Chemo Cat

Question
Hi Jessica:
I have a 10 year old Maine Coone who was diagnosed with Lymphoma. They said he had an enlarged liver & spleen, but everything else was fine. He acted perfectly normal and ate ran around & played, just like nothing was wrong. He had his first round of Chemo on Tuesday. Since then, all he does is sleep. He won't eat or drink, and I don't even know if he has used the litter box. I have been force feeding him for 2 days, with a syringe, but he hardley eats anything. I have since called the vet and cancelled the rest of the chemo. I can't put him through this anymore, especially since he acted perectly fine before. They gave me Prendisone & 1 other drug in pill form, that he was supposed to start taking today, but I'm not giving him that now either. PLEASE help! What should I do to get him to eat? I've tried everything, including tune water, and he just walks away. I appreciate your help, more then you know. This is killing me, and I'm afraid it's killing him too!

Answer
Hi Leasa.  I'm sorry you're going through this, it's the worst.  Sadly, there is not too much else you can do.  Continue to force feed him, and offer him a variety of foods, including boiled chicken breast and meat baby food.  Also, you may want to talk to the vet about an appetite stimulant.  There are a few different medications to choose from.  The one that seems to be favored right now is mirtazapine, because only a small amount must be given, and only every few days.  However, it's metabolized in the liver, so I'm not sure if this would be the best choice for your kitty.  Definitely talk to the vet about your options.  A B-12 injection as well as a stanazolol injection might be helpful to boost appetite and activity level, as well.

Unfortunately, with cancer, there always passes a point of no return, when the kitty will not bounce back.  I hope that your Maine Coon is just feeling a little tired from the stress of his vet visit and the chemo itself, but if you see no progress in the next couple of days, I think you may have reached that point.

I'll be thinking of you!

Jessica