Yes Jamie -- I remember you and think of you often.
I'm sorry Andy is having troubles -- I will send healing thoughts his
way.
Keep us posted!
=^..^= Terri, Salome', Siggie the Tomato Vampire, Guinevere, Sammi, and 5
furangels: RuthieGirl, Samantha, Arielle, Gareth and Alec =^..^=
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 11:54
PM
Subject: Re: Remember me?
Hi Jamie,
There are still a few of us old-timers around and every so often I've
thought about you and wondered how you and your family were doing. I'm
so sorry you had to come back with bad news. From what you say about
what's going on with Andy, I would think some kind of lymphoma or other damage
in his upper digestive tract. Tarry looking stool means there is a lot
of blood in the system from early on in the digestive process. Is it
possible for him to have eaten something that could have wounded him
internally and because of his suppressed immune system never healed??
Either way, it sounds like it's very uncomfortable for him to eat - if only
because he knows he'll barf it up, or it'll end up with an icky bowel
movement. And whatever is wrong inside has probably messed with his
appetite so he doesn't want to eat anyway.
Especially with the snapping back to "reality", those do sound like
seizures - pretty similar to what Ninja'd had actually. Does he lose
control of his bodily functions during the episodes? Does he
vocalize? Foam at the mouth? If he's sitting or standing, does he
just kind of tip over? How frequently do they happen? Can you tell
if there's a specific trigger? Ninja had been on pred to control her seizures
and we could not taper the dose and ended up adding in phenobarbital.
What dose of pred is he on? I'm wondering if it's neural damage as
opposed to a tumor.
When you look in his eyes, do you see "Andy" there? Is his
personality still the same, with understandable behavior changes due to
illness? That's the main thing I used with Ninja - whatever made her
"HER" just wasn't there any more - SHE came back the morning the vet came over
and we said goodbye, had a wonderful little snuggle and chat, but she'd been
ready for a couple days and was just waiting.
I think more comprehensive blood work would be helpful, but not
worth it if he stresses out like that. Try to simply make him
comfortable, baby food or whatever and water available if he wants them, but
leave him alone for a day or so and look in his eyes again. I'm sorry to
say it, but it sounds like he's ready.
Please keep us posted and remember you're not alone.
Barb and Smoky and Bandit (oh yeah, and Daddy)
Jamie Laws <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Hi there. I was reading the archives and saw some familiar names
so maybe some of you remember me. I was subscribed under my old email
so "andyandmouse" may sound more familiar. Anyway, my name is Jamie
and my Felv positive boy is Andy. I was an active member of the List
(and used to administer the emergency fund) from about 1999 to
maybe 2003 so I have been gone a while. As is normally the case, it is
bad news that brings me back. As a refresher, Andy tested positive on
Elisa in May 1999 and IFA in April 2000. Other than a quickly
treated bout of Hemobartinella in the summer of 1999, he has been symptom
free. Until recently.
So, I noticed that he was getting gradually thinner about 6 months
ago. He was still eating fine and his "potty habits" were normal so I
didn't worry too much. But then he started throwing up that foamy
white stuff every single day. Never food, just foam. So the vet
had me feed him a little bit of canned food (to guarantee he'd eat) first
thing in the morning and in the evening. The thought was maybe it was
stomach acid. Well it didn't help. Then he started throwing up a
little bit of food. Not eating a bunch, then throwing it all back up,
but he would vomit up SOME of what he ate a few hours later. So back
to the vet we went- about 6 weeks ago. This time it was a new vet at
the clinic (bought out the practice- long story!). So he was pretty
much telling me it was cancer. Blood work (CBC only) and x-rays
(abdominal and chest) showed nothing at all. NOTHING. So
the woman vet who was there when I picked him up acted like that was a GOOD
sign but the man vet told me on the phone it was a BAD sign b/c it didn't
rule IN anything else. And of course lymphoma is not 100% detectable
without biopsy. At this point, I really don't think Andy is strong
enough to be sedated to even HAVE a biopsy! But she put him on
Prednisone, which I had my serious doubts about, but tried it. It did
seem to help him out, but of course that's what Pred does. Then you
pay the piper so to speak for that quick fix. That brings us to right
now. He was looking worse and worse so I took him to an entirely new
vet practice last Tuesday. She did not want to do more x-rays or blood
work on him right now b/c he does need sedation to draw blood and she was
afraid to even use the gas on him right now. To put it in perspective,
Andy is normally about 12-14 pounds. He is a big cat anyway. On
Tuesday he weighed just over 7 pounds. He is a rack of
bones. Ok, I had been giving him baby food at night to fatten him up
but ran out on Sunday night. At that time he DID eat on
his own. I can't recall actually witnessing him eat after
that point. But Tuesday evening he would not eat and would not drink
water. This is a cat who sits by my dogs and begs while I
cook. My other 2 don't do that. And he eats ANYTHING so
it's a big deal to me that he won't eat. He acted interested,
like sniffing and stuff, but would not eat. I tried warming
up tuna fish, baby food, A/D, milk, kitten replacement milk, cream sauce
from dinner the night before. You name it. NADA. So I
syringe fed him baby food and water. That did stay down but he didn't
put up much of a fight which is odd. She has him on Metronidazole
in the morning and Barium at night. I just syringe that down him to
coat his stomach. I like her because she said "there is no medical
reason why that should help, but sometimes it does so we'll try
it." I mean I like that b/c she is willing to try things that are off
the beaten path. We discussed perhaps trying Immunoregulin but
she wanted to do one thing at a time. But it's been 5 days and he
is no different. He just sits in the closet or under the bed doing
that shallow breathing. And he growls at me when I walk in the room
now b/c he knows I am going to force feed him or medicate him and that
KILLS me. On top of that, I think he is having
seizures. When he gets real worked up he does this throaty growl
and just goes limp. His head flops down and his jaw is clamped
shut and all of his limbs go right out in front of him totally
stiff. Then he sort of snaps out of it and looks around
confused. So I don't know what's up with that. I just keep
waiting for a sign to let him go. I told my husband today that if it
were someone else's cat I would be telling them to put it out of it's
misery, but I can't be objective here. I keep thinking I can try just
one more thing. She said the Pred probably upset the
bacteria in his tummy so I am giving him acidopholus. I also gave
him some Pepcid at the vet's instruction. Oh, guess I forgot to
mention the tar-like diarrhea and that as of Friday he pukes up
anything I syringe him, except water. So I have him ONE
dropper of the cat milk replacement stuff, waited a little bit, and give him
one more. So far that has stayed down. So I don't know
if it's the baby food being too rich or just that I gave him too much
at once. But again, Tuesday-Friday morning he kept down
5 syringes in the morning and another 5 at night. Now he
can't.
Any thoughts here? Do I need to just let him go? At
this point I cannot afford to have giant vet bills, but I want to do all I
can for him. I just don't see spending thousands of dollars on a 7
year old cat who has been Felv positive for at least 6 years. And I
don't see making him spend days at the vet or making tons of trips back
and forth. That is more of a concern than the money. If these
are his final days I don't want them to be spent at the vet or even
at home being poked, prodded and forced to eat. I have said all
along I will not let that cat suffer when this day came. Now look at
me. I am allowing him to sit in a closet feeling God knows what
kind of pain, probably eaten up with cancer that no one can detect, and
starving himself to death.
Woo hoo. Welcome back Jamie aka "Debbie Downer" from SNL!
Sorry guys- I am just feeling very angry right now so I am being sarcastic
and bitter. This sucks. Thanks for
listening though. I have always felt so supported here and I hope
it's still the same vibe- and I'm sure it is. I hope all of your
babies are doing well. I am almost scared to go through archives
because I am afraid of what I will find there.
Jamie
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Barb+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
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