Peaches needs prayers

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Sheryl and Peaches

Sheryl and Peaches

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Hi Everyone,
I know I haven't posted in a while but today I need all the prayers this wonderful board can afford for my old man Peaches. He is not doing well at all and the vet fears it is cancer at this point. The only things we can do to confirm are an ultrasound or a MRI and those are expensive. Even if it is cancer I won't operate on him because he is 17 and the last time he was knocked out he died on the table so we haven't done it since...he is so weak at this point he wouldn't make it through the surgery anyway...

He has lost 2 pounds in 4 months and it just won't stop-he is down to 7 pounds at this point. I have increased his food and changed the brand and nothing has worked...his body is failing his fighting spirit. He is still getting fluids for his kidney failure 2 times a day and insulin as well but I know it isn't his kidney failure or his diabetes that is killing him...it is something more and something I can't control this time and it is breaking my heart! :cry:

I fear he only has a day or two more because I promised him I would never let him suffer and I think I am pushing it at this point...he has been throwing up more lately even though his kidney nunbers haven't changed...he also does this thing where he falls over and just lays there motionless like he can't move- sometimes he pees when he does this. The vet wonders if it is a low grade seizure so he is on a very low dose of phenobarbitol (started yesterday) to see if it helps. I fear they are strokes because he has also started licking or pulling the hair out of his tail which a friend of mine told me her dog did this right before he had a stroke and his symptoms were simliar to Peaches'. I had him to the vet Christmas eve and they did an xray and took more blood- the only thing it showed was that his white blood cells are higher than they were 2 months ago and we had put him on antibiotics then so his body is fighting something and not winning...that is why the vet thinks it is cancer...I don't know what else to do at this point but pray he gives me a few more days...
 
All our prayers are going to you today,
I understand your desire for just a few more days .....
Nancy and Payne (who we almost lost 5 weeks ago)
 
(((( Sheryl )))))

so sorry to hear Peaches is so very sick. What you describe does sound like seizures, I think your vet is right on that one. and the licking behavior could also be associated w/ that.

Question -- is he eating and losing wt. or not eating w/ the vomiting you mention and losing wt?
If low appy you might want to test for p-titis. A shot in the dark.

But since his vet is pretty certain it is cancer( and even if it were on a very long shot p-titis), I would ask about putting him on some high dose roids. It won't stop the cancer, it would be considered palliative care, and hopefully would give you some more quality time to be w/ him.
Wolfie developed 2 kinds of cancer last spring. He was very sick. At 19. w/ other health issues, there was no way to treat. So I brought him home and put him on high dose dex. It took 2 days to kick in(and I started w/ a loading dose) and we had 3 more weeks together. 2 of them were very high quality, and the third week was of slow decline. I also had buprenex on hand to treat pain.
Yes it will screw w/ his BG, but that seems moot and you can up the lantus a smidge if that is the case.

If I can help in anyway please let me know.

Keeping dear Peaches in my thoughts and prayers. You too.
 
The vet mentioned pancreatitis months ago and I switched him back to Fancy Feast and he seemed to be doing better but then the last few days it has gone downhill again...what more can I do for pancreatitis?

The vet also mentioned steroids but was afraid of what it would do to his diabetes because he is SO carb sensitive- she is worried it will make him feel even worse than he may already feel.

I think all the phenobarbitol is doing is drugging him up- he just came stumbing linto the living room and peed on our floor...then walked back into the dinning room. It doesn't make sense why he would do that since he is usually a clean cat.
 
Re: Peaches needs prayers EDIT TO CORRECT

Sheryl and Peaches said:
The vet mentioned pancreatitis months ago and I switched him back to Fancy Feast and he seemed to be doing better but then the last few days it has gone downhill again...what more can I do for pancreatitis?

The vet also mentioned steroids but was afraid of what it would do to his diabetes because he is SO carb sensitive- she is worried it will make him feel even worse than he may already feel.

I think all the phenobarbitol is doing is drugging him up- he just came stumbing linto the living room and peed on our floor...then walked back into the dinning room. It doesn't make sense why he would do that since he is usually a clean cat.
Click to expand...

did they give him a fPLI test? If not, please ask for one.
Here is a link to texas a&m site . they developed the first commercial test and helped Idexx develop one, which is often more used today than the texas lab (results are quicker, but texas has it's advantages as well) The Idexx site also offers some good links for info on treatment
http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/gilab/research/ ... itis.shtml

http://www.idexx.com/view/xhtml/en_us/s ... ec-fpl.jsf

also to note Sheryl that not all cats present in the same manner. Both Winnie and Wolfie had it.
Wolfie had a mild form and his only symptom would be inappetence and sometimes some lethargy.
Winnie had a very aggressive progressive form.
Either way with a flare up it is important to treat w/ all tools to really knock it down.

Personally I found steroids to be invaluable, and they ARE not considered by most to be a first line treatment. (yikes !holiday brain tired. sorry about that. big difference. just to repeat : they ARE a first line treatment)
Yes they may upset his BG, but you can adjust his insulin. and time the dose of the roid to fit his shots. You need to prioritize his health issues. This issue is tops right now.
I always shot around roids w/ winnie. It can be done.

here is a post by jojo on p-titis that you might find an interesting read:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... msg-876776
(scroll up to read it.)

Of course the first step is DX. can you get him in for bw tomorrow?

I link you to a long post I recently wrote up for someone else re: p-titis and possible cancer. Lists the main treatments.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=31287

If you have any questions you know I will be happy to help you out Sheryl. What are *neighbors* for ? ;-)
 
I was also going to throw the steroids advice out there, but I see Cheryl has a handle on all that, plus some! I tried steroids with Cuddles, and although I do think it gave us more time together, unfortunately it was only an extra week. Still.. it's extra time. Even if it IS cancer.. the steroids can give you more time, and get him to eat more. Hopefully if it ups his #'s, you can just give a little extra juice to help that out. Thankfully Cuddles was OTJ so that wasn't an issue, but she was still getting fluids for her kidneys up until the very end (which showed in the normal range on her bloodwork!). Sometimes it's hard to dx cancer. Absolutely nothing showed on her bloodwork.. the only thing that gave us an idea of what it was, was the vet felt a mass in her abdomen. Inconclusive test results of that too. I think it was obvious of what was eating her though. :sad: When I set her free, she was down to 4 lbs.

I hope they figure something out soon that gives you a LOT more time with Peaches!
 
I hope Peaches is feeling better today and that you still have some quality time left together. It is so hard seeing them in declining health. (( Sheryl ))
 
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