Mancat Monday

Oliver and Tanner had a big week last week.  The stress of time away from one another, and the relief of achieving complete remission after so many months of fighting, have taken their toll on the boys!

This weekend was a time for catching up on sleep!  The Mancats are tired!  Tanner is trying to get his strength back and catch up on lost sleep from spending two nights at the vet school.  Oliver seems to be coming down with a cold, lots of sneezing and a crusty nose, so he is more subdued lately too. 

This photo is from Saturday, Tanners first day back home.  He was simply exhausted!  Do you see one of his bruises on his side? (purplish spot near the blanket edge)  This is from the kidney aspirates.  He has a couple other smaller places on his belly from the liver and spleen aspirates. 

Tanner is eating pretty good these days.  He is now on a canned kidney diet, and seems to enjoy it.  He actually needs to put a bit of weight back on, as he is really bony. (yes, I see his pouch)  He currently weighs 13 pounds 7 ounces.  This is down a pound from where he had been maintaining.

He is feeling better though, and playing more each day.  We will go next week and have the renal values checked again.  Then in late February we will have another ultrasound to monitor him.  The oncologists are hoping that we just did a small amount of damage to the kidneys, and this increased value will be his new normal, and we will just hang out here for a long while to come.  We will be closely monitoring the values to watch for rising trends and respond/treat accordingly.  Right now, he only needs special food to help make it easier for the kidneys to process.

Tanner is enjoying some play time as well.  This video doesn't show a lot of movement, but he is getting around better each day...last night he was jumping some for his string!  The potassium levels have come up slightly (at least he is in the correct range now, just the low end), so he is less wobbly.  Enjoy the photo bomb by Oliver!

If it doesn't play above, here is a link to the youtube site...

http://youtu.be/f11RBrkafjg

Tanner Update

UPDATED at 5:30pm to add:

The results of the kidney aspirates are back...NO LYMPHOMA!!!  He has achieved COMPLETE remission!

He is going to spend one more night at the vet school though getting more fluid, as his kidney values did not come down as much as they would have liked.  I hope the increased values are simply side effects from the chemo, and we can get it back under control now that we are getting a break.  I will learn more tomorrow when I pick him up.

Original Post:

Tanner went to the vet school yesterday for a checkup, bloodwork, abdominal ultrasound, and potentially chemo.  They called in the early afternoon and said he was not going to get his chemo, because the kidney values came back slightly higher than they were on Monday.  The doxorubicin is known to be hard on kidneys, so they did not feel comfortable giving it.  

They did the ultrasound, and it remained unchanged from all the previous ones, so that is good news.  They took aspirates of his liver and spleen and the results came back not showing any lymphoma in those organs!

They tried to get aspirates of the kidneys, but Tanner was not cooperating for that, even with a mild sedation. 

Due to the increase in the kidney values, they recommended keeping him over night, giving him fluids to see if the numbers will improve.  He was slightly dehydrated at the visit as well.  So Tanner spent the night in the intermediate care ward getting fluids and being monitored.

They called a few minutes ago, and he did well overnight.  They took him out of his cage several times and tried to play with him, or just let him explore.  It sounds like they tried to make his stay pleasant.  He had a box in his cage, as well as the fleece blanket I had put in his carrier.  He ate well for them, but did fast overnight again, as they are going to more heavily sedate him and try the kidney aspirates again today.

So to summarize...

Renal Values - UP

Potassium - Still low

Red Cell Count - Anemic

Ultrasound - Unchanged

Liver and Spleen - NO Lymphoma

Kidneys - Pending aspirates today

Keeping sending those prayers...they are working!

Tanner Tuesday

Well, Tanner started eating a little better last week after starting him on the nausea pills, so I did not take him to his "reserved emergency" appointment on Thursday.  I should have known better since we were heading into a holiday weekend!  By Saturday, Tanner was not eating well at all.  I could tell he just didn't feel real well, but wasn't sure how to help him.  He also seemed a bit wobbly on his back legs.

Sunday we weighed like normal, and he had lost a significant amount of weight.  I knew I was taking him somewhere on Monday (the holiday) and hoping our regular vet was open, because I knew the vet school clinics were closed.  Thankfully, when I called Monday morning they answered!  They worked us in that morning and we ran blood work.  I thought maybe his renal values would have gone up considerably and that would be the cause of the lack of appetite.  They were not too high actually when the numbers came back...even the vet was a bit surprised.  His potassium levels were very low though...this could explain the weakness and overall icky feeling. 

We started on some potassium supplements, an appetite stimulant and he was given a small amount of  fluids because he was dehydrated.  By the afternoon, he was snacking away pretty well,but still wobbly as you can tell by his back legs.  We had beautiful warm weather, so some time in the sun was good medicine too.

He will be going to the vet school on Thursday for a check up, ultrasound, blood work, biopsies maybe, and potentially his last dose of chemo, if they deem he is able to handle it.  I hope these new symptoms and issues are just side effects from all the chemo, and once we get it out of his system he will bounce back for me.  Right now, we are just supporting him through this and waiting to see what is found on Thursday.

Everyone keep sending purrs...we have another hurdle to cross!

Tanner Tuesday

Yesterday, Tanner and I zipped over to the vet school for a quick blood draw.  He did great, and his blood work showed he was fine to receive his cyclophosphamide. 

There are three capsules in the bottle, and they give me these gloves to wear. Of course, no chemo pills would be complete without some yummy ice cream to wash it all down! The flavor of the week is Butter Pecan. 

Tanner did great as usual and enjoyed a small portion of ice cream.  He did not want to come into the kitchen this week, so I just put a little in a bowl, and let him lick between pills.  He did not eat all of that, by the way.

 

Tanner continues to lose weight, and is actually not acting very hungry these days.  He is eating, but not all the time like normal.  He will actually leave canned food on his plate and just walk away.  I am going to call and see if I should try giving the anti-nausea pills daily for a while to see if he will perk up.  He still asks to play some, and enjoys getting brushed.  His eyes are running some, so I wonder if he is coming down with a cold?  We are adding lysine to his food to help fight that off.

 

Please continue to send healing purrs to my boy...we have come so far!

Wacky Wednesday

Here are two videos showing what Oliver has learned...do any of your cats do this?

 

 

http://youtu.be/CCNkGG-p1ug

 

 

http://youtu.be/G4pDxv9szGs

 

 

Tanner Tuesday

Tanner is at the vet school starting the last round of his current chemo protocol!  Today is vincristine day, which is an iv chemo for him.  He continues to do well, and is eating anything you give him basically.  We have been giving higher calorie cans of food, instead of his calorie control because he is starting to lose weight. 

 

The photo above is him and Oliver.  Tanner is trying to get Oliver to move because Ollie is in the best hole in the couch cushions!  Please tell me I am not the only one with squashed couch cushions!  Oliver finally took the hint and moved to another location. 

 

This is what Tanner wanted to do...

 

 

Pick his toes! 

 

If this video doesn't play, here is a link to youtube

 

http://youtu.be/mfMPzCcV8Ac

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of our readers!  We are a bit behind on getting this posted and we are combining a few different topics in this one post...Christmas and a Tanner update.

Tanner and Oliver had a wonderful Christmas as far as Santa visiting.  He was very good to the boys, as they have been very good this year!  Oliver is loving his new cardboard scratcher/bed. 

Tanner immediately took over the bed that was bought for Oliver.  I picked up this bed at PetSmart after Halloween.  It is hard to find orange things at Christmas, so I had to get creative :)  Tanner is laying with his green toys he got...a new frog catnip toy, catnip pillow, a bunch of crinkle balls, a new paper style toy, and some yummy shortbread cookies! 

Tanner also loved the new circle scratcher and loved his crinkle balls!  He carried one around every where he went the rest of the day.  The next morning, there were two in the water fountain, and one in the potty! I think the boy had a great time. 

The boys got a couple of new ornaments this year...Oliver had to have an "O" 

Even Smokey got a new ornament...a beautiful purple heart. 

Ollie scored a new orange bird...he loves to chatter at his birds! 

Tanner's ornament is actually a phone charm from Japan.  I thought the orange cat, holding a green flower was perfect! 

Of course a new family ornament for my sweet boys!

Here is a photo of their goodies...Oliver has the orange crab and orange pillow.  He also got some crinkle balls and a couple of other toys.  This new circle is a hit. Tanner also scored another X scratcher.   

Our parents ended up sick for Christmas and were unable to come up...we will celebrate later with them.  Auntie and I took the extra time to touch up the paint on the walls...Oliver has to help.  He ended up with paint on his nose, his tail, his side and his foot.  He had to get a quick wipe down when we were done! 

We took the tree down pretty early this year.  We were unable to plug it in and enjoy the lights because a certain black tornado kept chewing on the cords and plucking the lights off the tree!  We also only put a few ornaments on the tree because a certain cousin climbed the tree every day.  It was a bit sad in the decoration department this year at our house, so we were glad to just take it down!  Due to several severed cords, the tree was a fire hazard, so we just threw it away.  Oliver and Tanner helped us with this process.  They decided, Santa had already visited, so being good was not needed any longer!

All in all, we have had a wonderful holiday, and I have enjoyed my time off with the boys.  2014 has been a year with many highs, such as my wonderful trip to Kenya, and some terrible lows...the death of Smokey and Tanner's cancer diagnosis.  Even with the ups and downs, we remain a family, and I have learned to cherish every moment we are given.  I love the friendships this blog has brought to our family.  My wish for 2015 is for good health, cherished memories, love and friendship to us all!

Tanner's medical update: He spent part of Tuesday at the vet school.  They did a few blood tests and a physical exam to see how his kidney values are looking.  His phosphorous levels were back down to normal.  The BUN and creatinine were still high, but remained about the same as the week before.  They are not sure if this is actually the beginning of chronic kidney disease, or if it is a side effect from the chemo.  For now, we are just monitoring.  I am still adding the water to his canned food, and since I had some kidney diet food left over from Smokey, Tanner is getting some of that mixed in with his regular hard food.  Tan becomes a bit complicated again because of his heart disease, so if the numbers continue to go up, we will need a consult with oncology, cardiology and internal medicine to determine the best treatment course for him.  He continues to act normal, and eat well.  Tonight, we were playing and he was even jumping for his string!  I pray that 2015 will bring around the miracle that he so deserves.  Thank you all for the continued purrs!