Leukeran side-effects?

Regarding the cost of Leukeran and alternatives. I recently got the sticker shock when the cost of Leukeran for my cat went up to about $11 per pill. The compounding pharmacy made me a liquid version for half the price. So that is what my cat is receiving now. Has anyone else tried this? The cat has low grade feline lymphoma and is in his 9th month of remission.

My male cat Panther takes this drug every 3 weeks. He takes 1 1/2 tablets a day for four days. He also takes 10 mg of predinisone a day and Metronitosol (not sure on spelling-it is an antibiodic) 1 CC a day. He also takes these blue pills once a day. ( i will have to look those up when I get home-they help his liver function) He has lived over three years very well on this. He will be 16 years old on July 4th. He is just now strarting to have problems so I am taking him to the vet today for a sepcially compounded Chemo to help him. Please say a prayer for him.

My cat Sir Thomas was first diagnosed with IBD last November and an ultrasound didn't show any problems.  He was put on prednisolone, 5mg once a day.  When he improved we went to 1/2 per day then 1/2 every other day.  This was fine for a couple of months then the vomiting  returned and the weight loss was significant, from 11# down to 7#.  The vet did an exploratory and 3 biopsies, liver, intestine and colon and found lymphoma in the intestine.  It was small cell and the oncologist she consulted said that leukeran had been successful in treatment.  Since he had gone so far down, she didn't want to hit him too hard.  She said one pill every Monday and Friday and continue the prednisolone, full tablet daily.  The first 3 weeks were hard on Tuesday and Saturday, he was listless and didn't eat much.  That has pretty much gone away and even though they aren't great days, they are close to normal.  He does get a B12 injection every other week and has gained weight the last 3 weeks, finally.  The blood tests have shown all normal so we are hopefully moving to remission. 

I realize all situations are different but I think the key to keeping him as comfortable as possible has been the Monday/Friday treatment so he can recover and the use of Prednisolone for the nausea and vomiting.  He has never taken prednisone only prednisolone.

He eats only Royal Canin Duck/Pea but we will introduce some treats when he shows continued improvement.  He went down slowly so we are taking baby steps to bring him back.  It is all about keeping him comfortable. 

I know this is an old thread, but as I was researching the price of Leukeran for my cat Lulu who has small cell lymphoma, I ran across this article http://catexpert.blogspot.com/2013/01/leukeran-price-gouging-causes-feline.html and I wanted to share it on this thread.

The veterinarin in the thread discusses the possibility of using a compounding pharmacy to make Leukeron capsules using the same drug, chlorambucil, for less money. I am going to see if I can do the same thing for my Lulu. I think it is ridiculous that these companies are price gouging families with dying pets.

Thank you so much for your post and I offer my heartfelt condolences for the loss of your sweet cat. Your post helped me to make up my mine, I will not use Leukeran. I knew of the harshness of chemo drugs, but I held out hope that this one would be different and of course after researching it as well as seeing your post, I realize it is just as I knew it was, too harsh. Thank you again.God Bless You.

Margret Fox

I was able to get an "inexpensive" version i.e. 25 pills for $109 which for my Lulu will last a while as she is only a little over 5lbs. This group sells them from Canada, you need a prescription from your vet http://www.bigmountaindrugs.com/Drug/Leukeran

Hi BarbB. How big are the pills from Big Mountain Drugs? I may be placing an order soon, I'm hoping they are small!
Thank you,
Marnie

They are very small. They look exactly like the Leukeran pills that are sold here in the US and they work the same way. I had a good experience with this company. You will need a prescription from your vet and you will want to make sure the vet writes it for an amount that corresponds to the quantities that they sell. I faxed my prescription to them and then I got a follow up phone call from them verifying the information faxed and letting me know to allow time for delivery. I think it took about 10 days to get to my house (Chicagoland) from Canada.

BarbB, thank you so much for your encouraging and helpful message. It is really amazing how affordable their price is. I picked up three tablets at Costco yesterday and they were about $13 each, which I just cannot afford to do for an extended time. I placed the order with Big Mountain this morning and emailed them the required written prescription. Hoping to get my kitty some relief soon. I hope your Lulu continues to do well!
Marnie and Samba

Hi all,

I too, was researching Leukeran and stumbled onto this thread. My vet has just suggested we put our cat on Leukeran for IBD. I have some concerns so I was glad to see Leukeran mentioned for IBD by other members. We tried Predisolone about a year ago and he developed diabetes in a big way. I have been able to improve his diarrhea by feeding him as close to a raw food diet as possible - definitely no grain single source foods - but he doesn't really like it and I was only able to get him to put back a pound or two.  And, if he did manage to get into something he shouldn't his stomach would flare back up. I have managed to get his diabetes into remission. 

He loves cooked chicken, turkey, and hamburger and pork, but so far I have not been able to get him to eat duck or rabbit. I actually bought some ground kangaroo today. I plan to try that tomorrow.   I have been told that there is a product called 'Balance It' that I could add to his food that would allow me to prepare his own food, but I haven't researched that yet. My vet seems to think with the Leukeran I can get him back onto normal food. That seems like a stretch.

Hi Fuzzycat, yes leukeran is prescribed as a form of oral chemotherapy that is designed to reduce the inflammation to where your cat can eat regular food, regain weight, and absorb nutrients better. By the time I started giving it to my Lulu she was too far along and it did not help her. She went to the rainbow bridge on March 17th. But she did not begin taking Leukeran until she was only around 5lbs; where normally she was almost twice that weight. She had been sick for a long time. (It is a long story but she is on this site in another thread where we did a surgery on her and believed that her illness was found and resolved, but it was not. This was at the same time another of our cats, Toby, was being treated with regular chemo for large cell lymphoma. His one year anniversary for the rainbow bridge is in 3 days)

Leukeran is generally prescribed for kitties who either present with small cell lymphoma or whose IBD is morphing towards small cell lymphoma. The latest information that i have read-was on the ibd kitties group on facebook and leans more towards using probiotics and diet including raw feeding to help restore the natural healthy bacteria in the intestine, similar to what is being done for humans these days as well. 

With small cell lymphoma or long term ibd the walls of the intestine become thickened and hardened to where they do not absorb nutrients and food is not broken down well.  Leukeran is supposed to reverse or significantly slow that process at least temporarily so that kitties can survive another several years before the illness takes over. 

I have  heard about Budesonide also being prescribed. I do not know much about that medication but you might want to look into it. And I'm sure you know, the rationale behind giving your cat  a diet that he/she has not already eaten is in order that he not have the inflammatory reaction.

My cat did well with canned pumpkin as it is a soluble fiber and helps stools to come out with normal bulk. She did not have horrible diarrhea and she did ok with prednisolone but I also did not put her on a raw diet. The vets also told me to rely on the leukeran to do its job and just to focus on getting food inside her, not to worry about what kind of food it was. 

In cats with severe diarrhea I have read on the ibd kitties group that S. Boulardi probiotic is useful; it is also considered helpful in humans for traveller's diarrhea. I have not done extensive research on this site in this area but there are several very experienced people on here who can respond if you open a thread about any of these areas. 

I used nature's variety grain free crunchies, and for wet canned food I used Wild Calling, Taste of the Wild, Tiki Cat, earthborn. I also used natural balance (which has grain) duck/green pea and salmon/green pea. And I used Fromm's wet food. She seemed to like Wild Calling texture etc. best. I also tried all the different foods and those seemed to help her.

You might want to also add the ibd kitties facebook site to your group of resources for crowdsourcing information for your cat. There is also a raw feeding for ibd kitties facebook site. I used this site and the other two. Members on this site run those specialized pages on fb, so you may see them replying to this thread on this site as well. Several people on those pages also have cats who are diabetic and need a very fine tuned diet and do not tolerate traditional therapies. 

If you live in the Chicagoland area I can give you my Leukeran; it needs to be refrigerated so I could look into sending it to you with cold packing too somehow. 

I forgot to add, Fuzzycat, that what may also help your kitty if you are not already doing it, is a shot at least weekly of b12 to help increase absorption of nutrients. Since your kitty was diabetic, you are probably able to do an injection, it is not a big deal and there are lots of demos on you tube.

Many people whose kitties have these illnesses also use holistic veterinarians in addition to their regular veterinarian. Some of the holistic recommendations that were prescribed for my Toby (albeit he had large cell lymphoma) by his holistic vet are on this thread on this forum  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/243465/toby-vomiting-and-losing-weight-fine-otherwise/150, located in post number 174 of that thread, which looks like it is on page 6. 

Hi BarbB,

Thank you for your response. It helps. I have been on something of a roller coaster ride trying to get Rikki figured out and stabilized. I get the sense I am not unique with this. He was on predisolone and developed diabetes. I then went to as close to a raw food diet as I could. It stabilized his diarrhea and we got his diabetes in remission but I was unable to get weight back on him. The problem is he is a fussy eater. He likes the cheap stuff. He does not like the grain free foods. I have also tried cooking his food myself. He loves straight cooked chicken, turkey and beef. I bought a jar of Balance It (and several customized diets), but Balance It has a strong order and he doesn't like it. Oh, and I do have him on a B-12 program.

He had an CAT scan a year ago and they did not see any obvious signs of lymphoma at that point. I haven't repeated it and I know I should but they are $400.00 a pop.

So, far the leukeran is helping. He has started to put on weight. I am kind of trying to walk a line between grain free foods and foods he likes. He is gassier than he should be but his stools are better. My vet thought that with the Leukeran he would be able to eat a normal diet, but I just don't see that happening. Foods with grains set things off. Can cats get celiac's disease?

Anyway, thanks again.

Just want to say that the IBD Kitties page is really a great place to get lots of info.  They are a great group of people who all have kitties with IBD.  Many of their cats have also developed other ailments.

Our cat was just diagnosed with leukemia - but our vet found liquid leukeran through Roadrunner pharmacy - we have just ordered in and the cost is $46.95  for 7.5 mg/mi #20 mi  - chlorambucil  - or you can get the pills 5mg/capsul #16 $56.68 -- so this is far cheaper than what you are all paying below  (I think)  we have him on prednisone which has improved his moving about far more than he was doing before - it came on quickly - where he would just sit in my bedroom and rarely come out - now he is going outside with us, sleeping with us again and definitely more active though not as he had been in the recent past.  We have not started the leukeran as yet, it hasn't arrived and the vet - who is exceptional - said there would be no side effects, so i will check with her again before beginning these drops.  Her point was to put him on this for no more than 6 weeks and than to stop taking it.  It is not being suggested as a lifetime therapy.  He is about 15 years of age.  Any thoughts?  I plan to check with the vet again and tell her what i have just read from all of you.  I definitely do not want to have Cozmo in any pain even for a day or two, but maybe i am being foolish - it may be worth trying - but we were told that there were no side effects.  I believe we were told to give her 2 drops for two days and than nothing, but i am not sure, the vet and pharmacy were on the phone and i am told that the instructions will come in the mail with the bottle.  Possibly we are planning to give our cat a far less dose than the rest of you?

We also found Roadrunner Pharmacy in Phoenix. The price was about $40 for 30 2mg caps of Chlorambucil. Our 14 year old Sierra has intestinal Lymphoma. She is being treated with prednisone  1/2 tab twice a day and the Chlorambucil every other day. Her vet tells us she will not live more than 6-9 months. She is so skinny, however, the pred keeps her hungry and the chemo does work at making her feel better. She has had no side effects from the chemo. Our challenge has been Sierra's ability to hide the pill under he tongue! It often ends up somewhere other than her tummy! We are having Roadrunner make us a liquid form. The pharmacist is able to flavor it with tuna...hopefully we can get her back on a routine. I do believe the chemo is working very well for our kitty and that it is giving her better quality of life that this time. She is now hanging out with her sister Sam and our JR Terrier for the first time in a few months. My best to you all and I hope that our experience has been helpful. <3

Carro,

I have since spoken with my vet re: the negative side effects. Her response was that most will respond positively with no side affects and we should try it and stop if there is any issue.  I have not discussed how long my cat will live - just taking it day by day.  We ordered the liquid form with tuna - our vet spoke directly with the pharmacist at Roadrunner.  still waiting for the delivery.  The advice was to put it directly into the cats food if she will eat it and that is what we have been doing with the prednisone - we have ground the prednisone put it into his food, a very small amount of food, and he eats it so we are hoping the same thing will occur with the liquid form of leukeran.  

Thank you for your feedback.  and good luck with your cat.  Ours is getting thinner too, but he does seem to be eating well.  I do find letting him out in our yard helps him quite a bit.  He really perks up when we bring him outside and let him roam through the flowers.

Cozmo,

I'm also waiting for Sierra's meds. She loves tuna, so I'm happy Roadrunner can do this for her. Good luck to you and I hope your cat tolerates the chemo as well as Sierra has.

Carro,

we received our meds - cozmo began yesterday - he had a good day - i know it is only the first day, but he was outside - hung out in the living room till 9 pm and did not hide under the bed - may have just been a good day, whatever - it was a good day for us seeing him participate  =

Carro,

Cozmo did terrifically on the liquid meds.  She finished her 4 day dose and will be off of them until the 26th of september.  It seemed to help him tremendously.  He is eating, active and totally comfortable - to date.  He still takes the prednisone daily, and i believe that will continue.  I assume we will go back to the veterinarian either before or after the 2nd dose of the liquid meds for another blood test - but i will wait and speak with the vet.  He had no side effects to the Chlorambucil and I am really happy with how things are going.  How is your cat doing??