Suspected heart disease

[Patti]

I'm so sorry to hear about Mayhem's IBD! I also had a boy with IBD that was on treatment for years with good results.

What kind of lymphoma was he diagnosed with? I've never heard of a cat recovering from lymphoma so am thrilled to hear that the chemotherapy is working for him!

 

[SV Dad]

I'm so sorry to hear about Mayhem's IBD! I also had a boy with IBD that was on treatment for years with good results.

What kind of lymphoma was he diagnosed with? I've never heard of a cat recovering from lymphoma so am thrilled to hear that the chemotherapy is working for him!

Mesentieric Lymphoma.
The intestinal tract mesentery. The GI tract was thickened. The esophageal scoping can only go down the upper GI tract to just past the duodenum. They took samples starting at the stomach and worked back. The farthest point they could reach is where the sample came back hot. So we don't know if there are more hot spots further down the small intestines. Only one spot came back hot. This all started at the end of October. By mid November Mayhem was back up to speed. The internist said 6 months to 1.5 years is usual for a survival rate, but has had cats go 5 years. On the other hand, we may have caught it very early and we may get the longer term or more.
The internist has treated a substantial number of cats over the years. She was very happy to see his strong response. Of all the lymphomas, she stated this is the best responding (mesentieric) lymphoma. Lymphomas are the most common form of cancer in cats.
Our fingers are crossed. As long as he has quality of life we will treat him.
He was always a skinny cat and weighed less than his brother Rascal. Not no more. He is probably above Rascal's weight now. He looks good! He needs it. R2 is already up to Mayhem's weight and has yet to fill out! R2 will probably be just under spotted moose size.

 

[Patti]

Well that's great to hear! I think we're due for some updated pics of Mayhem!!

 

[SV Dad]

I think we're due for some updated pics of Mayhem!!

I'll try... but he's now a moving target with the minions always running around with him.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Well. I've been keeping something very quiet for awhile now.
Mayhem has been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.

I'm so sorry that Mayhem has been suffering, but very happy to read that the treatment has made such a positive difference to his life and hence your's too. I understand the pilling challenge, Bobo acted like we were trying to kill him for the first year and throughout the ten years we pilled him faithfully twice a day it was always a challenge we couldn't leave with most petsitters. There were a couple if we confined him to a bedroom he was manageable (not having the option of going racing around the house with the human in pursuit made him more docile) but mostly we would board him at the vet when we went on trips to be sure he got his meds. They loved him and made a fuss of him so it wasn't as bad as it could be...

Wishing Mayhem many years of remission now <3

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Thank you all for your replies.

I've popped on to give an update.

Cairo had his heart scan or echocardiogram as Patti mentioned (sorry I couldn't remember the proper name) last night and everything is fine with his heart and no problems there...it sounds like they wanted to do it as a precautionary measure just to rule anything serious out. The fluid on his lungs is caused by a lung infection which he is getting medication for. He has also been diagnosed with IBS (hence the recurrent episodes of sickness/diarrhea) - so it looks like we will have to have a diet change and work with our own vet to determine the best plan of action. I will be asking as well what has caused this. His 'rapid heart rate' is also back down to what it should be as well. The good news is the vet rang me this morning saying he is well enough to come home so I'm collecting him later, bless him he must of had every test under the sun ran on him over the last 48 hours to try and get to the bottom of his issues! I'm expecting him to come home very patchy where he's had to have his furr shaved!

I believe he was severely dehydrated due to not eating properly since Saturday morning and then with the diarrhea as well - we had taken him to the vets however he did not seem too concerned about dehydration levels at that point...then later that evening he took a turn for the worse. I may start adding water to his food as he isn't a massive water drinker anyway, I believe he gets most of his water intake from his wet food.

The emergency vets we took him to do have a hospital on site with different specialists so I believe thorough investigation has been carried out. I've only had telephone conversations with the vet but when I pick him up later i'll be asking lots of questions and making sure I'm fully informed of everything before I leave.

Sorry to hear about your Bobo Brigitte. They really are little heart breakers. it's good that he went on to livea good 10 years.

I will be discussing different food options with the vet for IBS, however are any of you aware of any foods/diets that work well with this?

Thanks in advance and thanks for your well wishes

I'm glad that the testing gave answers, and treatable ones at that

It seems much preferable that the enlarged heart was due to the lung congestion rather than the other way around, and I hope he responds well to the medication for that.

I think DumaLove's suggestions are great for the gastrointestinal issue, I've less experience in that area but have read many tell how raw diets have helped with this. Good luck!