[Felvtalk] Chemo was/Re: Brock update

[Margo]

I'm so sorry to hear all this possibly sad news.

I just wanted to comment on cancer treatment for animals. For our critters, the chemo is tailored to prevent discomfort, not cause it. I am not trying to tell anyone how to have their animals treated, but I would suggest discussing options with your Vet, or if possible an IM specialist.

Perhaps two doses of the Life Gold herbal mixture did have an effect on Tucker's illness, but I think it is more likely that the steroid kicked in. I do believe that alternative medicine can be very helpful, but it is usually a long term prospect. I worked with a TCM trained Vet, and she often used allopathic meds when quick action was essential, then followed up with the continuing holistic treatments. 

Steroids can be very valuable when treating all kinds of things, particularly prednisolone. They are part of many cancer protocols ("chemo"). For animals, the goal is to balance Quality of Life with treating the cancer.

I have lived with many cats with cancer, from adenocarinoma to SCC. Some responded well to treatment and surgery, some less so. But for all of them, my goal was to give them the best life possible, for as long as possible.

Just my $.02

Margo



-----Original Message-----
>From: Rachel Dagner <rdagner at novahrc.com>
>Sent: Apr 27, 2016 10:35 PM
>To: felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
>Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Brock update
>
>My cat Tucker was throwing up his food. We went to the vet and got an X-ray which showed a mass in his chest. I brought him home with steroids but he still couldn't keep food down probably the mass was restricting the  food from passing through since he was just regurgitating it right back up. Then he totally quit wanting to eat. Went to the vet and got high calorie emergency food and a syringe , watched a video on how to do it on YouTube. I was syringe feeding him for several days, I was doing some research and saw a lot of great reviews on Life Gold I had it sent over night from Amazon. I got it yesterday and gave him his two doses. Today he is eating on his own and eating quite a bit of the emergency food and even his dry food that I crunched up small. No regurgitation after all day of eating. I am only giving him a small amount each hour of so as not to upset his stomach, or overwhelm him. Maybe you can try syringe feeding and/or the liquid gold. I hope it is not lymphoma
> , I cried for three days straight after the X-ray. I am getting vitality science cat cancer kit, I am not going to put him through chemo. I hope to extend his time and his quality of life. He is also more perky and acting like himself again after just one day on Life Gold. I pray it continues! 
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Apr 27, 2016, at 9:45 PM, Marsha <martia at lynxe.com> wrote:
>> 
>> My sweet FeLV+ boy Brock has taken a bad turn.  He has been doing really great, and only a week and a half ago celebrated his 1 year anniversary of being diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy and Congestive Heart Failure.  Only 20% of cats with that diagnosis make it to the one year mark.  Brock is on 5 heart meds and 2 supplements, and has been doing great.  About 2 weeks ago, his appetite seemed to be a little off.  Sometimes he would eat all his food, sometimes not.  He occasionally catches a mouse that gets into the garage, so I wondered if he was full when I brought his dinner. This past Saturday, he was really fussy about taking his pills.  He has always been really good about eating his pill pockets, no hassle for me, no dropping them into his mouth.  Now he is balking at taking them even after I dip them in wet food (and they are already in pill pockets).  I coax and coax, and have had to manually pill him a few times.  He will eat 4 and leave 1, then I have to 
> give that one manually.  Or eat 2, and I have to give him 1.  Now he wants baby food, but only eats some of it, then more later.  He gets his supplements mixed with his food, 1 of which is potassium, so he needs to eat his food to get it.
>> 





>> He had a blood panel done yesterday and a physical exam.  The vet confirmed the enlarged lymph nodes I felt in his neck, and said there were enlarged nodes in the back leg area also.  Brock's PCV is only 18%, meaning he is anemic.  It is non-regenerative.  A needle aspiration was done on a lymph node, and the cytology should be back tomorrow.  My biggest fear is lymphoma, and it's going to tear through like a wildfire.
>> 
>> Marsha
>> 
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