Large cell lymphoma in my kitty

Rubydoo, That's good about the appetite stimulant for Tiger, it worked once with Chalupa too last summer, but this last time before the pred. it did not work just made her pace around day and night and meow long meows and she will splash all the water out of her bowl and not drink it. The pred. is what got her eating this time around.  

Tiger probably got overwhelmed by the guests, she's is on drugs so things might seem more intense or something.

Funny about the food, I once accidently bout a cubed instead of pate style food for Chalupa and that texture usually fails with her. I tried to give the other cans to a stray who sometimes visits outside for food, but he wouldn't eat it either. Out of curiousity I gave him a pate too and when I came back the pate was gone but cubed was still there.

Thank you again for the vet encouragement, need all the encouragement I can get. Had quite an ordeal giving the Chalupa a capsule tonight for first time, and never again! Totally freaked us both out! way too big.  Hope she doesn't get aspiration pneumonia, try to be careful about that. Still worrying, but going to vet Thursday, maybe should ask her to listen to lungs or something.

Wish you and Tiger a good night/day

Rubydoo67 said:

is there any specific reason you opted not to see an oncologist?

LDG: First , so happy to your cat is doing well and responded so well to treatment. That's awesome! To answer your question, Our Dr. Indicated that it may prolong her life by a few days or a month. Tiger doesn't have a mass tumor, rather her stomach lining is enlarged (thickened) on one side. These are cancer cells that have enlarged it. He feels there is no way to treat them all as there are certainly more throughout the stomach. She also had indications on her lymph nodes and in front of her heart, but these were not malignant.

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This was also the case for Lazlo. Most of his stomach wall was thickened, and he had numerous lymph nodes that were enlarged. I'm not sure why your vet told you that "there is no way to treat them all." Chemo doesn't only target masses. During the chemo, Lazlo's lymph nodes went back to normal size, and upon completion of the chemo, his stomach wall returned to a normal thickness. Of course, chemo is no guarantee, far from it. :heart2:

This was also the case for Lazlo. Most of his stomach wall was thickened, and he had numerous lymph nodes that were enlarged. I'm not sure why your vet told you that "there is no way to treat them all." Chemo doesn't only target masses. During the chemo, Lazlo's lymph nodes went back to normal size, and upon completion of the chemo, his stomach wall returned to a normal thickness. Of course, chemo is no guarantee, far from it.

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Hi LDG, so glad chemo is working! I had never heard of this before! Strange Lazlo has the same. I guess it must be more common than I know. Heck, I didn't even know cats got lymphoma! I'm learning a lot about cat health.

Our internist didn't say there is no way to treat our cat, I should have been clearer. You can always treat the cells, whether it works, treats them all or is worth the stress on the cat was our concern. He didn't feel that it would buy our cat any reasonable amount of extended life and seeing how stressed she was traveling, it would probably hold her back some. Although he was the first to admit no one can predict the outcome 100%, he felt 6 months would have been a stretch with chemo, then we also had to consider the stress on her. Also to consider was if she had any negative reactions to chemo she would then require additional treatment and/or overnight stays. If it helped, she may need consistent palliative care, etc. etc. Being so torn and desperate for good news, that's when I asked if this was his pet, what he would do.

I also keep in the back of my mind a friend of my whose cat was about 21 or something ancient. It was on feeding tubes, requiring daily shots, never moved, etc. My friend just couldn't let her pet go. At that age, her vet kept telling her the cat could have another year or a few more. Every shred of hope she clung on to. I think that vet was very irresponsible for doing that and I personally think all that "care" was worse than the original illness. I don't want to make my kitty a Frankenstein to make myself feel better. I know that sounds dramatic, but that's how I feel.

Of course I feel terribly guilty in maybe I'm not doing the right thing, but in my heart I believe this course of action is the best and most compassionate for my kitty. I wish it was different, like it was just a massive hairball all in her stomach! I now hope that she will pass peacefully in her sleep. She is my doll baby and I wish I could perform miracles! I had her on my lap awhile tonight and she seemed to really enjoy it as did I.

I will keep praying for Lazlo and the awesome recovery! Such good tidings to hear

Rubydoo67 said:

Of course I feel terribly guilty in maybe I'm not doing the right thing, but in my heart I believe this course of action is the best and most compassionate for my kitty. I wish it was different, like it was just a massive hairball all in her stomach! I now hope that she will pass peacefully in her sleep. She is my doll baby and I wish I could perform miracles! I had her on my lap awhile tonight and she seemed to really enjoy it as did I.

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Yes, what is best for them is what's most important. If Lazlo had stressed on the trips, we wouldn't have done it. If Lazlo had side-effects that made him sicker, we wouldn't have continued it. In fact, we even used an animal communicator to chat with him to find out, after we started chemo, if he wanted to continue. It was apparent after that first trip and treatment that he was responding well and feeling better, but that happened after we'd contacted her to do the communication, but before she'd scheduled it. :lol3: So we already knew what he was going to say - and she confirmed it.

I do feel your vet has done a small disservice in the information he provided. There's no way to estimate how any particular cat is going to react to chemo. In large cell lymphoma, the average remission time is 9 months. It can be shorter, it can be longer. Lazlo is over 2 years now. (Knock wood). There is a TCS member whose kitty went through the 6 months, only to have the cancer not go into remission at all. There is another member who's cat got 4 years of remission. As to the side-effects: chemo is managed much differently in cats than in people. The oncologist treats the cat, not the numbers, and quality of life is paramount. Lazlo's doses were adjusted based on how he was doing; they were skipped at times based on blood work. But only 15% of cats have side-effects that prevent them from continuing chemotherapy. Appetite and nausea are usually easily controlled with anti-nausea medication and an appetite stimulant. Lazlo was sick, nauseous, and inappetant before he even started chemo. He was given 4 weeks to live without it. Our take on it was it was worth the visit to the oncologist to learn about it, and once there, we decided it was worth starting the treatments to see how he did. We could always stop. :heart2:

But if kitty stresses at the trips, that's a different beast. :rub:

I hope you have many happy days together. :heart2:

Sadly, my beloved Tiger crossed the rainbow bridge late last night. Her turn for the worse was rather sudden, though looking back over my last few posts I can see the decline started last week. I believed she stopped eating Friday. My hubby indicated she didn't eat breakfast but attributed it to me feeding her late the night previous. She didn't eat again all day Saturday and stopped her water in the morning I noticed she was having trouble walking, her back legs looked wobbly. I tried to have her come outside, but she was hesitant which she never, ever, ever has been. She came but then wanted to come in. She always loved to go in our basement so I let her down yesterday and she even hesitated, where normally she would have shot down like a cannon. I went to see her and found her way in the unfinished portion, under the steps in a pitch dark area. It was then I just knew she was ready. I said my goodbyes to her there. My hubby couldn't deal and brought her up. She proceeded to vomit up blood and bile. She didn't want to be touched at all and was obviously unable to get comfortable in any position. I made the decision to not let her suffer. Where I thought I could let her die at home, after reading horrific stories of suffering and remembering my cat with the stroke, I wanted her to go with no pain and truly while sleeping.

I was able to hold her while she went to sleep but left when she became unconscious. Couldn't do the final dosage, I just wanted her to know I was there and not for her to be totally terrified on some cold stainless steel table with strangers.

Strangley, I felt a wave of relief knowing she was not suffering anymore. I knew that even if the vet pumped her full of nutrients, she wouldn't get better or recover. Today would be no different nor would the next day or the next day. She was declining everyday. This vet also echoed how agressive and fast this cancer is. She was shocked to see Tiger had lost 2lbs more since we were there only a month ago and that loss was probably over the past 2 weeks!

Thank you all for listening. I truly hope the best for all of your kitties.

I am so sorry for your loss.  I understand about the relief.  I think when we feel that, we are truly settled that we have done all that we could and it's time to let go.

This was so sudden, I'm kind of shocked, how awful, I'm sorry, can't believe it, already.

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.

I'm so sorry for your loss. You took such good care of Tiger.

Yeah, your Tiger is in a better place right now.....no cancer and no suffering...so sending you my condolences, too.

Oh hun, I'm so sorry! :heart2: :heart2: :heart2:

I know she took a piece of your heart, but she didn't suffer, and that is truly a gift.

I'm so sorry. I've been there recently with daisy so know exactly how you feel. You did everything you could x

I'm so sorry for your loss of Tiger.
She knew you loved her. You were right to help her cross the bridge. Hugs and prayers.

R.I.P. Tiger

Thank you all for the kind words. I have been out running all day, so hard to come home and not see her in her usual spots, etc. I think my hubby is taking it really hard, I oddly feel peaceful, sad but peaceful.

She was definitely more advanced than I even thought. I wish I knew earlier that something was wrong, but she never had any issues with anything so I just didn't even see the small signs that now I look back and see. Hindsight...and all that. .

I spent a lot of time reading "case studies" on lymphoma on cats, specifically large cell. Amazing how unaware I was of this condition.

Thanks again to all of you and hoping for the best health for your own cats