Thumper Update Post #22

[Craftlady]

We went for a recheck after completing 14 days of antibotic for bladder infection. Also to check if she was constipated (she is not.

She lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks :eek: :(

I've been feeding her twice a day total of 1/2 can (3 oz) size of Fancy Feast Gourmet Chicken.

Wet food alone is NOT good because there is NOT enough nutrients like dry food.

So, I took 1/2 cup of kibble and ground it with water to make a paste. After that I took water juice from tuna and mixed 2 tsps in the mixture.

SHE LOVED IT :) :)

I'm going to feed her more often than 2x a day.
Hoping to get 1/2 cup of this mixture eaten in a day.

Please keep Thumper in your thoughts and prayers.

[Catty1]

Prayers for dear Thumper!!! I am glad she is eating well!

Is there anything else to try regarding her tumour? Even a different Reiki practitioner?

I hope I am not being pesky...just concerned for the feisty little girl!

[Craftlady]

Is there anything else to try regarding her tumor? Even a different Reiki practitioner?

A different Reiki Practitioner has started to work with her.

[AbbyMom]

Sending warm thoughts and prayers for dear Thumper.

[jennielynn1970]

Awe... Thumper girl... you need to gain some weight back and get better sweetie! We all want to see you healthy and happy again! Thoughts and prayers coming your way.

[Laura's Babies]

The first thing I did when I got back from work was check for updates on Thumper. I hope she continues to eat and get over that infection.

[catmandu]

The Found Cats , Porch Cats , Poofed Cats And I Are All Sending Prayers That Thumper Continues To Improve And Loves Her New Diet.
The Pet Angels Will Sneak Snacks Into Her Food To See If That Will Help.

[Craftlady]

I've given her 3 feeding today. She ate at 7 a.m.
Two since coming home from the vets (12:30 p.m. & 5:45 p.m) I may try little food around 10 p.m. before I go to bed for the night.

She likes the paste kibble mixture but I need to make up the paste as she eats it because it tends to get too pastey as it sits in the refrig. I did try mixing with a little bit of wet food (more kibble stuff than wet) and she like that too.
So I'm slowly getting a mixture that suits Thumpers appetite. :)

[krazyaboutkatz]

I hope that she'll start gaining some of her weight back and I'm glad to hear that you've come up with a good food formula for her. I'll continue to keep her in my thoughts and prayers.

[rosethecopycat]

I've been feeding her twice a day total of 1/2 can (3 oz) size of Fancy Feast Gourmet Chicken.

Wet food alone is NOT good because there is NOT enough nutrients like dry food.


And, there is no Taurine in Fancy Feast. It is not a complete diet.

Anyone feeding exclusively FF, should feed something with Taurine too.


Prayers for Thumper

[Craftlady]

And, there is no Taurine in Fancy Feast. It is not a complete diet.

Anyone feeding exclusively FF, should feed something with Taurine too.


Prayers for Thumper

We learned the hard way on FF for her to eat soley.
I still provide it to others as a snack (they eat dry food).

Still havent gotten the dry food mixture just right yet. Today I did mix pinch of wet food in eat bit which helped the constancy and enhanced the taste.

[jenluckenbach]

And, there is no Taurine in Fancy Feast. It is not a complete diet.


OMG! I did not realize that!!! How can FF be considered CAT food without the critical ingredient? (sorry, I am not hijacking the thread, I was just amazed at this fact) :o

[kb2yjx]

Glad to hear that Thumper is eating!!! However, like Jen, I am TOTALLY shocked that Fancy Feast DOES NOT have Taurine!!!!!!

[Craftlady]

FF lists it by percentage 0.05% in the gourmet chicken brand, but does not name it in the ingrediants list of the product.

Authority (petsmart brand name) actually lists the ingrediant plus the percentage 0.07% of taurine that is included in the product.

What's the difference?
Is Taurine in both products?

[jenluckenbach]

I also have recently looked at the FF labels. and it DOES say Taurine .05%. Confused :confused:

[Craftlady]

Sunday 6-3-07
3 feedings today - total of 1/2 cup of dry kibble (ground up/wet paste consistancy) was eaten :)

[Catty1]

C'mon Thumper - be a little piggy! :D

[rosethecopycat]

I also have recently looked at the FF labels. and it DOES say Taurine .05%. Confused :confused:

I was told this by the cat food expert at the training session I attended in VA.
Maybe it doesn't meet the recommendations?

Sorry for the confusion, I will try to investigate more before I throw out any information on folks.

[Medusa]

Glad to hear that Thumper is eating better. She sure does like to scare ya, huh?

[Craftlady]

Glad to hear that Thumper is eating better. She sure does like to scare ya, huh?


Yep, she is doing a great job at it LOL

I'm getting the mixture of wet food & dry ground up pretty good. I do measure out the 1/2 cup for the days feedings. So, at the end of the day I can tell how much she consumed for the day. I'm not stressing out if she happens to not eat the whole 1/2 cup. She is getting feed 3 times a day, it's working out to be every 6 hours. The first meal of the day she is a chow hound (from over night).

I called the vet's office today and they said I'm on the right track for getting enough calories etc into her. My vet said "give her all she wants".

[Catsnclay]

I know this is very late and I apoligize for not keeping up to date, but my vet recommends Baby food!


Gerber's #2 in either the chicken or turkey. Add a little into the dry or wet foot to"boost" their interest. Have you ever smelled that stuff :rolleyes: Ugh, poor (real) babies and kitties!!

But the stinkier and smellier = the better to get their attention! Oh well..........



P.S.

How is her tumor doing?????

[Craftlady]

I know this is very late and I apoligize for not keeping up to date, but my vet recommends Baby food!
Gerber's #2 in either the chicken or turkey. Add a little into the dry or wet foot to"boost" their interest. Have you ever smelled that stuff :rolleyes: Ugh, poor (real) babies and kitties!!

But the stinkier and smellier = the better to get their attention! Oh well..........
P.S. How is her tumor doing?????

Fancy Feast Gourmet Chicken is now her favorite. I mix it with ground up dry food. She is now getting enough calories a day to maintain her weight, she thankfully hasnt lost anymore weight. When on wet food only which isnt a good diet, because there isnt enough calories. We found out the hard way when she dropped from 17 lbs to 12 lbs in 2 weeks. :(

Answer to how the tumor is doing. It's getting bigger :(

She can only groom under her chin, guess what happens to that area of the chest? Thumper is now bald in her chest area. I'm going to make her little bandanna to cover up that area so maybe hair can grow back.

[jennielynn1970]

Awe... poor Thumper! Isn't there anything that they can do for the tumor?? Poor sweet girl! :(

[Catty1]

Jenn - there was some initial progress with a Reiki practitioner, as the vets all said it was inoperable and untreatable.

There is a new practitioner now...but it's hard to believe that even a laser treatment couldn't be tried...

But Becky leaves no stone unturned!

PT PRAYERS for a MIRACLE.

[Craftlady]

Jenn, As to the question of laser treatment/radition. We discussed that with the specialist who did the biposy back in October. He does chemo (which wouldnt help this tumor, btw in case someone wanted to ask me this question) only.

The radition treatments had we chosen to do that would have to be done in Cincinnati, Ohio at the location where we saw the surgeon. This is 1 hr 20 mins (give or take) from our home here in Kentucky 1 way. We would of had to leave her there for several weeks to do treatments because going back and forth was not feasable on a weekly basis. Option of a vet school is not close either, in case some are wondering. University of Cincinnati is just as far as surgeon. University of Kentucky in Lexington is 45 mins one way.

Believe me we would of MOVED MOUNTAINS for her and have I feel up to this point in time. We have to be reasonable and practical, that sucks because you want to do anything for our fur babies.

Also, radiation treatments were not going to be cheap. Thousands of dollars to be spent WITH NO GUARENTEE that it would help her type of tumor, it's that freaken rare. Her pet insurance wouldnt pay. We dont qualify for any help from organization. She could of come out worse shape after treatment.

The specialist who did the biopsy truefully told us it would not help. We were willing to go to end of earth but facts are facts, reality is reality. IT SUCKS


We have small mircles which we take!!!!
Today Thumper decided to show mom she wanted to eat kibble and not the mashed up stuff for lunch. Again at dinner she walked over to the bowl and started eating the kibble. So she mixed her meal with kibble and mashed. Total OH JOY momemt for us. :)

Cathy, you are right we dont leave any stone unturned. Believe me we have run the "what if" "where if" "when if" senarios (spell?) with all the vet experts.

I hope now everyone will understand a little better what we are dealing with on a daily bases. We have sought the best professional help available to us.
Listened to their advice. IT SUCKS to hear there isnt anything that can be done in the modern vet medicine world.

I'm so thankfull that the Reiki gives us small mircles when we least expect.

Keep praying for us and Thumper.

[jenluckenbach]

Thanks for the re-cap (this old mind forgets a LOT). And you are correct, facts are facts. It is agony to know there is little to nothing that can be done. But you have the right frame of mind.....cherish the small joys. :)

[Catty1]

Becky - I am likely grasping at straws, but recently a young baby in our parish
was diagnosed with a growing brain tumour. I remembered the following(I had read it in the original version), and searched like crazy on the internet. JUST IN CASE it might help, I forwarded it to our priest who was working very closely with the family.

Little Larissa was diagnosed four days before Christmas, and died this spring, two weeks before her 1st birthday. This technique was not applicable.

BUT - I am sure you have grasped at every straw, too. You might want to email this to your vet specialists just to see what they think. If nothing else, it may help another animal.

Remember - this was written in 1973. Things could really have progressed with this technique since then.

HUGS and prayers for Thumper. Give her some scritchies for me. How is her mood? :)

************************************************** *******
Although the article says this technique "is applicable only to tumors fed by a capillary system that is easy to isolate", advances may well have been made since 1973.

I really hope this helps....

************************************************** *******************

From the Magazine | Medicine
Starving the Tumor
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHOR
Posted Monday, May 28, 1973

Technical progress in areas apparently unrelated to medicine can sometimes lead to spectacular medical progress. Dr. Robert Rand, a neurosurgeon at the University of California at Los Angeles, has demonstrated a particular knack for encouraging just that sort of scientific serendipity. A decade ago he borrowed from the emerging technology of cryogenics (application of temperatures close to absolute zero*) and helped to adapt an extremely cold probe to destroy hard-to-reach pituitary tissue in brain operations. Now Rand is making use of another recently utilized phenomenon: superconductivity. With the help of a powerful "superconductive" magnet, he is accomplishing knifeless, bloodless destruction of tumors.

Rand had previously employed magnetism in the operating room. In 1966, he injected microscopic iron spheres into blood vessels of patients who had suffered aneurysms, or "blowouts" in blood vessels in the brain. He used the magnet to hold the filings in place at the site of the rupture until new tissue grew over them to close the hole.

Rand's plan for destroying tumors required an even more powerful magnetic field. To get it, he used an electromagnet cooled by liquid helium to near absolute zero. That produced superconductivity: the virtual disappearance of electrical resistance in the magnet. This allowed a greatly increased flow of current and boosted the strength of the magnet to 3½ times that of the best alternate magnet available.

Iron Pellets. Rand then capitalized on the fact that tumors cut off from their blood supply die because they are unable to obtain nourishment or pass off wastes. To starve a tumor in one of his patients, Rand injected liquid silicone containing microscopic iron spheres into a blood vessel near the tumor. He waited until the material was carried through capillaries and into the tumor itself, then switched on his strategically placed magnet, which attracted the iron pellets and fixed them in the tumor. The spheres confined the viscous, quick-setting silicone, preventing it from entering the main bloodstream, where it could cause obstructions. The solidified silicone will remain in the patient for the rest of his life. But the tumor, its blood vessels blocked, has already begun to wither and die.

Rand, who has used his new technique on only five patients so far, stresses that it is applicable only to tumors fed by a capillary system that is easy to isolate. Given that qualification, the procedure seems to be effective. A 70-year-old woman, unwilling to submit to conventional surgery for a brain tumor, underwent magnetic surgery in March. Rand cannot find the tumor with X rays any longer, and although he will not say that the growth has disappeared, there is good reason to believe that it has at least shrunk. The patient's eye, which had been forced part way out of its socket by the expanding tumor, has returned to its proper place.

* Absolute zero, the theoretical temperature at which molecular motion in all gases ceases, is -459.67° F.
From the May 28, 1973 issue of TIME magazine

[jennielynn1970]

I remember you saying that chemo and radiation wouldn't do anything very beneficial, and surgery was out of the question. I can't imagine leaving any of my babies at a hospital for weeks on end either... the stress wouldn't be good for her either.

I just hope that something will work out for Thumper. She's being such a trooper, not to mention you guys as well! I'd be in tears, I hate to say it, but I'd be a mess and probably doubling or tripling up on my anti-depressants, lol. I'm good in a crisis, but when it comes to emotional things like this with pets, I'm a goner!

My thoughts and prayers are with you, your husband and dear Thumper girl. Give her some gentle hugs and kisses for me. I'll be thinking of her!

[Craftlady]

I remember you saying that chemo and radiation wouldn't do anything very beneficial, and surgery was out of the question. I can't imagine leaving any of my babies at a hospital for weeks on end either... the stress wouldn't be good for her either.



Just to clarify for everyone.....

(1) Chemo: The type of tumor she has chemo wouldnt work for it.

(2) Radiation: The only option but that was leaving her at vet clinic hours away from home for weeks (no quarantees and big bucks) on end.

(3) Surgery: The tumor was to big and there isnt enough skin to cover that area once it would be removed.

[Catty1]

Okay....grasping at straws again....skin grafts or artificial coverings like they use in humans?

Sorry, Becky - I know you and your husband know what is best, as you are right there.

I guess I and some of us here are still going thru the part of the process where you try and think of EVERYTHING.

I'll stop thinking one of these days! :)

Hug the little gal for me! If anyone deserves a miracle, it's you guys!

[Catty1]

Becky - as you can see, I haven't stopped thinking yet! :p

Most info I found had to do with grafts on legs....but the mesh one here...hey, I can hope, can't I?

If this has a chance...you can bet you would get donations for Thumper, and iMOM would help you also.

I am sorry if this intrudes...I just don't want to watch the dear girl and have not tried to do anything...I know you know that feeling. And you have left no stone unturned.

I just like exploring rock gardens... ;)
************************************************** ******


Granulation: That part of the healing process in which rough, pink tissue containing new connective tissue and capillaries forms around the edges of a wound. Granulation of a wound is normal and desirable.


Five cats with large, distal extremity abrasion wounds were treated with an autogenous, full-thickness, mesh skin graft. Survival of the mesh grafts in all five cats was considered between 90 and 100%. Successful grafting requires asepsis, an adequately prepared recipient bed consisting of healthy granulation tissue, proper harvesting and preparation of the graft, meticulous surgical technique and strict postoperative care. Factors that are essential for the survival of skin grafts include good contact between the graft and the recipient bed, normal tension on the sutured graft, strict immobilization after grafting and prevention of accumulation of blood or serum under the graft. Meshing the graft provides more graft flexibility over uneven surfaces and allows adequate drainage. In contrast to previous proposals, the authors recommend no bandage change before the fourth day after grafting. Full-thickness mesh skin grafting can be used to successfully treat large distal skin wounds in cats.

Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, University of Missouri-Columbia.

Mesh grafts are split-thickness or full-thickness skin grafts in which parallel rows of staggered slits have been cut. The mesh incisions allow the graft to be expanded to cover large defects, provide a route for drainage of blood or serum from under the graft, and increase the flexibility of the graft so that it can conform to uneven recipient beds. Meshing can be accomplished using a no. 11 scalpel blade or a special meshing machine. The use of unexpanded full-thickness mesh grafts is recommended because their cosmetic appearance equals that of sheet grafts, but the mesh incisions still allow drainage of blood and/or serum from under the graft. This technique has been very successful, with 90 to 100 per cent "take" when the grafts have been applied on healthy granulation beds.

[Craftlady]

I appreciate your thought thinking process BUT.....
However, sadly the facts of her condition are way beyond any surgerys. I will explain below.

(1) The tumor is a 17 inch circle (from ear to ear). I just measured today. It's probably doubled in size since October (educated quess).

(2) The surgery specialist in Cincinnati said the tumor was inoperable. IF we had insisted on surgery, Thumper would of died on the operationing table. 2 main reasons a) you cant take away size of her tumor and have an animal live b) anesthesia would of killed her.
Guess that's as plain as any surgeon could tell am owner of an pet.

(3) A non mute fact, our income is way above the Imom standards for help. I would never ask for donations.


I appreciate your enthusiasm in researching stuff for Thumpers condition.
I ask that it please stop.

Please keep her in your prayers.

[Catty1]

Okay, Becky - I will stop. I apologize.

PT Prayers will have to suffice!