intestinal cancer

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K. Bruner - 19 Jan 2005 20:07 GMT

My 10-year-old calico was diagnosed this morning with cancer. She'd
been vomiting every 1-2 days for a couple of months. An ultrasound last
month showed abnormalities of the intestines but a needle biopsy was
inconclusive. Last week she had exploratory surgery (she is recovering
very well from that) and when I went in for her post-op, the vet broke
the news. They think it's lymphoma as opposed to a mass, but it's
cancer. The vet said because it's distributed along the intestines,
there's no surgical or radiation "cure", but she gave me prednisone to
start administering after the surgical incisions heal, which should slow
the cancer. She said Clio's prognosis is probably 6-12 months.

I've looked around the net and it looks like there are some other meds
that might put the cancer in remission. What have other people done in
this situation?

Clio hasn't shown much change other than the weight-loss. I think most
of that is due to the vomiting, though, and I've had her on Pepcid AC the
last couple of weeks which seems to be controlling the problem. I don't
want her to suffer through a harsh treatment, but I would also like to
keep her around a long time.

-Karen

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Spot - 19 Jan 2005 23:51 GMT

Karen,

I'm so sorry to hear this. My dog Barney had various mast cell cancers
removed for the last 4 years and in October came down with it in his mouth.
I did the prednisone treatments which put the cancer in his mouth into
remission the lump was completely gone but it had spread internally. Due to
his arthritis being so severe at one point we had to stop the pred and put
him back on his Deramaxx for the pain. I don't know much about the other
treatments with Barney having so much arthritis and being through so many
surgeries we opted to keep him comfortable rather than do any more.

I wish you luck.

Celeste

> My 10-year-old calico was diagnosed this morning with cancer. She'd
> been vomiting every 1-2 days for a couple of months. An ultrasound last
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> -Karen

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Rhonda - 20 Jan 2005 05:09 GMT

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear about Clio.

We found our cat's problem too late for treatment, so I can't help much
with those details. One thing I was wondering is if you've received an
opinion from an internist vet. Our internist for Bob's diabetes also
worked with cancer and chemo, and had a good understanding of what works
and what doesn't. We had to get a referral from our regular vet to get
an appointment with her.

Good luck,

Rhonda

> My 10-year-old calico was diagnosed this morning with cancer. She'd
> been vomiting every 1-2 days for a couple of months. An ultrasound last
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> -Karen

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Larry - 20 Jan 2005 20:02 GMT

My Mario has small cell intestinal lymphoma. He is being treated with
Leukeran. He would also be treated with Prednisone but he also diabetic.
He is 15 and doing good.

Signature

Larry - Owned by eight cats

> Hi there,
>
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> >
> > -Karen

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K. Bruner - 20 Jan 2005 23:38 GMT

Thanks to everyone for their support. I got a referral to a vet
oncologist in West LA and made an appointment for next Thursday (his
first opening; coincidentally also my birthday).

Clio is relatively young and had had good health up until now. Since her
only symptom was the vomiting/weight-loss, I'm holding out a little hope
that we caught it early enough to make a difference. Above all, I want
to maintain her quality of life and enjoy my time with her (she's such a
sweet cat) and I can't not at least investigate the possibility of
prolonging my time with her.

She was down to 6 lbs and change yesterday from her healthy weight of 8+
pounds, but the daily 1/4 Pepcid AC seems to have controlled the vomiting
and she really likes the A/C food the vet gave me, and since she didn't
even eat for a couple days after her surgery a week ago, I'm hopeful we
can get some weight back on her. Lucky for me, my other cat turns her nose
up at the A/C. ("You tease me by opening a can and out comes that!??!?!?")

Thanks again. I will try to post an update after the oncologist visit.

(You can check out Clio's pics (a couple of years old but she hasn't
changed much, except for the recent weight loss) at
http://home.earthlink.net/~kmbruner/pandora/clio/index.html)

-Karen

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Karen Chuplis - 21 Jan 2005 00:46 GMT

> Thanks to everyone for their support. I got a referral to a vet
> oncologist in West LA and made an appointment for next Thursday (his
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> -Karen

Oh she is adorable. Please keep us posted.

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Monique Y. Mudama - 21 Jan 2005 00:51 GMT

> (You can check out Clio's pics (a couple of years old but she hasn't changed
> much, except for the recent weight loss) at
> http://home.earthlink.net/~kmbruner/pandora/clio/index.html)

Ooh. I'm looking at the teddy bear picture. Does Clio knead its belly?

I have a teddy bear whose belly is half-bald because Oscar kneads it so
assiduously.

Signature

monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

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K. Bruner - 21 Jan 2005 07:26 GMT

> Ooh. I'm looking at the teddy bear picture. Does Clio knead its belly?

Yes, she does! I just happened to have it when I got her at 4 weeks
(from an abandoned stray litter) and she's never kneaded me. When it's
bedtime, she goes to the teddy bear and then curls up on top of me, motor
running. She gives me a quizzical look if it isn't on the bed for some
reason. When I have to leave her at the vet, I make sure to leave her
teddy with her so she can hide behind it. When my mother visits from
Florida, she always wants to see if Clio still kneads the bear, so I have
to trick Clio into thinking it's bedtime.

> I have a teddy bear whose belly is half-bald because Oscar kneads it so
> assiduously.

I was going to say Clio was one of a kind, but maybe not!

-Karen

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Mary - 21 Jan 2005 16:56 GMT

> > Ooh. I'm looking at the teddy bear picture. Does Clio knead its belly?
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> -Karen

Clio sounds completely precious. I hope she is feeling better soon.

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Monique Y. Mudama - 21 Jan 2005 18:44 GMT

>> Ooh. I'm looking at the teddy bear picture. Does Clio knead its belly?
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> I was going to say Clio was one of a kind, but maybe not!

Well, I don't think Oscar is as attached to the teddy bear as Clio is to hers.
Oscar doesn't look for it if it's missing, and she doesn't *always* knead it.
But she does so often.

However, I do seem to recall that a certain famous cat named Garfield had a
teddybear =P

Signature

monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

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Larry - 21 Jan 2005 01:52 GMT

You also may want to join the Yahoo feline lymphoma group. See this ling
for information: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/feline_lymphoma/

Signature

Larry - Owned by eight cats

> Thanks to everyone for their support. I got a referral to a vet
> oncologist in West LA and made an appointment for next Thursday (his
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> -Karen

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