Finally

I thought it would be better if I explain here that my kitty Megat did not go to the bridge because of his lymphoma, since I had written in the sidebar that this blog was actually a documentation of our journey to get him better.

Although it is true that there is no cure for lymphoma, he died because of abdominal edema. As he was a senior cat when I got him and as he also had FIV and had got lymphoma, his immune system was not strong to begin with. He had had a very hard life before we rescued him and had to fight many battles by himself.

I had brought him to the clinic around June to get his laurabolin injections. He had  a fever after that (which he should not have had). His fever went on and off for a week and he was on antibiotics for 2 weeks. Then he began to eat less and then had to be helped with that as well. As he was not eating, he lost weight and got more and more tired. He was on cyproheptidene (to increase his appetite) and Vit B pills. He tried to eat but it wa snot enough, even with the force -feeding.

So because of the lack of protein in his system and the lack of albumin, the fluids from his cells started to leak into his abdomen and eventhough I had given him soft-boiled egg whites twice a day, it did not help him.

On the 3rd, he vomitted at least 7 times during the day and night and I brought him to the hospital the next morning. The had done another ultra sound and found his organs to be clean of lumps and they had put him on a albumin drip to help him.

But he was very tired and I knew it was too painful for him to continue. It was a combination of many things combined with the fact that he was geriatric as well. But I am glad we had the short time together.

 Run Free and Fly High Megat. Rest Easy.

Run Fast And Fly High

Our kitty Megat went to the bridge on the 4th of October, round about a quarter past 6, after some days of difficulties eating and breathing. Dr Ly and I gave him a little help at about 6.15 pm as we thought he would not be as comfortable as he should be. I whispered in his ears ,"Run Fast Megat and Fly High."

 I would miss having him on my chest everyday after his lingzhi where we spend time together singing songs. Well I sang the song and he struggled to get away from my singing.

This was one of the last few times he had eating easily with his brother Bujang. I am glad I have at least this one picture.

Thank you everyone for all your advice and loving thoughts.

Run fast Megat and fly high.

Review Fluids in abdomen

I had a very tiring time but am better now.

I brought Megat to the vet yesterday as his abdomen was even more distended and he had difficulty walking, going to the toilet and getting up on the bed. He had some difficulty breathing on Thursday night as well.

When we saw Dr Ly he immediately said that he would have to remove some of the fluids . So he had a brief consultation with the imagists and then Megat was whisked to another part of the hospital for the procedure. Dr Ly then informed me that once they have extracted as much fluid as they can, they would do another ultra sound for him to see all the organs and the pancreas as well. We didn't manage to see the pancreas last week because of the fluid.

After some time Megat came back yelling and very alert. It was good sign that he was complaining about what they had done to him and he was eager to see what else went on in a hospital. I was very glad for that.

They had extracted 450ml of fluids from his abdomen. The ultra sound was clear and there was nothing worrying in any of his organs. There was only the thickening of his intestines which Dr Ly told us about some months ago.

Dr Ly said that since there was nothing else, he suspected that Megat's lymphoma was active again as there was no cure for that. So the final decision was to continue to help him to lead a comfortable life with no chemotherapy (which was decision I made some time ago) and so the protocol remains much the same. If the fluids accumulate again, the only way is to remove it. This time they had used just the needle and not the suction as it would be easier for Megat and less traumatic. However there is still some fluid remaining as they wanted to be safe.Btw his PCV remains good at 27.

This morning I had given Megat a bath as he has been unable to take care of himself well and he was unable to go into the litter bin because of his distended abdomen. He was quiet during bath time protesting only when I had shampooed his feet. Here he is drying himself.

He even had a drink if water. I must say that this is only the third time that I had seen him drink water in many months. I think it's because I made the decision to lessen the SubQ fluids. He has not had any SubQ fluids in 2 days as I think the fluids may have contributed to the accumulation of fluids in his abdomen.

From today however I would have to give him the SubQ but only 150 ml instead of 250 ml daily. Dr Ly recommended this as he said the SubQ may have contributed to the edema. (Thanks D for drawing my attention to this possibility)

This is Megat taking a break on my bed that he climbed onto by himself. He also has a new collar. Megat seems happier as he has always been very particular about cleanliness and would demand that I clean his litter in his night cage immediately if he had pooed in it.

Here Megat is sitting on grandma's bed. He had not been here for 3 weeks which was the duration of the edema. Now he is resting well with grandma.

I am much more positive now about his condition than before. Even though Dr Ly said there was nothing to be done about the fluids I am glad we still have the option of extracting it when (not if) it happens again.

He will still be with the albumin regime that needs to be taken neat, not in his food nor with his food. Dr Ly also recommended Th17 capsules, a protocol that provides for cancer care. We will look into it as it has had good results for cancer patients.

- may all be well and be blessed -

Update

Megat will go to the vet again this evening. Yesterday, he was breathing rather quickly and of course his abdomen is even more distended now. However the surprising thing was he was able to climb onto my bed to rest although I must admit that he has been resting in his cage more and more as he has to do no climbing there.

He has been eating the albumin although not as readily as before. However, if I mix the albumin in his food for the syringe, he would eat the whole mixture quite willingly. I think there is no albumin taste then. I will have to discuss this with his vet. Also I wonder if his 250 ml daily Sub Q had contributed to the fluid as it may be too much for such a small body to take everyday as well.

We will see what the doctor says later and give an additional update.

Megat's Vet Review

Megat's PCV fell way below the mark at 14 last week (20 September, Friday) when we had gone for the PCV check from 35. Then Dr Ly saw that he had a distended abdomen and ordered an emergency ultra sound. The imagist found nothing wrong with his organs, rather there was fluid in his abdomen and this was why his abdomen was round and a little turgid. Then she had taken out 5 ml of the abdominal fluids which made Megat very unhappy for a test. She also said that if Dr Ly agrees, it would be possible to extract the fluid using just one needle as well. When he knew this, Dr Ly ordered a 2 blood tests, which means Megat needed to be poked again. He was so unhappy that he bit me to tell me so (I had helped to hold him when Dr Ly took out the blood). Dr Ly suspected either liver failure or a heart condition. 

However, when he checked Megat's heart, there was nothing to cause any concern. His blood test was also not so worrying although the indicators for his pancreas was rather high. Dr Ly said because of the fluids in his abdomen, it was a little difficult to make any diagnosis. BUT because of his PCV, Dr Ly actually contemplated a blood transfusion but finally decided on Eprex and the Blood Stimulator. It is one capsule a day and one injection of Eprex on alternate days.

Then he said we should come to see him again yesterday (Monday 23 September) to have the PCV checked again. We got the results of the fluid yesterday and we were relieved that there was no cause for concern in that fluid. His PCV has also increased from 14 to 27 (HURRAH) and now we are more able to see what else we can do to help him. I did ask Dr Ly if it was possible to extract the fluids from his abdomen but he said it would not be advisable as it would be difficult to ascertain how much fluid can be extracted. He also said that there are drugs that Megat can take but since we are not going for an aggressive protocol, this would also be out. Finally the decision was to feed Megat with 2 soft-boiled egg whites a day for the albumin and if he has increased albumin in his system we hope that the albumin would absorb the fluids back into his system.

We are very lucky that Megat ate the soft-boiled egg whites quite happily yesterday. Thanks to cat_aunty for her advice on the best way to soft-boil an egg and to D, for telling me that the Blood Stimulator might cause constipation (yes, he had constipation again). As a result, I have increased his lactulose from 2 ml to 3ml a day.

So all in all I think Megat is still comfortable. I only have to watch out for breathing difficulties or if the abdomen becomes even more distended in these 2 weeks.

Update on Osteopathy Therapy for Megat

Dr L treated Megat yesterday. As usual Megat was quiet as Dr L performed acupressure. Megat left kidney was marginally better than 2 weeks ago but still it was encouraging. 

He advised that I give Megat some home-made beef or chicken broth if I have to force- feed him in the mornings instead of the pumpkin-potato-beef mixture of commercial baby food. Less dry food was the recommendation as well as his kidneys need to improve. Dr L felt that a compromised kidney might contribute to his problems in his intestines. 

We are making the beef broth for him today. I was supposed to make a broth out of beef and bones and feed it to him in the morning, with no vegetables. I also found a few cans of no-grain Call Of The Wild, and had sieved that to feed him this morning. He liked it quite a bit as he did not spit it out at me. I had added a little gravy from Whiskers beef and chicken. 

He eats by himself in the evening and he also has about 15 to 20 gm of kibble for a snack. For this I say thanks everyday :)

Later today he is going for ultra sound and of course his vincristine injection. 

Keep the Faith Megat!!

Update 2nd Vincrsitine

Megat went for his 2nd vincristine on 5 July and I was glad to find out that his weight had remained stable - from 3.67 to 3.5 kg. I was glad he did not lose any more weight than he already did. He was given prednisolone to help him with his lymphoma - GI tract as well. I am hoping that it would also help him with his nausea and lack of appetite but it was a no go.

He was given the following injections:

He had Betamox 0.50

Depredil injection 0.50

Dexaason injection 0.50

Metomide injection 0.50

Vincristine sulfate injection 1mg 0.10

Vitamin B Complex injection 0.30

 

With these injections, he did not get his usual fever and when he came home he very willingly ate his dinner and was quite active. However his appetite is not good and every morning he needs to be fed with syringes - baby food - pumpkin, potatoe and beef. Although I know that cancer will feed on carbohydrates, he still needs to eat something. He would not eat the wet pouch of Walthams Renal formula at all and vene when I had force-fed him, he was very unhappy and had spat it all out again. At least, he was willing to swallow the baby food.

I have been trying to find baby food with more meat than carbo, it was not a success.

i am also giving him C Caps - half in the morning and half at night apart from his usual sang hwang lingzhi suppositories (24/7), his sang hwang liquid extract 1.5 ml per day, his colloidal silver 2ml per day, the kidney activator 1 per day, prednisolone 1/2 per day, salbutamol 0.1 per day and his daily SubQ 250 ml per day.

Relapse

Megat had a relapse and his lymphoma is back - his intestines this time. Dr Ly did tell me repeatedly that there is no cure for lymphoma and it might come back so I was in a sense prepared for this. I am not as scared this time round and will do the same as before.

The regimen will now be just the 0.1 of vincristine with the usual protocol of:

The chemo protocol that has helped him through his first bout of lymphoma is below. This is what we will follow this time round. 

Sang hwang suppository 1x a day

2.5 sang hwang extract (1 ml in the morning and 1.5 ml in the evening)

2 ml colloidal silver (1x1 twice a day)

10 drops of milk thistle/silymarin (if liver functions deteriorates)

1.5 ml duphalac for constipation. 

He takes all this in a mixture of strained pumpkin and papaya. 

250 ml Hartmann's Solution daily for SubQ

He would get 8 weeks of vincristine with a 3 - week rest and 1 comprehensive blood test after the 8 weeks.

He is now asleep but he has a slight fever from the vincristine.