Willa

[cats4ever]

Last week, Willa had a little setback, with vomiting and watery diarrhea, despite her meds.
I had her checked by her veterianarian, unfortunately Willa had lost almost half a pound, and now is barely 6 pounds.
She got subcutaneous fluids and an anti-nausea injection, and I started anti-diarrhea meds.
I asked her doctor, if I was being selfish and if it was time to let Willa go. She assured me it wasn't time yet.
Willa is still eating, she's giving head bumpies and sloppy kisses. She's also cleaning herself and not missing the litterbox.
Yesterday I ordered the chemo drug Chlorambucil to treat possible Lymphoma (no diagnosis, just a hunch by the veterinarian whom I trust completely). I should get them tomorrow.
Hopefully they will make a difference.
59611

[phesina]

Sending along loads of love and prayers and warm healing energies for darling Willa.

{{{{HUGS}}}}} and ~~~~PURRRS~~~~ and :love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

[Catty1]

I hope the meds help sweet Willa. :love:

[cassiesmom]

Sending along loads of love and prayers and warm healing energies for darling Willa.

{{{{HUGS}}}}} ... and :love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

From me, too!!

[mon]

Praying Willa will heal too. Loving wishes sent.

[Felicia's Mom]

Willa is in my thoughts and prayers!:love::love:

[mbsmum]

Sending warm healing energies to Willa.

[Karen]

Prayers on the way!

[cats4ever]

Willa started the chemodrug Chlorambucil on June 23. She was doing well, eating, and her poop started firming up. Then, a couple of days ago, her appetite started decreasing again, despite the appetite stimulant. She keeps asking for food, but then she will take only a few bites.
I'm afraid that it won't be long now when I have to make the decision we all dread so much. I just wish this wouldn't make me feel so guilty, even though it is a kindest thing we can do to end pain and suffering.
Other than the appetite, Willa still acts like herself, she's alert, giving headbumpies, even following a kitty game on our tablet.
I will take her to work tomorrow to weigh her and to get some advice from her veterinarian.
Please send some healing thoughts.

[phesina]

Warm healing thoughts and energies and prayers and loving good wishes are being sent to dearest Willa and to you all, Heidi.

{{{{{HUGS}}}}} and ~~~~PURRRS~~~~ and :love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love: from Pat and Sparkler and Poppy

[mon]

Wishing you and Willa both kind and healing thoughts.

[cats4ever]

Shortly, after my post, I had a thought: What if Willa's symptoms are side effects of Chlorambucil?
I did some research, and I found that many people had seen the same symptoms in their cats.
I texted the vet to ask if I could dose Willa every three or four days instead of every other. She said sure.
I will try that. I guess it comes down to either Willa being miserable from abdominal issues or the drug.
Neither one is a great choice. I will watch her closely to make sure she's not suffering.
Thank you for all your well wishes.

[mbsmum]

Wishing Willa and you Heii best of luck. Hope decraesing the dosage will lessen the side effects.

[Catty1]

Smart mom for thinking of side effects! I hope the reduced frequency of dose will help Willa.

Cole is on a different type of chemo drug, but it's every other day as well. He gets 1/2 pepcid morning and evening to help his tummy with the chemo.

Get better soon, Willa. :love:

[Randi]

I'm glad to hear Willa is alert and giving headbumpies, but I hope she will perk up again, eat more and also drink enough

Most medication have side effects, but of course some are necessary. Have you got an answer about her diagnosis yet? In any case, it's good that you can decrease the dose.

Sending lots of positive and healing thoughts. :love: :love:

[cats4ever]

I'm glad to hear Willa is alert and giving headbumpies, but I hope she will perk up again, eat more and also drink enough

Most medication have side effects, but of course some are necessary. Have you got an answer about her diagnosis yet? In any case, it's good that you can decrease the dose.

Sending lots of positive and healing thoughts. :love: :love:

Thank you, Randi! The presumptive diagnosis is that Willa's IBD has turned into lymphoma.
The only way to get a definite answer is to get a biopsy of her intestines. She is 20 yrs now, and very frail. There is no way that I would put her under anesthesia. Maybe the meds can give her a little more quality time
Today, she's eating ok, but she started having terrible diarrhea again, so now I'm torn between giving her the Chlorambucil today or waiting one more day...

[cats4ever]

Willa had a really good day today, she's eating and no diarrhea.
She even made 2 new friends today:

59646 59647

[phesina]

How cute!

Well done, Willa!!!!!

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

[Catty1]

How sweet! Willa, I am so glad you are feeling better. :):love::love:

[cats4ever]

Today, Willa had her first CBC (complete blood count) after starting chemo. It looked pretty good.
Vet visits are very stressful for her, and therefore for me. She is so sweet at home, but there, she resists restraint and tries to bite which makes the blood draw very difficult. And we have to this every 2 weeks...
Unfortunately, she's still losing weight, despite eating ok. She weighs now 5.8 lbs, she used to be a 10-pounder.
I will continue her meds, and hope for the best.

[phesina]

We are sending loving good wishes and thoughts and prayers for dearest Willa and you, Heidi.

:love::love::love::love::love::love:

[Catty1]

Willa might gain weight more slowly than she lost it. I am glad her blood work was good and that she is eating.

There is a recovery type of cat food that has more of everything in it - you could ask your vet about it. Maybe kitten food also.

It's all good news so far. :) Willa, you need to get a tad chubbier yet. ;):love::love:

[cats4ever]

Willa might gain weight more slowly than she lost it. I am glad her blood work was good and that she is eating.

There is a recovery type of cat food that has more of everything in it - you could ask your vet about it. Maybe kitten food also.

It's all good news so far. :) Willa, you need to get a tad chubbier yet. ;):love::love:

Thank you, Candace. I think I know what food you are talking about: We have the Hill's Science Diet version, a/d, the "a" standing for anorexic. I might try it, also because as of yesterday, her appetite has gone down again. Funny that you mention kitten food, I got her some today.
Her appetite is such a rollercoaster, and right now my quality of life is worse than hers because it is just so stressful to make sure she gets all her meds and is eating enough.
I would gladly give her some of my weight.;)

[Catty1]

Thank you, Candace. I think I know what food you are talking about: We have the Hill's Science Diet version, a/d, the "a" standing for anorexic. I might try it, also because as of yesterday, her appetite has gone down again. Funny that you mention kitten food, I got her some today.
Her appetite is such a rollercoaster, and right now my quality of life is worse than hers because it is just so stressful to make sure she gets all her meds and is eating enough.
I would gladly give her some of my weight.;)

I really empathize with you. Cole gets chemo (Palladia) every other day, generics of pepcid and benadryl morning and evening, and two insulin shots a day. And I add Transfer Factor Plus to his evening meal.

When I was first getting used to the additional medications I did get overwhelmed at times. Cole is doing really well, so that helps. It must be so discouraging when Willa takes a step back.

What a vet receptionist told me after Cole's initial diagnosis: "Just love him."

Still thinking Willa could make a turnaround. Is she getting any Prednisone? As you know that can help shrink any tumours and increase her appetite.

{{{{hugs}}}} <3

[Randi]

I just remembered... there's a Royal Canin dry food "Sensitive" that Fister loved. Perhaps you could entice her to eat some of that. I searched online to find it again, but there seem to be different bags of it. The one Fister liked came in a bag with yellow on it.

See if you can get some samples of different foods from the vet.

Sending more good wishes, love and comfort to your little girl - and to you. :love:

[cats4ever]

Thank you, Randi and Candace.
At this point I have this eclectic collection of all kinds of foods, even Friskies, which I normally would not feed to my kitties, but hey, at this point, Willa can have anything she wants as long as she wants it.
Yes, she is on Prednisone as well. She has been on it for years, mainly because of her digestive problems, but also for previous asthma episodes.
She ate really well last night (it was the kittenfood with all her meds in it, including appetite stimulant), so she's been asking for food all day (hooray!).
How will you be able to tell that Transfer Factor Plus is working?
Willa is sending purrs to to everybody, and headbumpies to Cole.:love:

[Catty1]

YAY WILLA! :love:

[Catty1]

I hope Willa is still doing well. :):love:

[cats4ever]

Yes, she is doing fairly well. She is getting her appetite stimulant every day now, instead of every other day, to make sure she eats ok. The other day, she even chased the laser pointer.:cool:
Thanks, Candace, for checking on the old lady.

[Catty1]

Yes, she is doing fairly well. She is getting her appetite stimulant every day now, instead of every other day, to make sure she eats ok. The other day, she even chased the laser pointer.:cool:
Thanks, Candace, for checking on the old lady.

Chased the laser pointer?! There's a bit of kitten in her yet. :D:love:

[cats4ever]

I would like to ask everybody to send positive thoughts for Miss Willa. Since yesterday, her appetite has dropped to almost nothing, and whenever she eats a bite, she has diarrhea.:(
I'm afraid that we might be getting to end of the road.

[cassiesmom]

Will be praying :love::love:

[Catty1]

More prayers for sweet Willa and for you, Heidi. :love:

[phesina]

More positive thoughts and prayers for sweet Willa and you, Heidi.

{{{{{HUGS}}}}} and ~~~~PURRRS~~~~ and :love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love: from Pat and cats

[Catty1]

Heidi - any news? :love:

[cats4ever]

Right now, Willa is doing ok. She got her appetite back for now, and her poop is pretty good. Her CBC last week was ok, but she is still loosing weight.
She and I settled on kitten food, so I hope that it will help with the weight.
Thanks, Candace for asking.:love:
I did have a question about Transfer Factor Plus: How do you know that it is working?

[mbsmum]

purrayers on the way to dear Willa and you Heidi.

[Catty1]

Right now, Willa is doing ok. She got her appetite back for now, and her poop is pretty good. Her CBC last week was ok, but she is still loosing weight.
She and I settled on kitten food, so I hope that it will help with the weight.
Thanks, Candace for asking.:love:
I did have a question about Transfer Factor Plus: How do you know that it is working?

I don't KNOW that it is working. It had helped several PT cats, either extending their life span or removing the cancer completely.

After the tests earlier this year that confirmed Cole's mast cell cancer I knew it would be several weeks before we got going on surgery and treatment. (I had to apply for financing and funding as well.)

I decided to get the Transfer Factor Plus because I could at least start doing SOMETHING. Even if it didn't help Cole, it wouldn't hurt him either.

The first bloodwork result from the oncologist had her noting that there were some white blood cells present in reaction to the cancer. It was my thought that this must be a bit unusual since she actually told this to me.

But in the weeks before vet treatment started, Cole started needing less insulin for his diabetes. After he was on the chemo, the levels needed continued to drop. My local vet said that the lower levels showed that the treatment was working (chemo). But like I said, the levels needed started dropping after he'd been on the TF for a couple of weeks.

I provided a list of the ingredients to the oncologist and she had no concerns.

That's about all I can say. :love:

I am glad to hear Willa is doing a little better. :)

[mon]

Bless your hearts, most people would never even consider half of what you have done to extend the life of their cats. I would personally never do that. I am not really into prolonging a life when I am not quite sure I would want that done for me, animals can't tell you what they want. Clearly you know that, but going into financial debt and not really considering your own self... no.

[cats4ever]

Bless your hearts, most people would never even consider half of what you have done to extend the life of their cats. I would personally never do that. I am not really into prolonging a life when I am not quite sure I would want that done for me, animals can't tell you what they want. Clearly you know that, but going into financial debt and not really considering your own self... no.

Everybody has a different threshold and everybody has to decide for themselves what's right for their pets.
I know my cats very well. I know when they in pain or something else is wrong: vocalizing. not eating, not grooming, lethargy, hiding etc...
Willa is keeping herself clean, she never misses the litterbox, she's affectionate and she still plays a little. I also work very closely with her veterinarian to make sure she's not suffering.
And the money? I know what I can afford. And when I got my cats I knew there would be a lifelong financial and
emotional commitment.

[cats4ever]

purrayers on the way to dear Willa and you Heidi.

Thank you, Prathima.:love: Willa is sending headbumpies.

[Catty1]

Bless your hearts, most people would never even consider half of what you have done to extend the life of their cats. I would personally never do that. I am not really into prolonging a life when I am not quite sure I would want that done for me, animals can't tell you what they want. Clearly you know that, but going into financial debt and not really considering your own self... no.

I was lucky enough to get a grant from ACTSS (Animal Cancer Treatment Subsidization Society) that was $2500 and another one-time fund a friend applied for on my behalf for a special assessment (which I had already paid) around $2600. Plus, Tails of Help granted me $500. I was able to pay for the surgery and major testing which included a bone marrow aspirate.

I am so very grateful for all this help - and I had a GoFundMe which brought in some dollars as well. I even took on a paper route covering summer holiday shifts!

Aside from projectile vomiting Cole was not noticeably ill. He was pulling tufts of fur from his abdomen which stopped after he had his spleen removed.

There should be a chapter of ACTSS in BC. Also there is financing through petcard.ca. Rate is %17 and you can pretty much set your own payment time up to 6 years.

[cats4ever]

Willa's health-rollercoaster is on top right now, eating and no diarrhea. Yesterday, I caught her resting comfortably (til mom woke her up for a photo op;)). I always thought that her little feet were sooo cute (nobody is allowed to touch them!).

59719

[Catty1]

Willa's health-rollercoaster is on top right now, eating and no diarrhea. Yesterday, I caught her resting comfortably (til mom woke her up for a photo op;)). I always thought that her little feet were sooo cute (nobody is allowed to touch them!).

59719

Those are the cutest little feet! And even you can't touch them?

I am glad to hear she is on top of things right now. Stay well, sweet Willa. :love:

[phesina]

Dearest Willa, it's so good to hear how well you're doing! Do keep on keeping on! We are sending you all kinds of loving good wishes and prayers.

And you are adorable, with just the cutest little feetsies there!

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love: