Biscuit health update

[firecat]

My cat Biscuit had surgery in March and they found cancer. She did well for a while, but the cancer was likely to recur.

Lately she hasn't been eating enough and is losing weight (she gained weight after the surgery but now she's back to the same weight she was just before the surgery), so I took her to the vet today.

The vet thinks cancer is recurring in the lymph nodes. Her bloodwork was normal. He prescribed an appetite stimulant (Mirtazapine, a human antidepressant) and B12 injections.

I'm glad he didn't suggest any more extreme interventions. I just want her to have a reasonable quality of life for as long as she can.

I hear Fancy Feast is the food of choice for tempting low-appetite cats to eat.

Good thoughts/candle-lightings/opinions welcome.

Comments

[amethystfirefly]

We'll keep Biscuit in our thoughts and prayers.

[firecat]

Thanks!

[sonia]

I'm sorry to hear that. Best wishes to Biscuit and to you.

I'm glad the vet supported your low-intervention approach. That's my approach too, and I've had trouble in the past with vets who felt they had a mandate to Do Everything Possible and I was an unreasonable obstacle to that in their view.

[firecat]

I really like my vet. He knows when to suggest interventions and when not to. Some want to do too much and some too little.

[evilawyer]

Hope her appetite perks up. I'll keep a good thought for her.

[firecat]

Thanks!

[st_aurafina]

Thinking of you and Biscuit.

[firecat]

Thanks! (Cute icon)

[ironed_orchid]

Thinking and sending scritches.

[firecat]

Biscuit likes scritches :)

[meloukhia]

I will keep Biscuit in my thoughts! I'd been wondering how she was doing.

Chicken broth is sometimes a good thing, and I've also found that really trashy cat food sometimes does the trick as well. For some reason, generic brand kitty chow with who-knows-what in it is appealing?

[firecat]

Thanks! Yeah, Fancy Feast has been ordered :)

[zillah975]

I'm sending all best healingest thoughts and prayers to Biscuit and to you. *hugs and hugs*

[firecat]

Thanks! {hugsback}

[flarenut]

Ugh. Fingers crossed for as long as possible. (We were told that cats tolerate chemo much better than people, but that it doesn't buy that much time.)

Since you don't entirely have to worry about longterm nutrition, have you tried tuna water? That was what would always get our previous cats to eat.

[eggcrack]

*edit* Sorry, replied in the wrong place.

[firecat]

Thanks. Chemo doesn't help with this kind of cancer, apparently.

Biscuit has been uninterested in tuna water in the past (I know, this puts her felinity into question) but recently showed some interest in Trader Joe's tuna cat food, so maybe...

[eggcrack]

Thinking good thoughts for you and Biscuit. ♥

[firecat]

Thanks! ♥

[mixofsun]

Sending lots of good thoughts and wishes to you and Biscuit. And Fancy Feast has always been one of the few things that my cats would eat when they weren't feeling well.