Cheryl and Winnie
Very Active Member
I got home with him around 9pmish.
He is very weak and wobbly. had to shut the door to the basement to make sure he doesn't try and do the stairs.
His LFTs ( liver function tests) jumped up and this time his bilirubin was up too. they said he is a little jaundice. I was expecting a very yellow cat. but I can't tell.
u/s showed ---
liver mass --- either his previous cystadenoma has enlarged greatly ( even though benign they can grow)
or he has developed a malignant adenoma. I was told that the location of it made the IM spec uncomfortable to take an aspirate.
the mass my vet felt was enlarged lymph node. there are many. and thickening of his small intestines . His stomach was hard to tell if thickened or was folded over on self.
no aspirate done . grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
his kidneys, although the function is still steady, have become smaller than before. ( although it could be subjective from one ultrasounder to another.
his pancreas looked ok for a change.
choices given.
1. open him up for biopsies of all masses and small intestine and possibly remove 1/2 of his liver ( which would be only treatment for an adenoma)
with a HCT of 17, his kidneys and yes I must factor in his almost 19 years ( june 19 bd)
they didn't think he would make it through the surgery.
I had decided in december w/ the cysts that I would not have surgery done ( usually not necessary for that condition but sometimes is ) because it is no small thing to take out half of a liver in any cat, let alone a very sr. guy with other issues.
2. say good bye
3 bring him home and treat him with palliative care. they said for the weekend. I don't think they expect him to be around long :cry: :cry: :cry:
I chose door number 3. I called the vet here ( ours is out of town) but talked to the tech a long time and one of the other docs will be on call all weekend so that made me feel much better. the way they described him on the phone I didn't know what to expect, and didn't want to have to worry about running back into buff if he declined further. I did ask to increase pred. or switch to dex.
and it was pretty much left to me so I went w/ the dex since it did so much for winnie.
they screwed up his meds ( I'll spare the details but they were 12 hours late) that means he had his pred at 4p and they were telling me to wait and give the dex at 4 the next afternoon. no way.
i gave it tonight. If we had increased the pred instead, it would of been dosed tonight.
hopefully I can talk to someone tomorrow about a loading the dose for a few days. ( the vet that was treating him was in surgery and we didn't hear from him -- was getting pretty late -- so hopefully this am or I will call )
they put him on .5 tabs and winnie was originally on .75 and then eventually went to the .5
He has dropped wt so maybe he is less than winnie was. although she was down a lot then. who knows what they did to decide that.
He started to meow as soon as we got in the door at home. He knew where he was and he wanted out of the carrier. walked around a bit and then went for a snuggle bed. I have stuck with him and when I went out to the kitchen to eat, he came with. we are glued together .
I did discuss things a long time with the vet. The IM is a very conservative guy ( I know him from winnie's dx) but technically very good -- but that also gets in his way as he can't get out of the box.
He has to say we can't say for sure if this is lymphoma b/c no biopsy.( I didn't speak to him , but to the vet that treated wolf when we got to hosp. we were there under ER. ) well he is already on pred. so for this to show up fast and furious, I would say from my experience and from wolf's sudden tanking and other symptoms that it is the big C. this vet agreed with me . nice guy -- has 7 cats of his own.
He did say he and dr. b talked a long time about it. and b/c the im is by the book he won't recommend leukeran w/o biopsies. I told this vet that was nonsensical. if it were ibd you will still use leuk.
thing is, I could still maybe get it from my vet. but with the liver thing and the anemia and kidneys ..... not sure it is good idea.
it really knocked winnie out when she first started. and it can cause low blood counts.
my mind is going all over. I want to fix him somehow. but how can I put him through risky surgery ?
If it were just his liver or just the GI L. ok. I might do more. But w/ both going on and his other stuff. and being so weak and yes I hate to put the age thing in but it is something I must consider.
IT seems too much. My head and heart are all over the place .
I think about going to the onco in rochester. she will aspirate. but to what ends? what will that change?
thoughts, ideas welcome.
thank you for your continued support. I know this is very long...... i actually went back and took a lot out.
so much going on.
please keep those prayers and good wishes coming for Wolfie.
Hoping the dex gives him a nice perk.
He is very weak and wobbly. had to shut the door to the basement to make sure he doesn't try and do the stairs.
His LFTs ( liver function tests) jumped up and this time his bilirubin was up too. they said he is a little jaundice. I was expecting a very yellow cat. but I can't tell.
u/s showed ---
liver mass --- either his previous cystadenoma has enlarged greatly ( even though benign they can grow)
or he has developed a malignant adenoma. I was told that the location of it made the IM spec uncomfortable to take an aspirate.
the mass my vet felt was enlarged lymph node. there are many. and thickening of his small intestines . His stomach was hard to tell if thickened or was folded over on self.
no aspirate done . grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
his kidneys, although the function is still steady, have become smaller than before. ( although it could be subjective from one ultrasounder to another.
his pancreas looked ok for a change.
choices given.
1. open him up for biopsies of all masses and small intestine and possibly remove 1/2 of his liver ( which would be only treatment for an adenoma)
with a HCT of 17, his kidneys and yes I must factor in his almost 19 years ( june 19 bd)
they didn't think he would make it through the surgery.
I had decided in december w/ the cysts that I would not have surgery done ( usually not necessary for that condition but sometimes is ) because it is no small thing to take out half of a liver in any cat, let alone a very sr. guy with other issues.
2. say good bye
3 bring him home and treat him with palliative care. they said for the weekend. I don't think they expect him to be around long :cry: :cry: :cry:
I chose door number 3. I called the vet here ( ours is out of town) but talked to the tech a long time and one of the other docs will be on call all weekend so that made me feel much better. the way they described him on the phone I didn't know what to expect, and didn't want to have to worry about running back into buff if he declined further. I did ask to increase pred. or switch to dex.
and it was pretty much left to me so I went w/ the dex since it did so much for winnie.
they screwed up his meds ( I'll spare the details but they were 12 hours late) that means he had his pred at 4p and they were telling me to wait and give the dex at 4 the next afternoon. no way.
i gave it tonight. If we had increased the pred instead, it would of been dosed tonight.
hopefully I can talk to someone tomorrow about a loading the dose for a few days. ( the vet that was treating him was in surgery and we didn't hear from him -- was getting pretty late -- so hopefully this am or I will call )
they put him on .5 tabs and winnie was originally on .75 and then eventually went to the .5
He has dropped wt so maybe he is less than winnie was. although she was down a lot then. who knows what they did to decide that.
He started to meow as soon as we got in the door at home. He knew where he was and he wanted out of the carrier. walked around a bit and then went for a snuggle bed. I have stuck with him and when I went out to the kitchen to eat, he came with. we are glued together .
I did discuss things a long time with the vet. The IM is a very conservative guy ( I know him from winnie's dx) but technically very good -- but that also gets in his way as he can't get out of the box.
He has to say we can't say for sure if this is lymphoma b/c no biopsy.( I didn't speak to him , but to the vet that treated wolf when we got to hosp. we were there under ER. ) well he is already on pred. so for this to show up fast and furious, I would say from my experience and from wolf's sudden tanking and other symptoms that it is the big C. this vet agreed with me . nice guy -- has 7 cats of his own.
He did say he and dr. b talked a long time about it. and b/c the im is by the book he won't recommend leukeran w/o biopsies. I told this vet that was nonsensical. if it were ibd you will still use leuk.
thing is, I could still maybe get it from my vet. but with the liver thing and the anemia and kidneys ..... not sure it is good idea.
it really knocked winnie out when she first started. and it can cause low blood counts.
my mind is going all over. I want to fix him somehow. but how can I put him through risky surgery ?
If it were just his liver or just the GI L. ok. I might do more. But w/ both going on and his other stuff. and being so weak and yes I hate to put the age thing in but it is something I must consider.
IT seems too much. My head and heart are all over the place .
I think about going to the onco in rochester. she will aspirate. but to what ends? what will that change?
thoughts, ideas welcome.
thank you for your continued support. I know this is very long...... i actually went back and took a lot out.
so much going on.
please keep those prayers and good wishes coming for Wolfie.
Hoping the dex gives him a nice perk.
There isn't much that can be done in terms of diagnostics, and even if you had a diagnosis he is not in a good place to start chemo for anything (because his PCV, liver function, and he is already inappetant). This may be one of those situations where you have to let him guide you, let him tell you where he wants to be and how comfortable he is. 
