Woodstock's Story

October 1st - Woodstock has had some trouble urinating and pooping! After some fiber (Doctors Foster and Smith Hi-Fiber Hairball Remedy) and oils (Nutri-Cal, canola), he's doing better in the poop department, and after a lot of fluid he is urinating properly. This week he is getting 2 doses of cytoxan--this is very hard on the urinary tract. To keep him from developing struvite stones again and an infection, I have started him on 250 mg of vitamin C twice a day and Alternagel (see above) after some meals to bind with phosphorous, a cause of the stones. Also, more fluids by mouth. We'll see how it goes. October 31, 2003

October 31st - This week Woodstock completed his first "every-other-week" chemo protocol. He seems even perkier--I think due to the fact that he doesn't have the chemo every week or the stress of everything at the vet's office. This week, he had full blood work, and all of it was in the middle range of normal. 'At a boy. We celebrated by stopping at McDonald's, and I found out that Woodstock like french fries. (I know, I'm a baaaaaddd mom.) I've begun adding pumpkin to the diet of all 3 cats--it is a good cancer fighter and a good source of fiber. This I learned from the dear folks on the Yahoo Feline Lymphoma listserv. (P.S. Woodstock is not dressing up for Halloween this year.)

November 7th - Thanks to the advice from people on Yahoo's feline lymphoma listserv, I found The Nature of Animal Healing, by Martin Goldstein, DVM (mentioned above). Dr. Goldstein graduated from Cornell Veterinary School, surely one of the best in the country. But after leaving vet school he learned many holistic techniques to treat dis-ease and strengthen the immune systems of our dogs and cats. His book lists 4 categories of disease causes: (p 31) dietary, environmental, emotional/spiritual, genetic. Surely I have never experienced such an enlightened approach, and his recommendations are confirming my own instincts and what I have learned about diet, genetics, and the spiritual connection between me and my wonderful companions. More about this later...

November 13th - Working with Dr. Clark, Woodstock's primary care veterinarian, we have begun to consult Mark D. Newkirk, BS, MS, VMD, at the Margate Animal Hospital in Margate, NJ. We are FAXing, e-mailing, and will have telephone consultations. From the Margate web site: "Dr. Mark Newkirk, lecturer, seminar leader, and author, combines traditional medicine and surgery with Holistic Alternatives to access the best of both worlds to help your pet's health." Dr. Newkirk has already advised us to cut out all of the commercial cat foods we were using except Wellness. He also suggested that a close to raw meat diet is the optimum, so I will be cooking/buying rare meat. (Ick for me, a vegetarian.)

Woodstock looks very slender to me, but he is one big muscle, now weighing in at 7#10 ounces!

Dr. Newkirk is sending us supplements and glandulars to support Woodstock's organs, which are damaged by chemo. He is also sending us some products that can directly affect the cancer, we hope. He will take these the rest of his life. They should make him feel better and perhaps prolong his life. We are continuing the chemo, and Woodstock will probably have to take that the rest of his life too.

So far, Woodstock does not like the raw strip steak I bought him, but Rosebud acts like it is the first decent meal she's had in the 16 years we've lived together. Cassidy is eating a mixture of Wellness and raw steak.

Woodstock has his first full blood work since his lymphoma diagnosis in April. ALL his blood work is in the mid-range of normal! A very Merry Christmas for us.