very worried about Lucy
Yesterday Lucy seemed on the mend. I had fasted her for about 12 hours, then gave her little bits of cooked turkey every half hour or so in the morning. She ate it the first 3 or 4 times and was in good spirits, no vomiting or diarrhea, so I went to work. Gray was at home. She ate a little more turkey for him, not much, during hte da, and spent over an hour walking around outside. When I called him from work he said she was doing well. When I got home she did not want to eat anything and was a little out of it. Still no vomiting or diarrhea, and it had been over 24 hours. But she had not urinated either. So we gave her more fluids. And I offered her raw turkey with feline futures mixed in, and she ate a little. Then at around 11 pm she had completely liquid diarrhea again, and seems very wasted again now and will not eat again. She still weighs over 8 pounds, but I think it is because she has fluids in her. She is starting to feel bony along her back. She is still sniffling a little bit. If she were just hving hte diarrhea and not a URI, I would up her pred to 10 or 12 mg/day for a few days, which normally helps. But I am afraid to do it because of the URI. I am calling the vet in the morning to lobby for budesonide again-- does anyone know if that has less chance of making her URI worse than prednisolone? I am also considering taking her to Red Bank to the internist. But it is a 3 hour round trip ride, and she is very stressed in the car, and if this is a matter of her getting over a URI and after-effects of the abx, it seems like a bad thing to stress her that much. The vet said her blood work a week ago was fine. I did not ask about the corona titer, but will tomorrow. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Michelle
Re: very worried about Lucy
Michelle, Did you try giving her flagyl? I am giving it to Inky once a day...1/8 pill is his usual dose..(250mg) He didn't even poop yesterday, but ate ok. I am back up to 10mg pred, too...I'm not so sure you shouldn't go ahead and up Lucy's pred, too even though she has URI...I gave Bandy lots of steroids at times when he had an infection going on and he did ok..cause you have to stop the diarrhea I would think.. How old is Lucy? Anyway, just my thoughts on this for now..keep us posted.. kerry, Bandy and Inky Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited Try it today.
Re: Worried about Lucy
I don't know what you should do... but depending on how BADLY she reacts to the vet trips I would go for the biopsy if possible.Also, have you considered the possibility that there is a battle waging over the litterbox? You might try putting 1 or 2 in different places. Litterbox problems can cause lots of problems...t[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Lucy, who is positive, has had what we assume to be IBD since last October. After an initial dosing of prednisone and tapering to only 1.25 mg every 3 days, and a change to a raw food diet, she has been doing well for the last 6 months or so. However, in the last few weeks she started to get a nib of white mucous on the end of her otherwise normal bowels, and losing weight. At this point she has degenerated to having very loose stool, pretty much diarrhea (her problem is in the colon or lower intestines, so the diarrhea is never really watery or anything), not wanting to eat much of her raw food, and she is down to 8.2 pounds (normally over 9 pounds). She is acting normal, basically, besides this-- wanting to go outside, hunting (I try not to let her do that), playing, etc. Her only behavior change, besides not wanting her raw food much, is that she usually hides around the corner when Patches uses the litter box and hits her as she comes out (devil-- I try not to let her do this either), and she has stopped doing that. But she played with a string this morning and is bright eyed and bushy tailed, not dehydrated, etc. She has stopped eating her raw food before and I have had to change the kind of meat I use, so it is not the first time for that. She also has lost this much weight before, as her weight fluctuates a lot, so this is not the first time for that either. But, other than when she drank a bowl of olive oil 2 months ago (yes, unbelievable as it sounds, she did drink a bowl of oil and it did not sit well with her!) she has not had diarrhea while on raw food. I put her back up to 10 mg/day of pred yesterday. She had been at 5 for the last week.What I am worried about is intestinal lymphoma. FeLV+ cats are prone to it, as are cats with IBD, and she has both. The only way to diagnose that is with surgical biopsy where they remove a section of intestine, but they often can not distinguish even then between severe IBD and low-grade lymphoma. They treat both the same, with prednisone and an oral chemo drug called Leukeran (chlorambucil), and cats often do well for months to years on that. But they often insist on trying to do the biopsy before prescribing this regimen.I took Lucy yesterday to the local vet. He thinks I should get a biopsy at a referral center an hour away. I have not wanted to do this in the past, because it is surgery and because Lucy gets really stressed by car rides and vet visits. But I am feeling now like I should at least go talk to an internist, because I am doing everything that has worked before, and it is not working now. It could just be an IBD flare-up, which is what I hope, but it could be lymphoma, which can be quickly fatal without treatment. Of course, I called this morning to try to make an appointment, and they say they are only open for emergencies until Wednesday and I can not even talk to anyone to schedule an appointment until then. If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on what is going on and what I should do, I would really appreciate it. Nina-- I also put Lucy back on the homeopathics Darla had prescribed, also to no avail.Thanks, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
Thanks. She is doing better at this point, so far, now is actually a bit constipated. I had postponed the specialist visit to Tuesday, and if she is still doing better tomorrow I am going to cancel it (I can reschedule in the future if needed). I have two litterboxes for the two positives who are left. Lucy just likes to devil Patches by hiding around corners and jumping on her, and that is one place that she can do it easily. If I put the litterboxes anywhere they are in the open, with no corners to hide around, Gray will get upset because they will be in the open. Lucy actually has not been doing it much since her latest intestinal bout. She is feeling better, will play with me if I offer string, is hunting, etc., but for the most part is leaving Patches alone. Except she started screaming at Patches today because Patches jumped up on top of the fence around our yard, which Lucy thought was very uppity, but I was glad she alerted me so I could get Patches down. (This was a major accomplishment for Patches-- she is fat, not so coordinated, and has been rather timid about jumping in general, so I was shocked she got up there-- she looked a bit shocked herself!). Michelle In a message dated 7/9/2006 7:47:34 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I don't know what you should do... but depending on how BADLY she reacts to the vet trips I would go for the biopsy if possible. Also, have you considered the possibility that there is a battle waging over the litterbox? You might try putting 1 or 2 in different places. Litterbox problems can cause lots of problems... t
Re: Worried about Lucy
Michelle, The only thing that I noticed about Inky was that it kept him from straining so much...He always would strain like he was constipated then it would shoot out all loose...so I don't know if the pred is what helped the loose stool or the oat bran..I think the most that I gave him was 10mg daily for several weeks then worked our way down..He was on the thyroid meds and I stopped them all together as he does have hyperT, but I think we were giving him too much cause he was losing all his hair in big clumps...which happens with hypoT. He had the ringworm so I had to stop the pred for awhile..but now I give him 2.5 or 1.25 every few days...I alternate it like you guys do..I also think the med metro ( something or other) stopped his loose stool...You mentioned that you were giving Lucy this and i really think that is what helped Inky the most..or maybe the combination of them...I don't remember if I told you..Inky is Felv negative..He is just very old...He will be 20 in August...His mother was my first and only lymphoma kitty...sorta like what you mentioned about the biopsy of the intestines...that is what she had...They opened her up and closed her right back up cause there wasn't anything they could do...So we did chemo for 5 months..and she lived 4 more months after we stopped the chemo..she did great until the last month..I guess you know how that is...Forgot to mention that she had a feeding tube in place the rest of her life, too...the tube coming straight out her side...made it easy to give meds and get food into her when she wouldn't eat...They told me that they usually only leave these for about 3 months..but she handled it so well they left it...she even got to where she would clean it..They put it in when they did the surgery. I am now mixing chicken broth in several of Inky's meals as he likes to drink it so I buy the low sodium kind.. I hope Lucy is doing better today.. Kerry and Bandy Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2ยข/min or less.
Re: Worried about Lucy
No, I had her palpated at the local vet on Friday and he couldn't feel anything. Thanks, Michelle In a message dated 7/4/2006 1:19:26 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Michelle,if there is/are any palpable lump type things in her abdomen, a fine needle aspirate could be done as opposed to a full surgical biopsy. My Ninja developed intestinal lymphoma during her last month or two and while the mass was definitely palpable (I felt it petting her while she was on her side) it was typical of int. lymph. and wasn't a discrete mass but was riddled throughout the tissue - there were enough cells removed with the aspirate for the (experienced) lab tech to say lymphoma. Financially, surgery wasn't an option no matter what and she was already on pred (5mg bid) and phenobarb to control her seizures (poss dx meningioma) so we treated for quality of life. She was my first cat as an adult (i.e. not a family pet) and we had grown very close her last summer when I had to nurse her so carefully.
Re: Worried about Lucy
Hi Michelle, I am sorry to hear about Lucy...I hope she is doing much better now...When Inky had some flare up with the loose stool, I added oat bran to the turkey...Just mixed in about a teaspoon. It did seem to help his loose stools.. since I am behind here, did you up her pred some..That usually helped Inky, too...I am doing like you and Nina saidabout the pred and he was down to 1.25mg every few days then maybe 2.5mg, I sort of rotate it.. Anyway, I am glad to hear that she is eating some now...and hope it is just the IBD.. Our thoughts are with you two.. Kerry and Bandy Do you Yahoo!? Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.
Re: Worried about Lucy
Thanks, Kerry. She's eating pretty well now, though will mostly only eat broiled turkey-- she did eat a few bites of her raw food this morning while waiting for the cooked, though. She had some liquid stool again last night at 7, but it has been over 14 hours now with no stool, so I have my fingers crossed. She also did not need reglan or fluids this morning to eat, just Pepcid. I did up her pred-- to 12.5 mg/day starting 3 days ago (read online on a vet site that for moderate to severe IBD 1 to 2 mg/lb body weight is often needed, so I am doing 1.5 mg/lb)-- and she is on metronidazole and pepcid as well. I am hoping it's just an IBD flare-up and not lymphoma. All of my positives who have died (with the possible exception of one who was never really diagnosed) have died of lymphoma, and IBD often leads to lymphoma, so I get convinced that is what is happening to Lucy, but I hope it isn't. She's acting pretty normal this morning. But she is on a lot of pred, and even if she has lymphoma that could make her feel better for a while, so I don't know. How is Bandy doing? Michelle In a message dated 7/3/2006 9:16:30 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi Michelle, I am sorry to hear about Lucy...I hope she is doing much better now...When Inky had some flare up with the loose stool, I added oat bran to the turkey...Just mixed in about a teaspoon. It did seem to help his loose stools.. since I am behind here, did you up her pred some..That usually helped Inky, too...I am doing like you and Nina saidabout the pred and he was down to 1.25mg every few days then maybe 2.5mg, I sort of rotate it.. Anyway, I am glad to hear that she is eating some now...and hope it is just the IBD.. Our thoughts are with you two.. Kerry and Bandy
Re: Worried about Lucy
Glad to hear that she is eating good again..Maybe it is the IBD..I think sometimes we have to give them those supplements/meds to get them thru a hard time..Seems to be that way for me and we just never know when it is going to happen.. Bandy got over the bad leg soreness (front and rear, right side), but now seems to be favoring the left front..I don't know what he does to get like this cause he isn't jumping anymore, at least I haven't seen it..He went over 2 wks without a temp and that is a first since last June...The worst thing now though is the ringworm..It is taking him over..and I mean all over..I haven't been able to stop it...it goes away in one place just to start in another. Last few days, it is really bad..I don't know what to do because the oral med is so bad for him...I won't use it...I have read too much bad things about it and it does say do not use in FIV kitties. and some places also says not for felv+ kitties either...Any thoughts on all this.. Should I go ahead and give him the immuno-regulin? I have it now..but we haven't started it cause of the holiday. My vet is gone til Wed.. It is once every 4 days for 3 or 4 doses, is that right?? Let me know what you think would be the best to start him on...as it might help the ringworm, too...since his immune system is so weak..I don't know what else to do.. I hope Lucy continues to improve. Kerry and Bandy Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.
Re: Worried about Lucy
Thanks, Kerry. Is Inky FeLV-? And did you ever have to do 10 mg/day of pred for a while to get Inky back to feeling ok and having normal stool? I would start the I-R as soon as your vet gets back. I know some people give it sub-q and it seems to work fine that way, but it is recommended that it be done IV, and even those who give it sub-q seem to start out with IV doses at first. So unless you can give an IV shot, I would wait until Wednesday and see if you can get your vet, or a tech, to administer it then. I think the regimen is every 3 or 4 days for a couple of weeks, then less frequently. I have only used it for respiratory infections, and it worked after one or two doses each time, so I never continued on a full regimen. But I think that if it is going to help you should see results within a week or two, so I would start with every 3 or 4 days, do a couple of doses on that schedule, and then revisit. Dosing varies from 1/2 ml to 1 ml. I have used 1 ml myself, but since Ginger had temporary side effects from that dosing (high fever and chills for an hour), even though Patches did not get any side effects and no other cat I have heard of using it seems to get them, I still would recommend starting at 1/2 ml. If he does fine with it, and no side effects, I might try upping the dose to 3/4 or 1 ml the second time. Or, if it seems to work well at 1/2 ml, leaving it at that. Please let us know what happens. I am almost positive that when I was first investigating I-R a few years ago someone, maybe even on this list, said that her FeLV+ cat had bad ringworm that would not go away and that I-R helped get rid of it. But I am not 100% surethat it was ringworm I am remembering about; I just really think it was. These days I archive emails like that so I can go back and check later (I have archived all of your emails aboutBandy's regimen, for instance, for future reference, and have sent them to other people on this list who have cats with fevers and anemia), but I didn't then. Sorry! Michelle In a message dated 7/3/2006 11:32:23 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Glad to hear that she is eating good again..Maybe it is the IBD..I think sometimes we have to give them those supplements/meds to get them thru a hard time..Seems to be that way for me and we just never know when it is going to happen.. Bandy got over the bad leg soreness (front and rear, right side), but now seems to be favoring the left front..I don't know what he does to get like this cause he isn't jumping anymore, at least I haven't seen it..He went over 2 wks without a temp and that is a first since last June...The worst thing now though is the ringworm..It is taking him over..and I mean all over..I haven't been able to stop it...it goes away in one place just to start in another. Last few days, it is really bad..I don't know what to do because the oral med is so bad for him...I won't use it...I have read too much bad things about it and it does say do not use in FIV kitties. and some places also says not for felv+ kitties either...Any thoughts on all this.. Should I go ahead and give him the immuno-regulin? I have it now..but we haven't started it cause of the holiday. My vet is gone til Wed.. It is once every 4 days for 3 or 4 doses, is that right?? Let me know what you think would be the best to start him on...as it might help the ringworm, too...since his immune system is so weak..I don't know what else to do.. I hope Lucy continues to improve. Kerry and Bandy
Re: Worried about Lucy
Kerry, another thought... Has the vet looked into rheumatoid arthritis for Bandy? That kind of arthritis is immune-mediated. I am wondering if that could be what is going on. I don't know if cats get it. Does he have any swelling in his leg joints when he gets sore? If so, there is also something called polyarthritis that is an immune-mediated problem, which comes from the body attacking itself. My dog Fern got that as a response to her lung cancer (they seem to go together) and needed a lot of steroids to combat it (which then gave her Cushings disease, but dogs can't handle steroids like cats can). Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
Kerry, Did Inky ever have a relapse where you gave extra pred but it did not kick in during the first few days? Lucy has been on 12.5 mg/day for 3 days now but is still having liquid stool (though she had one semi-solid stool yesterday, and at least her stools are far apart and not frequent). In the fall, her stools firmed up after the first day on 10 mg. I think something new is going on. Michelle In a message dated 7/3/2006 9:16:30 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi Michelle, I am sorry to hear about Lucy...I hope she is doing much better now...When Inky had some flare up with the loose stool, I added oat bran to the turkey...Just mixed in about a teaspoon. It did seem to help his loose stools.. since I am behind here, did you up her pred some..That usually helped Inky, too...I am doing like you and Nina saidabout the pred and he was down to 1.25mg every few days then maybe 2.5mg, I sort of rotate it.. Anyway, I am glad to hear that she is eating some now...and hope it is just the IBD.. Our thoughts are with you two.. Kerry and Bandy
Re: Worried about Lucy
Michelle,if there is/are any palpable lump type things in her abdomen, a fine needle aspirate could be done as opposed to a full surgical biopsy. My Ninja developed intestinal lymphoma during her last month or two and while the mass was definitely palpable (I felt it petting her while she was on her side) it was typical of int. lymph. and wasn't a discrete mass but was riddled throughout the tissue - there were enough cells removed with the aspirate for the (experienced) lab tech to say lymphoma. Financially, surgery wasn't an option no matter what and she was already on pred (5mg bid) and phenobarb to control her seizures (poss dx meningioma) so we treated for quality of life. She was my first cat as an adult (i.e. not a family pet) and we had grown very close her last summer when I had to nurse her so carefully.[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Lucy, who is positive, has had what we assume to be IBD since last October. After an initial dosing of prednisone and tapering to only 1.25 mg every 3 days, and a change to a raw food diet, she has been doing well for the last 6 months or so. However, in the last few weeks she started to get a nib of white mucous on the end of her otherwise normal bowels, and losing weight. At this point she has degenerated to having very loose stool, pretty much diarrhea (her problem is in the colon or lower intestines, so the diarrhea is never really watery or anything), not wanting to eat much of her raw food, and she is down to 8.2 pounds (normally over 9 pounds). She is acting normal, basically, besides this-- wanting to go outside, hunting (I try not to let her do that), playing, etc. Her only behavior change, besides not wanting her raw food much, is that she usually hides around the corner when Patches uses the litter box and hits her as she comes out (devil-- I try not to let her do this either), and she has stopped doing that. But she played with a string this morning and is bright eyed and bushy tailed, not dehydrated, etc. She has stopped eating her raw food before and I have had to change the kind of meat I use, so it is not the first time for that. She also has lost this much weight before, as her weight fluctuates a lot, so this is not the first time for that either. But, other than when she drank a bowl of olive oil 2 months ago (yes, unbelievable as it sounds, she did drink a bowl of oil and it did not sit well with her!) she has not had diarrhea while on raw food. I put her back up to 10 mg/day of pred yesterday. She had been at 5 for the last week. What I am worried about is intestinal lymphoma. FeLV+ cats are prone to it, as are cats with IBD, and she has both. The only way to diagnose that is with surgical biopsy where they remove a section of intestine, but they often can not distinguish even then between severe IBD and low-grade lymphoma. They treat both the same, with prednisone and an oral chemo drug called Leukeran (chlorambucil), and cats often do well for months to years on that. But they often insist on trying to do the biopsy before prescribing this regimen. I took Lucy yesterday to the local vet. He thinks I should get a biopsy at a referral center an hour away. I have not wanted to do this in the past, because it is surgery and because Lucy gets really stressed by car rides and vet visits. But I am feeling now like I should at least go talk to an internist, because I am doing everything that has worked before, and it is not working now. It could just be an IBD flare-up, which is what I hope, but it could be lymphoma, which can be quickly fatal without treatment. Of course, I called this morning to try to make an appointment, and they say they are only open for emergencies until Wednesday and I can not even talk to anyone to schedule an appointment until then. If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on what is going on and what I should do, I would really appreciate it. Nina-- I also put Lucy back on the homeopathics Darla had prescribed, also to no avail. Thanks, MichelleBarb+Smoky the House Puma+El Bandito Malito"My cat the clown: paying no mind to whom he should impress. Merely living his life, doing what pleases him, and making me smile."- Anonymous Do you Yahoo!? Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta.
Re: Worried about Lucy
Well, I had gotten Lucy to eat a decent amount for dinner, mostly baby food (1.5 jars), some i/d dry (which she had not had in months), and a little bit of raw duck. But at 3 am, about 7 hours later, she just had completely liquid diarrhea and seems to feel nauseous also. Right now I am thinking that it is not worth getting her to eat by giving her stuff I know is bad for her IBD, whatever is currently wrong with he. I will try cooked turkey, but if that does not work I think I will force feed her her raw turkey over trying to get her to eat stuff on her own that she has this reaction to. I started her on metronidazole, too, to try for 2 days (you can usually tell by then if it is helping). The increased pred does not seem to be making a difference, and the vet on Friday said that he thought it was possible she has developed a bacterial overgrowth of some sort. I had tried Metronidazole when she first got IBD and, if anything, it seemed to make her worse. But i thought I would try again. I gave her a tiny bit of metaclopramide too to see if it makes her feel better. I may not feed her anything for 12 hours or so, to try to give her system a rest. In the past that has helped her recover some. Then I will only give her turkey, cooked or raw, voluntary or forced. She is acting sick now, kind of slow and tender, but I assume it had to do with the bout of liquid diarrhea. The only other time she had liquid diarrhea like that was when she drank the bowl of olive oil in April, and she felt even sicker then. I had thought it was the lubrication of the oil itself that had given her liquid diarrhea, but maybe it was her intestines' reaction to a substance it could not handle. Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
Try chicken instead of turkey. Some of the better holistic books say turkey is a major cause of food allergies in cats and chicken is not. I can't cite the books (they are boxed for moving) but I went thru this with the Royal Princess Kitty Katt. Please try chicken instead. Also, if you can get it Fast Track or any active bacteria med will help reestablish the "good bacteria" that the meds are destroying to get to the "bad bacteria" which maybe leading to the overgrowth. Please, please, ask your vet to consider a food allergy situation. It may not be all there is to it but if it is even part of the problem it can be dealt with easily. Kitty was about 10 years old when she developed her allergies so don't believe a cat can be too old to have the problem. The diarrheawas watery and extremely smelly for her and she lost so much weight. When we figured it out (thanks to the angels I mentioned before) everything worked out in that regard...no more diarrhea and the weight came back. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 2:30 AM Subject: Re: Worried about Lucy Well, I had gotten Lucy to eat a decent amount for dinner, mostly baby food (1.5 jars), some i/d dry (which she had not had in months), and a little bit of raw duck. But at 3 am, about 7 hours later, she just had completely liquid diarrhea and seems to feel nauseous also. Right now I am thinking that it is not worth getting her to eat by giving her stuff I know is bad for her IBD, whatever is currently wrong with he. I will try cooked turkey, but if that does not work I think I will force feed her her raw turkey over trying to get her to eat stuff on her own that she has this reaction to. I started her on metronidazole, too, to try for 2 days (you can usually tell by then if it is helping). The increased pred does not seem to be making a difference, and the vet on Friday said that he thought it was possible she has developed a bacterial overgrowth of some sort. I had tried Metronidazole when she first got IBD and, if anything, it seemed to make her worse. But i thought I would try again. I gave her a tiny bit of metaclopramide too to see if it makes her feel better. I may not feed her anything for 12 hours or so, to try to give her system a rest. In the past that has helped her recover some. Then I will only give her turkey, cooked or raw, voluntary or forced. She is acting sick now, kind of slow and tender, but I assume it had to do with the bout of liquid diarrhea. The only other time she had liquid diarrhea like that was when she drank the bowl of olive oil in April, and she felt even sicker then. I had thought it was the lubrication of the oil itself that had given her liquid diarrhea, but maybe it was her intestines' reaction to a substance it could not handle. Michelle No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition.Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.8/380 - Release Date: 6/30/2006
Re: Worried about Lucy
Michelle,my thoughts and prayers are with you and sweet Lucy.I hope she can pull through this. Sherry[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:I actually got Red Bank hospital, the best in the state, to schedule me an appointment with an internist at the earliest date, but that is Thursday afternoon-- a long way away. I did try to talk the regular vet into just trying the Leukeran, but he wouldn't, and Lucy wasn't as bad yesterday anyway, and really I am not a vet, so maybe there would be a downside to doing that. it is a chemotherapy drug after all. i think you are supposed to wear gloves when administering it.I resorted to baby food and dry i/d, and after a pepcid and some fluids she did eat 1.5 jars of baby food and a handful of the i/d tonight. It will wreak havoc on her intestines, but I don't know what else to do. I tried minced turkey breast plain and she would not touch it. My mom bought duck and I cut some of that up. She seemed all excited at first but only ate two bites of it. I think she is acting less of her usual self now. She is still playing, but not very enthusiastically. She is purring, though, and wanted to go outside. Though she ate a whole lot of grass when she did (which also wreaks havoc on her intestines). I found some bile vomit with grass in it in a few places in the house, but Patches often eats grass and throws up,so I am not sure it was Lucy (and if itwas her, not sure if it is justbecause she ate grass or from the underlying condition).Lymphoma is in the front of my mind, not the back. I feel convinced she has it. She lost another 2 ounces today.I upped her prednisooe to the amount they prescribe for severe IBD and forsmallcell lymphoma, will keep giving herpepcid and fluids, and will keep trying to feed her, until Thursday. I will fast her Thursday morning in case they want to do the biopsy and I agree.I had decided not to let her outside at all, because she eats grasswhen I do and I find it all in her diarrhea and think it may be irritating her intestines. But my mom convinced me to let her out because she loves it so much, and in truth she ate more afterwards, maybe because the grass settled her stomach. My friend's cat who has lymphoma started eating a lot of grasswhen he got sick, so this also has me worried. I am pretty miserable. Not sure what else I can do, though.Can you send me the turkey mush recipe? I will try it. Thanks, MichelleIn a message dated 7/1/2006 1:15:14 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: S**t Michelle,What the heck is going on with Lucy now?? It's very good that she's still acting herself for the most part. Could it be that she's just off her food? I'm praying it's not the dreaded lymphoma, I know that's always in the back of your mind. Why don't you try Gypsy's turkey mush recipe and see if that helps? It makes me so crazy that the internist's office won't make an appointment for you. What would you do, if after the exploratory surgery they still didn't have a definitive answer about her condition? Would you treat her for cancer anyway? If that's what you would do, why don't you talk to your regular vet about prescribing what is necessary? They might be more willing to do that, (heck, you'd be able to prescribe what's needed better than most vets anyway), when you tell them you took their advice, but the specialty clinic isn't able to give you an appointment. I'm sorry sweetheart, you seem to be between that rock and hard place once again. If it were me, (so impossible to know what I'd do until I was actually faced with it), I think I would continue to assume it is her IBD and not cancer that is causing her symptoms. How old is Lucy again? If her diarrhea is back, that would explain why she's not being as naughty as usual. Do you still have her on turkey and Instincts TC? Why don't you mince up a turkey breast, leaving out the TC and see if she gobbles it down? Gypsy responded to plain muscle meat when she was so sick. When you start adding supplements, you could do it individually, that way you could play around with the ratios and see if lowering/upping them might help. Prayers and good wishes from our tribe to yours,Nina Want to be your own boss? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
Re: Worried about Lucy
I did go through all of this when her problem started last October. It started after she was on antibiotics for a month. I tried all kinds of probiotics, and they all made her diarrhea worse. I tried fast track. I also started her out on chicken when her problems started, and her diarrhea did not get better until I put her on the turkey. I may try chicken again. But she was doing fine on turkey for the last 6 months. I suppose she could have suddenly developed an allergy to it. But after what happened last night when I gave her something she had not been eating (duck) and things she had not had for a while (turkey baby food, i/d dry), I am loathe to try new foods again right now. Thanks, though, Michelle In a message dated 7/2/2006 8:04:17 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Try chicken instead of turkey. Some of the better holistic books say turkey is a major cause of food allergies in cats and chicken is not. I can't cite the books (they are boxed for moving) but I went thru this with the Royal Princess Kitty Katt. Please try chicken instead. Also, if you can get it Fast Track or any active bacteria med will help reestablish the "good bacteria" that the meds are destroying to get to the "bad bacteria" which maybe leading to the overgrowth. Please, please, ask your vet to consider a food allergy situation. It may not be all there is to it but if it is even part of the problem it can be dealt with easily. Kitty was about 10 years old when she developed her allergies so don't believe a cat can be too old to have the problem. The diarrheawas watery and extremely smelly for her and she lost so much weight. When we figured it out (thanks to the angels I mentioned before) everything worked out in that regard...no more diarrhea and the weight came back.
Re: Worried about Lucy
Michelle, Marylyn has a point about the chicken. I do seem to remember chicken being recommended over turkey, but Gypsy didn't do well on chicken, (that's why it's turkey mush instead of chicken mush). Anything you can do to combat the meds you have her on is a good idea. Flagil is harsh on the system too. Poor little lamb, I do so hope she feels better soon, Nina Marylyn wrote: Try chicken instead of turkey. Some of the better holistic books say turkey is a major cause of food allergies in cats and chicken is not. I can't cite the books (they are boxed for moving) but I went thru this with the Royal Princess Kitty Katt. Please try chicken instead. Also, if you can get it Fast Track or any active bacteria med will help reestablish the good bacteria that the meds are destroying to get to the bad bacteria which maybe leading to the overgrowth. Please, please, ask your vet to consider a food allergy situation. It may not be all there is to it but if it is even part of the problem it can be dealt with easily. Kitty was about 10 years old when she developed her allergies so don't believe a cat can be too old to have the problem. The diarrhea was watery and extremely smelly for her and she lost so much weight. When we figured it out (thanks to the angels I mentioned before) everything worked out in that regard...no more diarrhea and the weight came back.
Re: Worried about Lucy
If you make the turkey mush, add some plain yogurt to it. I think I was putting in 2 or 3 tablespoons at one time. I'd probably stick with the turkey at this point too. It seems our girls are the exception to the rule. Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I did go through all of this when her problem started last October. It started after she was on antibiotics for a month. I tried all kinds of probiotics, and they all made her diarrhea worse. I tried fast track. I also started her out on chicken when her problems started, and her diarrhea did not get better until I put her on the turkey. I may try chicken again. But she was doing fine on turkey for the last 6 months. I suppose she could have suddenly developed an allergy to it. But after what happened last night when I gave her something she had not been eating (duck) and things she had not had for a while (turkey baby food, i/d dry), I am loathe to try new foods again right now. Thanks, though, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
When Gypsy was being so finicky and I was feeding her anything she would eat, (at one point duck and beef combined, steak mind you, she wouldn't touch hamburger), she had wasted away to nothing and I wasn't so much concerned about the horrible diarrhea as I was just getting her to eat something. Please be as optimistic as you can and remember no matter how much we want to be able to bring them to health, these things move in their own time. There is only so much that is in our control. Remember, faith not fear. My heart is with you, Nina Marylyn wrote: I can understand your feelings. Have you tried a fish diet--getting totally away from poultry? Duck has a lot of fat in it. I don't know why I keep going back to the food issue but I do. Maybe some people tuna? I know it isn't good for a full time diet but you need something short time. I truly feel for you. I remember what I what thru with The Royal Princess Kitty Katt. It was even more awful for so long because I didn't know what to do. And it takes days on a diet to see if it works. Those days are so painful to the guardian. Blessings to you. May an angel sit on your shoulder and whisper in your ear the way one did on mine. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - *From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org mailto:felvtalk@felineleukemia.org *Sent:* Sunday, July 02, 2006 7:50 AM *Subject:* Re: Worried about Lucy I did go through all of this when her problem started last October. It started after she was on antibiotics for a month. I tried all kinds of probiotics, and they all made her diarrhea worse. I tried fast track. I also started her out on chicken when her problems started, and her diarrhea did not get better until I put her on the turkey. I may try chicken again. But she was doing fine on turkey for the last 6 months. I suppose she could have suddenly developed an allergy to it. But after what happened last night when I gave her something she had not been eating (duck) and things she had not had for a while (turkey baby food, i/d dry), I am loathe to try new foods again right now. Thanks, though, Michelle In a message dated 7/2/2006 8:04:17 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Try chicken instead of turkey. Some of the better holistic books say turkey is a major cause of food allergies in cats and chicken is not. I can't cite the books (they are boxed for moving) but I went thru this with the Royal Princess Kitty Katt. Please try chicken instead. Also, if you can get it Fast Track or any active bacteria med will help reestablish the good bacteria that the meds are destroying to get to the bad bacteria which maybe leading to the overgrowth. Please, please, ask your vet to consider a food allergy situation. It may not be all there is to it but if it is even part of the problem it can be dealt with easily. Kitty was about 10 years old when she developed her allergies so don't believe a cat can be too old to have the problem. The diarrhea was watery and extremely smelly for her and she lost so much weight. When we figured it out (thanks to the angels I mentioned before) everything worked out in that regard...no more diarrhea and the weight came back. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.8/380 - Release Date: 6/30/2006
Re: Worried about Lucy
I'm very glad to hear that she is showing signs of improvement. Continuing to hope right along with you. elizabeth In a message dated 7/2/2006 11:47:28 A.M. Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Thanks. Anything dairy, including yogurt, has made her worse in the past. Something, I think the metaclopramide, is kicking in. She has eaten a bunch of broiled turkey (only plain-- tried adding some of the stuff from the recipe you sent but she just wants it plain). She ate the whole piece I broiled her, so I am broiling her more. She is also acting much perkier. And she just had stool agaiin, about 9 hours since the liquid diarrhea, and it was very very soft but formed, which is a big improvement. So my hope is that something, or the combination, is working. Still does not give a clue as to whether this is an IBD flare-up, intestinal lymphoma, or a parasite or bacteria, as the combination of meds I am giving her could make her feel better with any of those (pred (10 mg/day), metaclopramide, metronidazole, andpepcid plus fluids). Here's hoping, Michelle P.S. She does not do well with fish either. I tried all of that early on when she first had her symptoms, and turkey was the only thing that allowed her to have solid bowels. It's why I settled on turkey with her. Like Gypsy. In a message dated 7/2/2006 11:48:09 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: When Gypsy was being so finicky and I was feeding her anything she would eat, (at one point duck and beef combined, steak mind you, she wouldn't touch hamburger), she had wasted away to nothing and I wasn't so much concerned about the horrible diarrhea as I was just getting her to eat something. Please be as optimistic as you can and remember no matter how much we want to be able to bring them to health, these things move in their own time. There is only so much that is in our control. Remember, "faith not fear". My heart is with you,Nina
Re: Worried about Lucy
She just ate some more broiled turkey and turkey organs, then jumped on Patches as she exited the litter box (poor Patches, but it made me feel better about Lucy), then wanted to go outside again. Again, this could just mean that her symptoms are under control from all the meds, rather than that her underlying condition is improving, but it is a relief nonetheless. Thanks for bearing with me, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
Michelle - you are a wonderful kitty mom. This is so encouraging. elizabeth In a message dated 7/2/2006 12:06:49 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: She just ate some more broiled turkey and turkey organs, then jumped on Patches as she exited the litter box (poor Patches, but it made me feel better about Lucy), then wanted to go outside again. Again, this could just mean that her symptoms are under control from all the meds, rather than that her underlying condition is improving, but it is a relief nonetheless. Thanks for bearing with me, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
OMG, I love the good reports! Keep it up Lucy and Michelle!! N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks. Anything dairy, including yogurt, has made her worse in the past. Something, I think the metaclopramide, is kicking in. She has eaten a bunch of broiled turkey (only plain-- tried adding some of the stuff from the recipe you sent but she just wants it plain). She ate the whole piece I broiled her, so I am broiling her more. She is also acting much perkier. And she just had stool agaiin, about 9 hours since the liquid diarrhea, and it was very very soft but formed, which is a big improvement. So my hope is that something, or the combination, is working. Still does not give a clue as to whether this is an IBD flare-up, intestinal lymphoma, or a parasite or bacteria, as the combination of meds I am giving her could make her feel better with any of those (pred (10 mg/day), metaclopramide, metronidazole, and pepcid plus fluids). Here's hoping, Michelle P.S. She does not do well with fish either. I tried all of that early on when she first had her symptoms, and turkey was the only thing that allowed her to have solid bowels. It's why I settled on turkey with her. Like Gypsy.
Re: Worried about Lucy
Honey, we're right here with you guys. It's nice to smile about her antics. I love that Lucy! My condolences to Patches :) N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: She just ate some more broiled turkey and turkey organs, then jumped on Patches as she exited the litter box (poor Patches, but it made me feel better about Lucy), then wanted to go outside again. Again, this could just mean that her symptoms are under control from all the meds, rather than that her underlying condition is improving, but it is a relief nonetheless. Thanks for bearing with me, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
Well, she ate almost all of the second batch of turkey that I broiled, and has probably eaten about a third of a breast by now, at least. And then she killed a mouse. I feel so guilty about that. I was telling my mom this morning about how I switched from corn litter to pine litter a few weeks ago and that seemed to take care of the mouse problem, and I had not seen one since. I knew right after saying it that I should not have said it, and a few hours later I found one dead. I was on the computer and heard a loud sound downstairs, but thought it was just a cat jumping down from a counter or something. I then heard strange meowing and assumed it was Quincy in the bedroom, who often calls me that way. But it was lucy catching a mouse. I just was not thinking about it or taking the normal precautions of running down to check noises that could be pounces or predatory meowing. I have been so focused on making her better that I just wasn't thinking about it, and I was too late. The poor little mouse was still warm when I picked it up. Michelle
Worried about Lucy
Lucy, who is positive, has had what we assume to be IBD since last October. After an initial dosing of prednisone and tapering to only 1.25 mg every 3 days, and a change to a raw food diet, she has been doing well for the last 6 months or so. However, in the last few weeks she started to get a nib of white mucous on the end of her otherwise normal bowels, and losing weight. At this point she has degenerated to having very loose stool, pretty much diarrhea (her problem is in the colon or lower intestines, so the diarrhea is never really watery or anything), not wanting to eat much of her raw food, and she is down to 8.2 pounds (normally over 9 pounds). She is acting normal, basically, besides this-- wanting to go outside, hunting (I try not to let her do that), playing, etc. Her only behavior change, besides not wanting her raw food much, is that she usually hides around the corner when Patches uses the litter box and hits her as she comes out (devil-- I try not to let her do this either), and she has stopped doing that. But she played with a string this morning and is bright eyed and bushy tailed, not dehydrated, etc. She has stopped eating her raw food before and I have had to change the kind of meat I use, so it is not the first time for that. She also has lost this much weight before, as her weight fluctuates a lot, so this is not the first time for that either. But, other than when she drank a bowl of olive oil 2 months ago (yes, unbelievable as it sounds, she did drink a bowl of oil and it did not sit well with her!) she has not had diarrhea while on raw food. I put her back up to 10 mg/day of pred yesterday. She had been at 5 for the last week. What I am worried about is intestinal lymphoma. FeLV+ cats are prone to it, as are cats with IBD, and she has both. The only way to diagnose that is with surgical biopsy where they remove a section of intestine, but they often can not distinguish even then between severe IBD and low-grade lymphoma. They treat both the same, with prednisone and an oral chemo drug called Leukeran (chlorambucil), and cats often do well for months to years on that. But they often insist on trying to do the biopsy before prescribing this regimen. I took Lucy yesterday to the local vet. He thinks I should get a biopsy at a referral center an hour away. I have not wanted to do this in the past, because it is surgery and because Lucy gets really stressed by car rides and vet visits. But I am feeling now like I should at least go talk to an internist, because I am doing everything that has worked before, and it is not working now. It could just be an IBD flare-up, which is what I hope, but it could be lymphoma, which can be quickly fatal without treatment. Of course, I called this morning to try to make an appointment, and they say they are only open for emergencies until Wednesday and I can not even talk to anyone to schedule an appointment until then. If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on what is going on and what I should do, I would really appreciate it. Nina-- I also put Lucy back on the homeopathics Darla had prescribed, also to no avail. Thanks, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
I hope she's going to be ok, Michelle. It sounds like you are being very alert and attentive to her condition. I wish I had expertise to offer since you are always so helpful with information on this list...but I can say prayers for you guys and send good thoughts your way. It's terrible having an ailing pet over the holiday when everyone has closed shop. Hoping for the best, elizabeth In a message dated 7/1/2006 7:30:15 A.M. Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Lucy, who is positive, has had what we assume to be IBD since last October. After an initial dosing of prednisone and tapering to only 1.25 mg every 3 days, and a change to a raw food diet, she has been doing well for the last 6 months or so. However, in the last few weeks she started to get a nib of white mucous on the end of her otherwise normal bowels, and losing weight. At this point she has degenerated to having very loose stool, pretty much diarrhea (her problem is in the colon or lower intestines, so the diarrhea is never really watery or anything), not wanting to eat much of her raw food, and she is down to 8.2 pounds (normally over 9 pounds). She is acting normal, basically, besides this-- wanting to go outside, hunting (I try not to let her do that), playing, etc. Her only behavior change, besides not wanting her raw food much, is that she usually hides around the corner when Patches uses the litter box and hits her as she comes out (devil-- I try not to let her do this either), and she has stopped doing that. But she played with a string this morning and is bright eyed and bushy tailed, not dehydrated, etc. She has stopped eating her raw food before and I have had to change the kind of meat I use, so it is not the first time for that. She also has lost this much weight before, as her weight fluctuates a lot, so this is not the first time for that either. But, other than when she drank a bowl of olive oil 2 months ago (yes, unbelievable as it sounds, she did drink a bowl of oil and it did not sit well with her!) she has not had diarrhea while on raw food. I put her back up to 10 mg/day of pred yesterday. She had been at 5 for the last week. What I am worried about is intestinal lymphoma. FeLV+ cats are prone to it, as are cats with IBD, and she has both. The only way to diagnose that is with surgical biopsy where they remove a section of intestine, but they often can not distinguish even then between severe IBD and low-grade lymphoma. They treat both the same, with prednisone and an oral chemo drug called Leukeran (chlorambucil), and cats often do well for months to years on that. But they often insist on trying to do the biopsy before prescribing this regimen. I took Lucy yesterday to the local vet. He thinks I should get a biopsy at a referral center an hour away. I have not wanted to do this in the past, because it is surgery and because Lucy gets really stressed by car rides and vet visits. But I am feeling now like I should at least go talk to an internist, because I am doing everything that has worked before, and it is not working now. It could just be an IBD flare-up, which is what I hope, but it could be lymphoma, which can be quickly fatal without treatment. Of course, I called this morning to try to make an appointment, and they say they are only open for emergencies until Wednesday and I can not even talk to anyone to schedule an appointment until then. If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on what is going on and what I should do, I would really appreciate it. Nina-- I also put Lucy back on the homeopathics Darla had prescribed, also to no avail. Thanks, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
I actually got Red Bank hospital, the best in the state, to schedule me an appointment with an internist at the earliest date, but that is Thursday afternoon-- a long way away. I did try to talk the regular vet into just trying the Leukeran, but he wouldn't, and Lucy wasn't as bad yesterday anyway, and really I am not a vet, so maybe there would be a downside to doing that. it is a chemotherapy drug after all. i think you are supposed to wear gloves when administering it. I resorted to baby food and dry i/d, and after a pepcid and some fluids she did eat 1.5 jars of baby food and a handful of the i/d tonight. It will wreak havoc on her intestines, but I don't know what else to do. I tried minced turkey breast plain and she would not touch it. My mom bought duck and I cut some of that up. She seemed all excited at first but only ate two bites of it. I think she is acting less of her usual self now. She is still playing, but not very enthusiastically. She is purring, though, and wanted to go outside. Though she ate a whole lot of grass when she did (which also wreaks havoc on her intestines). I found some bile vomit with grass in it in a few places in the house, but Patches often eats grass and throws up,so I am not sure it was Lucy (and if itwas her, not sure if it is justbecause she ate grass or from the underlying condition). Lymphoma is in the front of my mind, not the back. I feel convinced she has it. She lost another 2 ounces today. I upped her prednisooe to the amount they prescribe for severe IBD and forsmallcell lymphoma, will keep giving herpepcid and fluids, and will keep trying to feed her, until Thursday. I will fast her Thursday morning in case they want to do the biopsy and I agree. I had decided not to let her outside at all, because she eats grasswhen I do and I find it all in her diarrhea and think it may be irritating her intestines. But my mom convinced me to let her out because she loves it so much, and in truth she ate more afterwards, maybe because the grass settled her stomach. My friend's cat who has lymphoma started eating a lot of grasswhen he got sick, so this also has me worried. I am pretty miserable. Not sure what else I can do, though. Can you send me the turkey mush recipe? I will try it. Thanks, Michelle In a message dated 7/1/2006 1:15:14 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: S**t Michelle,What the heck is going on with Lucy now?? It's very good that she's still acting herself for the most part. Could it be that she's just off her food? I'm praying it's not the dreaded lymphoma, I know that's always in the back of your mind. Why don't you try Gypsy's turkey mush recipe and see if that helps? It makes me so crazy that the internist's office won't make an appointment for you. What would you do, if after the exploratory surgery they still didn't have a definitive answer about her condition? Would you treat her for cancer anyway? If that's what you would do, why don't you talk to your regular vet about prescribing what is necessary? They might be more willing to do that, (heck, you'd be able to prescribe what's needed better than most vets anyway), when you tell them you took their advice, but the specialty clinic isn't able to give you an appointment. I'm sorry sweetheart, you seem to be between that rock and hard place once again. If it were me, (so impossible to know what I'd do until I was actually faced with it), I think I would continue to assume it is her IBD and not cancer that is causing her symptoms. How old is Lucy again? If her diarrhea is back, that would explain why she's not being as naughty as usual. Do you still have her on turkey and Instincts TC? Why don't you mince up a turkey breast, leaving out the TC and see if she gobbles it down? Gypsy responded to plain muscle meat when she was so sick. When you start adding supplements, you could do it individually, that way you could play around with the ratios and see if lowering/upping them might help. Prayers and good wishes from our tribe to yours,Nina
Re: Worried about Lucy
Have you tried Metoclopramide Syrup? It's suppose to ease stomach contractions and it really helped Gypsy the few times I gave it to her. I'll send you the turkey mush recipe off-list. I'm so sorry about your concerns for Lucy and her not feeling well. I'm still praying you are wrong and it's not lymphoma. Give your Mom a kiss from me for convincing you to let Lucy out to play. Make each day as special as you can for her, Lots of love, Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I actually got Red Bank hospital, the best in the state, to schedule me an appointment with an internist at the earliest date, but that is Thursday afternoon-- a long way away. I did try to talk the regular vet into just trying the Leukeran, but he wouldn't, and Lucy wasn't as bad yesterday anyway, and really I am not a vet, so maybe there would be a downside to doing that. it is a chemotherapy drug after all. i think you are supposed to wear gloves when administering it. I resorted to baby food and dry i/d, and after a pepcid and some fluids she did eat 1.5 jars of baby food and a handful of the i/d tonight. It will wreak havoc on her intestines, but I don't know what else to do. I tried minced turkey breast plain and she would not touch it. My mom bought duck and I cut some of that up. She seemed all excited at first but only ate two bites of it. I think she is acting less of her usual self now. She is still playing, but not very enthusiastically. She is purring, though, and wanted to go outside. Though she ate a whole lot of grass when she did (which also wreaks havoc on her intestines). I found some bile vomit with grass in it in a few places in the house, but Patches often eats grass and throws up,so I am not sure it was Lucy (and if itwas her, not sure if it is justbecause she ate grass or from the underlying condition). Lymphoma is in the front of my mind, not the back. I feel convinced she has it. She lost another 2 ounces today. I upped her prednisooe to the amount they prescribe for severe IBD and forsmallcell lymphoma, will keep giving herpepcid and fluids, and will keep trying to feed her, until Thursday. I will fast her Thursday morning in case they want to do the biopsy and I agree. I had decided not to let her outside at all, because she eats grasswhen I do and I find it all in her diarrhea and think it may be irritating her intestines. But my mom convinced me to let her out because she loves it so much, and in truth she ate more afterwards, maybe because the grass settled her stomach. My friend's cat who has lymphoma started eating a lot of grasswhen he got sick, so this also has me worried. I am pretty miserable. Not sure what else I can do, though. Can you send me the turkey mush recipe? I will try it. Thanks, Michelle
Re: Worried about Lucy
I have not followed this closely so these ideas may be totally off base but here they are: Try apple pectin on her or some sort of bulk producer like psyllium. I know it sounds strange but it has helped a couple of my critters with IBD. Have you tried checking for allergies? The Royal Princess Kitty Katt had an awful problem we were convinced was pancreas related and due to an inability to digest fats. Her BMs were totally awful. An angel sat on my shoulder and whispered allergies. I talked to my vets and they agreed it was possible but not probable for a cat her age to develop food allergies. We did a lot of food switching and it helped --in fact, it did away with that particular problem. We did away with grains and most things found in regular cat food. Turkey, especially the way it is processed now, seems to be a big problem too. Eventually I got her on EVO which does contain turkey but caused no problems supposedly because of the way it is processed. These are just ideas but I hope they help. If you are concerned about her life span, and I suspect you are, enjoy her and let her enjoy you. Particularly, do not deny her the pleasures ofher life. Know that quality is far more important than quantity. Blessings to you. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 8:33 PM Subject: Re: Worried about Lucy I actually got Red Bank hospital, the best in the state, to schedule me an appointment with an internist at the earliest date, but that is Thursday afternoon-- a long way away. I did try to talk the regular vet into just trying the Leukeran, but he wouldn't, and Lucy wasn't as bad yesterday anyway, and really I am not a vet, so maybe there would be a downside to doing that. it is a chemotherapy drug after all. i think you are supposed to wear gloves when administering it. I resorted to baby food and dry i/d, and after a pepcid and some fluids she did eat 1.5 jars of baby food and a handful of the i/d tonight. It will wreak havoc on her intestines, but I don't know what else to do. I tried minced turkey breast plain and she would not touch it. My mom bought duck and I cut some of that up. She seemed all excited at first but only ate two bites of it. I think she is acting less of her usual self now. She is still playing, but not very enthusiastically. She is purring, though, and wanted to go outside. Though she ate a whole lot of grass when she did (which also wreaks havoc on her intestines). I found some bile vomit with grass in it in a few places in the house, but Patches often eats grass and throws up,so I am not sure it was Lucy (and if itwas her, not sure if it is justbecause she ate grass or from the underlying condition). Lymphoma is in the front of my mind, not the back. I feel convinced she has it. She lost another 2 ounces today. I upped her prednisooe to the amount they prescribe for severe IBD and forsmallcell lymphoma, will keep giving herpepcid and fluids, and will keep trying to feed her, until Thursday. I will fast her Thursday morning in case they want to do the biopsy and I agree. I had decided not to let her outside at all, because she eats grasswhen I do and I find it all in her diarrhea and think it may be irritating her intestines. But my mom convinced me to let her out because she loves it so much, and in truth she ate more afterwards, maybe because the grass settled her stomach. My friend's cat who has lymphoma started eating a lot of grasswhen he got sick, so this also has me worried. I am pretty miserable. Not sure what else I can do, though. Can you send me the turkey mush recipe? I will try it. Thanks, Michelle In a message dated 7/1/2006 1:15:14 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: S**t Michelle,What the heck is going on with Lucy now?? It's very good that she's still acting herself for the most part. Could it be that she's just off her food? I'm praying it's not the dreaded lymphoma, I know that's always in the back of your mind. Why don't you try Gypsy's turkey mush recipe and see if that helps? It makes me so crazy that the internist's office won't make an appointment for you. What would you do, if after the exploratory surgery they still didn't have a definitive answer about her condition? Would you treat her for cancer anyway? If that's what you would do, why don't you talk to your regular vet about prescribing what is necessary? They might be more willing to do that, (heck, you'd be able to prescribe what's needed better than most vets anyway), when you tell
Re: Worried about Lucy
Michelle, Did you try slightly cooking the turkey or duck to bring out some juice and the aroma? There was a time when Gypsy would only eat salmon, or salmon mixed with duck. Does Lucy like fish? You know what a trial Gypsy has been... There was a week when all she would eat was warmed goat's milk with a drop of salmon oil floating on top. Hang in there, N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I resorted to baby food and dry i/d, and after a pepcid and some fluids she did eat 1.5 jars of baby food and a handful of the i/d tonight. It will wreak havoc on her intestines, but I don't know what else to do. I tried minced turkey breast plain and she would not touch it. My mom bought duck and I cut some of that up. She seemed all excited at first but only ate two bites of it.
Re: Worried about Lucy
Salmon, especially wild salmon, has wonderful healing properties. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - From: Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 11:30 PM Subject: Re: Worried about Lucy Michelle, Did you try slightly cooking the turkey or duck to bring out some juice and the aroma? There was a time when Gypsy would only eat salmon, or salmon mixed with duck. Does Lucy like fish? You know what a trial Gypsy has been... There was a week when all she would eat was warmed goat's milk with a drop of salmon oil floating on top. Hang in there, N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I resorted to baby food and dry i/d, and after a pepcid and some fluids she did eat 1.5 jars of baby food and a handful of the i/d tonight. It will wreak havoc on her intestines, but I don't know what else to do. I tried minced turkey breast plain and she would not touch it. My mom bought duck and I cut some of that up. She seemed all excited at first but only ate two bites of it. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.8/380 - Release Date: 6/30/2006
Re: Worried about Lucy
Good to know. Not only is it Gypsy's favorite fish, but it's mine too. N Marylyn wrote: Salmon, especially wild salmon, has wonderful healing properties.
