Positive thoughts for Haggis:hyperthyroid+tongue lesion

[illustr8r]

Thank you everyone. We have an appointment on Friday morning to determine what, if any, options we have. They will do x-rays and blood work and more...my hubby talked to them because I was too upset. We are willing to do all we can if we can help him. Our vet said the specialists will give us straight talk and not false hope. So, we'll see. I can tell he doesn't feel well at all. Is it more than the stitches? Not eating and feeling weak?

I just feel so bad. What a terrible day. *sigh*

[Emeraldgreen]

Hi there. I'm so sorry to hear about your cat Haggis. I went through a similar thing with my cat Tiger who had Squamous Cell Carcinoma as well. He had a tumour in his nasal passage. I learned about Transfer Factor (a super immune booster) through Catty1 and emailed back and forth with a woman who had given it to her cat who also had S.C.C. Her cat was in very bad condition and she didn't want to put him through surgery. She scheduled his euthanasia but just couldn't go through with it. She started him on Transfer Factor and within months he was greatly improved until he was in remission. Her vet was very surprised and her cat is still with her today, years later.
I bought some and was able to give it sporadically to my cat Tiger but he was so fussy that he just wouldn't eat it if mixed in with other food. My other cats couldn't even tell it was in there because they would come up and try and eat his food but Tiger wasn't having any of it. I didn't want to force it on him because whenever I did that it was very stressful for him. I ultimately had to let him go to the Bridge after a year but I really think that if I had been able to get the Transfer Factor in him, he would have had a much better chance.
I have half a bottle left over and a whole bottle that has been compounded into a thick chicken flavoured suspension by the compounding pharmacy if you are interested. I would have to check with them first to see if it is still okay to use as it was compounded a few months ago. I have also offered this to KittyKatherine, whose cat is also fighting cancer. If she would like some too, I could send one of you the bottle and one of you the suspension.

Whatever you decide, my thoughts are with you.

[illustr8r]

Well, we have to come to terms that Haggis will be here maybe for another 2 months. Based on the size of the lesion removed they couldn't do any more surgery or if they did it would be radical with removing part of his jaw because it's likely already into his bone-plus radiation-plus a feeding tube and then he would only get another 6 months. What a miserable 6 months.

So, for as long as we have him he can eat all the cheese and sour cream he wants and the high carb kitty food. We have antibiotics to help the stitches heal from the biopsy which will ease the pain too plus pain killers for when that no longer works and high protein food that he can eat when he doesn't feel up to it so-less is actually more. Very sad. My husband said this is the first time he's had a pet where he knew that they wouldn't be around much longer and had to plan for-that day.

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions and offers. One day at a time I guess...

[Taz_Zoee]

I am sorry to hear about Haggis. They are both beautiful kitties.
Did you read the post above yours from Emeraldgreen? She suggests something that might help Haggis, if you are interested, or think it would work.
I'm with your husband. I've never had to deal with that either. Knowing that your animal is only going to be around for a while. I can only imagine how tough it is. I'm sure I will experience it someday, hopefully not too soon.

Anyway, welcome to Pet Talk and I will keep you and Haggis in my thoughts.

[Medusa]

I'm just so sorry to read about Haggis. I would like to suggest that you take Emeraldgreen up on her offer. She's been through the same thing w/her cat Tiger and it may give you some hope of keeping Haggis w/you a little while longer. I do know how tough it is when your vet tells you that one of your furkids doesn't have much time left. It's heartbreaking. Give that boy some gentle pets from me and (((HUGS))) to you.

[Catty1]

I am so sorry.

Do try the Transfer Factor. It certainly can't hurt.

{{{{hugs}}}}

[illustr8r]

I was so miserable about yesterdays diagnosis I glazed over about the Transfer Factor. I looked at their website but couldn't find the link to order it. I guess I'll look again. Anything is worth trying at this point.

EmeraldGreen- the chicken flavored suspension would probably be best. If you can point to the link where you bought it I can see if I can get it so as to not trouble you with shipping etc...

So far Haggis is doing okay. He is eating a lot but doesn't have his usual energy. Poor kitty.

[illustr8r]

Fingers and paws crossed that this will help.
Thank you again for all your prayers and online hugs. We really appreciate it so much. I'll keep you posted on how Haggis is doing...

[Catty1]

Emeraldgreen has some left over she can ship to you...so you needn't worry too much about the website (it can be a bit much to navigate even a simple site when you are upset.)

Even though EG's kitty Tiger refused the TF in ANY form whatsoever, he had taken it between a couple of surgeries, though not very much. However, the vets were surprised at how long and well he lasted.

So - ya never know.

HUGS!

[Emeraldgreen]

Yes, I would be more than happy to ship the already compounded chicken flavoured Transfer Factor to you if you'd like. However, I completely understand that you don't know me and you may be uncomfortable with receiving meds like this. But if you decide to, please PM me and I will send it off to you.
If you decide to just order right from the company, here is a link:
Transfer Factorhttp://www.transferfactor-us.com/.
And here is a video about the product. It's an infomercial but it does have some good info. :0)
The product is called Transfer Factor Plus. They do have one for pets but the success stories that I have learned about with regard to cancer have used Transfer Factor Plus.
Another woman Shelley, gave her cat, who was in grave condition, 3 or 4 capsules per day for a few months. She opened the caps and mixed it with butter and smeared it on her cats paw and then he cleaned it up. My cat would never go for that so I mixed it in with his food but then he got finicky after awhile and was very suspicious when he saw me mixing his wet food. That is when I took the bottle of Transfer Factor to my local compounding pharmacy and asked them to mix it with a chicken flavoured suspension which they have on hand for pet meds. Unfortunately he wouldn't eat anything with the suspension in it and I didn't want to force it. But as mentioned before, my other cats didn't even seem to notice it was mixed in the food, even when I just opened the capsules and mixed it in so it was just my Tiger that was such a stubborn boy.

I do hope you'll try the T.F. because this other woman has had such amazing success with it and her cat is still alive and this is years later after he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a tumour in the beginning but the vets cannot find any evidence of it.

And as Catty1 mentioned, the vets were amazed that Tiger lived as long as he did (1 year after his diagnoses). He did have 4 surgeries to remove the tumours that kept growing back but they were surprised at the slow growth of the tumours and I do attribute that to the T.F. even though I was only able to get about 1.5 caps every other day in him.

Anyway, I'm so sorry about the diagnosis. I know exactly how you are feeling. Tiger was with me for 12+ years and it was devastating to learn such news. My thoughts are with you.

[katslady]

hopes and prayers are with you. I also know of success stories with Transfer Factor. It would be worth a try.The time you have left is the most important of all,make both of you never regret it.Good luck katslady

[illustr8r]

I ordered more Transfer Factor- the type you recommended. My mother-in-law takes her pets to a naturopath (sp.?) vet so I will consult him about any interactions I may have to worry about.

I also came across this:
http://www.petwellbeing.com/cat-cancer-p28.cfm

Has anyone tried this?

Haggis is very aware of things that don't belong his food so he may not be too cooperative. I'll do what I can. So far he is behaving normal. I think the stitches in his mouth have healed and he feels better. He is eating a lot and played "whack an iphone" when I was taking close up pix of him laying on the dining room table (!) last night.

[Catty1]

Would Haggis like Pill Pockets?

They are a bit soft treat that pills go into, and many cats like them. Or - you may have to put the powder into them instead.

Emeraldgreen used salmon cream cheese! Later on, it caused too much 'gunkiness' in Tiger's throat. You could try really cheap stinky cat food - salmon flavour - which may mask the taste. As EG said, most of her cats didn't notice, so maybe Haggis won't either.

PT Prayers for Haggis!

[illustr8r]

Yes, I've tried Pill Pockets. He picks them up in his mouth and then drops them and looks at me like I'm crazy to think he'd eat such a thing.

I've been feeding them both plain ol tuna with their hyper thyroid meds mixed in. It works in the morning when they are super hungry but not so much at the end of the day. I find that Hamish eats all his but Haggis sometime leaves the crushed pills behind- little white parts go un-eaten. Next try is the pills pushed into cheddar cheese.

Thanks again everyone. Btween you and my BFF who has many pets and gone through this sort of thing before- I have some good shoulders to lean on.

[mamaducky]

I'm sorry for all the bad news you've had recently, but enjoyed seeing the photo of Haggis & Hamish (love the names!) -- they look just like my cat Zorro!

Good luck with the hyperthyroid meds -- I remember what a pain they were when we had to give them to our cat Murphy. We eventually gave up on it, but he still lived to be nearly 19. I hope Hamish's hyperthyroidism doesn't cause many long-term problems for you.

I had a similar experience with the Pill Pockets with all three of my current cats; even Einstein, who basically eats anything that will stand still long enough, won't eat them. Go figure...!

I'll be sending lots of positive thoughts your way that Haggis is himself again soon, and that both your guys do as well as possible!

All the best,
Diana