My sweet and precious 11 y/o feline companion has had a severe decline in appetite since a stressful event in early January. She's had quite a few diagnostic tests run recently and there has been no conclusion of any underlying condition (besides the stressful event). However, today Dr. C thought lymphoma was a possibility.
She is currently under observation at the clinic where I work part-time. She is being force fed and given fluids as needed. She is also on medication for appetite stimulation and anti-nausea. I was in denial for a period and thought that I could avoid force feeding. I was tempting her with every food I could think of and trying to maintain baseline calorie intake with Nutri-Cal. When I posted my first thread about this I stayed up waiting for the first reply (at like 2:45a Hawaii time) and Jen L told me exactly what I needed to hear - force feeding was the next step and now was the time to take it. For that I want to thank her!!
I work with an amazing veterinarian - Dr. A. I trust her completely with Nipo and truly believe that if full recovery is possible, then it will happen under her guidance. She does not work on Tuesdays, so today I had the clinic's other two doctors look at Nipo's case and give me some feedback. Dr. C suspects possible lymphoma (Dr. A mentioned the "C" word yesterday as well). He couldn't pin down what it was, but when he palpated her abdomen it felt a bit "funny." We could aspirate and try to get some cells to test for cancer, but I'm not feeling ready for that yet. I just want to see how she responds to a few days of force feedings. We also took an abdomen x-ray and nothing looked abnormal. Well, except she was gassy – but that happens when you meow piteously every 4 seconds for the 2.5 hours Mommy visits. *sigh*
Dr. Z expressed some concern that her right kidney felt a little asymmetric or something – but this was something very subtle. I know an ultrasound would tell us more, but I want to wait on that. It is much more stressful procedure than quick force feedings, blood draws or sub-q fluids. It takes a long time and she has to be held on her back. She will also probably need her tummy shaved. That ordeal is more than I want to put her through for now, and it won't give us a definitive diagnosis since it is unlikely she has any LARGE masses.
I helped with her afternoon feeding and we administered her anti-nausea medication a full 45 minutes before her force feeding this time. Hopefully she will keep down today’s feedings. She had kept down the morning feeding as far as I know, but early this morning there was vomit everywhere in her cage and it's likely she threw up most of yesterday's feedings last night. I will probably go in daily to help with her afternoon feeding, she seems to be better when I hold (although she's not GOOD by any means) and she also calms down faster if I'm there. She's actually happier up on the exam table with me petting her than in the cage with me petting her. She was purring up a storm on the exam table! Very odd cat I tell you.
She still has a lot of things going for her...even if she is down to 7 lbs. from 9. She's FULL of spunk, life and indignation, LOL. She still has a LOT to say!! I look into her eyes, and I do not see sad, glossy or lifeless eyes- I see NIPO. I am hopeful that after a few more days of force feeding she will start gaining a bit of weight and may become more interested in food. Today when I offered her some treats she would smack her mouth distastefully after sniffing them. She'd also give me that "icky smell" expression that cats give, wrinkling up her nose and everything.
We'll probably run some more diagnostics with Dr. A tomorrow. Probably at least a urinalysis to get some quick feedback on her basic kidney function and we'll also likely send some blood off for an abbreviated panel.
Please keep Nipo in your prayers and pray that I make the right choices so that whatever time she has left with us is the best that it can be.
Also thanks for reading. Yeeesh, I wrote a novel!
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