>...If anyone has been in a similar situation post-surgery with a
>similarly diagnosed fur kid, please, please, help...
 
Hi.  Not a happy post.  My cherished Tarzan, as I've written, has lympho.
He had surgery and a large cancerous lymph node was removed from the muscle
of his stomach, where it empties into the duodenum.  The vet couldn't find
any other obstructions, though there were other cancerous nodes along the
intestines, and a bigger cancerous node up above his stomach.
 
Tarzee didn't vomit for a couple days post surgery, but is back to vomiting
and has lost three ounces, to a total of a third of his low-summer body
weight, since surgery two weeks ago.  He vomits daily.  His poops are also
tiny, as they were before surgery, though not as tiny; some bubbles, too.
We force feed him and he self feeds water and eukanuba cat food - he loves
this!  (I call him Eukanuba boy) He's getting duck soup of A/D, Gerber's
meat baby food, Viocase enzyme, some heavy whipping cream (just a little;
his stools are fine) and hints of brewer's yeast (quarter teasp. per day)
and chromium.  I'll add taurine supplement too, thanks to a suggestion from
Troy Lynn.  We started him on prednisone this week, a couple days ago,
oral; also just got dexamethasone, injectible, so as to save his tummy any
tenderness.  One nice person who wrote also had a fuzzy still vomiting post
intestinal surgery, and dexamethasone helped; it's another form of
perdnisone; works faster.
 
The obvious, sad guess is that he does indeed still have obstructions.  His
stomach was examined and sewn back up, too, but should have healed by now.
No ulcers.  The worst tumor was removed or he wouldn't be with us now; he
was close to shutting down pre-surgery.  He was in a lot of pain, exhibited
by vigorous chewing on oft-replaced rubber balls.  He's doing some chewing
again, though not as vigorously.  Pre-surgery he was treated for giardia
(probably didn't really have it) and for two weeks for helicobactor and
ulcers, with carafate, amoxicillon, and biaxin).
 
His pancreas is screwed up too, with pin-point insulinomas, i.e.
metastasized.  Also has scar tissue.  Don't have a fasting blood glucose at
this point; just recently got the histology back and insulinoma was never
suspected.  Right now the main priority is getting him to gain weight,
though/and we're staying away from any sugar.
 
Tarzee is only three, in March, and is the love of my life.  Prior to the
illness, he was one healthy, very vigorous hunk of a ferret.  He is still
vigorously popping balloons.  I put one, squealing out the air, down toward
him and he leapt up and got it, but also got my thumbnail clear through, a
finger and a quick... and kept chewing and biting down; I got loose and
broke down sobbing, absolutely knowing he was only after the balloon, but
so frustrated that are one fun activity turned painful.  It quit spurting
blood rapidly and is healing nicely, and we're continuing balloon games -
he loves to pop them!).
 
My sister has researched alternative cancer remedies and suggests flax oil
and a sulphurated protein (of which she named a variety), which I may try,
but I think that's more preventitive.
 
Any ideas are certainly welcome at this point.  I do know about mercy shots
so please don't comment on this.  It's not time now, but there may come a
time.  We would let him go ourselves.
 
Sorry, can't see the screen anymore...
 
Lynn, and a brave Tarzee
[Posted in FML issue 2366]