Dear penny

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 :)