit while I was drinking coffee out there. But I don't think he is happy. He purrs a bit, but hasn't gotten in my lap for three days.
 
Oh :cry: it is so hard sometimes to see our furbabies like this. I loved the grooming picture of Beau & Jeddie and it is so special to see and have.

Just like a human on chemo he will have his good days and his crappy bad days. He responds to your touch with a purr at least and still enjoys doing a few things he used to.

I know Sneakers didn't want anything to do with me after she was getting insulin after DX, she'd accept skritches but picking her up and putting her into my lap as she normally was did not go well. Last night she jumped on the couch by me and let me cuddle her in my lap for a food 5 minutes before she had enough. And she's not near as sick as Jeddie is, poor baby.

Good thoughts going out your way throughout every day.

Heather
 
Sheila, I feel your pain so much, every little change is disheartening. My little one-eyed civie, Little Al just was confirmed to have Amelanotic maligant melonoma. Due to the location of the tumor, no chemo or radiation would work. But because of the drainage from his eye surgery, I learned to clean his white fur from the staining with hydrogen peroxide. It really works well. Maybe it will help Jeddie with his staining. Praying Jeddie has many good days ahead.
 
I am so sorry Jeddie is not feeling well today
I hope tomorrow will be better, and at least he ate a little today and purring
that is a good sign
hang in there
 
(((Sheila))) I'm sorry Jeddie wasn't eating well yesterday. I didn't notice the staining around his mouth on the video. Using hydrogen peroxide sounds like a great idea and I hope it works.
You're doing a great job tending to Jeddie. Give him some pats from me. cat_pet_icon
 
Sheila, so sorry to hear Jeddie is having a bad day. Hopefully he will feel a bit better tomorrow. Poor baby.
Give him hugs. Hang in there your doing an awsome job. cat_pet_icon
 
He has pushed himself way under my dining room table under a rolling office chair there - really wedged in - and stayed there most of the day. He came out to eat a little tuna when I made my lunch and some chunky food a few hours later and then I could not entice him out at all.

He finally came out at 9pm and ate some food. I was watching TV and got up and there he was eating the reg food out of a bowl. I got his chunky food (on a plate) and set it next to the bowl and he went back an forth between the two for a while. Now he is under my bed, but at least he is in the same room with me. He usually follows me into whatever room I am in and gets on my lap so it's weird ot not have him "right there".

He needs his face washed. I have taken photos of his dirty face and paws, but I hesitate to post them here and have you see how bad it is and that I can't keep him clean. I don't want to wash his feet with shampoo every day because it stresses him out. I do wipe his face off with the cat wipes Venita sent a couple of times a day and I wipe off drool whenever I see it. He looks so sad and forlorn all dirty like that.
 
((((Sheila)))) I can hear so much more in the struggle your facing. You've been such a wonderful friend to Jeddie. I wonder if this hiding is his way to keep you from having to see him struggle; a way to protect you. He's been a good friend to you too. I'm thinking of you both. :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Sheila -

So sorry you and Jeddie are going through this. I've not had a cat on chemo, just a dog, and she only had one bad day after treatment (upset tummy), so I've nothing to offer there, except that when friends and family have undergone it, there were good weeks and bad weeks. My BIL would work half days on the week before his treatment, then off during the week of. Different chemo drugs have different side effects. One of BIL's was cold sensitivity (winter in Minn. didn't help either!), but others have light sensitivity. That's probably why Jeddie is hiding. Or he could be too off-balance to jump and climb.

I know it's hard. You're giving him everything you can, and at this point, it's up to his little body to respond. Know that all of us here, even those that don't know you well, and are supportive of you and all you are doing. Be strong! Your dedication is his lifeline. :YMHUG:

Lu-Ann
 
Hydrogen Peroxide is worth a try. When Gandalf tore a claw out during a seizure, he got blood on the carpet. His acu vet told me to use peroxide and it worked like a charm. You should be able to wipe it off with water afterwards so he won't ingest very much when he licks his paws.

It is difficult to read that his behavior is changing. Could some of that be from not getting the fluoxetine for a few days? Or going back on it. He no doubt feels different from his actions, but it may not be because of the tumor.

Try to remember that he doesn't care how he looks. Smells would bother him more. His eating behavior sounds fine though. Sometimes it's hard to realize that maybe they just don't want to eat when we want them to, it may not mean he's off his food or that he's having more problems eating.

:YMHUG:
 
After I tested him last night he stayed on the table (dining) and cleaned him with hydrogen peroxide (that did help a bit) and I don't think he has gotten down from there on his own since then. I brought him food, he ate a little, and water, he drank for a while but I don't think he gets much in. I got up at 5:30 to check on him and he was still there. I offered food that he didn't want, so I got some deli turkey which he dove into and finished off, so I brought more of that. After two "plates" of that (which is really only about 1 slice total) I offered the food again and he ate that. It takes him a half hour to eat about 1 oz of cat food, but about 2 mins to eat the turkey. Then it was more water. I found that he needs his plate, water raised up now. Yoga blocks work well for that! After that then face "cleaning" by him, which means face dirtying. Sigh. I went back to bed after that.

When I got up again he hadn't moved and there were dried spots of saliva that where tinged pink with blood. I offered food that he didn't want and water which he had a little of. Then I got him down and tried to get him to come on the balcony while I had my coffee out here, but he is sitting just inside the door. I honest;y don't think he is going to make it much longer, but I will hold out until Thursday's chemo appt and see what the oncologist thinks - unless he goes downhill a lot faster. I really had hoped he would be doing ok for several more months. :cry:
 
Oh no (((((Sheila))))), so not what you'd hoped for for Jeddie. Poor fellow, it's a good thing he can't see himself, perhaps like Lu-Ann said he doesn't care what he looks like, but it hurts our hearts to see them not looking or acting like themselves. The blood and not wanting to eat is of greater concern. You're doing everything you can for him and I'm sure he sees you and knows you are trying to help make him more comfortable. I just wish I had some helpful suggestions or wisdom to offer. I hope the oncologist can offer some help and hope - Thursday can't come soon enough.

:sad:
 
He is little changed from yesterday except that his place to hang out is under the rocker in the living room (Beau's place) and not way back in a corner of the dining room. I have gotten him to come out and walk around briefly (I put him in the LB and he had to walk back to the living room). He has eaten about 1-1/2 slices of turkey - maybe 3/4 of an ounce - and about 2 ozs of cat food. I am trying to feed him something every 4 hours.

I did come home from the store and find him sleeping on his back with his paws in the air - a very Jeddie pose - and that made me smile.
 
Last night, after his test/shot and eating his turkey, he checked out the food bowls so I gave him more chunky food with a little of the reg food on the plate. He ate most of the chunky and a few bites of reg. Then he actually wanted out on the balcony! I had taken in the "kitty-door section" and closed the reg screen all the way, so I had to put the door section back in. He went out and laid down right in the front of the door, but outside.

I watched TV until 1am and just as I was about to head to bed, he decided he wanted to get on my lap and make nests. At first he didn't purr, but then he purred a little. He didn't stay long, but at least he wanted to be near me. :-D
 
Just re-read this thread and have a question...

Why was Fluxotine prescribed? I thought it was an anti-depressant - am I mistaken? I just picked up a bottle for my civvie Moochie Pooch, who despite normal tests, has been "peeing inappropriately". I didn't ask or do any research, nor did I ask for options.... hoping I didn't make a mistake with him.

I gave him 1/2 of a 10 mg tablet yesterday. He spent most of the day sleeping. That wasn't quite what I was hoping for. THis morning he was bright-eyed again. I'm thinking maybe 1/4 tab.

...but based on Jeddie's description, I don't understand why they would give him something that knocks him out even more???

Lu-Ann
 
Lu-Ann, I'm not sure it knocks him out. At least it didn't in the past. I think that bad day was something else.

He is on it for inappropriate urination and some OCD symptoms (chewing his belly fur off, pica) and I noticed it helped his anxiety - something I didn't really know he had until he was on it for a bit and he started being more relaxed and interacting with me and the other cats more. It was almost like he had ADD symptoms before. For the inappropriate urination, it was like flipping a switch. He stopped in one day. I wanted him back on it because he was starting to pee in wrong places again and meowing a lot at night. And I just thought it would make him feel more himself.

How big is your dog? Wait - is Moochie Pooch a dog? The "pooch" part is confusing me. Starting dose for a cat is a quarter tab, so 2.5 mg once a day. Jeddie has never needed more than that, but I have read some cats here are on a half tab.
 
Moochie Pooch is a cat... he got the name cuz he'd show up at my house when I came home from work, ready to eat! Like clockwork! Neighborhood feral... like so many others currently on my "payroll"! :lol:

I think I'll cut him to 1/4 tab and see if that doesn't help. I did see him in the litter box earlier, so that's a good sign. Didn't know if this was just punishment for me going away, as it was never as bad as when I came back! It was REALLY BAD!!! :shock:

Interesting about the chewing his belly fur off. Paulo (also a cat) has done that for years. Hmmm... maybe I need to try the other 1/4 tab on him. Funny, as many times as he's seen the vet & been checked for UTIs, with his cute little pink tummy exposed, no one ever said anything... but then again, I didn't bring it up either.

Clearly, the benefits of this board are amazing!!! THANKS TONS!!!
 
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