Week Three Roundup

So, B12 shots and metronidazole are helping a little. The diarrhea is never ending, but the smell is less deadly. No more vomiting so far or accidents. The sofa cushions are safely in plastic bags wrapped in old bed sheets and there is a plastic picnic tablecloth under the comforter just in case. Callie is jealous and demanding attention. Maybe we are hitting stability. Better living through chemistry. Cat edition. 

Leaks

Cleo appears to be getting worse again. She still snuggles and purrs, loves her catnip mouse and tries to eat and drink, but so far today, nothing is staying in. I had cleaned vomit and diarrhea from floors and couch cushions 3 times before 8:30. I got to sleep around 2:30 after cleaning last night's mess off the carpet, so that sucked. The smell seems to be intensifying a little. 

I haven't paid off the vet bills yet, so she has to hold on. Darn it. Lying in bed writing this because I am tired/dizzy still. 

She doesn't seem to be suffering at all at this point, so I can't bring myself to give up yet. 

Meanwhile, Callie kept me up sleeping above my pillow because she kept grabbing my face with her paws and rolling onto my face. Today is gonna be long. 

One Week In

So, here are. Cleo is holding her own on 10mg Prednisolone and 2.5 of Pepcid. Yes, that Pepcid. Her vomiting is gone. She is no longer having accidents. She is currently sprawled in the sunshine under the living room window. She and Callie are sniffing each other with the usual mix of curiosity and animosity. Most of the time, life seems pretty normal.
Until we hear digging in the litter box. The smell follows her out, gagging humans and Callie. It has congealed a little, but it is still unmistakably not right. If anyone knows what c-diff smells like, it is close. It is not the same, it is less sour and more ... something else. One of us runs and grabs the scoop and the litter box spray. Glade was not made for this. Cover and spray. Fast.
I have been told cats with intestinal lymphoma who respond to the meds can last a year or two with relatively good quality of life. I wonder how anyone who smells so dead inside can last that long. I don't tell Cleo this. She is doing the best she can. And can't speak English. There is that.
Callie has taken over the high perch and the dominant role. Cleo doesn't care. I don't think she has the energy. As long as we spoil her and she gets to mark our shoes up, she is pretty content. In the old days, she would have fought tooth and nail. Seeing her give up makes me sad. But, she still plays with some of the toys and wants lap time and follows us around all curious as ever, so that makes it better.
The prescription diet z/d is staying down. I don't know if it is the meds or the food, so i am not messing with it... The food lasts about 3 weeks for 2 cats and petsmart carries it for under 30, so adjusting the budget accordingly. Their food is part of the grocery budget, so guess who will get less in all this... Yep. Low budget. Nothing learning about couponing won't cure, though! About time i did that anyway.
Callie likes to shred paper, so maybe she can help clip them...

Mass Destruction?

As of yesterday, Cleo lost control of her bowels and the diarrhea hit the ... everything. Today, we went to the vet. She escaped lethal injection by perking up and purring while we waited for the doctor. Actually, she escaped by no longer having a palpable mass. The food and antibiotic did not work. At all. So, it is, by default lymphoma. The mass reduced on anti-inflammatory medication, so it is probably the kind that will remit for a while. We got out cheaper than the permanent solution would have run and, more importantly, she got some shots that will jump start a more aggressive anti-inflammatory regime. No more metronidazole/flagyl. It was torture for her anyway.
For those given the option, go with the pill form of it. It is bitter, so you have to use a pill shooter, but the liquid is horrible and produces massive amounts of drooling for 5 minutes. The flavoring smells good, but the bitter is still there and can't bypass the mouth as easily as the pill. No matter how good it sounds, it is a very bad idea. I can not state this strongly enough.
So, back to prednisolone. I really hope she doesn't get the upper respiratory, damn i wished i had an immune system, infection again. If so... Being a grown-up sucks... The card is maxed out now, so she has to stay ok until i get it paid down some. Darn it. She must live longer than it takes to pay for her happy ass. That will put it past my birthday, so guess what i want for my birthday this year.
Callie still thinks she needs to be jealous. She is still wrong. She runs after Cleo sniffing her butt. She's all like, "We eat the same shit, we live in the same house... How the hell do you smell that bad?" She keeps chasing and sniffing as if unable to believe what she smells. Cleo takes offense and swats her sooner or later. Or just gives her "the look." Who knew cats could pull that off?
So, that's all the news. I have now been awake for 24 hours. Gotta sleep soon... Her first dose can wait until i wake up before work. Today is in the running for longest day ever...

In the words of the vet

FYI first: Intestinal lymphoma comes in two flavors. One doesn't respond to treatment, the other will maybe go into remission for a year or two with the meds she mentions. Neither is very good news.

Now to the cut and paste:
This e mail is intended to briefly re-iterate what we discussed on the phone.  If Cleo 
does indeed have an abdominal mass, and given her previous history, it is highly likely 
that she has intestinal lymphoma.  A more definitive diagnosis may be possible by 
ultrasound and aspirate of the mass.  Ideally this should be performed by the 
specialists at Upstate Veterinary Specialties in Latham.  We do have Ultrasound 
capabilities here, and we can try to obtain the aspirate.  Just keep in mind that we are 
not specialists and the detail on the ultrasound is not the same quality.  The cost at 
the specialists will be around 400$, if an aspirate is performed it could be 550$- 600$ 
(roughly).  The Ultrasound with Aspirate here would run approximately $400.  If you are 
interested in pursuing this here, we can schedule it for this Tues or Weds.
If you decide to not pursue further testing, and if the diarrhea persists, and/ or she 
becomes inappetant, or vomits again, You can re-initiate the prednisolone.  Start it at a 
lower dose initially, 5 mg once a day.  If she does not break with an upper respiratory 
infection and if she doesn't respond like we hoped, we can increase the dose.  If she 
does respond well, and if she has a persistent abdominal mass, we can discuss 
adding on Chlorambucil (Leukeran).
I hope this helps.  I really hope that the metronidazole does the trick and that the 
mass was just some fecal material.  Please keep me posted.
Jane

Intestines most foul

Cleo is symptomatic again. The two top contenders for diagnosis (cuz we are not doing biopsies and surgery) are irritable bowel syndrome and lymphoma. Treatments are similar. Prognosis is not. For now, we are going with the anti-inflammatories and will add a steroid if/when it becomes necessary. i hope their hunch is wrong and that mass they felt was fecal matter. At least the meds stopped the vomiting and diarrhea again. For now.

Callie is being a good sport, but a bit jealous. She does not want this sort of attention. We are trying to be optimistic. We are failing.

So, now the flavor of the cat chronicles may change a bit. Along with the smell of the house...