Viokase - Digestive Enzymes

Lets talk Digestive Enzymes. 

When Rumble first came home from his surgery, he was eating like a crazy person and I was super glad.  He was pooping alot but that was to be expected.  When we went back for his first post-op appointment, he had lost weight.  WHAT?  I was ticked.  How could he have eaten so much and lost weight?  Something had to be wrong.  That's when I was reminded about the digestive enzymes. 

Another reason I was upset is because the vet didn't have any for me to take home with me.  They don't have enough patients on the enzymes to keep it in stock.  So, here I was, my cat had just survived surgery, you knew half of his pancreas was gone, but you didn't order me any digestive enzymes on the off chance that he might need them.  I was furious.  The vet closed at 5pm and it was already 5:30 but I made her and everyone else sit there while I called my vet back home and ordered some enzymes through him.  It took awhile because he had to call around and hunt some down but everyone could see how furious I was so they sat there and waited.  That was probably best for their safety :)

So it' an easy to use powder that you just sprinkle on their food and it helps with their absorption, right?   WRONG!

It's also called Pancrea Powder or the name brand I eventually bought was called Viokase and it is exactly what everyone is thinking it is...animal pancreas ground up into a fine powder (don't inhale near it EVER).  As I would imagine, the powder tastes horrible and Rumble is refusing to eat.  We buy him two types of dry food:  Nutro and Blue Buffalo.  So we decided to switch to wet food and see if that would mask the taste.  We spent big bucks on those big expensive wet foods and he still wouldn't eat it.  So we went for the cheap stuff, Whiskas Pouch Wet Food. AND he loves it!

We think the smell is strong enough to mask the odor of the enzymes.  The instructions say to sprinkle the powder on the food and wait 20 minutes.  This gives the enzymes time to start breaking the food down even before it is consumed.  It's a pretty cool chemical reaction to watch, but Rumble doesn't like it because the smell of the food is gone by then.  Our vet says as long as the powder is going down with the food, she's happy.   So, now we sprinkle the powder onto the food, directly in his dish, mix it up well, and immediately let him eat. 

The next day, Rumble has a solid poop for the first time in a month.  The rule of thumb with prescriptions is, order before you run out.  Don't forget this!  If you run out and have to wait for your next order to come in, then remember that everything he eats will be of no nutritional value to him what so ever and he will virtually be starving.

I feed Rumble anytime he appears hungry and he eats pretty willingly.  As he's gained some weight, he doesn't immediately eat and he doesn't finish it all but it is all gone by the time dinner rolls around.  He eats it all eventually.  He needs to nearly double his weight for him to be back to what he was a year ago.  I want him to be fat and happy!

Surgery

Well, the day finally arrived.  Rumble was scheduled for surgery at 10am on Tuesday, April 5th. 

Of course, me being the shy, non-talkative type, no one in my office knew what was going on.  Just kidding, EVERYONE knew what was going on and they were all waiting on pins and needles with me to get the call.  At the time, we were working together in a large room and my cell phone was ever present.  My surgeon said if they called quickly after they began it's because the cancer was too wide spread and they were going to close him back up.  If they called later, it's because they thought the surgery could be a success and had proceeded. 

Noon rolls around, no call.  I'm opptomistic.  Finally, 1pm rolls around and my cell phone rings and I jump on it like a fat kid on a trampoline.  The positive prayers and thoughts had worked:  Rumble came through surgery ok. 

They took about a third of his stomach but the cancer didn't seem to be in his duadenum or his small intestines so they were able to directly connect the remaining stomach to his duadenum.  They took about half his pancreas but she said they left enough that he wouldn't need insulin shots but he will need a digestive enzyme added to his meals but that's just a simple powder added everyday.  No biggie. 

They took biopsies of his liver and lymphnodes because they were big and angry but the tests came back as just that, big and angry, a reaction to his backed up bile and other stuff not draining properly, the cancer had not spread to the liver or lymphnodes as far as they could tell.  So that's great news.

They did have to remove his gallbladder from where it normally sits and connect it directly to his duadnum because the duct was angry and wasn't working anymore.  They said as long as everything is there, it doesn't matter how the plumbing is connected. 

Just a reminder that this is the worst type of cancer, small cellular cancer, not big tumor cancer, so it could have spread to other areas that they can't see even though they tested them.  Buuuuuut, I'm extremely happy and so was the surgeon.  Assuming he has no post op problems, which include pancreatitis or leaks, he can come home next week. 

My co-workers said they were going to blame me if we didn't win the lottery this weekend because I used up all of the luck I had.  I told them I was going to go out and buy a separate lottery ticket and win because I was the luckiest person alive. 

Thanks again everyone.  I know one of the reasons he's doing so well is because I had so many people praying on his behalf.  He means the world to me and thanks for everything.