Journey Into Life

Note for LC

2012-01-16T16:09:00.002+08:00

Here I am sitting pretty :)

This is our 16-mushroom supplement. We got it from i-herb.com
They are very prompt with their service. We hope this helps you.

The lingzhi sang hwang that our vet Dr Ly recommends is in this mixture although we recommend the sang hwang itself. I am not giving Megat this anymore as I am now giving him the sang hwang suppository and liquid extract.

Dear penny

2011-07-08T13:39:00.002+08:00

Megat actually had one full round of chemo with vincristine only and 1 session with Endoxan before the TCM. I think that also helped in his remission. My vet Dr Ly said that he himself has cancer and has been eating san hwang lingzhi for 5 years and his cancer has not become more aggressive. Dr L is of the opinion that chemo would usually kill the cat more often than not and we should consider the idea for Megat to work through his lymphoma and if he dies from it, it would not be because of the cancer itself. The TCM helps his through it.

I am giving Megat all of it, even now that he has 'recovered'. I had posted this protocol here . When we first began, I had to give him 2.5ml colloidal silver twice daily but now I give him the 2 ml once a day. I think it is wise to read our post here when we first met Dr Ly and his input about Megat. I had also given him TCM pills/herbal pills to help strengthen his immune system as well.

So in short, our protocol is as follows:

Now: 5 days of 0.8 6.5 ml san hwang liquid extract (in some mashed pumpkin and papaya mixture) There are various strengths so we have 0.8 because 6.5 L is much stroner. Before we had 1.5 ml of san hwang liquid extract twice a day for 7 days a week. The gastric juices destroys I think 40% of it.

Now: 5 days of 2 ml of colloidal silver once a day. Before: 2.5 ml of colloidal silver twice a day, 7 days a week.

Now: 4 days of san hwang suppository (preferable to liquid extract as it is absorbed 100% into his system). Before we had 7 days a week.

He was given shark catiledge as a suppository when his blood count was very low. We had that for about 3 weeks or so.

I only made these changes after he is one the 'recovered' list. Dr L said that san hwang has proven to be quite effective for lymphoma but not for Felv. In his practice 70% of cats do well on san hwang. 'Miracle cat" Megat is one of the luckier ones.

So I think he would be on long term on san hwang extract and suppositories as well as colloidal silver. Dr L said for me to continue with this protocol. Added to this Megat used to get mushroom for immunity, milk thistle extract for his liver.

Megat is also on 250 ml of sub q fluids once a week.

Megat is very good with his meds though and we have learnt to work with each other. He sometimes fights much more actively and would refuse his meds :) But I think as long as he is able to fight me, then all is well.

Good Intentions...

2011-06-27T22:15:00.002+08:00

are sometimes just that san!

Our plan to give Megat less meds backfired on us. Last week he got only 3 days of meds and fought us very hard on those days. He is not usually so contrary and would take his meds quite easily (with some fight as usual) but last week, it was all fight and very little meds!

So we decided to give him his lingzhi as usual so he would just expect to get it every day (5 days a week with weekends off) as usual. I think he forgot he has meds to take and considered each alternate day, the first day he was ever given meds!

Megat's 1st Review in 2011

2011-03-18T22:30:00.004+08:00

Megat sitting pretty at home...
after the vet visit...

I know I said the news about Megat would be in our main blog Cat Tales. But I thought I should at least update this blog as this one belongs to Megat.

We have not changed our protocols and Megat is still on his course of sang hwang supposity, liquid extract and colloidal silver. He takes his sang hwang with a little mashed papaya and he is still in remission for 1 yr and 5 months already. I am confident that he would be able to go on for some time yet on this protocol.

Today he was given some laxatone for his hairballs but I know I cannot give him laxatone for an extended period so I will only give this to him for 2 weeks to see how he is. I will be getting some hairball remedies from petsalive. He is also on Liver and Immunity Support as well as KC Defense from there. I have since stopped the Milk Thistle extract as he hates it like the plague and I thought the capsules for Liver and Immunity Support should work just as well.

Hie eyes are a little cloudy, which is only to be expected from a 15 year old kitty. We used to be able to ensure that he has clear eyes with the sang hwang but I guess his age and consition do not allow for it. Dr L said he should still be able to see but not as clearly.

But all in all, the review went very well for my cat Megat.

Megat's Review

2010-03-15T09:05:00.000+08:00

Today is Megat's review after 3 months. Dr L said now that he has recovered, we only have to see him 4 times a year. He is doing well and there are no signs of lumps that I can feel and he is healthy and happy. He had coughed 3 or 4 times these last 3 months but I do not think those were significant but will tell Dr L nevertheless.

I have given him the sang hwang suppository only 4 days out of the week. He gets none in the weekends because grandma is not strong enough to hold him and he gets no sang hwang or supplements on Fridays when he gets his subQ as I thought he has enough aggravation on one day. But I would put in the liquid sang hwang in his supplements as he sometimes manages to pop out his suppository. I have taken to putting his suppositories in the fridge as if not they lose their firmness and would break off when I am trying to give them to him. He sometimes growl deeply and kick his legs when I put them in though because they are cold I guess.

I took out his carrier just now to put on the table and when he saw it, he immediately ran into the bedroom and then peeked out at me, to see if I am going to grab him. But his appt is at 3.15 and so he would have time to relax and he would come out later when he realised that no one is coming to grab him at all :) It is always easier this way with Megat, even with his supplements.

Miracle Megat: RECOVERED

2010-01-22T19:39:00.003+08:00

Dr L saw him and could not believe he is 14 years old this year. He took one look at Megat and smiled widely. "This is the cancer cat who is doing very well," he told the trainee vet, who was busy typing his words into the computer. He gave Megat the once over and admired his coat. "Coat beautiful, eyes bright, weight good, not dehydrated and gums red. A good colour!" He also listened to Megat's heartbeat.

He then told the trainee vet - Review : RECOVERED! WOAHHHHHH!!! All of us smiled broadly when he said the words. He told me that we should just see him 6 times per year and so that makes it every 2 months! he then told the trainee vet what we had done for MMegat(Miracle Megat) and told me that I should continue with his supplements as it is working very well for MMegat.

He was surprised that I still give Megat one suppository a day. "That's expensive!" I totally agree. I guess now I can give him the suppository on alternate days with the liquid sang hwang in between. This would mean MMegat will not be so upset with the suppository for a whole week but just 3 days in the week. He would have to eat the liquid version on all the other days so his system would still be fortified.

I asked Dr L to put in the suppository so I would not have to fight with him. In no tie at all, it slipped in with MMegat not seeming to notice. HUH! I said out loud. Dr L then told me that I should push the suppository downwards and not straight as I have always done. AIYAHHH!

I must say that he looks the best among the 5 kitties and when I told Dr L this, he laughed and said "Of course. He gets sang hwang everyday!"

I must say I am _so relieved_ to see RECOVERED in his record and card. There is nothing better for a cat bean I think and for the cat of course.

His daily regimen is still as follows for maintanance:

His cocktail -

1. Sang hwang suppository (on alternate days)
2. 2.5 ml sang hwang liquid on other days
3. 2.5 ml colloidal silver
4. 10 drops of milk thistle for liver
5. mashed pumpkin and papaya plus 1 ml of duphalac for stools
6. 0.5 ml of flaxseed oil for Omega 3. Thsi also bind the coktail togtehr and Megat likes this version much better. He spits less.

Others
7. 10 globules of Bach Rescue Remedy No 6 - Loss and Mourning so he would be calm (all the kitties get this in their water)
8. 10 ml of water in a syringe to wash it all down and clean his teeth. His teeth is now much whiter than before.
9. 0.5 of senior kitten vitamins.

The cocktail and regimen sounds like a big deal but nothing is a big deal when your kitty is recovering from lymphoma. the only big deal is that he is RECOVERED. But I still have to be vigilant at all times although I know I can relax just a little bit now.

Letter to my cat

2009-12-31T18:53:00.003+08:00

Megat resting on his now fav mattress...

Dear Megat

You can't imagine how thankful I am that you are still with us, cheery and happy. It is amazing to me that at 14, you have just begun to play with the rest of the boys. This tells me that you have accepted all of the silly boys as part of the family and as they play with you, even Bujang, then things will get better.

I am also thankful that you now seek opportunities to play and would be the first to catch any lure rather than skulking under tables and chairs. I guess you must still teach Tanaka some manners as he is young and loves to jump on you :)

I think you are much healthier now than before as you have indeed grown much bigger and your fur is longer than before. THAT is irony in itself.

I remembered the shock I had when Dr P said you had lymphoma an dhad only 4 months and I dread to think if did not have the means to get you the help, you may not even be with us now. So I thank the powers that be that I had the means to get you help and we did get the right help with DR L at ARCV and because of that you are now 3 months in remission.

So Megat, life would still be filled with supplements and lingzhi and I would still be on your case until whatever time you allow me to be but I hope and know and I hope that you know, we will never leave you alone.

Happy 2010 Megat. May all of us have many more good years.

san

Remission is a sweet tune. Our Chemo Protocol

2009-11-21T13:13:00.008+08:00

Remission is the best word in the English language...cat language too...
My whiskers have grown too :)

His usual regimen in syringes...

The daily regimen for 5.5 months

The foil is the sang hwang suppository - 1x daily

The clear syringe is 10 ml o water

The dark 10 ml syringe is a combination of 2.5ml colloidal silver, 10 drops of milk thistle, pumpkin and papaya combination and 1.5 ml duphalac. If he doesn't take the sang hwang suppository, there would also be 2 ml of sang hwang liquid. There is also some oil to lubricate the suppository. He also gets some cranberry so we would not have UTI complications. This is just a precaution.

Megat likes fresh pumpkin. I have to boil the cubes lightly and then mash both the pumpkn and papaya though a sieve. So its very fine. He gets this with 1.5 ml of duphalac as if not he would get constipation.

Our armoury of supplements....

Yup...and vitamins for senior cats...

All of that gets reduced to just 2 syringes daily. I used to have to have at least 5 syringes but have pared them down to 2, with just enough pumpkin and papaya.

When we saw Dr L on the 17th, I was very nervous as I thought I felt a lump in his abdomen. I was very glad to know that he is free from all lumps in his lymph nodes and he is in very good health.

When Dr L saw him, he smiled and said "What can I tell you?" "He is doing really well and this is a good regimen." He reminded me that the lumps may come back as there is no cure from lymphoma but we were both very glad that at least Megat's journey with us would not be cut short.

I was very glad to see him type "Remission" in his files and to know that we are now part of the 80% of success stories in the practice.

As Dr L was typing the details, he said it would be good if I put this regimen out on the web or facebook. "He has a blog," I told Dr L. "A blog?" Hahaha....So here we are putting up our success in the net. We hope it would give other cat owners hope too...

Postscript: Apart from this daily regimen of supplements he used to have to undergo 0.10 ml of vincristine weekly for 8 weeks with Dr L. We did not have to go through fortnightly blood tests for Megat as Dr L said the dose was very small. Then he had a 3 week break from the vincristine. It was after that that we had blood tests for as his pcv was very low and his anaemia did not allow anything else to be done. He had to eat other suppements as well as the Interferon . I had noted this in the sidebar. It was easier when DR L did ot use the catheter to inject the vincristine. He is very experienced and the whole procedure would take at most 15 minutes.

His previous vet had to use the catheter and the procedure would sometimes take 30 minutes and sometimes he would tremble as the vet would have to use his other veins if the catheter was not secure. Once all of his legs had to be used as his veins were too fragile for the catheter. It was one of the most harrowing moments for him, for me and I'm sure for the vet. He also had one dose of endoxan, which affected him quite severely as he did not want to eat nor drink and became lethargic. This is the entry that described his 1st chemo protocol.

A note of thanks

2009-10-14T21:58:00.003+08:00

We would like to tell everyone who had given us alot of hope and encouragement from the very beginning of our journey that we appreciate each thought and each word that you have all so generously given us.

My cat Megat is now feeling so much better and he has been given a short reprieve from that darkness which we both fear. I do not know if Megat fears it but I certainly do.

The vet had told us that Megat is well and healthy and we only need to go to a checkup next month. THAT is very good news. Its not in 2 weeks or three but now we count it in months.

He is still on his usual supplements and I hope nothing dark would happen to us. He is not on any chemo now, after having finished his first round of chemo. Dr L said that we would see if he needs it as the objective of this regimen is for Megat to live his life with his lymphoma (which is incurable anyway) and not die from his chemotherapy. Dr L did say that I would be the best judge of that and if Megat looks poorly or is lethargic, I would have to bring him back before the month is up.

I hope that will not happen. Thank you all very much for being with us in our journey. I know the journey would be a long one but not painful for my cat Megat...I hope.

Tales of the whisker

2009-10-10T16:05:00.002+08:00

His whiskers are growing slowly but surely...

His original whiskers fell off - all of the 7 which he had from his first round of vincrsitine. However I am pleased to see that he is now growing others. They are fine whiskers. Grandma asled me if he would be bale to walk straight without them. I told her that he would have to adjust and I'm sure he would be able to do so. He is still able to jump up 2 ft rather well and has yet to miss his footing...even though he is now 13 years old and it seems he is a getriatric cat instead of just senior.

Megat on Saturday

2009-10-10T14:08:00.005+08:00

Megat looking grumpy on Saturday...
He is a little thinner but his coat is good and soft. Its also a little sparse although he has not gotten any vincristine for 2 months. His whiskers are all growing back but I guess when he undergoes the second round of vincristine, they would all disappear.

Megat is has been eating very well eversince he had the inteferon injections. He has always eaten well but now he has taken an interest in everyone's bowl. He even waits in case he can get a second helping :) I am very pleased as he had lost quite abit of weight after his fever.

He is still taking his supplements although we now do not have the sang hwang suppository as the vet ran out of them. So he gets the nasty liquid one which I have now disguised with pumpkin and papaya so he takes that a little better. I have to still give him the duphalac and pumpkin as if not, he would not poo easily.

The shark cartilage is a little problematic as it does not go in as well as the sang hwang. Of course Megat is now an expert as tightening is muscles and also at kicking and yelling. So the shark cartilage would only go in about 1 inch into his anus. I am supposed to make sure that at least it is 2 inches inside. So sometimes he has a little trace of shark cartilage on his tail and of course there is always traces of cartilage in his poo.

Nevertheless I am glad he is alert, happy, affectionate and eating well.

Congratulations Megat

2009-10-03T21:24:00.002+08:00

Megat is now a serious threat to the boys...except Bujang...

After his bath and new collar...

Are you looking at me?

Ok...its already 4 months...

Megat resting on Bujang's mattress...

On the 2nd of October, Megat made it past the 4 months that Dr MP gave him on that long day when she said "Your cat has about 4 months." We gave him a bath and gave him a new colorful collar to celebrate the day. It was a good day of celebration for Megat and us and of cos Dr L. I felt that I needed to wait until after the 4 months just to see how he would be and he seems fine and eating well. He still has one more inteferon injection left for Monday and of course the shark cartilage.

Its much harder to give him the shark cartilage than the sang hwang as it sometimes pops out when I am not looking and the next morning he would have white residue on his tail. It is also apt to soften when left in room temperature even for a minute. So now its out of the fridge and into the cat almost immediately. He protests quite alot. I think its because it is cold!

I try to give him 2 suppositories on alternate days as I fear it would stress his anus too much. If he is making a fuss, then I think he is feeling a little sore.

Other than that, I am very glad to see him loud, noisy and temperamental as usual.

Saturday Supplements

2009-09-26T22:50:00.002+08:00

For the 1st time, grandma helped me to hold him while I gave him his shark cartilage suppository. Actually tonight was the 1st time that grandma had to hold him for any suppository. Megat was not a good patient as he knew he could mess about with grandma. Usually it would be Cosuin R or me that would hold him for the suppositories. He struggled a little and yelled at us but we managed to get the shark suppository in him without incident. I then gave him the necessary colloidal silver and water. It would be better to be quick and fast so the rest of his supplements (health lingzhi, milk thistle, pumpkin and the Natural Defense) would have to wait until Cousin R can help me.

I had held him for a little longer before putting him in his cage so I will see whether his stools would have the cartilage tomorrow.

Megat's Saturday

2009-09-26T09:46:00.002+08:00

Cousin R came by to help me with his Inteferon injection. I am not able to jab him all by myself as I am afraid it would go terribly wrong. So usually Cousin R would hold him still while I push the needle in. She is very kind to come all the way from B just for a few minutes that it takes to do this.

I also gave him his usual sang hwang suppository and now he is in his cage so that they can dissolve in one place. However I think the sang hwang takes faster to dissolve than the shark cartilage as this morning I saw some white cartilage in his stool when I cleaned his bin.

FIGHT Megat!

2009-09-25T15:41:00.004+08:00

Megat now is the proud owner of 3 black whiskers from 7. I can see that the rest of his whiskers are growing as he had had a whole month free from chemo but I guess we will still have to see what happens.

Dr L says he prefers to try other methods first until his anaemia is under some control. There is no use putting more poision (vincristine) into his system right now. I am okay with that as I trust Megat will be okay for now. Of course the lumps may come back and he may have other complicatiosn but for now, he is a happy cat who gets involved with everyone in the house, even the guests who came for Hari Raya. He was always in the thick of things and he enjoyed himself thouroughly with all the pets and cuddles and praise. He was in several photo opportunities too :)

At the hospital we saw a cute pomeranian with a skin problem or maybe a tumour as we can see a bulge against his side. He was very cheery and interested in all the goings-on. His owner was telling us that she brought him here on the insistence of her son who thinks the vets here and this hospital would be more able to help the little dog. Fight Little doggie! Fight!

Megat's Review 24 September 2009

2009-09-25T15:16:00.004+08:00

Megat's picture taken on the 3rd day of HR

The Feline Inteferon - 7 injections on alternate days

The shark cartiledge suppository to be given once a day at night in addition to his sang hwang suppository which will now be given in the day...

The hospital was as usual very crowded and when we came there was already a crowd of walk-ins. Dr L saw us 1 hour later than our scheduled appointment but Megat was very steady, even when a dog started to sniff at him and chew the strap of his carrier! He is used to all this I think as we have been in this position for 3 months already.

Dr L saw his gums and announced that they were still pale and as such he would not be doing a blood test. Instead he gave us 7 days worth of Recombinant Inteferon Alpha-Mutagen for Cats. He told me that this one is made with feline protein (?) and so Megat should not have any adverse side effects. He also said that as Megat is still anaemic and the vets were not able to ascertain if the depressed system was due to his FIV or his chemo, then we should proceed with some caution.

He also gave us 24 shark cartiledge suppositories. Of course my dilemma was whether I should even use shark cartiledge in the first place as sharks have been exploited to near extinction. Finally my cat won the day and I trust Dr L knows what he is talking about.

"We will beat this cancer!" was Dr L's final words for us and I trust that we will try to the end until Megat decides that enough is enough!

Megat has lost some weight and he is now 3.12 kg! How can a cat lose so much weight in 1 week from 3.65 kg? He feels as heavy as before and his bones do not protrude as much as when he had his fever 2 weeks ago. I would like to think that this was due to the faulty weighing machine as Dr L's assistant had to bang on it several times as the numbers kept disappearing :) Nevertheless I am keeping watch on his diet. He has been eating all of his Walthams Renal and stealing the other boys' kibble when they were not looking.

Dr L also advised that we stop all medication except for his supplements and we would have to come back in 2 weeks.

An Inteferon How-to

2009-09-25T14:45:00.005+08:00

This is a delicate operation and so everything must be up and ready

1. The Recombinant Inteferon Alpha-Mutagen for Cats

2. The syringe with the err...liquid that I need to combine with the powdered Inteferon in the bottle. I also needed to pierce the grey rubber stopper with it.

3. The 25 gauge needle that I need to use to inject Megat under his skin

The grey stopper can be seen when the blue protective cap is removed...

The 1st needle that is used to pierce the grey rubber stopper to release trhe clear diluter (?)

I need to change the needle as by now the 1st one would be dull
Its 25 gauge and so the needle is fine and I hope the operation painless for Megat

Cousin R doing the delicate operation of releasing the now-liquid inteferon into the orange needle
and we are all set for the new procedure of giving Megat his inteferon injection for the day

Needless to say I was full of trepidation when I had to inject Megat with the Inteferon. I think the whole procedure gave me a lot of stress and I had to remember what to do first and last [yah the cat is last:]

I had to lay down all the apparatus and then rehearsed how to put the whole thing together. Cousin R said I should take pictures of it as it would enable me to remember the whole thing clearly in pictures :)

However once I actually put them together, it was not so bad and Megat did not complain as the 25 gauge needle was very fine. I gave him a treat and he was very happy with it. I have 7 of these bottles to get through but I am now more confident about it.

After this, I gave him his shark cartiledge suppository and 10 ml of water only as he deserved to rest.

Ooohh the blood

2009-09-16T12:37:00.005+08:00

Thanks for the wishes cat_aunty...

is something I need but have not enough of....

Megat had a review yesterday at about 4.30 pm. Dr L had to do bone surgery on a dog and so was late. Dr L took a look at him and showed me his gums. They were very pale. He was also rather lethargic but I took that to mean he was just tired out from waiting. The decision was to put off the vincristine for this week and to stop the Leukeran for the moment as it is a chemo drug. He had been on Leukeran for about a month at 1/4 tab every two days.

So Dr L has him on Aranesp (a substitute for Eprex) for instead on alternate days and he had a CBC. Although the indicators were not good, they were also not too bad for a kitty like him.

WBC 1.96 (5.5-19.5)

RBC 5.07 (5-10)

PCV 18.93 (24-45)

PLT 77 (300-800)

PCT 0.07%

So we have to see if the new protocol will help him be less anaemic.

Of course he was very well-behaved as usual, unlike Toro who did not like the jabs at all. He sat quietly, looking at the doc and when he was outside, he rested on his toy woofie and looked at the world passing by. Toro was not at all pleased with the needle but he was all eyes and ears when we had to wait for the doc as well as the results of his blood test.

While we waited we saw 2 kitties, one ragdoll and one ragamuffin. They were very beautiful but one of them had problems with the kidneys and it was only 3 years old. We aslo saw one very small 3 year-ol Tuxie who came to get a check-up. There were altogether 5 cats on one end and many many doggies at the other end of the waiting room.

However the most heartbreaking scene was a little dog with kidney problems. When her owner brought her in, she was trembling and breathing raggedly. She strained to stand up and when she was put outside her carrier, she tried to walk with very faint steps. Then she just flopped on her stomach and could not continue. Then the nurse came to take her inside to rest. The other people tried to comfort the owner who was crying and although I think everyone feels for the owner, I would be lying if I do not say that I was feeling relieved Megat is still able to walk, talk very loudly, eat well and when he feels like it, give the other kitties a *flying kick or even box them.

*He actually gave Toro a flying kick last week when Toro dared to walk beside him on the way to dinner. Toro was so shocked that he ran off. Even Bujang knows to walk behind Megat at dinner time although we still give Bujang the first top up. The rule is always Bujang, Megat, Toro and Tanaka in the kitchen and then the Diva in the computer room.

Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) is a drug given to patients who have chemotherapy-induced anemia (low red blood cell count). An injection of Aranesp stimulates red blood cell production, with a synthetic version of erythropoietin, a protein made in your kidneys. It is a clear liquid that can be given through an intravenous infusion (IV), or as a shot.

Saturday Quiet after a 3-week break

2009-09-12T10:46:00.003+08:00

Megat's saturday grooming session...

...this way san..a little to the left...

...I need all the fur in my face to be neat and well-groomed please....

Megat all groomed out...

His fur is thinner on his body and getting more brown by the day...

Megat as usual came to ask for a grooming session and he sat quietly until I had finished grooming him...much like someone in a hair salon :) Dr L told me to come in with him if I found anything amiss but I am glad to report that apart from the one week when he had fever, he is looking well and feeling ordinary :)

We will be seeing Dr L next Tuesday for the second round of chemo. I suppose more fur would fall out. But this is nothing compared to the idea that he might live a longer and healthier life with us.

Fever Update

2009-09-03T12:49:00.007+08:00

I am like the little girl trying to hide the elephant or unveil one...

Its already 3 sept and Megat has gotten over his fever although he is still a little hot...
Megat in his better days before his whiskers fell out...
He has alreday had the best of 3 months from the 4...

Its 3 sept already and Megat is looking well. We are already into the 3rd out of 4 months that Dr MP gave us . Admittedly, his whiskers have fallen out and he has 3 and 4 on each side. The fur on his head is thinning and so is the fur on his side. His fur is getting more an m ore brown by the day but he is going strong I think.

Now that he has gotten over the worst of his fever, he has started to spit more of his supplements than eat it. Cousin R said that he was more stubborn yesterday than the previous days and we were both glad as it showed Megat was getting better and is fever was not bothering him so much.

I still gave him the water mat and he spent last night sitting close to it.

I know it is a little dark to keep count but I need to keep count anyway. Counting does not discount the fact that I do enjoy him and he does enjoy us.

Tanaka has taken to kissing him on his head when he is taking his supplements and two nights ago, Tanaka came by to kiss him on his head and to touch him several times. It was very nice of Tanaka to do this. Megat was not disturbed by all this attention which was nice. Yesterday, when Megat was taking his supplements, Tanaka and Megat had a nose to nose meeting, after which Tanaka left to mind his own business :)

PS: Tonight, when we gave Megat his supplements which he took very well, Bujang came to peer closely at Megat and touched him lightly on the head- twice. Megat did not flinch and Bujang was very gentle. I think Bujang was just a little curious as he has never done this for the 3 months that he has been observing Megat. I was afraid Bujang would swipe at him and was very surprised when Bujang was very gentle.

Oah..the breeze

2009-08-29T13:54:00.005+08:00

Eventhough my unit is blocked by another block of flats, we get quite a nice breeze in the afternoons. The boys like sitting here in the afternoons to catch the breeze. Megat seems to enjoy it particularly today :)

Saturday Sun...

2009-08-29T13:42:00.002+08:00

Megat resting in the window cat seat...

Playing with Da Bird...

Grooming...his side has less and less fur...

Megat is feeling better and after being brushed he is much more cheerful. He even tried to catch Da Bird but only for a minute and got distracted by the breeze. But I am glad even for that moment when he tried to catch the lure. I hope he is on the mend.

Vet Visit for fever

2009-08-29T10:05:00.004+08:00

The antibiotics given to us by Dr L

Close up ...

Megat grooming himself by the window this morning

Megat showing an interest of what is happening outside than just sleeping...

The hospital was pretty full up by the time we got there. We were early by 30 minutes but I knew it would take some time for Dr L to get to us and so it was. We had to wait for 1 hour before Dr L could get to us. There were a lot of dogs and as I watched one of the dogs poo-ing outside the hospital (on a piece of newspaper) I was thinking that none of the amigos would do that in such a public place. I also saw a man who has the Golden Retriever taking pictures of the animals in the vet with his hand phone but he didn't ask any of the owners there if he could. I would have thought it would be the polite thing to do.

One of the kids there saw Megat and said 'Ooh ugly cat..' I guess Megat is not very handsome to tell you the truth but he is a nice kitty . But he was very young and his parents were outside with their old Alsatian and the little boy was the only one in the family who thought to bring their dog a drink of water as it was very hot. So I guess he has a kind heart :)

Anyway finally Dr L hurried past us and said that he would try to get Megat a room and he was sorry that he was running late. Then when we finally had a room , he examined megat and asked when he got the fever. I said it was last Wednesday. "Hmmm, one week after the vincristine, so it could not be related." Megat had a temperature of 39.4. "A little high and he has a fever," Dr L murmured.

We got the antibiotic and he said it would be for 4 days. If he was not well after 4 days, then i was to bring him back although Dr L would be away for 10 days. "But if he is well, stay away from the hospital," Dr L joked, "as it would stress him and you too." He is a funny man :)

Dr l said he would see us at the hospital for the vincristine and so I thought I should just keep my appt for the 8th Aug as it was for vincistine. But when I asked who the doctor was that was going to be on duty it was Dr S. The front desk said she was not sure if Dr S has done any vincristine and Dr Sh would not be about. So I decided then that on the 15th it would be.

I asked her if the antibiotic tastes good. She didn't know but she said it smells of chocolate. So I was not too worried as Megat would really spit out the nasty stuff. We put in an order for a bottle of colloidal silver as ours had run out and I got 7 more suppositories.

Megat ate his anti-biotic without fuss and eventhough it was a messy business, I just let it be as I thought he would groom himself anyway and all that paste would end up inside :) So last night he just had his sub-q, his suppository, his anti-biotic, his health ling zhi which he enjoys and his 10 ml of water.

This morning his body felt much better and less hot but he was still very quiet. Once he starts to complain about how late his dinner is, I would be much happier.

Saturday morning grooming

2009-08-29T09:33:00.005+08:00

After my wipe down, Megat decided he had better do the grooming job himself by the window. He is feeling much better and would come when I call him to get something to eat. He has yet to tell me off for tardiness. He comes quietly and then eats his wet food (for breakfast) but does not finish it. Then he just as quietly goes off without his usual kaypohness. This very short clip shows him taking a keen interest in showing me how to do the job right. He has started to worry the fur on his hind legs. I had had to put the dermatology cream that I got from PL some time ago on the thin skin and it heals quite nicely. I do this every time he gets his supplements.

His body does not feel so hot this morning.

Fever Update

2009-08-27T16:46:00.004+08:00

Megat is resting now and indeed his body is not as hot as last night. Grandma reported that he had drunk water from his Dora cup and from the kitchen cat-it. So i think that will cool him down as well. Sister N reported that megat actually poo'd in the afternoon which is also very good news as he has constipation.

I think he has done his business this afternoon as last night I had given him his pumpkin+mashed papaya and duphalac separately from his mushroom supplement. I had always mixed them all together so he doesn't have to take so many separate syringes at a time. iIguess this is the way to go.

PS: Megat was still very quiet at dinner and had absolutely nothing to say about anything. He meowed once when I was wiping him down some cool water. Megat has to see Dr L tomorrow for his fever. So I will see what Dr L says. He is still feeling rather warm even now and is resting against the cold mat.

Fever

2009-08-27T07:05:00.002+08:00

Dun like fever san..its hot...

Last night Megat was uncharacteristically quiet at dinner. He did not spring out from under the table to run to the kitchen and neither did he complain loudly at our tardiness and infinite slowness at giving him his dinner. I was surprised and a little anxious as eversince he came to live with me, he has always been very noisy at dinner time (eversince his Screaming Banshee days).

He ate his food + pumpkin but did no finish all of it (oh dear) and did not hang around to check out anyone else's food dishes (more oh dears). Then he decided to rest in the cat basket (and not disappear as he knows it would be time for supplements). It was very eay to catch him. He did eat almost all of his supplements with good grace and spat only 1/4 of them out.

His body was a little hot but not his ears and his nose was not dry. I decided to wipe him with some cool water and then put him in his night cage to rest. Later I then placed the cool water cushion (I had first placed it first in the freezer for 30 mins or so) against the side of his cage and placed his toy next to it so he can rest on his toy and still be cool.

At about 11.00 pm I checked to see if he was alright and he indeed he was resting close to the cool mat but this morning I saw that he did not eat any of his biscuits and not even his night treat. Oh dear....

However I gave him some wet food to eat before I went to work and eventhough he did not finish his wet food, at least he had quiet enthusiastically eaten what he could. I left him napping on my bed, at his favourite place which is next to my pillow :)

He was just a little warm and I hope when he drinks his usual Dora cup water with ice, he would feel better later. Grandma said she would see to it that he gets his water for the morning.

I do not know why he has fever as we did not go to the vet as we would usually do as he is on 2 weeks off. He would usually get a temperature right after his vincristine but this was not the case yesterday. I will just have to see if he is ok and if not, we would have to see the vet.

Get Well Megat!

Short Review of Milk Thistle and Hepavite for Megat

2009-08-26T06:47:00.004+08:00

Oaahh too much meds, too many pills...oaahhh

Our Milk Thistle from iherb.com

Nature's Answer, Milk Thistle Seed, Alcohol-Free, 1 fl oz (30 ml)

US 7.55 per bottle. 12 for US 86.07 (with discount) (minus shipping)

It took only 1 week to get to us

Milk Thistle: Our Milk thistle entry here- milk thistle entry. Megat takes the milk thistle with good grace as I put it together with his pumpkin and papaya. But these days he is getting rightly fed up with it and has to be persuaded to eat this. I give him the duphalac+ pumpkin and papaya as his constipation is back and I don't want to give him a laxative as yet, although Dr L had given him one in our last visit.

I got him milk thistle after his ALT scores skyrocketed and a few very kind bloggers had advised me to get this for him. I cannot get milk thistle in the liquid form anywhere where I live and so had gone to iherb.com as advised by Fresh Fry. After one month on this, his ALT was back to normal (from his blood tests). I was very pleased with this. However, when he had his chemo protocol, Dr L said that the sang hwang would also take care of his liver also and so I did not give him his milk thistle everyday. His ALT scores were a little high but not as before. I have taken to giving him the milk thistle back again. I think it better to give Megat the snad hwang plus the milk thistle dose.

However, as he does not have to take a blood test regularly (like when he was with Dr P), I have not been able to see his ALT scores. Dr L said that with his very low doses of vincrsitine (his new chemo protocol) , we do not have to subject him to twice weekly blood tests. This is also good as his veins are very tiny and extremely fragile (he is 13 years old) and we need all his good veins for his vincristine.

Hepavite (I think it costs me about .90 cents per capsule from my vet): I have not been able to give him the recommended dose, 2 per day, as yet (we were given this last week). It has been 9 days. He hate sit and would spit it out. After that he would not take any other supplement as I think the taste was too nasty. So I had tried to make him take 1/2 his capsule but it was no go.

Then I decided that I should go slowly with him and I had put a little of his powder in the colliodal silver + pumpkin. He takes this quite well (with some spitting) but make sure not to put in too much. THAT would be disaster. Finally he was able to take only 1 capsule spread over 1 week.

I can try to get smaller capsules and put the powder in them but that means I would have to pill him. I have not gotten over the fear of his lethal teeth. I know it would stress me out and therefore stress him out.

So it is still regular doses of Milk Thistle with some hepavite powder each day. I was thinking of asking DR L to recommend something that is easier for Megat to take instead of his hepavite but will persevere until his next appointment.

PS: I hope this was helpful to the blogger who had asked me the question.

If only...

2009-08-23T15:32:00.002+08:00

Megat resting on Sunday...

I was thinking that if only I can still get that Gerbers Chicken baby formula, I would be able to give Megat his hepavite with this since I am sure the chicken would disguise the taste. Megat likes this too as I had given the amigos this when they had fever from vaccinations and sterilisations. I have not seen this for some time. Maybe it has been taken off the market. I had tried the Heinz one (I think) of beef and potato but he doesn't like it..and neither do I.

A small step for us...

2009-08-22T05:42:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, we decided on a new way to give megat his hepavite - a little at a time, but not too much in case he realised he was being duped into taking the nasty stuff. Since I am still giving him the Milk Thistle, I thought it was wiser to give him just 1/2 a capsule, in various mixtures. Indeed this was the wisest thing to do as Megat ate his supplements quite willingly and did not gag on anything. Although he still doesn't like the taste of Milk thistle, at least he tolerates that rather well in his Natural Defense mixture.

It seems to be getting easier to give him the suppository. I realised that a if I try to push the suppository in with a twisting movement, Megat is less likely to complain and he would not tighten his muscles too much. But of course with Megat, I know there would be many surprises along the way.

Hepavite woes

2009-08-20T20:46:00.003+08:00

Megat ate all his supplements with good grace until it comes to the hepavite. This must really taste very bad - worse than his prednisolone. I had tried to put the hepavite in the duphalac as duphalac is very sweet and might disguise the taste. Poor Megat actually gagged so badly on it and he had to spend some time trying to get rid of the taste. Even his eyes watered from it!I have been trying to give him the hepavite once a day to see if he can get used to the taste instead of twice a day. Maybe tomorrow I would give him only half his capsule and try to build up his tolerance for this. Alternatively I can just give him the milk thistle and forget all about the hepavite that is supposed to help his liver cope with the vincristine.

I am quite surprised that he did not protest too much with the suppository tonight too.

The answer is NO

2009-08-19T21:01:00.002+08:00

NO! I dun wanna eat the hepavite. I dun care what Dr L says. He is NOT a cat!

NO! I dun wanna eat the lingzhi. I will spit all offur it out. What? It has mashed papaya? Ok then.

NO! I dun wanna eat the colliodal silver. Isn't that dangerous? Who has ever heard of eating silver? NO!

NO! I dun wanna have any duphalac and pumpkin. I dun care if there is mashed papaya. NO!

NO! I dun wanna the 1/4 Lukeran. Just NO!

I am so thirsty with saying NO! I'm sorry all of it had landed on your towel, shirt, floor, mats, my fur and nose...but I still say NO!

Okie...I will have some water.

PS. Thank goodness that the sang hwang is already in his system. I would not have thought I would be grateful for the suppository!

Congrats Megat!!

2009-08-18T23:22:00.003+08:00

Megat resting after dinner...

We decided to cross our fingers for good luck. Grandma wished twice as hard :)

Tanaka in the meantime practised Yoga for peace and harmony :) He sits like this quite a lot.

Our appointment today was actually for 3.45 but we came early. Thank goodness for this as Dr L called for us at about 3.10 pm. WAHH!! We were so impressed. He got down to business immediately and asked me if I had good news for him. I told him Megat is doing well, he is active and eating with good appetite.

So we got him on the table and Dr L proceeded to refer to his notes then he said in firm tones that I must continue with this particular protocol of low doses of vincristine with a 2-week break after a series of 8 doses, coupled with the sang hwang, colloidal silver and Lukeran tablets. In this way he said, we do not have to subject Megat to continuous blood tests. After all he is a 13 year-old kitty. He said that 80% of his patients using the same protocol lived 2 or 3 years longer. I told him that I was very pleased with Megat's state of affairs and would follow this particular protocol.

He then checked Megat's vitals. Gums - hmmm rather pale. He prodded his abdomen. I was very anxious. he checked and prodded and said that he could not feel any hard lumps anymore except for...poo!!WAHHH....I was so pleased and kissed Megat and told him he was a very good boy! Dr L then proceeded to check the rest of his body and announced that he felt no other lumps :)) The both of us could not help grinning although Dr L cautioned me again that THIS in no way means that Megat is cured as there is no cure for lymphoma but it looks promising that he would be able to make it past the 4 months. I said in the previous entry that my best hope was that his lymphoma would not grow in size but this was the bestest news I think. However, Dr L is giving him hepavite capsules (which he hates, even with mashed papaya) for his liver as he is being given a chemo drug.

It could not be helped that Megat has to be given an enema- Microlax. Dr L lined his carrier and gave him the enema. Megat did not beat an eyelash. "this is a good cat. he is so well-behaved." I didn't show Dr L the scratches I got. Why mess his image I thought.

Megat lost no time in poo-ing. I was glad the cab driver did not protest as Megat whined and complained about being in a carrier with poo! He hit his face against the sides of the carrier and it was agood thing I had bought him his very own semi-soft carrier. Once home, I brought him to the loo and Cousin R and I bathed and shampooed him. Cousin R was very impressed with Megat as he enjoyed the warm bath and would even offer us his butt to clean :) Once cleaned, I put him in his night cage and he was finally quiet and rested...not without poo-ing 2 more times though.

However, he was very naughty and did not want to eat his supplements. He spewed all of them out, even the one which was always his favourite. He was having none of it. I was not angry as I thought he had behaved very well during the vet visit, the ride home, the bath and he deserved some aggro time :)

So we do not have to see Dr L until the 8th of September. Way to go Megat!

End of 1st series of chemo protocol

2009-08-16T16:23:00.002+08:00

Megat stalking the house...

This Tuesday Megat will see Dr L and it will be for his 8th chemo shot of vincristine. Dr L said that after every 8 shots, the cats will get a 3-week break. Of course I would have to bring him back if he does not feel well. I think he will have to get one ultra-sound after every series to see the progress of the lymphoma. We hope for some good news - I hope the lymphoma has not gotten any larger - that is all that I dare hope for.

Where have they gone san?

2009-08-16T12:48:00.003+08:00

He has 3 whiskers on this side of his face...

Megat is balding on the left...

and on the right...

Front view...It does not look so bad in this view though..

Drinking water...running away from san is thirsty work..

Yesterday Megat only had his 1/4 Lukeran. Since he spent so much time hiding, I decided that he should have just one day to rest from his supplements. I also took these pics as just like Dr P said, he is losing his hair although she said with cats, it would sometimes be only whiskers.

A trip into the past

2009-08-13T09:33:00.005+08:00

Megat now in 2009

Megat then in 2006

I was reading some old entries about Megat when I saw this one The Great Megat Scare from 2006. This was after a few days after I decided to adopt him and when he went 'missing'. Even then he has a rather hard life :). Actually Megat's real name is Shaolin Megat as he used to do the Four_Legged_Box with Bujang and Toro when they so much as looked in his direction. He was also called Megat Hitam and when he was living in the carpark, he was called Screaming Banshee.

Megat's stare was much more intense then than now I think.

My details about him then (Dec 21 2006)

Age : 10+ years (grey film in one eye) It seems you can tell the age of a cat by these cataracts.
He has the beginnings of a cataract and that was how the vet estimated his age.

Weight: 3.75 kg
Other details: FIV positive, has some kidney trouble

Medication: At present vet recommends boosting his immune system. So he is taking 250 mg cod liver oil, ARCferon 0.5 mg from vet. ALFA LINA as recommended by M to improve his skin and coat. Salt water wipes everyday to stop itching. One Drontal Cat Allwormer Tablet for worms. Revolution for mites/lice.

Food: Natural Balance/avoderm but will be eating Life Extension Cat Mix when it comes

Likes: Head Rubs/ Hide and Seek

Dislikes: Noise and frenzied activity

Family: Grandma, san, Bujang (who ignores him), Akira (who vomits at the sight of him) and Toro (who gets on his case at all times).

I think Megat's life is still the same now esp with the meds :)

Daily - Weekday - 1 300mg sang hwang suppository
Weekend - 250 ml sang hwang liquid (X2)
- Health lingzhi with mashed papaya
- Colloidal silver 300ml (X2)
- 1 tablet Natural Defence mushroom (for immunity), pounded into powder and taken with pumpkin and mashed papaya
- 2 droplets milk thistle for liver

Clean wipes - warm water+ shampoo ( about 2 hours after suppository) + warm water + salt solution.

It looks the same for Megat :) and his weight in 2006 when I first got him was 3.75 and now he is 3.68 although he does look better and feel heavier.

Visit with Dr Sh

2009-08-11T17:01:00.004+08:00

Hmm...more strange docs

We got to the hospital way ahead of our appt and Dr Sh saw us. Megat got weighed and he has lost some weight - he is 3.68 from 3.74 but the vet didn't think that this was a concern. She took his temperature 38.1 as he was hot and felt his abdomen. The assistant found it a little difficult to take his renal temp as Megat has wisened (??) up to this and had clamped his muscles tightly. Then Dr Sh looked into his mouth and his eyes and pronounced him fit for his 7th chemo shot. She kissed his head twice and told him to be a good boy. It went very well I am very glad to say.

I asked Dr Sh to give Megat his Tuesday suppository as I thought it would lessen my stress this evening when he gets his supplements and obviously it would lessen Megat's stress as well. She first tried to take out some of his poo as she did not want him to poo his suppository. "Woah..phenomenal muscle control!" she said and tried her best to coax him to do as directed. Then with more lubricant she managed to give him his suppository. Thank goodness. She said that after 2 weeks (of letting me have my way), he has become wiser and know what to do to get his way. Aiyah!! THAT is Megat for you.

It didn't take long for the whole thing and we were out in 10 minutes at most. Thank goodness I do not have to coax him to into his suppository today. Yippee!

PS
Megat was very sleepy when he came home and so I put him in his cage until dinner. He sat and napped and after dinner, he pooed in his bins. Of course his blanket was stained by poo and sang hwang. he made many protests until I cleaned him up, shampooed him, wiped him with mango scented wipes and changed his litter. Then he rested comfortably until its time for supplements. He got his treats and is now walking about doing his parameter inspection of the living room :)

Patchwork Cat

2009-08-08T16:06:00.002+08:00

Cousin R and I tried to give Megat his suppository today but it was not successful. I was not able to push it into his anus and it crumbled as it is made of beeswax and sang hwang. Aiyah kitty! All that money in the drain...and you would have to take the awful liquid later then. There is nothing for it...sorry. It has been easy as pie the other days...

Solution

2009-08-08T10:43:00.002+08:00

I was just trying to get away san...

The solution to our problem..worked rather well...

I used the lining that I still had from last year when I had to bring Callie (the community cat who died of Ataxia in 2008) to the hospital. After the supplements, Megat was put in his lined cage. he very meekly went inside as it is a familiar place and where he feels safe. He sat for the rest of the time on his side, which is important for this exercise to be successful. As he did not ask to be let out and he fell asleep most of the time I did not let him out.

At about 10, which is bedtime for Megat and the boys, I cleaned his cage, got rid of the lining and cleaned Megat as well. I used warm water, some shampoo and a soft cloth. I must say he quite enjoyed the experience and allowed me to clean his butt quite readily. I think its the sensation of warm water. I know he would enjoy the warm water as when we first got him, the vet told me to clean him up with warm water and salt solution everyday until his very fragile skin and the clotted leaves and dirt could be separated. :) After that, I gave him his night snack (Waltham's Renal) and one salmon treat :) This was much easier than all those nights ago for him as well as for me.

I suppose using the liners would be a pretty expensive option so I am exploring the idea of using newspapers.

Revenge of the kitty

2009-08-07T18:43:00.002+08:00

The source of all my pain taking a refreshing rest on my bed :)

Fresh scratches in the am from forelegs..

Fresh gashes in the am from hind legs..after being treated with antiseptic

Dried scratches in the pm...

This morning Megat decided to tell me off in the best and most graphic way he can. Usually he is very good in the morning and I can give him his meds very easily. This morning he decided that he had had enough and struggled in my grasp. I was very surprised and did not think on my feet (it was only 5.15 am). I did not let him go and so he did what all cats would do in that situation - he encouraged me to let him go with multiple scratches!

As I was nursing the screaming pain in my head, Megat simply rushed up my bed for some R&R. The thought of spraying antiseptic on these wounds made my heart faint but well..what can you do about it! I took a very deep breath and sprayed as much antiseptic as my trembling hands can cope with. AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Of course after 10 minutes, I could think more clearly and managed to bathe, drink tea and say goodbye to devil cat Megat without wanting to scold him. It was after all my fault for being stupid and hanging on.

When I got home from work, the amigos greeted me at the door and Megat came to welcome me too. I think he had forgiven me and I was glad he did not run off.

However, tonight I had sequested him in his cage after his sub q and he ate his dinner in his cage also. I am now going to go through the sang hwang saga again in 2 minutes but this time I would make sure he goes back into his cage after the hour. then at about 8.30 pm he would be allowed out until bed time.

Poor Kitty Megat

2009-08-06T23:01:00.003+08:00

No..I dun want you to clean me all the time san...

Now that we have found a neater way for Megat to have his supplements, we hit on another difficulty. It has to do with his sang hwang suppository. It leaks out and poor Megat goes about sometimes with a trail of sang hwang following him. Of course I would also have to follow him and clean up after my poor kitty...even after the 1 hour of compulsory immobility. I don't think I should subject him to much more cleaning as he needs to rest after his night supplements. But as he and all of us need to be clean, I have to clean his anus several times after and sometimes I need to give him a wash with warm water and shampoo because he smells of poo. And of course the places that he goes to for respite also smells and sometimes has traces of poo. :( Since he cant help these things, I am not upset nor angry. Its just that I wish it could be easier for him.

He is very patient with all of this but I foresee that I might need to change his bedding daily or not allow him to walk about even after the 1 hour confinement. This kind of stress would freak out his immunity I am sure. I have yet to find a resolution for such a thing so will probably just keep him in his cage immediately after the 1 hour time-out so he could use the bin in there. Then I would clean him up and change the bedding. This seems to be the best option.

Your cat has cancer?

2009-08-04T20:21:00.004+08:00

I look too healthy? I hope to get there soon...

The pestle and mortar with the mushroom supplement...

Huh? We now had a little tray? Its much easier that way Cousin R..

Dr L exclaimed. He looks too healthy:) Then he looked at the computer and asked many questions about Megat's health. Although we had to see the doc a little late as he had surgery, the whole consultation took no less than 10 minutes. Dr L kissed Megat on top of his head and whispered that he was a'good boy' :) Megat then had the usual low dose of vincristine, Vitamins B12 and metomide. Dr L then asked me about the suppositories. I told him that apart from my very nervous first try, the rest of them went quite ok. He laughed and told me that he thought I would complain about it :) but he gave me the liquid sang hwang also apart from another 10 suppositories. I am glad he also said that Megat's hydration is 'good,' not just 'quite good.' It does make a difference to the both of us I think.

Dr L also said that Megat will have the 8 injections of vincristine, after which he would get a 3 week break to recuperate. Today was his 6th vincristine injection as we are not doing any Endoxan. I think Megat would appreciate that for sure :)Then he told us we should see him again next week. However we found out that Dr L would not be about and so we made an appointment with Dr Sh. I think maybe it would only be for a blood test. But I made an appointment with Dr L for the Tuesday after that.

While we were waiting for our bill to be processed we met several very kind people who said nice things about Megat. We appreciated all of them as Megat was not really the best looking cat there :) One of the people told us that Megat is an old name for a Malay warrior and jokingly asked where his 'kris' was...It was very funny. She also asked about the names of the amigos and when we got to akira, she laughed and said it was her husband's name and she would tell her husband about the amigos :) Then she told us that her own cat was hurt by someone and he has a hole in his chest! She had taken her cat to a clinic and now was in the hospital to see Dr L. WOAH! I really don't know how anyone can do this to an animal!!

Sleeping Cat

2009-08-02T11:50:00.001+08:00

zzzzz....

Aiyah Kitty

2009-08-02T10:48:00.002+08:00

Megat's new bib so the supplements does not mess up grandma's towels too much...

Congrats Megat! May you have many calm days like this one...

The answer to the question that has been plaguing me about the sang hwang and Megat was finally revealed last Friday. I had given him the sang hwang, waited for 10 minutes and then given him his sub q. The sub q takes a much longer time than usual as I am using the 21 gauge needle which he tolerates much better. After that, I had waited for about 5 minutes before I let him go. All in all it was about 35 minutes.

Of cos my curiosity was still piqued and as he walked towards the bins I followed him and waited. Then after he had done his toilette, I looked into the bins and of course saw his poo and what looked suspiciously like the remnants of the sang hwang...and indeed it was. Aiyah Kitty!

So yesterday after his sang hwang and the rest of his supplements, I had cradled him for about 1 hour. he tried to protest but after some time, had a nap :) Then when he was released, he went to the bins, Aiyoh! But he just peed and then went into hiding ...just in case.

So I guess it has to be one hour when done at home...just like the nurse said :)

Btw today is 2nd August. So that makes it two months out of four.

2nd Day of sang hwang suppository

2009-07-30T20:15:00.004+08:00

Oh dear...when will san make me take the nasty fings?

Megat swaddled in preparation for the supplements...

The sang hwang suppository...

Megat in nifty orange - time to rest and relax after the whole ordeal...
He likes being swaddled and would sometimes fall asleep while taking the supplements!

After 30 minutes Megat got to get out but he decided to hang around in the computer room for a little while longer...

Tonight was not so bad. I got the suppository in one push although he protested rather sharply. Then I held him for a bit so he can relax. after which he got the rest of his supplements and then another session of just cuddling :) I thought he should have a change of towel, something that doesn't smell of ling zhi or pumpkin :). It was not as nerve-wrecking as last night- thats for sure.

Megat was also very much more relaxed and did not run out of the room immediately but opted to hang around the door, grooming. Then he went out to investigate salmon smells but returned to sit for a very short while with me in the computer room. I have yet to check the bins though but since I held him for much longer than yesterday, I am quite assured that no accident would happen. *cross fingers*

PS
I went to the bins and was quite horrified to see fresh poo. Of course like a good and desperate cat person I scrutinized each one closely and did not see the sang hwang. I asked Cousin R if she saw Megat going to the bins but she said Megat had been with her in the living room all this while and not in the bedroom or toilet. So I guess we are safe :)

Success...maybe

2009-07-29T20:51:00.004+08:00

Finally my first effort at giving Megat his suppository was successful. I was very anxious and had to try 3 times as the suppository became very slippery with the cooking oil. I bought gloves so it would be more hygienic for Megat and myself. He was not pleased and moved around alot but finally I took a deep breath and pushed it in gently. Then I cradled him with his blanket for about 5 minutes and then gave him the rest of the supplements. After that, Cousin R helped me to clear everything up while I cradled him again quietly. I was afraid he would rush to the toilet to get rid of the suppository. Dr L told me to hold him close for 15 min and the nurse told me I should distract him for an hour. I decided half and hour would do it :) Once I released him from his blanket I allowed him to walk about in the room and he didn't do any 'poo' actions so all is well. I am really relieved.

Of course I had to check the bins to see if Megat had returned the 'gift'...hmmm...what are these things in the bins....I don't see anything resembling the sang hwang but I did see new poo. I hope he was able to absorb the suppository and not wasted it. Actually I don't even know if the poo was Megat's to begin with as I have stopped giving him the papaya and pumpkin for constipation as he is no more constipated and therefore could not identify po anymore :)

Review Update

2009-07-29T12:19:00.009+08:00

I am now supposed to eat Silver? What else? In my butt?No way san_jose!!

Our appointment with Dr L went smoothly and neither Megat nor I was very anxious. We had to wait some time for the doc but when he appeared everything went BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

He had his usual blood tests - his haematology one as well as his prep profile test. His numbers for his liver is higher than normal but other wise everything else went well. Dr L says the sang hwang also helps with the liver. His weight has gone down slightly from 3.77 to 3.74 kg but the doc was pleased with his progress.

Dr L is going to only give him low doses of vincristine 0.1 only and then we are also doing 1/4 tab of Lukeran every two days. He also gave Megat a bottle of colloidal silver, a tcm supplement as well. he has to take 3 ml twice a day. I forgot to give him his morning 3 ml and allowed him out of his cage. No wonder he merrily scooted off and went into immediate hiding. I did not have time to persuade him at all so that was one chance lost already. I gave him his 3 ml of collidal silver with some pumpkin yesterday and he was quite happy to take it.

Dr L also showed me how to give Megat the sang hwang suppository (ouch). It looks like a small bullet of beeswax and I have to lubricate it with some oil/lubricant. Dr L did it with one gentle push and Megat did not even flinch. Dr L kept telling me that Megat was very 'good' and gentle. Aiyoh! I told the doc that Megat was a very good Pretender and he is always amazingly good-natured at the vet's. :) But once he is home and I have to give him something, its like a small skirmish. (But with Bujang, it would be a 3rd World War!). I was then to hold him close for about 15 minutes for the sang hwang to be absorbed by his body and also it was to prevent him from going to the loo to get it out. :) The assistant held him after that and Megat actually went into some kind of slumber. So the doc and the assistants had quite a difficult time believing my seemingly tall tale about His Fiesty Highness :)

I told the doc I would try especially after he told me that the suppository would ensure he would get 100% of the effects and if I give him the ling zhi orally, 60% would be destroyed by stomach acids! So got 4 suppositories (300 mg each) to try. I would get the capsule if I was not suceesful with them next week.

The protocol is much changed. Now we are doing vincristine only; 1/4 Lukeran every two days, colloidal silver twice a day and sang hwang suppository once a day. With this we hope that he would be able to have a healthy immune system. Dr L says that sometimes if we are very aggressive with the chemo, then the cat dies with the chemo. Although there is no cure for lymphoma, we are working towards the cat dying with the cancer- that is old age and not with chemo. I think this is a wise thing to do for 13 year-old Megat.

Dr L gave him a cocktail of vincristine, metomide and vitamin B complex and so he only had one injection although he had to try 3 different veins. But Megat took everything in his stride to the ring of "You're such a good cat. I can't believe it." :)

Update on Sang Hwang

2009-07-27T13:46:00.001+08:00

No he doesn't like the liquid version of the ling zhi. I have tried it with papaya or pumpkin or both. However he can be persuaded to eat it first thing in the morning before grandma lets him out of the cage. He has to be swaddled like a baby and be given the sang hwang very firmly. After this bottle, I would have to ask the doc for the powdered form which he tolerates better.

Cousin R bought me a tin of canned pumpkin by Libby's. Its 100% pumpkin and used for making pies. I now use this instead of mashing pumpkin. Megat takes this much better in the syringes with his supplements although he does not like it in his food. For THAT, I have to give him mashed pumpkin!

He has not put on much weight from last week. Instead Cousin R thinks he has lost some and so I have taken to giving him back the health ling zhi as well.

i'm keeping my eye on you san

2009-07-22T18:35:00.002+08:00

I know what you're up to. The answer is NO...

No san..I dun want to eat the sang hwang...no..it doesn't taste good...

But Dr L says its for cancer silly. I tasted it. It tastes like nothing. It has no taste.

We cats have more refined taste buds. Take that syringe out of my mouth you silly bean. You can't make it eat it in the morning..

But its good for..

NO!

Btw he had to eat it anyway as I had swaddled him well and good in the morning. Then he had some kibble so he forgot all about it. :)

Vet Visit with Dr L

2009-07-21T18:25:00.001+08:00

Megat resting after dinner this evening...

The ling zhi that Dr L recommends - Sang Hwang ling zhi for cancer

Megat getting sleepy after dinner...

Our visit with Dr L was short and sweet. Another vet was also in attendance (not a nurse) and she took Megat's vitals. He is now 3.77 kg (hurrah) from 3.56 two weeks ago. Dr L came in, after surgery and asked me how old he was. "13," I said. He was very surprised and then discussed his plan for Megat with me. He said that after 2 or 3 sessions, he might recommend that I give Megat a vincristine tablet at home, on alternate days so he does not have to come to the hospital every week. I told him that I have yet to get over Megat biting me and he laughed when he saw that Megat had only 1 canine and a few of his front teeth left. "Its ok to fight with him on alternate days," and I concurred.

There was no blood test as Dr L said Megat looked very well and all his vitals were ok. He was not dehydrated and his weight was good. He said the blood test would be for the time when Megat does not look well. Then in less than 5 minutes, he had given Megat his vincristine, without the catheter, in his very tiny vein on his left foreleg. WAH! I thought. Not bad. Megat did not even have time to recover and all was over. There was no blue bandage and no complaints from Megat. He got the anti emetic and we were out. Dr L said next time we would combine everything together so Megat would only get one injection.

Dr L said we have to be back next week where he will take Megat's blood test to see if he could be given his Endoxan. I seriously doubt it as if Megat is true to form, his wbc would be too low for any of that. We made an appointment to see Dr L again next week.

Dr L recommended the Sang Hwang ling zhi as he said this ling zhi was one that is used for cancer patients. So I said we would try anything at this point. He said there are over 20 types of ling zhi. That is of course true and I have been giving our ling zhi to Megat for his health and indeed it has worked very well as he has put on weight, become more cheerful and playful and generally more alert. Dr L said it would be ok to give him the Sang Hwang lingzhi after we have finished with our health-giving linzhi so I would follow that advice. He said most pets can take the liquid form very well but when I asked his attendant vet, she said it tastes kind of foul and recommended that I give it with some honey. I asked if I could give it with some papaya as Megat likes it that way (I had been giving him his ling zhi with mashed papaya) and she said it would be ok as long as he doesn't have it with any other medication. But then I have only been giving him mushroom supplements plus the ling zhi so I think the whole thing would be ok.

All in all we had quite an easy time of it today, unlike our horrendous adventure two weeks ago with the nurse.

Letter to my cat

2009-07-05T19:07:00.003+08:00

Megat on Sunday

Dear Megat

I am glad you are taking the supplements and coping with the vet. You have behaved very well indeed and no one could ask you for anything more. I am very sorry about the harrowing experience that I had put you through last Tuesday. Please forgive me.

On the 2nd of July, I know that you have lived through one month from the day Dr P said you had 4 months to live. Does it mean you have 3 months more with us? I do not know these answers. I only have what the docs have told me to hold on to. I put my faith in you more than the chemo although I should have more faith in what the docs say. I am glad there are people who are trying to help us with this and I thank them for their kindness and concern for us. I know I had told myself I should not watch the days but I can't help it.

I know the supplements have kept you well and you look happy and healthy and I'm sure Bujang does not midn you trying to run him off your mat :) or that you try to muscle into his territory although I suggest you exercise some caution.

love

san

Poly-mva - our new supplement

2009-07-05T18:27:00.002+08:00

Our package finally arrived yesterday...

Contents - 2 bottles and 2 syringes packed in styrofoam...

The much-awaited supplement for Megat...

Megat trying to prevent me from reading the literature...

"So she doesn't give it to me...more supplements...oh noooo!"

The Poly-mva finally arrived for us. We had to pay some taxes on it unlike the supplements we got from iherb.com. This supplement does the following:

assist the body in producing energy by recyling the free radicals, not just quenching them
supports liver funsctions
assist in promoting healthy cell integrity
assist in removal of hevay metals from the bloodstream
acts as a powerful antioxident and detoxifier
support nerve and neurotransmitter function
enhances white blood cell function
support pH balance, helping to maintain oxygenation of cells and tissues

Of course the website has much more information. I know that pH balance and oxygenation of cells and tissue are paramount in trying to combat cancer.

It tastes like something you get from the doctor for a nasty cough. But with some pumpkin, it doesn't taste bad. Megat likes it with pumpkin and he has to take 1ml 2x a day. I think Megat has gotten used to his nightly ritual of supplements which makes it less stressful for him and for me.

I think the supplements of milk thistle, ling zhi, Natural defense with 16 mushroom combination has worked very well for him as he is not as tired as before when he has to take vincristine. He is now alert, his eyes are clear and he is drinking by himself. :) I am much encouraged as he is better able to cope with his chemo.

5th visit to the Vet - Vincristine

2009-07-05T17:55:00.002+08:00

Megat getting some Saturday sun

Our 5th vet visit was full of incident. Poor Megat did not have an easy time with the catheter. But he was very patient. Firstly he gave blood like the hero that he was, from his carotid and then we waited outside. It took very long as the hospital ran out of reagent!!! AIYOH! So it tool twice as long. Then when it was finally our turn, Dr P was busy with another patient. The nurse J asked me to put Megat on the table as she proceeded to prepare him for the catheter. It was not a successful attempt. I did not want Megat to wait long as he was getting tired and was trembling on the table. I was very stupid and should have asked the nurse to stop and then wait for Dr P anyway. I am very sorry Megat.

Dr P came in and checked J's handiwork. She announced that she would have to find another vein as the previous one was no good. She tried his second foreleg but found his vein too fine for the catheter. Finally she was successful at his hind leg. So he got his vincristine shot at last. Poor Megat was bandaged on 3 legs - like a victim of war!

The doc and I agreed that as his platelets was very low at 22 (normal 100 to 300) he could not get his adriamycine shot. She said it was ok to just do the vincristine and endoxan. So that was what we decided to stick with.

Because of this he does not have to go for 2 weeks and we both hope that his wbc would be better (it was 2.58). So on the 21st July he would go back to hospital for his vincristine. The nurse (not J) told me that Dr P would not be on call as she would be on vacation (although she did say in the room that she would be back on the 21st). I asked him who would be on call and he told me Dr L and Dr S. So I made an appointment for Dr L for Megat. I hope nothing else would go wrong.

Dear Mary

2009-06-28T15:20:00.003+08:00

Dear Mary

Thanks for the offer. The email address is below Megat's pic on the sidebar. I would appreciate any material etc that would help me with Megat.

thanks

san

Results of vet visit - no vincristine today

2009-06-23T22:03:00.002+08:00

wbc too low at 2.12 from 3.26 last week

Dr P was quite confident that we could do the chemo today - vincristine but his haematology test indicated other wise. She was pleased with his condition for last week and told me that the Endoxan was a little milder than the vincrsitine and so he should be more energetic. She was also pleased with his prep results. He has put on a little weight and is now 3.54 from 3.5 kg.

I am very pleased that his liver seemed better with his ALT at 90 (normal 20-100). His last test had his ALT at 105. The milk thistle may have done a lot of good here. His BUN is 22 from 27 (normal 10-30) and his CRE is 1.2 from 1.5 (normal 0.3-2.1). Even his TP has gone down to 8.7 from 9.0 (normal 5.4- 8.2). I think this would be the result of syringing him with about 60 ml of water daily. These last 2 days I had only syringed him with about 10 ml of water since he suddenly decided to drink by himself on Saturday. But I am very kiasu and syringed him anyway as I don't think he drinks enough water. His GLU h/w has gone up to 165 from128 (normal 70-150). She didn't think this was a concern though. I read that this could be due to stress. He really does not need diabetes in his life now!

He is down to 1/4 tab of his steroid prednisolone too. I can only hope that next week his wbc is good enough for his chemo.

Sunday Finds Me...

2009-06-21T15:33:00.004+08:00

well...thank you...

I tried the Solid Gold tuna again and he didn't take to it. I gave the 1:4 proportion but maybe he prefers something other. I had put one tsp of tuna to 4 tsp of water. But try and try again :)

So I had to give him his water in syringes. As he has so few teeth, it is quite easy to do this. He drank about 25 ml of water so I was quite happy. The thing is, when I syringe him he will not be thirsty to drink from his own Dora cup and our 3 Cat Its! Then because of this I would have to syringe him. Its like going round in circles.

I was just wacthing him and then it struck me that I was very silly with the hospital appointments and I should have just made appointments for the whole 2 months that he has to go to hospital. Aiyah! I am sometimes very silly. As I have always made my appointments when I was at the hospital, I could only get the 5.00 appointment tomorrow! So this afternoon I called the hospital and made 3.30 pm apointments for all the weeks to follow. It was very simple and yet I didn't think of it.

So like wise with his drinking problem, I am sure I would be able to do better. I just have to think about it more.

And he doesn't have blood in his urine. I had managed to peek into the litter for 3 days in a row. I am glad of that. :)

I am not talking to you ...

2009-06-20T21:55:00.001+08:00

Megat is getting royally fed up with the mushroom cocktail...

Megat fussed quite a lot with his cocktail and water to night. At least he had his pill down flat. For that I am grateful. Its time to give him papayas intaed of pumpkin as he doesn't like the taste anymore. He ate all of it though :) I tried tuna water today but that didn't go swimmingly. But I will persevere. He had 10 ml of syringed water as he did't like his tuna water this afternoon :)

Saturday notes

2009-06-20T11:03:00.001+08:00

Are you looking at me san?

Megat is surprisingly well for a cat with drugs in his system. He has not lost much energy. Rather he has been walking about rather spritely. His toilet habits are regular and I am glad to see that even this morning he had left me poo in his litter and 2 big pee clumps. He still runs off when he sees me and no longer hangs about on the cat blankets on the bed as he knows it make shim easy to pick up :) So he has taken to hiding under the table, right in the innermost corner so he almost disappears from view. I have yet to give him the Solid Gold tuna water formula as yesterday he had his usual sub q and supplements which gives him a lot of water. This morning, he had some Tiki with a lot of jelly for his morning water consumption. Grandma tells me tha he does drink form his Dora cup but I have yet to see it for myself. This is what he looks like this morning - bright alert eyes and a suspicious glance :)

Update after Cyclophosphomide

2009-06-18T16:25:00.002+08:00

Megat has been very regular the last two nights with his poo. I am glad that he has done it in his own litter every night from Tuesday 160609. It is easier for me to keep track. I have included 20 ml of duphalac in his supplements with either papaya or pumpkin, the usual mushroom combination, ling zhi and milk thistle. Then I had given him about 20 ml of water. This has been the usual regimen with him for the last 2 days and for 2 days in a row, he has managed to poo. The poo is rather firm. So maybe this is the best formula for him at this time. He does not go during the day though except to pee.

He takes his formula with good grace with only minor fussing and grandma and Cousin R have been very good at helping me. Of cos Megat's antics made them laugh too so the whole process was not too arduous for everyone, Megat included. He ate is pumpkin with much better grace though. Maybe its because he is used to the taste of pumpkin.

I would not be able to see if there is blood in his urine as he does it in his litter but I am sure that with all that water in his system, this would not happen. I was glad to see that he went to pee quite soon afetr we got back from the hospital as that means some of the the drug would have gone through his system and out. He urinates regularly which is a good thing as 37% - 82% (20% intact) would be excreted through urine.

He is doing much better with the Cyclophosphomide and is alert and active. Maybe it is the supplements that have made such a difference. He still sleeps but not any more than he used to do before the chemo. He is getting into the swing of asking for scritches and brushing regularly and more important, he still grooms himself as carefully as before. :)

2nd chemo session cyclophosphamide

2009-06-16T19:55:00.004+08:00

Megat's blue bandage at the site of his IV catheter is reminicent of wounded POWs...
"I know what you are up to san. Don't think I don't!"
Megat at his hanging basket right after dinner.

Megat sitting with me after his supplements. Furgive and furrget...

Megat's haematology test gave his wbc count as 3.26 from last week's 1.88 so he was able to undergo his 2nd IV of cyclophosphamide or Endoxan. His platelets were down to 68 from last week's 90. His rbc was the highest in 3 weeks at 6.70. His weight was also down to 3.5 from 3.63 kg. The doc was not worried though about his other vitals saying that Megat was otherwise ok. I asked the doc about his stools and she checked. She said that she did not feel a lot of them so I guess he was able to go do the necessary. I had been worrying about his constipation as I had not been able ascertain if he had indeed gone and done the job last week.

I was able to be with him throught the whole IV process and I was glad that he was a very good patient. He had three rounds of blood taking as the pressure in his lower leg was too low. Also the pressure in one of his neck veins was no good as the doc put it. So she got blood from his jugular. THAT was fast and furious. Throughout all this Megat seemed unperturbed.

She gave him the Endoxan and told me that the side effects would be vomitting, a little anorexia and diarrhea. She also said that as the drug would go through his bladder, he mght get a little blood in his urine but I was not to be alarmed. I was to make sure that he drinks water regularly as if not his uterine system would get a little irrtated and that would be where the blood would come in. Then she flushed out his sytem with 2 vials of saline solution and gave him an anti-emetic, Metomide. Throughout the process, he was quiet and of course he earned alot of praises from everyone.

At the end of the whole thing, Dr Ly came in and spoke to Dr P about his patient that was also undergoing chemotheraphy and that his patient was doing very well indeed. Dr P told me that she hoped Megat would have the same results :)

Of course he still has to take prednisolone but only 1/2 a tab per day.

We decided that apart from his usual supplements tonight, Megat would have to take about 20 ml of water in a syringe. Of cos I think after his fussing, we got only about 15 ml of water. But that was quite a success as he also would have the water from the mashed papaya and the water in which I had diluted the mushroom tablet. He also had his usual portion of ling zhi.

I am glad to report that even now he has forgiven me all that fuss and is now sitting by my side , asking for a good round of brushing...

Saturday update for 2nd week

2009-06-13T19:58:00.006+08:00

Megat is feeling very frisky these days. He drinks from his Dora cup and he eats well. These last 2 days I decided to give him some fussie cat in the morning after his daily pill (as a reward) and for dinner as well as it has a lot of jelly and so he gets water from that. He does not eat his wet food as much though, even his Natural Balance. Even so, as long as he is eating I am not as anxious.

He is also getting used to his supplements of 2 ml duphalac and mashed papaya (for constipation), mushroom and milk thistle. He no longer splutters and neither does he try to spit it out. I had to put the mashed papaya through a sieve so it would syringe much better. However, he is not making it easy for me, and I do not expect him to :)

I have decided that the only way to give him his prednisolone is the 'cowardly' way. I don't get bitten which is good for me and he does not get too stressed out. I decided to give it to him dissolved in alittle honeyed water. If he can have it in his food, he most certianly can get it in water. :) Sometimes however, he refuses to swallow the solution, preferring to keep it in his mouth. But finally he still has to swallow and once I see his tongue, its time for the rest of the solution. So he gets about o.5 ml of honeyed water with his prednisolone.

Right after his prednisolone and his supplements, he would get his salmon treats and then he would sit by me to groom. All is forgiven and forgotten until the next time...

Letter to san

2009-06-11T20:58:00.003+08:00

Dear san

I feel that I must tell my side of the story. I can't help it if I chomp on your finger. It is the way of all cats. We can't have human beings thinking that they can do whatever they like with the likes of us. I know you will forgive me many things...won't you? Anyway I do not like taste of that prednisolone and to think that there would be steriods in my blood. But what can anyone do about these things?

I felt quite stressed when I could not do the necessary and that was why I had kept quiet and tried to hide. It had been many days already and I could not go when I wanted. I was glad that you did not panic and stayed with me. Also it was good that you shut the door from the other cats in the house. They vex my spirit too much with their rumbunctious nature. I am, as you know, an old cat and I like my peace.

Anyway I always tell you how much I appreciate your actions as I would always sit quietly with you at the end of the day. Thank you for brushing my fur as it makes me calm and feel loved. I know I do not head butt you anymore these days to ask for your attention. I think I have too much of your attention already :)

Good night

Megat

Finally!

2009-06-11T12:24:00.003+08:00

Thursday morning went by fast and furious. My lessons from this morning are:

1. Never leave anything for later when you can accomplish something at 5 am, especially when it comes to a crafty 13 something in the shape of a black cat!

I knew that I should have tried to give Megat his prednisolone as soon as the boys asked to be let out - at 5 am. This is because Megat would still be inside his night cage and so much easier to catch. Of course I slept late and Cousin R came to help grandma. Once he heard her voice, Megat leapt from the bed (where he was dozing with me) and hid himself. Oh dear....

2. Never surprise a cat who has to go poo...NOW!
I surprised Megat when he was trying to go...in the middle of the living room!!! Aiyoh! Cat! But I noticed that eventhough he strained himself, there was no way he was going to be able to poo at all. He saw me and hid under the couch as he asociates me with many unpleasant experiences. I decided to follow my instincts, caught him from under the table and brouhgt him to the bathroom where the boxes were. He preferred to do it on the mat and I let him be. After a few minutes, I noticed that he had a difficult time and so removed the hard poo for him. Of course I could not help him completely and the poor kitty and to strain again and again. I spoke to him softly and he tried again. By this time, all the boys were waiting outside the bathroom door quietly. Finally with one final strain, the hard poo came out followed by the softer ones. SUCCESS! He sat quietly and I gave him a treat which he ate slowly and happily.

3. Never try to pill a cat using your fingers if you are still too nervous about it.

I actually had Megat in the bathroom already and waited for him to relax from his poo exertions. I cleaned him up thoroughly and we rested togther quietly. Then I carried him and put him on my lap, scuffed him and tried to persuade him to open his mouth. SPIT!SPAT!SPLUTTER! - the pill came hurtling out of his mouth. Then he gave me a great big and very firm chomp on my middle finger. I think that was his way of telling me to @$%#. Finally I had a brain wave through the wave of pain that was going through my arm - just put the pill from the side of his mouth! He had so few teeth and there was a gap just behind his fang, ok canine. I slipped the now very wet pill and closed his mouth. Actually he closed his mouth tightly himself as he was afraid I would try to open it up again. HEE..HEEE. Because of this, the pill dissolved in his mouth and he had to swallow :) I then talked to him softly and praised him and caressed his head. he visibly relaxed. I was afraid he would try to wash his mouth with all that salive (he had done this several times before and he would drool the pill out). However, there was only a little saliva and I wiped him clean after that and gave him another treat.

4. Finally always feel grateful that the crafty 13 year old feline with a vice for a mouth and needles for teeth can still put up a good fight :)

Our Mushroom Defense

2009-06-10T23:55:00.002+08:00

picture from i.herb.com

Description :16-Mushroom Complex
Dietary Supplement
Source Naturals Mushroom Immune Defense is a blend of mushroom mycelia and extracts from 16 of the most well-studied species of health-supportive mushrooms. Although the exact mechanisms of action in the body are not yet fully understood, researchers propose that constituents of these mushrooms may support natural killer (NK) cell, T-cell, and macrophage activity, and cytokine production. By carefully combining these mushrooms and fortifying them with extracts, Source Naturals Mushroom Immune Defense offers a broad-spectrum, high potency, complete mushroom product.

Calories 10
Total Carbohydrates 2 g DV <2%
Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid) 100 mg DV 170%
Shiitake Mycelia Biomass 200 mg †
Reishi Mycelia Biomass 200 mg †
Maitake Mycelia Biomass 200 mg †
Turkey Tail Mycelia Biomass 150 mg †
Proprietary Blend: 1.3 g †

Agaricus blazei Mycelia Biomass, Hericium erinaceus Mycelia Biomass, Flammulina velutipes Mycelia Biomass, Tremella Mycelia Biomass, Schizophyllum commune Mycelia Biomass, Artist's Conk Mycelia Biomass, Poria Mycelia Biomass, Zhu Ling Mycelia Biomass, Pleurotus ostreatus Mycelia Biomass, Cordyceps sinensis Mycelia Biomass, Cordyceps militaris Mycelia Biomass, Armilleria mellea Mycelia Biomass, Shiitake Mushroom Extract, Reishi Mushroom Extract (6:1), Maitake Mushroom Extract (10:1), Turkey Tail Mushroom Extract (8:1), Cordyceps sinensis CS-4 Standardized Extract (0.1% adenosine), Agaricus blazei Mushroom Extract (4:1), and Dr. Nanba's Maitake Beta-Factor™ (beta-glucan) Fraction††.

The mushrooms in bold were thought to be integral to improving the immune system. I can only make an effort and I have yet to see if indeed they would help Megat.

NB: Pic and information taken from i.herb.com

Chemo Review 1

2009-06-10T22:26:00.003+08:00

Megat's hematology test did not allow his second chemo session as his wbc was 1.88 from 3.97. As this was below the required level of 2.5, Dr P said his cyclophosphamide IV would be postponed till next week when she hoped it would be higher. So he has to only take one tab of prednisolone at 5mg per day. Of course with this , his LYM has decreased to 1.23 from 2.18 (normal 1.5 to 7). The doc recommended that I give him some lin zhi mushrooms to increase his immune system. I had actually got him tablets of 16 mushrooms from 1herb.com that seemed to help other people and their pets to deal with their immune system and cancer and so will give him that instead as well as the milk thistle for his liver.

So essentially his supplement, as of today, consists of 1.5 ml of duphalac and 1 dessertspoon of mashed papaya (he still has constipation) + 2 tablets of mushroom formula and 6 drops of milk thistle. I read that it would be better to give him an aggressive dose of mushroom in the first few weeks of his cancer but as he still has to get used to it, I am only giving him 2. If 2 is the rec dose for an adult, it should be okay for a cat with lymphoma. I will put the pic up once my cpu is ok.

He was also a little dehydrated as he was not drinking much last week and so, if he still refuses to drink this week, I was to syringe him with 10ml of water every hour. Dr P thought that 1x sub q would be enough if I can give him the water in syringes. Of course, as though he understood the doc, Megat immediately drank water from his Dora cup when he came back from his consultation and even today, he continued to drink throughout the day although I would have liked it if he had drunk more. He had drunk more before the chemo.

On the brighter side, his platelets has increased to 90 from 33 although his PCV has stayed at a constant rate of 26 %. His ALT, on the other had, had decreased to 105 from 122.

Dr P also reported that his physical state is good although he is thin. But she recommended that he stays on his renal diet and I was not to subsititute it with another one, even if the diet has no grain in it. I would put water in his dry food but I know he would eat none of it wet. I had tried this the first time he had to go on the diet. :(

Anyway, he is looking brighter and has much more energy but maybe this could be due to the fact that he did not have his chemo this week.

Poo tales best left unread for the squeamish

2009-06-09T08:53:00.006+08:00

I gave Megat the duphalac yesterday (1 dessertspoon + papaya). I even tasted it before I gave it to him. It tasted sweet and so I was quite confident that he would be eat it happily - and he did! HURRAH! Thanks anonymous for giving me that suggestion again :) [I have many anonymous readers and I thank each and every one of them:)]

I had mashed the papaya and mixed it with the duphalac. I let him sniff it and waited for him to lick it from the saucer. Of course no such luck for me. So I had to put it into 4 syringes - each 3 ml. It came to about 10 ml as the last syringe was not full. Thank goodness Cousin R was about and she helped me to hold Megat while I gave him the mixture. He was very good about it and ate it all without fuss. Cousin R had some also (on her tshirt).After the whole event (or non event) I wiped him clean from head to toe and he jumped up onto the couch to sit with grandma. These days Megat is very guarded with me :)

Result: Yes! This morning, there was a little poo in his litter box, but not much. Then a little in the box at the kitchen bathroom and a little in front of my cupboard!! Oh-oh! But I was not much bothered by this and was just glad that he could actually go. I was quite horrified that he actually tried to go on my bed sheet! ARGHHHH! But I thought a bedsheet can be changed, trashed, laundered, put away but my cat cannot! I was very glad that he was not able to do that though. He then rested and had a little rest.

Ok, although I was glad he did not poo on my bed, I was still anxious that he was straining himself and yet could not poo normally. On a brighter note, he did at least get to do some of it.

However, he also vomitted much of his food. This is the first time in a long time that he had done this. Actually I could not remember the last time he had vomitted food at all :(

Anyway I had put all these notes in my notebook for Dr P today. Cousin R agreed to bring him as I would not be able to do so myself :(. He would not be having IV but only a blood test and some pills. I think he would have lost some weight too as he has refused to eat much of his food for this week. I decided to document his behaviours ever day and I think I should continue to do so. Then I would be able to take note of new behaviours and discuss these things with Dr P to see if they could be the cause of the chemo or not. It would also be useful for the doc as she can read for herself and then ask me questions about him.

I am also considering KXBC's suggestion of giving him only a soupy wet food diet so I can increase his water intake in this way. The only thing that I have to consider is that he is on a Waltham dry kibble diet too although these days, he has refused to eat much of this, preferring the orijen diet of the rest of the amigos. So I had in the last 2 days, given him a mixture of Walthams Renal and Orijen (no grain) diet which he eats quite happily and this morning, there was nothing in his bowl :)

The Pill-the-cat saga

2009-06-09T08:35:00.001+08:00

Since my CPU has gone to reformatting heaven, I am not able to put up new pics of Megat but then maybe it okay as Megat is always seen sleeping, resting, or generally looking disguted at the camera :) This is a very old picture but you can see his lethal fang here quite clearly! Eventhough he doe snot have as many teeth as a young kitty, he can sure pack a punch with the ones he does have now.

The pill popping saga has not ended yet. I much appreciate KXBC's advice and encouragement - 8 pills in under 2 mins! WOW!!!

The last time I had to do this, he bit me and sank his only canine into my forefinger. The pill that he kept spitting out melted under the onslaught and I then just smeared it across his gums and what was left of his teeth! So he actually had to eat it anyway. After the whole event was over, he looked calmly at me and asked me to open the bathroom door. I had sequested us in the bathroom as he could not run away to escpe under beds and tables!

Of course my forefinger is still slightly swollen from that one fang! This Megat is a real fighter! and of course I will continue to practise. I just hope I don't have to pill the real lion in the house - Bujang!!!

Constipation

2009-06-07T22:16:00.000+08:00

Really san..you should just have called the hospital..tsk...

I was really concerned and anxious for Megat as he had tried to go to the toilet twice today and was not successful at the 'poo' business. I followed him the 2nd time he tried and saw him trying vainly to poo. I had given him some pumpkin for dinner and he ate some of it. Actually this week he was not very eager at eating dinner at all. So I went to the web to read up on ts and saw Online vet. of course, always curious, I asked my question and after 5 minutes got an answer. Of course I didn't have to honour my promise to pay the vet through paypal but I thought I should as she had ansered the question (at least I hoped it was so and the question was not naswered by some robots!)

PS: Eversince I gave him pumpkin, he has been very regular and it was today that I noticed he was not going regularly! I immediately thought of that this might be one of the side effects of the treatment. :(

I thought I should post the answer since I had bought it.

My question

My cat has not been able to poo the whole of today. he tried twice but was unsucessful. he is 13 years old and has just had Vincristine IV on tuesday 020609 and 1.5 tablets of pendnisone 5mg. Can I give him anything to help him with this constipation? I gave him some pumpkin but it didnt help him.

The answer

Hi,
Oftentimes milk will be a natural laxative in cats. I would try giving him several tablespoons of milk to see if that will help soften his stool. I don't generally find that increasing the fiber in a cat's diet helps with constipation, so I wouldn't give any more of the pumpkin. Sometimes giving a hairball medication, like laxatone or petromalt, can help stool "slide" easier.

The more liquid you can get in your cat, the better. If he likes canned food, I would feed him that and actually mix a little more water in it to make it soupier. If he likes tuna, I recommend making "tuna cubes"--1 can tuna in a blender full of water. Mix well, then freeze as ice cubes. Give several cubes each day. Diluted low-sodium chicken broth is also good.

If the constipation doesn't resolve on its own in a day or two, I would take your cat to your regular vet. He may need an enema to get rid of really hard stool. Then your vet can prescribe something like lactulose as a stool softener for long-term use, if needed.

Good luck!
Dr. Scarlett

Dr. Scarlett (Online) -- Cat Veterinarian -- 100% Positive Feedback on 146 Cat Veterinary Accepts
I am a practicing small animal veterinarian with 14 years experience.

Anyway megat had a few licks of milk (before I went online of course) and now he is already in his night cage. I had always made his wet food dinner more soupy right after he had to have the sub qs. Maybe I would try the tuna ice cubes. :)

Pilling Megat

2009-06-07T11:17:00.000+08:00

dear san

I feel that you should practise with offur cats more before trying to pill me with the yukky prednisone yourself. You were lucky this morning and on a second try at that..hee. You know I will try my very best not to eat that pill willingly and I know that you will always try to get me to take it. We will see which one offur us will be victorious! VIVA LA CHAT!

your chat
megat

Prednisone blues

2009-06-06T22:07:00.000+08:00

I dun have to take it just because you think I should san...

Trying to get Megat to take his dose of prednisone is an uphill task. He took it in his food for the first 3 days and then he refused to take it all of yesterday (1.5 tabs). He refused to eat the food that I had put powdered prednisone in twice. Then this morning he decided to not eat nor be enticed by even the tuna juice with the prednisone.

I was getting perfectly desperate and anxious when sister S (who is here on a break) taught me how to give him the pill directly. "Scuff his neck and open his mouth with your forefinger. Then place the pill at the base of his tongue, near his throat. Close his mouth gently (so he could still breathe) and caress his throat so he would swallow. Wait and see him lick his lips. Then you would know that he has swallowed his pill. " She then showed me how to do it and Megat took his pill very gracefully. I then tried it for myself for his 1/2 tablet and it was quite successful.

So I am now very encouraged and am quite confident to do it all by myself tomorrow morning. I don't think it would hurt him very much that he had lost his 2 tablets. !! I hope not *cross fingers*

However with Megat, I know that he would refuse to open his mouth some time next week and so I would have to come up with something else sooner rather than later.

Thursday Update

2009-06-04T19:09:00.000+08:00

Megat taking in the breeze

Megat is feeling quite well. He is his sual self and very greedy, as always. I wonder how a cat that eats so much has become so thin. He is now 3.62 from 3.65. The office manager who helped Dr P to take his blood for the hematology tests was very surprised. "He is so thin! He used to be bigger!" she exclaimed.

He is usually very good at taking his meds but I guess the milk thistle does not taste good at all. This morning I thought I would try giving it to him myself but he spat it out. So I guess it would have to give it to him on alternate days. I could put it in his food but I do not want to mess with his prednisone.

Last night he was rather warm so i put the chilled water cushion for him. I was gld to see that his apetite was back and he ate his night snack and salmon treat happily.

Today he was his usual self, sitting with grandma and I and only tried to harass Toro once :) So maybe Dr P is right. The side effects of no appetite does not last long. This is good news as he cannot get any thinner I hope.

Letter to My Cat after his 1st chemo

2009-06-03T00:11:00.000+08:00

Dear Megat

You were as usual very brave at the vet's. They told me you were a very good patient but we know that already although it did not hurt to be told that again :) I hope you did not think that I was very rude not to consult anyone about the chemo but you know it would have been as difficult for them too to make such decisions.

I hope the 45 minutes was not too bad. I sometimes do not know how it must be as you were calm but later, in the taxi, you were aquiet and looked calmly about as though nothing of consequence had happened but we both knew that something had.

The doc told me that I should give you only a little canned food to eat as you may vomit the whole thing up again but you did not. I had grounded the prednisone well and I hope you did not taste it too much. I am sorry I could not give you any more of your favourite canned food cos , well you know, we did not want you to throw it all up again. I was very glad you took the milk thistle in your stride :)

I was quite anxious when you had a temperature and I saw you were trying to find some where cool to rest. I called the hospital at 10 pm and asked them if you should even be having a temperature and they said it with chemo patients, this could happen although it does not happen to every patient. I am sorry it had to happen to you. I had put the cool water cushion in the freezer and then at one side of your cage so you could have somewhere cool to rest if you needed it. I am glad you still felt that salmon treats should be eaten no matter what. No, it doesn't matter if you do not eat the dry food that I had placed in your cage in case you got hungry. I know you look forward to this every night. The doc said it would be better after 2 days at most.

Be Well Megat...goodnight

1st Chemo for Megat

2009-06-02T23:34:00.001+08:00

Oh dear. I know that light in your eye san...

Dr P informed me of the chemo protocols and what was in his future if I elected for him to have chemo. He would have a cycle of 8 weeks of chemo before we would have to do an ultra sound to see if the chemo was having any positive effect on him. Megat would also have to have a blood test every week before the doc progress with anything else to see if it was possible for him to continue.

The side effects would be - vomitting, no appetite, listlessness and if he should lose any hair, it would be his whiskers only. But the doc said it was unlikely that he would lose any as it would be only in extreme cases. She said that cats go through chemo relatively well but she needed me to be sure that that was the way I wanted to go. Whatever I decide, she said that his hematology tests must allow me to make the decision as if it was not good, then no chemo would take place.

As usual Megat was very good at the blood letting and then we had to wait for the results.

Megat's hematology test was not so good.

WBC = 3.97 (5.5 to 19.5 normal); PLT is 33 (300-800 normal); but his RBC is ok at 6.26 (5 to 10 normal) However even if his WBC is 3.97, it was still more than 2.5, which makes it ok for his first round of chemo with Vincristine.

And so I had to make a decision for Megat. Dr P showed me his personal chemo protocol and what will be done when.

We are doing Vincristine which is an IV; prednisone (a steroid at home which he takes every day at 1.5 tablets a day); cyclophosphamide ( a tablet at home) and adramycine - an IV. We have to be at the hospital every tue and the doc would take his blood test to see if he could proceed for the whole first series.

02/06 - Vincristine (45 minute IV) + prednisolone (steroid pills)
09/06 - cyclophosphamide (IV) + prednisolone
16/06 - Vincristine (IV) + prednisone
23/06 - adriamycine (IV if possible - depends on his platelets) + prednisolone
30/06 - rest
07/07 - Vincristine
14/07 - cyclophosphamide
21/07 - Vincristine
28/07 - adriamcycine
End of 1st cycle - Ultra sound to check mass and organs

And so I had to decide and I opted for the chemo. I know that a wiser choice would be to have a second opinion but I was afraid that the longer I waited, the worse it would be for him. He had a 45 minute IV with Vincristine and after a 20 minute wait time, we went home.

Milk Thistle

2009-06-02T12:44:00.000+08:00

Milk Thistle liquid form

Thanks to anonymous who told me of the homeopathy meds for Megat. I went to read up on it and it seems that some people found this useful for their cat's liver functions. One owner even used this to help her cat deal with chemotherapy. One recommended that milk thistle is given 2 days on with 3 days off.

I had alreday started giving Megat Milk thistle but that was the pill form and I had to cut it up into several pieces. Then I had to ground each small piece into powder to put in his food. This one would be easier. I can give it to him from the dropper or put it in his food.

The recommeded dosage from http://www.petwellbeing.com/cat-liver-disease-p64.cfm

To be given to pet twice daily. One drop for every 2 lb (1 kg)
Please note that the product comes with an eye dropper to count out the drops. This dropper is marked at 0.5ML and 1ML. The 0.5ML line is equal to 10 drops.
Product can be given with food or directly in the mouth with eye dropper.
Product will last for 6 months. Please refrigerate after opening.

However the one that I had brought came from a different company as this company did not have any international services to Singapore. I got this from iherb.com, thanks to Fresh Fry. iherb.com works fast and I got this supplement in a space of 4 days. Not bad.

Letter to my cat

Dear megat

I hope you don't mind me trying all this on you. It seems like a long shot but I think all shots are better than none. It won't be bad tasting I think. No I have not tasted it yet but you have had to eat many things more foul tasting than this and you had taken it in your stride. I do not know if this will work but I promised that I will try anything at all. I know you would tell me if I should stop trying but for now I think we will just have to take this one step at a time.

Btw I told grandma that she could take this supplement too, for her liver. She said, "Then I will meow like a cat!" She can be funny, that grandma. Anyway we are going to the vet to see Dr FP. I hope she can help us.

Letter to My Cat

2009-06-01T23:52:00.000+08:00

Dear Megat

I do not know how "your cat is well' ended with 'your cat has 4 months to live." It began and ended with those 7 words in a space of 3 days. I would not know how I would take it if the doc had said those words to me - "You have 4 months to live." What would I have done?

But this letter is for you. I do not know who had got it wrong for you. What were all those reviews for, all those days and months? It may be all of our faults for not looking at you enough or caring for you enough or for being too trusting that all will go well. Then again it may be none of our faults. It may be on of those things that life throws at you when you think you are looking. Life is strange that way Megat.

Do I keep a calendar and count down for 4 months or less and cross the dates out day after day? Do I get you chemotherapy and hope that you have a longer life. Is that selfish of me to wish you a longer life? I do not know. But know this - that I will do what it takes to give you what I think is best and I have to trust that it is the best that I can do.

This blog is more for me than for you. I think you should know that. I am better at writing down things. I will want to keep a record of what happens to you so I would remember things and maybe some way down the road, I would be able to figure out all this for myself.

I am sorry.