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.

[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.

[evilawyer]

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

[st_aurafina]

Thinking of you and Biscuit.

[ironed_orchid]

Thinking and sending 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?

[zillah975]

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

[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]

Thinking good thoughts for you and Biscuit. ♥

[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.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Many healthy thoughts for Biscuit! *hugs*

[pameladean]

I'm sorry Biscuit isn't able to relish her food.

My 17-year-old cat has kidney failure, so his appetite is very dicey too. Fancy Feast is indeed highly recommended for cats with poor appetites. It's also high in fat and protein, so even if they don't eat a lot, they get good value for it. It's not actually good for cats with kidney failure, except insofar as eating is far better than not eating, but it should be fine for Biscuit.

I have some tips for persuading cats to eat, but your vet may have provided those already.

P.

[sabotabby]

Best to both of you.

[elynne.livejournal.com]

What we've used for our cats, and works ridiculously well, is baby food. The surprisingly hard part is finding baby food that's just "pureed turkey and water;" most of them want to add all kinds of stuff--vegetables, chemicals, whatever. But the just plain ol' pureed turkey baby food is amazingly popular with our cats. As a bonus, other stuff can be added easily--medication, other foods, more water if they seem to not be getting enough, whatever. You may have luck mixing a bit of baby food with a bit of Fancy Feast. I have no idea how well it would work to soak a little bit of Biscuit's regular food in baby food and then mix it up; it might work great, or not at all. But I do hope that's helpful. And -hugs- and sending goodthoughts.

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

We have had luck with Fancy Feast, especially the fish ones which seem to be nice and stinky. Nothing wrong with giving lots of treats as well, if she likes them.

Good luck! Thinking good thoughts.

[betonica.livejournal.com]

Some cats really like the flavor of nutritional yeast, and it's good for them and helps keep fleas away (high protein and high in B vitamins). You could try a very small dusting on Biscuit's wet food and see what the response is.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Good thoughts, for you and Biscuit, sent...poor kitty.

[bunnybutt.livejournal.com]

bonito flakes. Whole paycheck carries them.

My kidney patient cat was fond of the Fancy Feast Appetizers. They look more like actual food than mush.

She also enjoyed ahi tuna steaks, raw (TJs carries frozen ones pretty cheap) - but she always was a cat who enjoyed her maguro.

[phoenixpdx.livejournal.com]

Best good thoughts headed your way for you and Biscuit.

I know when Belle was ancient and wouldn't eat much, it really helped to give her small amounts of stinky, very gooshy food mixed with a little water or broth, and heated very slightly to about body temp. It made it smell stronger, and she couldn't smell things very well. Pretty much, by the time she was 18 or 19, we fed her whatever she would eat, regardless of what the common wisdom might have been...or the vet's opinion :-)

Hugs, if they would be welcomed.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

poor kitty :( good thought for her

[graymalkin13.livejournal.com]

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.

That's very wise. It sounds like she needs gentle treatment now. I send you both my hugs and good wishes. I'm so sorry she's ill again.

You've gotten some great suggestions for food. All I had to suggest was tuna and tuna water, and shrimp offered by hand. And, oddly, buttered toast. My cats love butter on pretty much anything, actually.

I'm glad you found the baby food. I hope Biscuit likes at least some of these foods.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor kitty, poor you. Sending hugs to you and good vibes for Biscuit.