RE: Remember me?

2005-05-24 Thread Doljan, Joan
Title: Message



Jamie,

I am 
so sorry about Andy. Of course I remember you and Andy, and was hoping 
that everything was OK with both of you (and of course your husband in the 
Service). I really can't advise you, except to go with your 
heart. Andy has been a lucky boy, and a suspect he knows 
that.

Take 
care,

Joan

  
  -Original Message-From: Jamie Laws 
  [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 11:24 
  PMTo: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.orgSubject: Remember 
  me?
  
  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 
  toadminister 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 andIFA 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 hisown. I can't recall actually witnessing 
  him eatafter that point. But Tuesday evening he would not eat and 
  would not drink water. This is a cat who sits by my dogs andbegs 
  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. Heacted interested, 
  like sniffingand stuff, but would not eat. I triedwarming 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 putup 
  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 shouldhelp, 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 
  doone 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 amgoing 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 isclamped shut and allof 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 toput it out of 
  it's misery, 

Re: Remember me

2005-05-23 Thread Belinda Sauro

Hi Jamie,
  I'm sorry to hear about Andy being so sick.  It is true that cats do 
much better than people with chemo.  I lost my Buddie to liver cancer 
last July, we had a very good year after diagnosis with chemo and follow 
up treatment.


First is the diagnosis of the actual type of cancer every cancer is 
treated differently.  There is small cell cancer which is slower growing 
but generally the patients don't go into remission as long, this is what 
Buddie had.  Then there is large cell cancer, many lymphoma's fall under 
this catagory, it is a much more agressive, faster growing cancer and 
must be treated quickly and agressively.  I am on several cancer lists 
because of Buddie, I still am on them to try and help others.


The list that would probably do you the most good is the feline-lymphoma 
list

( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/feline_lymphoma ),
there is one girl and her kitty that have been battleing lymphoma and 
her Samba is FeLV positive, he is 14 months or so post diagnosis and 
doing very well, I think he is around 4 or 5 years of age.  Her name is 
Stacey and she is in the midwest.  She joined the list just after I 
did.  Her and Samba have had a few close calls but he is doing very well 
now.  Here is the list address if you think you may be interested.  
Another very knowledgeable person on the list is Theresa, she just lost 
her Jean-Luc after two years of battling the very agressive lymphoma, 
along with CRF and non regenerative anemia for which he was taking 
epogen for two years (without it he wouldn't have made it that long).


Seeing or at the very least consulting with an internist or oncologist 
is a priority once the type of cancer is diagnosed, unless your vet is 
very knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with cancer.  Buddie was 
diagnosed first by bloodwork being suspicious and her Xray showed her 
liver slightly enlarged.  We then did an ultra sound and biopsy of her 
liver which my vet was sure was going to show she had cholangial 
hepatitis but we actually got cancer of the liver with possible 
pancreaus and spleen involvment as the diagnosis.  Her cancer was the 
small cell slower growing kind, so her treament was 4 weeks of chemo, 
followed by indefinate oral chemo given at home every third day along 
with prednisolone.


I stopped the chemo after 3 weeks because Buddie who absolutely hated to 
be handled decided to stop eating so we decided to do just the 
prednisolone (I wish now that I had finished the chemo and done the oral 
chemo, I really believe Buddie may have been here longer, but as they 
say hindsight is 20-20, I will not stop chemo if I ever have to go 
through it again, atleast not for that reason).  She got sepsis (system 
wide infection) after about 7 months and the vet really didn't think she 
was going to make it, but she did and we had another 5 months of quality 
time.  She was 13 on July 3rd and I lost her July 30th.


It is imperative to find out what kind of cancer if you are even 
thinking about treating because some cancers can literaly spread and 
kill within days or weeks since cats hide illness so well they are 
usually pretty sick before we see it.


My prayers for Andy and your family in whatever decision you all make.

--
Belinda
Happiness is being owned by cats ...

Be-Mi-Kitties ...
http://www.bemikitties.com

Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens
http://adopt.bemikitties.com

FeLV Candle Light Service
http://www.bemikitties.com/cls

HostDesign4U.com  (affordable hosting  web design)
http://HostDesign4U.com

---

BMK Designs (non-profit web sites)
http://bmk.bemikitties.com




Re: Remember me?

2005-05-22 Thread Sharon Siders
I remember you well, Jamie. I am so sorry that Andy is now sick. It truly does suck when a kitty gets that sick. From the perspective of one who "tried everything" with two cats, I think it might be time to let him go. Unless you can find out for sure what the problem is, there is not much that can be done. Franklin did well for six months on chemo, but we knew what he had; he is the cat that I did not feel we did right by. We treated him for as long as the chemo worked but let him go when it stopped. I know how hard it is to let go.

Hugs,
SharonJamie 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 toadminister 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 andIFA 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 hisown. I can't recall actually witnessing him eatafter that point. But Tuesday evening he would not eat and would not drink water. This is a cat who sits by my dogs andbegs 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. Heacted interested, like sniffingand stuff, but would not eat. I triedwarming 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 putup 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 shouldhelp, 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 doone 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 amgoing 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 isclamped shut and allof 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 toput it out of it's misery, but I can't be objective here. I keep thinking I can try just onemore thing. She said the Pred 

RE: Remember me

2005-05-22 Thread Jamie Laws

Hi Sharon-

I think remember your ordeal with Franklin. Did he actually have lymphoma? I just don't know what needs to happen to diagnose it... is that what the biopsy would be for? I can't remember exactly because we were talking about IBS when she mentioned it and I think she was saying that's the only way to diagnose IBS, but now that doesn't make sense to me. Guess you can say my mind is shot at this point. 

He has pooped about a teaspoon today of the nasty tar stuff, but I guess when he isn't eating there isn't much to come out. He did go through a very "violent" vomiting episode but it was white foamy stuff and then yellowish. Which I guess is bile since his tummy is pretty much empty. But he did keep down the baby food from this morning and so far about an 1/8 of a cup of replacement milk from a couple of hours ago. 

The vet opens at 8 in the morning and we will be there. I just don't know what to do. I feel so lost in all this. I am thinking I will tell them to keep him there for the day and just watch him. Make him walk and see how wobbly he is. See how he growls when you hold him or touch him other than right on top of his head. Maybe they can witness the puke and pooping too. I say that because after carrying on the way he was, I got him to the vet last Tuesday and he was jumping up and down from the table, weaving in and out of her legs, purring, etc.She just made the comment that he was so skinny but otherwise wasn't "acting" sick. Because of his weight and the symptoms I told her about, she did not want to sedate him or anything. I just want her to SEE him acting like that so I have an actual vet telling me that I need to consider letting him go. For the first time in 6 years he is actually SICK and I have a
 vet who WON'T suggest it? Heck, nearly every vet we have ever been to has been trying to get me to put him down even though he was fat andhealthy! Are you kidding me with this?I do agree- we need to know what exactly is going on with him if we are going to continue like this. I will not take him home just to keep force feeding and popping pills down him trying to treat the "it could be's." The way I see it, we need to sedate him and do the biopsy or run a scope down in his belly or take blood for a more thorough work-up, or all of the above. But we need a diagnosis. Then again, if we have treated forand/or ruled out everything BUT cancer, and it IS cancer, what do I do? Do I put him through chemo? How expensive is that? I have heard it isn't as hard on cats as it is on humans. Is that true? Do they go in a lot for the treatment or what? I am just trying to think through it all and make sure I
 do right by Andy by giving him a fighting chance first, the letting him go if necessary.

Thanks for listening!
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Re: Remember me

2005-05-22 Thread Kerry MacKenzie



Jamie
Just want to say I'm thinking of you and Franklin and sending 
positive vibes along with the hope that you at least get started on a diagnosis 
for him tomorrow at the vet. I know what a horribly worrying time this is for 
you seeing your little kitty go through this---please try to remind yourself 
that at least you're giving Franklin those two all-important things--limitless 
love and care. 
sending you both love and hugs--keep us posted when you can, 
Kerry


- Original Message - 

  From: 
  Jamie 
  Laws 
  To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org 
  
  Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 4:15 PM
  Subject: RE: Remember me
  
  
  Hi Sharon-
  
  I think remember your ordeal with Franklin. Did he actually have 
  lymphoma? I just don't know what needs to happen to diagnose it... is 
  that what the biopsy would be for? I can't remember exactly because we 
  were talking about IBS when she mentioned it and I think she was saying that's 
  the only way to diagnose IBS, but now that doesn't make sense to me. 
  Guess you can say my mind is shot at this point. 
  
  He has pooped about a teaspoon today of the nasty tar stuff, but I guess 
  when he isn't eating there isn't much to come out. He did go through a 
  very "violent" vomiting episode but it was white foamy stuff and then 
  yellowish. Which I guess is bile since his tummy is pretty much 
  empty. But he did keep down the baby food from this morning and so far 
  about an 1/8 of a cup of replacement milk from a couple of hours ago. 
  
  
  The vet opens at 8 in the morning and we will be there. I just 
  don't know what to do. I feel so lost in all this. I am thinking I 
  will tell them to keep him there for the day and just watch him. Make 
  him walk and see how wobbly he is. See how he growls when you hold him 
  or touch him other than right on top of his head. Maybe they can witness 
  the puke and pooping too. I say that because after carrying on the way 
  he was, I got him to the vet last Tuesday and he was jumping up and down from 
  the table, weaving in and out of her legs, purring, etc.She just 
  made the comment that he was so skinny but otherwise wasn't "acting" 
  sick. Because of his weight and the symptoms I told her about, she did 
  not want to sedate him or anything. I just want her to SEE him acting 
  like that so I have an actual vet telling me that I need to consider 
  letting him go. For the first time in 6 years he is actually SICK 
  and I have a vet who WON'T suggest it? Heck, nearly every vet we have 
  ever been to has been trying to get me to put him down even though he was fat 
  andhealthy! Are you kidding me with this?I do agree- we need 
  to know what exactly is going on with him if we are going to continue like 
  this. I will not take him home just to keep force feeding and popping 
  pills down him trying to treat the "it could be's." The way I see it, we 
  need to sedate him and do the biopsy or run a scope down in his belly or take 
  blood for a more thorough work-up, or all of the above. But we need a 
  diagnosis. Then again, if we have treated forand/or ruled out 
  everything BUT cancer, and it IS cancer, what do I do? Do I put him 
  through chemo? How expensive is that? I have heard it isn't as 
  hard on cats as it is on humans. Is that true? Do they go in a lot 
  for the treatment or what? I am just trying to think through it all and 
  make sure I do right by Andy by giving him a fighting chance first, the 
  letting him go if necessary.
  
  Thanks for 
  listening!<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
  
  
  Yahoo! Mail MobileTake 
  Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile 
phone.


RE: Remember me

2005-05-22 Thread Barb Moermond
Jamie,
I think having him spend a day at the vet's for observation is a good idea. When they did the biopsy on Ninja, they used a fine needle aspirate. I don't know how well Andy would handle that, but she's probably thinking about that procedure to gather cells.

we're here for you
barbJamie Laws [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


Hi Sharon-

I think remember your ordeal with Franklin. Did he actually have lymphoma? I just don't know what needs to happen to diagnose it... is that what the biopsy would be for? I can't remember exactly because we were talking about IBS when she mentioned it and I think she was saying that's the only way to diagnose IBS, but now that doesn't make sense to me. Guess you can say my mind is shot at this point. 

He has pooped about a teaspoon today of the nasty tar stuff, but I guess when he isn't eating there isn't much to come out. He did go through a very "violent" vomiting episode but it was white foamy stuff and then yellowish. Which I guess is bile since his tummy is pretty much empty. But he did keep down the baby food from this morning and so far about an 1/8 of a cup of replacement milk from a couple of hours ago. 

The vet opens at 8 in the morning and we will be there. I just don't know what to do. I feel so lost in all this. I am thinking I will tell them to keep him there for the day and just watch him. Make him walk and see how wobbly he is. See how he growls when you hold him or touch him other than right on top of his head. Maybe they can witness the puke and pooping too. I say that because after carrying on the way he was, I got him to the vet last Tuesday and he was jumping up and down from the table, weaving in and out of her legs, purring, etc.She just made the comment that he was so skinny but otherwise wasn't "acting" sick. Because of his weight and the symptoms I told her about, she did not want to sedate him or anything. I just want her to SEE him acting like that so I have an actual vet telling me that I need to consider letting him go. For the first time in 6 years he is actually SICK and I have a
 vet who WON'T suggest it? Heck, nearly every vet we have ever been to has been trying to get me to put him down even though he was fat andhealthy! Are you kidding me with this?I do agree- we need to know what exactly is going on with him if we are going to continue like this. I will not take him home just to keep force feeding and popping pills down him trying to treat the "it could be's." The way I see it, we need to sedate him and do the biopsy or run a scope down in his belly or take blood for a more thorough work-up, or all of the above. But we need a diagnosis. Then again, if we have treated forand/or ruled out everything BUT cancer, and it IS cancer, what do I do? Do I put him through chemo? How expensive is that? I have heard it isn't as hard on cats as it is on humans. Is that true? Do they go in a lot for the treatment or what? I am just trying to think through it all and make sure I
 do right by Andy by giving him a fighting chance first, the letting him go if necessary.

Thanks for listening!


Yahoo! Mail MobileTake Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone.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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Re: Remember me?

2005-05-22 Thread Terri Brown




Yes Jamie -- I remember you and think of you often.

I'm sorry Andy is having troubles -- I willsend healing thoughts his 
way.

Keep us posted!

=^..^= Terri, Salome', Siggie the Tomato Vampire, Guinevere, Sammi, and 5 
furangels: RuthieGirl, Samantha, Arielle, Gareth and Alec =^..^=

Furkid Photos! http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7sgqa/My 
FeLV Site: http://pages.ivillage.com/ruthiegirl1/MyFeLVinformationSite/My 
Personal Page: http://www.geocities.com/ruthiegirl1/terrispage.html?1083970447350

  - Original Message - 
  From: Barb Moermond 
  To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org 
  
  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 anicky 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 thinkmore 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 itsounds 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 toadminister 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 andIFA 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 do

Re: Remember me?

2005-05-21 Thread Barb Moermond
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 anicky 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 thinkmore 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 itsounds 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 toadminister 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 andIFA 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 hisown. I can't recall actually witnessing him eatafter that point. But Tuesday evening he would not eat and would not drink water. This is a cat 

Re: Remember me?

2005-05-21 Thread TatorBunz


Welcome back Jaime,
 I'm so sorry that Andy isn't doing well. I had hopes since we hadn't heard from you that he was doing well.
Only you can make that choice on whether to let him go or keep making the trips to the Vets. He is your special baby he knows that you have tried doing good for him. I know you love him otherwise you wouldn't have done for him. 
Yes, it is always easier to tell someone else to put down a furbaby than our own. When you are put in that position it makes it unbearable at times. We always ask the questions of what others think if they were in the same shoes.
You both are in my thoughts and prayers! 
I will light a candle for him and the others that have moved on :(

P.S.
Are you still in Texas? Last I heard from you, you had mentioned that your husband may be transfering to the Northwest.

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