leukemia/lymphoma

[casmeow]

Our 13 yr old cat Wilbur was just diagnosed w/either leukemia or lymphoma. They want to run more tests to determine which it is.The vet said the treatment for both is basically the same, so we'd like to talk to an Oncologist before any more testing. We're leaning toward not doing chemo as Wil is such a big baby that even putting him thru test after test would be devastating for him unless I could be there - which I know is prob impossible. He is such a love and SO loved that we'll prob just let him live his life as he wants, prob increasing the prednisone that he takes for his Inflamed Bowel Disease. He's so happy at home w/us and after reading different articles about people treating their cats w/constant chemo & dr visits for a solid yr, only to have them survive a few months longer than w/out treatment, I think we'll opt for giving his quality time.

Please give me feedback as we are very devastated over this. Thanks.

[carrie]

Hi,
I have just read your very sad and touching message and for what it's worth I think you have totally the right idea. At the age your cat is and after having so much love throughout his life it would be awful to be put him through the trauma of such intense treatment. My thoughts are with you and my best wishes to you all.

[Betty]

So sorry to hear the news about Wilbur's condition. I believe your heart must be breaking and the hours you've spent deliberating over what to do have been too many. I also think you are making the right decision in doing everything you can to make Wilbur's time as comfortable and happy as possible. When our little guy was in his last months suffering from kidney disease, we opted to not put him through a lot of treatment, but adjusted his diet and monitorored his condition until it was no longer an option. We made the decision to say "goodbye" to our precious boy before his dignity was comprised and when he was still unaffected by pain. It was difficult at the time because he was still having "good" days but the "bad" ones were more frequent and harder to watch. We still miss him and always will, but know in our hearts that he had 16 wonderfully happy years of life.

You have a lot of support from kittie lovers everywhere - I hope this helps to ease some of heartache now.

Give Wilbur my love....

[gini]

Hello,
First, let me say how very sorry I am that your little Wilbur is ill. Next, let me add that if you decide to not give him treatments I agree that this is an excellent decision. In March of this year I lost my wonderful black cat, Magic. He was only 13.
At the time he was diagnosed and following the vets recommendation, I did give him the treatments. In hindsight, I would never do it again. You think you are doing the right thing at the time and it is out of love for your animal that you make the decision. I was told he could live for perhaps three more years and have a quality life. He hated those vet visits and was always sick
afterwards. Four months before I lost him I stopped all medication because he was only
violently ill afterwards. He did enjoy his
last four months and was able to be outside on the deck and sleep in between the potted plants which he loved. I wish you much good luck with Wilbur. I am sure you love him very much.


------------------

[casmeow]

Originally posted by gini:
Hello,
First, let me say how very sorry I am that your little Wilbur is ill. Next, let me add that if you decide to not give him treatments I agree that this is an excellent decision. In March of this year I lost my wonderful black cat, Magic. He was only 13.
At the time he was diagnosed and following the vets recommendation, I did give him the treatments. In hindsight, I would never do it again. You think you are doing the right thing at the time and it is out of love for your animal that you make the decision. I was told he could live for perhaps three more years and have a quality life. He hated those vet visits and was always sick
afterwards. Four months before I lost him I stopped all medication because he was only
violently ill afterwards. He did enjoy his
last four months and was able to be outside on the deck and sleep in between the potted plants which he loved. I wish you much good luck with Wilbur. I am sure you love him very much.

[casmeow]

Thank you so much for your reponse. But I am sorry that you and Magic had to go thru this also. Wilbur is doing fine at the moment - needless to say we're watching him like a hawk & spoiling him more than ever. He likes whipped cream & ice cream, but have to be careful not to give him too much as it can go right thru him! I was wondering - how long did the treatments lengthen Magic's life do you think? Our vet also said in some circumstances that they can live 3 yrs more, but from what I read that usually isn't the case. In fact, a girl kept a diary telling of her cat's experience w/chemo & it was heartbreaking to read of both of them going thru the trauma. From that I KNOW what you did and what we are doing is best for everyone involved. Thank you so much again - I really appreciated it.

Originally posted by gini:
Hello,
First, let me say how very sorry I am that your little Wilbur is ill. Next, let me add that if you decide to not give him treatments I agree that this is an excellent decision. In March of this year I lost my wonderful black cat, Magic. He was only 13.
At the time he was diagnosed and following the vets recommendation, I did give him the treatments. In hindsight, I would never do it again. You think you are doing the right thing at the time and it is out of love for your animal that you make the decision. I was told he could live for perhaps three more years and have a quality life. He hated those vet visits and was always sick
afterwards. Four months before I lost him I stopped all medication because he was only
violently ill afterwards. He did enjoy his
last four months and was able to be outside on the deck and sleep in between the potted plants which he loved. I wish you much good luck with Wilbur. I am sure you love him very much.

[casmeow]

Hi Betty. It was so nice to hear from you again - I think I spoke w/you a while ago. Thank you for your concern regarding Wil. He's doing OK right now - I just hope it holds. We're making him as comfortable & happy as we can. Thanks again. Carol

Originally posted by Betty:
So sorry to hear the news about Wilbur's condition. I believe your heart must be breaking and the hours you've spent deliberating over what to do have been too many. I also think you are making the right decision in doing everything you can to make Wilbur's time as comfortable and happy as possible. When our little guy was in his last months suffering from kidney disease, we opted to not put him through a lot of treatment, but adjusted his diet and monitorored his condition until it was no longer an option. We made the decision to say "goodbye" to our precious boy before his dignity was comprised and when he was still unaffected by pain. It was difficult at the time because he was still having "good" days but the "bad" ones were more frequent and harder to watch. We still miss him and always will, but know in our hearts that he had 16 wonderfully happy years of life.

You have a lot of support from kittie lovers everywhere - I hope this helps to ease some of heartache now.

Give Wilbur my love....

[4 feline house]

Casmeow, I am so sorry about your beloved Wilbur. I'm glad he's feeling okay for now. Maybe I'm not the right person to reply, since I have not been through this with any of my cats. I had a cat with kidney disease, but he passed away suddenly from another cause so I never had to make any decisions. I had another cat that a vet recommended being put down, but I refused to do it (becuase I had had a similar condition and recovered nearly completely). She did, indeed, recover, so once again I was never forced to make the decision of treatment or not when the only result is prolonging life as opposed to curing the disease. But I think I can add a few ideas to help you. First of all, cancer treatment is agonizing for us humans, too. But we thoroughly understand what is going on and why. Your poor Wilbur will only know that life has gotten pretty bad and he won't know why.

Also, I have been hearing the last few years about cats being put on dialysis. Kidney disease is very common in cats, especially as they age, and of course it is eventually fatal if something else doesn't bring about their demise. I think this is horrible and selfish. Having worked in a dialysis facility (human) and being a kidney patient myself, I can tell you that dialysis is a terrible thing to go through. You NEVER feel well again, it takes hours for each treatment, and you need treatments every couple of days. Many people decide it's not even worth it, discontinue their treatments, and die. To think that some people would drag their cats to the vet three times a week to stay for hours only to feel bad afterwards - and not even be able to understand why - I can't even fathom it.

Of course, whatever you decide about Wilbur's treatment is only your decision to make, and no matter what you do you will probably always think you did the wrong thing. I just pray that whatever you do, you will be able to make the decision based on whether or not his life is worth living anymore instead of how much you will miss him when he's gone. I know that will be very, very difficult because you DO love him so much. And, of course, the tragedy of life is that it ends in death. In other words, you are still only putting off what is going to eventually happen (based on what you say your vet has told you). The basis of the decision should be on whether the "putting off" allows Wilbur a few more months or years of joy or agony.

I hope I have not come off as being harsh, because my intention is the opposite. You clearly love your kitty alot, or you wouldn't be agonizing. I wish your kitty and his people the best and hope that my comments help.

[casmeow]

Hi Gini! I lost your e-mail address - could you drop me a note as I have an update on Wil. Thanks.

Originally posted by gini:
Hello,
First, let me say how very sorry I am that your little Wilbur is ill. Next, let me add that if you decide to not give him treatments I agree that this is an excellent decision. In March of this year I lost my wonderful black cat, Magic. He was only 13.
At the time he was diagnosed and following the vets recommendation, I did give him the treatments. In hindsight, I would never do it again. You think you are doing the right thing at the time and it is out of love for your animal that you make the decision. I was told he could live for perhaps three more years and have a quality life. He hated those vet visits and was always sick
afterwards. Four months before I lost him I stopped all medication because he was only
violently ill afterwards. He did enjoy his
last four months and was able to be outside on the deck and sleep in between the potted plants which he loved. I wish you much good luck with Wilbur. I am sure you love him very much.