Kitty Gus - July 1996 - April 1, 2011

[k9diabetes]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

Mr. Gus has been driving me crazy! He's doing well on the lamb as far as diarrhea - that's gone! But he's having some constipation AND he keeps picking his meds out of everything I bury them in AND he's lost a lot of weight.

He will eat the Royal Canin Limited Ingredient lamb food but I don't think he's going to eat enough of it to gain weight. So as of today I'm adding more lamb baby food, which is good for the constipation and to get more calories into him. He's down from 11.9 to 10.25 pounds, which is awfully skinny for him.

We had a work-in vet appointment yesterday because he was straining and screaming and throwing a fit... apparently just from the constipation as nothing was blocked or badly built up. But he was obviously really uncomfortable and unhappy. Every time he finally forced something out he let out a half dozen blood curdling screams...

I got some clear empty capsules from the vet and sometimes I can get get him to not pick his prednisolone out of his food. The pred tastes bad and is a crumbly pill that very easily falls apart in anything with any liquid to it. The clear capsules keep him from tasting it but still he leaves them behind.

He's been IBD - lymphoma for over a year now. If I can just get his pills in him better and more calories in him, I think he will do okay. But he's not making it easy for me.

Natalie

[eyelostit]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

Sorry to hear this Nat,

I don't have much experience with cats, all I can think of is fish, seems Gus has other issues with food so I guess Gus cannot eat Tuna etc, no doubt he would pick the pills out anyway, must be very frustrating.

[We Hope]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

Natalie,

Would prednisone oral solution help?

http://www.drugs.com/cdi/prednisone-solution.html

Kathy

[k9diabetes]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

It would have to taste good... actually, he's back as of about five days ago to accepting his pills in salmon cream cheese and since the pred is protected with the capsule so he can't taste it, I don't think he will reject the cream cheese again. The cream cheese sticks to the capsules better than his canned cat food too.

I just can't get him to eat enough of the canned food. So lately I've been feeding him mostly bably food. We are having a very difficult time getting him to regain his weight and the question is whether it's just that he doesn't eat enough or whether the IBD/lymphoma has started up again. He does not look good... not nearly as good as he did a month or two ago. But he also wasn't getting his meds consistently.

So I'm trying to get as many calories a a day into him as I can and consistent meds and give that a week or two to have an effect. If he still hasn't gained any weight and doesn't look any better, we will have to consider that we may have lost containment on his disease...

Natalie

[k9diabetes]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

After a bout of diarrhea a couple of days ago and Gus still being way too skinny despite eating three jars of baby food a day (he used to maintain his weight on two), we put him into the shop today for a full working over.

Tried to get blood on Tuesday so we could have the results today but Gus wouldn't produce enough from where he would let them take it.

So today, while he was under, they took blood and urine, did an abdominal ultrasound with possibly some aspirate biopsy samples, and looked over his whole mouth and decided to go ahead and do a quick cleaning of some grungy teeth while they had the chance.

Good news from the ultrasound - no changes for the worse,,, or the better but that's not the point!

I suspect the blood and urine panel may show some declining kidney function as his output seems to be a lot greater than his input.

Thank goodness for the empty capsules - I have gotten his meds into him every single day for two weeks, including some extra prednisolone to see if we could get him doing better.

They are considering trying a totally different diet approach - to something geared more for sensitive stomachs than for unique single protein sources. It seems like the diarrhea is from something other than a food reaction.

I've got to go pick him up in a half hour or so and sign away the checkbook!

Natalie

[k9diabetes]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

Gus is hanging in there. I talked with the vet about his really annoying tendency to poop in his bed lately... The vet thought it might be arthritis pain and I mentioned to him that Gus' sister Katie was diagnosed years ago with hip dysplasia.

So he took x-rays and sure enough Gus has some pretty significant hip dysplasia plus arthritis in his knees in the back.

We started Gus on Adequan injections six weeks ago and they seem to be making him feel a lot better. Not sure if it's actually resolved the problem we originally tried to solve... but Gus looks brighter and walks better so I think he feels better.

Guess I should probably get Jack started on some glucosamine. Gus and Katie are starting a glucosamine supplement as we finish up Gus' Adequan treatments.

Natalie

[Patty]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

I'm glad the injections seem to be making him feel better. Gus and Katie are 14 now?

[CarolW]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

Adding my good wishes for Gus!

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:54:59 (PDT)

[k9diabetes]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

They will be 14 in August. Katie was diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia in 2004.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

Wow, it's been a while since I updated about Gus.

We have spent a lot of time considering his situation because he started refusing to take his meds in June and by early July he just flat out refused them. So he went two months without his prednisolone and leukeran. I was very worried about him but also unwilling to force the meds into him. He would fight to the death to keep them out and to spit them out and his life, which is already less than great, would be daily torture.

At the end of August, I decided I needed to talk to somebody about the prospect of his IBD...Lymphoma going untreated. Decided to do a consult with an IMS. One of the two I'm pretty familiar with was out on medical leave and the other was doing only admin work. So I asked the vet I love who knows Gus' issues inside and out and dragged him in for an appointment (he mostly does ultrasound work now and is semi-retired from general practice). We talked through everything that's been happening with him - the meds, the difficulty finding something he will eat consistently, his arthritis, the IBD...Lymphoma.

Vet decided to re-evaluate him - took blood and urine samples, did a new ultrasound, and retook x-rays of his arthritic back, hips, knees, and wrists!

His feeling, in looking at the ultrasound after almost 2 months of no meds was that he may never have crossed over to the Lymphoma side of the spectrum and only had IBD and that it does not seem to be any worse without the medication.

He gave us some Flagyl to give him... but one drop of the 2.5 mls he was supposed to have caused him to scream and foam at the mouth! Very bitter I understand. So I haven't given it to him.

We both think the bigger problem for Gus is his arthritic back end - that it causes him a fair amount of pain, is behind his loss of muscle mass in the back, and is why he struggles with normal stools.

The vet prescribed two weeks of Metacam and thankfully he is willing to take that mixed in with baby food. So he's a week and a half into that to see if we can relieve some of his pain and inflammation.

I've been able to get him to consistently eat baby food (ham if I can get it as that's a novel protein compared to commercial cat foods, beef, or turkey) and very low sodium tuna fish every day for the past two weeks so he's getting consistently good nutrition and adequate calories. And reasonably decent in terms of a novel protein source. He never ate fish much in his earlier days and most foods were chicken.

He actually looks pretty good right now. Since stopping the pred, he pushed out a dry flaky coat and has a somewhat healthier albeit short one now that I'm hoping will fill out even more over time.

At this point, my feeling is no extreme measures. We do what we can for him that doesn't torture him and hope for the best. Maybe I will post a picture I took of him the other day - have to retrieve it off my phone. It's a little misleading as he looks better in it than he actually looks. But he does look okay. He seems to feel better in many ways without the meds.

Natalie

[Patty]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma (?) Thinking not now

That's encouraging to hear Natalie. I do hope the Metacam can control his pain for a while.

Patty

[ozzi]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma (?) Thinking not now

Aww...poor Gus. I hope he's feeling a bit better soon and the metacam makes a difference for him. Regarding flagyl, I don't know about the bitterness (although I wouldn't doubt it at all!), but it can also cause a metallic taste for humans who take it in pill form, so I have no reason to believe it wouldn't do the same in animals. Flagyl is a very good medication for what it treats, however I've never personally been a fan of it because of the potential nasty side effects, mostly GI, (at least in humans).
Kevin

[peggy0]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma

I'm so glad they've moved away from lymphoma. Its evil. Flagyl does leave a nasty taste in your mouth. I had to take it for my stomach for 3 weeks and preferred the stomach issue myself.

[ozzi]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma (?) Thinking not now

LOL Peggy...you're killing me here! You are too funny!
Kevin

[k9diabetes]

Re: Kitty Gus IBD / Early Lymphoma (?) Thinking not now

Gus is doing really well - shockingly well. His fur is much improved since going off of the pred and his main problem seems to be pretty severe arthritis. He's now eating some baby food and some Nature's Variety Prairie Homestyle and some of his soy-based kibble. The Prairie Homestyle comes in beef and lamb, so not too bad as far as novel protein.

Right now he's screaming at me for food as I've cut back his rations. He got a little pudgy, which his arthritic back doesn't need.

We are still doing Adequan injections every couple of weeks and they seem to really improve his mobility.

Katie, his sister, is hyperthyroid and has been on meds a few months now. She is doing well too. She wasn't very symptomatic but it improved the quality of her fur.

Natalie