Switching from vetsulin to prozinc: Part 15

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Lisa and Smoky said:
My last thread was getting a little long;) so it's on to part 15.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/switching-from-vetsulin-to-prozinc-part-14.177429/

Smoky vomited again this morning after receiving his second dose of chlorambucil this week. I gave him cerenia last night, when can I give him another pill for the nausea/vomiting?
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Cerenia is a once a day med isn't it? I know it comes in different dose tablets. Aside from vomiting is he showing other signs of feeling worse from the chlorambucil?
 
He seems nauseous and a bit lethargic. He also has stools that are formed but soft. He now has more diarrhea and has large amounts of feces. Cerenia is a once a day drug. I'm wondering if ondansetron might be better for him. The cerenia doesn't seem to be helping that much.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
He seems nauseous and a bit lethargic. He also has stools that are formed but soft. He now has more diarrhea and has large amounts of feces. Cerenia is a once a day drug. I'm wondering if ondansetron might be better for him. The cerenia doesn't seem to be helping that much.
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Ondansetron might be better. I believe it's used in people for nausea caused by chemotherapy.
 
I've not been getting much sleep lately. I live 1 mile from a small airport and people are out on weekends trying to get their pilots license. The small planes are flying around all day long so it's hard to get any sleep during the day.:eek:
I'm going to try and get a long catnap in somehow.
 
Hi Lisa, has Smoky been given any Cyanocobalamin? The other version of B12. Does Fortiflora work to get his appetite going? Guessing the probiotic method, over just adding for making food tastier, would benefit Smoky more.
I'm sure you've done your share of research but I was trying to find some ideas to help Smoky :bookworm:. Found this article: http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.co...l-lymphoma-proceedings?id=&pageID=1&sk=&date=
 
Smoky does get vitamin B12 injections weekly. I just started giving them last Monday. Thanks for the link to the article. Going to try and get some sleep while Smoky is sacked out in his bed.
 
Smoky BG back up to 214 for AMPS. I gave him 0.8 units and will try to get in a +4 test today. He is hiding again and his appetite is down. The ultrasound results show that the lymphoma is diffused throughout a part of his intestinal wall. He looks at me with this dull look in his eyes. I think I heard someone on here explain it as the light going out of their eyes. The vet said to give him the bupe every eight hours if he needs it that often. I'm so very sad for my boy that he feels so crappy lately. I think I may end up having to let him go soon.
 
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Lisa and Smoky said:
Smoky BG back up to 214 for AMPS. I gave him 0.8 units and will try to get in a +4 test today. He is hiding again and his appetite is down. The ultrasound results show that the lymphoma is diffused throughout his intestinal walls. He looks at me with this dull look in his eyes. I think I heard someone on here explain it as the light going out of their eyes. The vet said to give him the bupe every eight hours if he needs it that often. I'm so very sad for my boy that he feels so crappy lately.
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I'm so sorry you''re going through this, Lisa. We're always here for you. :bighug:
 
Thank you Kris. I was up late with my boy so it's time for another cat nap for both of us. He had his second dose of chlorambucil but I honestly am not seeing much difference so far.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
Thank you Kris. I was up late with my boy so it's time for another cat nap for both of us. He had his second dose of chlorambucil but I honestly am not seeing much difference so far.
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I recall someone here commenting that it can take a while to show its effect. Still early ...
 
Smoky was 102 for +4 test.
He didn't want to eat anything for lunch. I managed to get him to eat about a teaspoon of HC food and HC gravy. I had to take my mom for a Dr appt so won't be back until about 3. I left some LC food out for him so hopefully he will eat that later.
 
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Hi Kris
Smoky vomited quite a bit today. I called his vet who wanted me to bring him in again. I don't trust this vet too much. She is always wanting me to bring him in all the time. She never talks to him or me except to ask what his symptoms are.
I told the clinic I didn't want to stress him out unduly and vet told me to skip his dose of chlorambucil tonight. She called in a prescription for ondansetron since the cerenia doesn't help that much. I think it's the chemo drug making him so sick. He is a cat who rarely vomits so for him doing so for three days is odd. It started the day after his first dose of chlorambucil May 9 before bed.
I don't think his prognosis is that high and he has been this way since beginning of year.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
I don't trust this vet too much. She is always wanting me to bring him in all the time. She never talks to him or me except to ask what his symptoms are.
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I wouldn't trust a Vet like that either, what I hear is "bring me more money" :mad:. But as I have said before I tend to approach Vets and human doctors with a negative perspective. They have to prove to me the actually care about our well-being before I even get to neutral with them ;)

I hope the Ondansetron helps him better than Cerenia. It's so difficult seeing our fur babies not feeling well :(:bighug:
 
Yong said:
I wouldn't trust a Vet like that either, what I hear is "bring me more money" :mad:. But as I have said before I tend to approach Vets and human doctors with a negative perspective. They have to prove to me the actually care about our well-being before I even get to neutral with them ;)

I hope the Ondansetron helps him better than Cerenia. It's so difficult seeing our fur babies not feeling well :(:bighug:
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Smokys original vet since he was a kitten is a terrific vet. However, he is an old country vet who was unable to treat Smoky for his advanced medical issues. He is the one who called me with Smokys ultrasound results and explained them to me line by line after his current vet sent him a copy. He will be the vet that I take Smoky to when it is his time to go. He called me now and again to see how Smoky was doing even after I couldn't go there anymore.
 
Sounds like a wonderful vet! It's too bad he wasn't able to treat these issues for you. I hope the ondansetron helps...let us know.
 
Lisa and Smoky said:
Hi Kris
Smoky vomited quite a bit today. I called his vet who wanted me to bring him in again. I don't trust this vet too much. She is always wanting me to bring him in all the time. She never talks to him or me except to ask what his symptoms are.
I told the clinic I didn't want to stress him out unduly and vet told me to skip his dose of chlorambucil tonight. She called in a prescription for ondansetron since the cerenia doesn't help that much. I think it's the chemo drug making him so sick. He is a cat who rarely vomits so for him doing so for three days is odd. It started the day after his first dose of chlorambucil May 9 before bed.
I don't think his prognosis is that high and he has been this way since beginning of year.
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I hope the ondansetron helps. Unfortunately it sounds like this vet has all the compassion of a chunk of stone.
 
You can both get a good night sleep tonight :bighug:. Little break for both of you
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I gave him the bupe last night and tonight. I may need to give it to him every 8 to 12 hours soon. He seems to be hurting more these days and the bupe really helps him. I've not been wanting to admit it but he has very little quality of life these days.
 
Smoky amps was 159 and that's with a steroid last night and a little HC wet food for a treat. I wish he were doing as well in other areas.:oops:
 
Smoky BG up to 183 for PMPS. Oops, I left the dry kibble for my roommates cats down all day.:eek: think I shld give 0.6 units. Thoughts on that,? I don't want his BG to skyrocket later. He feels bad enough w/o adding that to the mix.
 
Smoky BG at 136 for PMPS on 5/20 and that was at +13 hours.
I skipped his shot tonight. I could have given him 0.5 units but am really too tired to stay up and monitor. He needs a break too at this point.
 
It sounds like that was a good decision. And Lisa, I just read about your appointment with the vet in June. I'm so sorry. Sending you and Smoky our love, and prayers for peace.
 
Smokys BG was 143 for am. I don't want to skip a shot twice though. I think if I give him 0.5 units he will be OK. Would it hurt him to skip a shot twice or not? I'm home today to watch him. He weighs 7 lbs 10 oz this morning by the baby scale I have at home. He weighed 7 lbs 14 oz last week on Sunday night. It's not good that he still seems to be losing weight.
 
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I think that's perfectly fine Lisa. I know skipping sucks, but he is in lovely, healing numbers either way.
 
Smoky BG at 183 for PMPS tonight. I don't think that's too bad. He hasn't had any insulin for 36 hours now. I'm thinking 0.5 or 0.6 units for tonight's dose? He is busy eating his dinner so will give his shot after that.
 
That sounds good. And you're right - not bad for 36 hours without insulin! It's great to hear that he's eating well tonight, too!
 
I didn't think to ask the ER vet if it's OK to give him the prednisolone tonight. I mean since he had too much of the ondansetron already. He also gets his vitamin B12 shot before bed tonight, it's once a week for that.
 
Smoky seems to be getting worse fairly quickly. The chlorambucil is making him sick, he has vomited at least twice a day after taking it. This happens for a few days following the dose as well. The ondansetron doesn't help with the vomiting at all, just the nausea. The cerenia worked far better for vomiting.
It's scary to see him going downhill even though he is being treated for the cancer.
 
Smoky just made me smile:cat: I forgot to turn off the timer on his automatic feeder. He has a bowl of food out already but jumped out of bed and ran to the feeder to see if he had any food in there. I didn't put any in there today since I am home from work. He gave me this " where's my food look" so I just had to put food in there for him.;)
 
My current vet called me to go over various treatment options for Smoky. I told her I am planning on having him put to sleep on June 9. She asked me didn't I want to try different treatment options for him first? I said he is miserable and has very little quality of life. She said if I decided not to try all the options on him that was my decision to make. She is the one who told me he probably had 6 months to a year with aggressive treatments. I don't like the tone of voice she was using with me.:mad: I am doing the best I can for my boy and she made it sound like I was giving up on him.:(
 
Wow. Your current vet sounds like a complete jerk!!! Don't you listen to a thing she says. You are NOT giving up on Smoky...you are trying to give him the best life you can. When I let my girl go, it was because she was so sick and miserable and my vet straight up told me that I could try treatment...but it wouldn't work. The kindest, best gift I could give her was to let her go and be at peace.

She's right about one thing. It's YOUR decision to make...not hers. She isn't there with him every day. If his quality of life is gone, why would you continue to fight? You aren't giving up...you've given him a wonderful life full of love, laughter, snuggles, treats, and sunshine. You're now just giving him the chance to rest. If he's ready, and it sounds like he IS, it is the only kind thing to do. I've been there and I can tell you that while it HURTS, I have never once wished that I didn't let Gypsy go. I miss her and I always will, but I remember how miserable she was and how much she WANTED me to let her go. And it was possibly the most peaceful and beautiful moment as I held her and said goodbye. I'm grateful I was able to be with her and remember it, and I'm grateful I let her finally have relief from pain and sickness and misery.

Lisa, don't listen to that jerk. You're making the right decision for Smoky because you're making it out of love. And know that you have us, and we support you. :bighug:
 
Thank you for your kind words Rachel and sharing your story about your girl.
Smoky is tired of fighting and being sick all the time. I have tried chemo drugs and all kinds of meds and they help but not all that much. The bupe and cerenia seem to help him the most. He is now losing interest in his food and for him that's a big deal. He seems to look forward to getting the pain meds. I think he figured out it makes him feel better. He runs to his chair when he sees me get out the syringe for him.
His old vet told me right out that even with treatment he wld not get better. He would recommend having him put to sleep if it were his cat. He has been seeing Smoky for 12 years since he was a kitten so I trust him and his professional opinion.
 
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