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.

Where have they gone san?

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.

Poly-mva - our new supplement

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.

Update after Cyclophosphomide

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

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...

Constipation

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. :)

Thursday Update

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

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