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Fletcher is still doing well. He still gets injections of Vincristine every 2 weeks, and on the alternate weeks I give him two doses of Cytoxan.
He takes the "prednisone" twice a day. He is still very thin, but his blood work comes back normal every 2 weeks.
I did learn that he (and many other cats) do better on Predisolone than they do on Prednisone. For the first month or two, he was on the Prednisolone, but when it got back-ordered, they substituted Prednisone. His appetite went down a bit, and he's thrown up a few times. The Prednisolone is a metabolite of Prednisone, and is apparently tolerated better by cats. Sometimes both formulations are referred to as "prednisone" so it's important to check on which version your cat is taking. Our bodies break down prednisone into prednisolone and then the body can benefit from the steroid's effects.
His weight has been going up and down every visit, between 9.2 lbs and 9.8 lbs. (He has a big frame, so even though this sounds like a good weight, he's reeeeally thin. His healthy weight was around 15 lbs. He was once chubby at about 18 lbs.) It's been toward the lower end of the 9's since the prednisone change. But the vet found a compounding pharmacy that will make the prednisolone and it'll get fedexed to me today. It was not expensive, around $35 for a month's worth. So hopefully he'll put on a little weight. He does seem hungry, and I feed him several times a day, but he walks away before finishing the bowl. Still eating the special Royal Canin "Recovery" food which is super-nutritious and made for dogs and cats who are malnourished or going through cancer tx.
The mirtazapine did nothing for his appetite, so we stopped it. It was just putting more chemicals in his body, and him fighting with another pill, with no actual benefits. Mirtazapine does help some cats going through chemo, so it still migth be worth a try with your cat.
He still acts really healthy--he's playful and affectionate, and loud, as usual. He seems to like going to the vet hospital, and he purrs and yells when he sees the nurses there, and he head-butts them.
Everyone in cancer treatment should be feeling so good and doing so well!
Chemo can really improve the quality of life for a lympho kitty. I am so glad to hear Fletcher is doing well. As he gains some weight, he will certainly feel better.
Thanks for the update on Fetcher! I'm glad he is doing so well! How much longer will he be on the chemo? Will he have to take the steroids forever? Can you offer him other wet foods, to help spark his appetite?
As usual this thread sends me to hell & back. I so hate hearing of this & often wonder what in hell our creator did to have us deserve this lesson. I'll say this; I so hope that all these furbabies, that enrich our lives yet succumb to these earthly BS diseases, come back in our after-lives to allow us to cherish them forever in another world.
Hey I'm not greatest orator here but I do think that if I convey any sensible meaning to anyone here, I do so allowing you to know that we are so intertwined w/ their lives, & far be it from me to understand that relationship, other than to embrace the time together & know that we ALL will be happy again together once our earthly time & dues are paid.
God Bless you & your kitty, & if I could trade places w/ your kitty, I surely would -- as what are our lives w/out the love & devotion we get & give daily to the least of our brothers -- that being our beloved animals.
Emotions overcome anyone w/ heart. Most here have heart & hence even worry to question the health of a loved one, i.e. our cats. Thank you to all here, that really know what is important when it comes to living creatures & our furry companions. God Bless you all here & may you always find comfort from His strength even if you're a non-believer. I so realized that I have zero power to do much but rather simply to get inspiration from somewhere else. It certainly ain't from within, that is for sure.
Most people just can't understand, it has to be felt in the heart how our babies leave permanent paw prints of love. You really touched my heart and made me cry this morning. It's so refreshing to know there are other fur parents out there who actually get it and feel their beloved are family members.
We basically feed him whatever he wants. He eats the Recovery food, mixed with water, about 4 times a day. Plus, I cook him salmon or chicken every few days.
He sometimes steals the one dog's canned food out of her dowl (she's a slow eater) and we let him eat it since Blue Buffalo is very high quality, human grade food, and even though it has more carbs than I cat needs, I figure he could use all the calories he can get.
He will throw up any dairy product, even though he begs for it--anytime I have cereal with milk, he jumps on my lap and yells. but we learned the hard way he can't handle milk (projectile vomiting, even before the cancer).
I even cooked him some "egg beaters" the other day and he scarfed them up.
The problem with his appetite is that he seems hungry, and when we first give him food, he enthusiastically digs in, but then before it's finished he walks away and doesn't want any more.
We had the same issue with our lymphoma kitty. We just learned to feed her smaller quantities more often.
^^ that. My little girlie, while she wasn't struggling with cancer and chemo, had trouble eating more than a few bites at a time. I fed her tiny meals constantly, even coming home for lunch every day, and getting up twice in the night, every night.
Also, he may have some nausea. Instead of an appetite stimulant, perhaps an anti-nausea, or even pepcid (famotidine) to help him keep his appetite. Check with your vet, of course.
I'm glad he likes his food, and I agree with give him whatever he wants to eat, be it people food or even a bite or two of dog food now and then (within reason of course, safety comes first)
Thanks for keeping us posted, this thread and your Fletcher may help a lot of people over the ensuing years.
So Fletcher has been on the chemotherapy over 3 months now (I think 12 weeks). He's been going in every 2 weeks for blood work and Vincristine (it is an IV-- I was incorrect earlier when I thought it was just a shot). Then on the alternating weeks, I give him oral Cytoxan. He takes prednisolone twice a day.
He is still in very good spirits and acting normally. But he did lose more weight. He had been bouncing around in the 9.2-9.6 lb range, but now he's at 8.8 lbs. He's a big-boned kitty, so this weight is very thin for him, while it might be normal for other cats.
We tried a few days of an Rx HP food for cats with inflammatory bowel disease (since his intestines also show imflammation which may or may not be due to the intestinal lympoma) but it did not seem to affect his appetite. And his stool is still mushy. He was not happy having to be sequestered in a room either, but we couldn't let him eat other food, or let the other cats get his Rx food for those few days. To me, the quality of his life is the most important, and being locked up to eat food he's not thrilled about is not good quality of life, when he likes to be all over the house sharing food with the other cats.
We are going back on 10/4 for a follow-up ultrasound. If the cancer is still not visible, they might start tapering back his chemo, which they usually do at 4 months (we'll be at 3 1/2 months). But since his cancer has responded so well, the rest of his blood work is great, and his appetite is not great, coming off the chemo earlier might be the best thing. He seems hungry, and yells for food all the time, and when I give it to him, he starts eating voraciously. But then he walks away before it's done and loses interest quickly.
I give him canned RC Recovery food, alternating with canned premium kitten food. I'm glad he's starting grazing on the hard food again, which is out in bowls all day...he had stopped that for a few months, and hard food was always his favorite. I still cook him chicken or fish a few times a week. And oh, he proudly caught and swallowed a moth that flew in the kitchen door the other night! So he's still the mighty bug hunter he always was!
Not sure if others with cancer kitties have gone through this. The cancer is responding well, his mood is great, behavior is normal, but we just can't get his weight up.
Hi. I just today found your thread and I am very happy that Fletcher is responding and doing so well. We have lost two of our babies to cancer, Cheddar was diagnosed with a mass in her belly after we took her in because she didn't "seem like herself", we truly had no idea she was sick. After lots of testing and x-rays, etc. they had her on the operating table when they discovered the mass and that it had already metastasized throughout her abdominal cavity. We had to make the immediate decision to let her go peacefully, and I still cry when I think about it. The second, my baby Callie, I lost this past February. She had been doing pretty well, and I had her to the vet only a month prior, her blood values were good (although she was hyperthyroid and being treated for it). She suddenly started sleeping a lot, seemed listless and again, "not herself" late one Friday night. We headed for the emergency clinic and they kept her for more tests, but they could feel a huge mass in her belly. Long story short, we said goodbye to my baby on Saturday evening - she was dehydrated and unable to sustain any meaningful treatment. I truthfully have not gotten over losing her - so I can't say more. Just know that personally, I think it is more prevalent in animals today, just like it is in people. My parents both died of cancer, and they lost a couple of Boston Terriers with inoperable tumors as well. I wonder if it is environmental - but who knows. Thank you for taking such good care of your Fletcher, and I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers that his treatments continue to go well, he is renewed and you have many more happy years together. Sending you a big (((hug))).
So sorry to hear about your babies (and your family members!)
I'm sure other cats I've had, have died of cancer, but because they were older, or they went downhill so quickly, we didn't go through all this treatment.
Several of my cats went through this scenario: Doing fine, acting fine, reached an advanced or moderately-advanced age, then suddenly dropped weight. Took to vet, blood work showed organ failure--usually kidney or liver--already too far along to do much about it, without unfairly putting the cat through lots of trauma. We just kept them as comfortable as possible, and then if they stopped eating/drinking/peeing/pooing, or if they showed any evidence of pain, we'd have them put down so they would not suffer. But Fletcher dropped weight, but was acting just fine, and like I said earlier, his lab work was just fine, so we had the opportunity to do something about the cancer. Plus, he's unique among our cats in that he doesn't mind going to the vet. The others are traumatized by just going in for a checkup and a shot, so repeated visits for treatments would not mean a good quality of life for most of them. But Fletcher is quite happy to go for his treatments, and he purrs and head-butts everyone there.
All of my animals (except one of my dogs) are rescues. If they didn't end up with me, they'd be dead or living on the streets. I feel like it's my duty to give them the best quality of life possible, even if it's not a very long life. I wouldn't be doing this with Fletcher if it didn't seem like he was not just getting more time to live, but getting quality time. I think my other cats that died, and probably yours too, just hid their symptoms until it was too late to do anything. But I know that the time they did have with us was wonderful, and their periods of being sick were very brief.
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I so hate hearing of this & often wonder what in hell our creator did to have us deserve this lesson. I'll say this; I so hope that all these furbabies, that enrich our lives yet succumb to these earthly BS diseases, come back in our after-lives to allow us to cherish them forever in another world. 
Just know that personally, I think it is more prevalent in animals today, just like it is in people. My parents both died of cancer, and they lost a couple of Boston Terriers with inoperable tumors as well. I wonder if it is environmental - but who knows. Thank you for taking such good care of your Fletcher, and I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers that his treatments continue to go well, he is renewed and you have many more happy years together. Sending you a big (((hug))).
