2nd Opinion for Lymphoma

May 30 2014 Franny started to lose weight.  June 30 I took her for xray which showed no enlarged organs, sono showed a small mass in lower area.  My vet and sono doc both decided she had lymphoma.  The blood work was good and the mass was fairly small.  She is a small cat anyway and 12 yrs old.  My vet said he is 85% sure she has lymphoma.  But with out a biopsy you never know for sure.  She is eating just a little each day and still drinking some water and getting thinner and sleeps more.  But she still comes to be petted and wags her tail.  No diarrhea yet.  no vomiting.  I think she is to frail now for a biopsy and I decided June 30 I would not put her thru chemo.  She started the prednisolone 2 weeks ago, this past week I was giving her 1ml every other day and not much changed so my vet said to start 2ml every other day hoping she would start to feel a little better.  Since the mass is small I am wondering if I should get another opinion from a large vet group in my town.  Its all so emotional but I hate to miss something that might help her.    2nd opinion or not????   I can afford to do this so its not a money issue. 

just like to add that Franny still is begging for food, I open 3 or 4 different cans and she just smells it and begs again, Her mouth I was told has no sores.  If she wasn't hungry I would understand. 

I would get a 2nd opinion, even though the doctor says 85% I would want to know more, maybe there is a specialist you can see specifically for her problem, my kitten in my profile had to go to an eye specialist and even tho its expensive I left feeling satisfied with the information given, 2nd opinions are always helpful, it took me 4 vets to find someone who knew what to do, it just depends on how far you wish to take it, I understand you dont want to put her through chemo. I vote for 2nd opinion! because if money isnt an issue no shame in trying to help your baby!

Hi, my cat has a very bad form of lymphoma and it caused a rupture in her intestine which was only discovered by ultrasound.  Her intestines had to be repaired as an emergency, she was dying, probably from sepsis, dr said there was no tumor. Had biopsy done at that time of intestinal surgery for rupture which actually came back negative for cancer, this was wrong. So not sure if a biopsy would be worth it. I would get a second opinion and ask your regular vet if doing fine needle aspirate to determine what the mass is would be a safe option for your cat. Don't know how safe aspirate is though, maybe depends where mass is.

My cat never really seemed to recover from surgery. Brought her to vet again, months later, did ultrasound, found mass in intestine. Vet did fine needle aspirate in mass to send sample for tests. Results were positive for cancer, diagnosis: Large Granular Lymphoma.  This is a more aggressive form of lymphosarcoma and unfortunately carries a poor prognosis as it appears insensitive to chemotherapy and readily spreads, affects other body systems.  My vet and I agreed chemo would not be a good idea, but decided to try prednisolone because my cat was retching, not eating, hardly moving, just seemed so miserable, uncomfortable, suffering from anemia as well.

From my experience, prednisolone seemed to bring my cat back from the dead. Within a day was eating and playing. This was only when started on 5mg dose. A little less might be a safer option for your cat.  There is another cat here with a mass too sick for biopsy or pred who has been doing very well with nausea, reflux, constipation and anemia management meds and supplements.  

Another thing is be very careful with other drug interactions with prednisolone.

My cat has always had issues with constipation, there has never been diarrhea and although there has been a little vomiting this happens in small episodes which are not frequent.

My cat is a nightmare to get to eat, soooooooooo picky for so long, I have a lot of experience with this, I'll go into detail with what has worked if you want.

Have you tried appetite stimulants like mirtazapine? Stimulants worked once for my cat (before pred), but the next two instances tried it and it just made her do stuff like splash all of the water out of her bowl or pace back and forth meowing nervously. Another cat with lymphoma diagnosis here  had really good results on the stimulant, although she was very sick already and did not last long unfortunately. not sure about interactions though, maybe it's not good with pred, this cat was also on pred.

Hope your Franny starts feeling better fast! Enjoy every moment with her!

My cat does the same with refusing cans of food but acting like starving.  unfortunately my cat sometimes will eat only dry, she usually does this maybe when she is a little nauseous. I've also offered goat milk and meat only (no onion) baby foods. Try Stella and Chewy's raw maybe too. Have had success with canned salmon, sardines in olive oil, and people always say to try giving tuna, but mine hates tuna, but for yours might work. Try plain boiled turkey or something maybe too. Have to also offer variety of different dry, try picking up sample bags from a more healthy pet store. For a little while my cat only small amount of ate greenies treats! know what my vet said about that? whatever it takes, as long as it's something. Make sure your cat gets plenty water always!

I would deg get second opininion and ask about prognosis if mass removed surgically. They will get pathology on mass to determine type of cancer. My one cat had sarcoma at one yr old. It was easily removed with no need for further treatment. Obviously, mass in belly is worse . If cost not issue, I would def get another opinion. There is a wide range of diff. in vets, their treatments, specialties, aggressiveness in treatment, etc. Good luck.

We are giving Puss canned chicken and canned tuna. He needs the protein and has been picky eater for so long. He needs to gain back muscle. This is working for us. He prefers if we feed him by hand . I think his sense of smell is very diminished.

Many years ago I had a cat with a mass in her chest. I sought the advice of a vet from New Jersey for herbal treatment. I mixed up the concoction , I gave her this for 3 months. Upon taking her back to the Vet, he x-rayed her and the mass was gone.

Thank you both for such good replies and in depth answers.  If she makes it till Monday I will take her in.  Tonight is the 2nd night I upped the Steroid meds from 1 mil to 2mil lets see how tomorrow goes and I will keep you posted.  Your time and opinion is very important to me during this stress filled time.  Her brother does not understand and I am trying to pay attention to him too, its all really hard as you all know.  thanks again

Thank you so much for the time you took to help me.  I just opened a can of Trader Joes, real people tuna, I know this is not a good option, but this is the first thing she has eaten in 12 hours and she has been drinking some water.  I am going to try the sardines next.  Your cat Chalupa, in the photo is the one with Lymphoma?  How long ago was this cat diagnosed?  Franny started to lose weight May 30/14 and went for wxray sono  June 28.  The past  2 days she is hardly eating but still taking in a little water, she looks to be about 3-4 lbs down from 6 or so.  Is your cat still with us?    If your cat is still with us do you still give her Prednisolone how much and how often?  Any other meds?  How long ago was the first real diagnosis after surgery for lymphoma?  As said last night I gave her 2ml Pred instead of 1ml everyday.  She is out from under the bed and was able to jump up to the window ledge and is currently getting some fresh(light rain in the air) air. Happiness to see her there.  Thanks again for all your advice!

Think I posted wrong but had some questions for you about Chalupa in this thread.  thanks again

Is the canned chicken and tuna real people or cat food?  Does she have lymphoma, for how long? meds?  thanks

Thanks Bettyquack, I really think I want a second opinion.  I will feel much better know there is either something or nothing I can do to stop Frannys passing.  

To Robinathome- real tuna chunk light and real canned chicken. Puss Luvs it.

Going out today, I think she will like it too, thanks!

Hi Yes that is Chalupa in pic. First started trying to figure out what was wrong with her 1 year ago, in July 2013. Did not have actual diagnosis until April 2014, but all sorts of problems happened before that. Chalupa is also 12 like Franny, by the way. Chalupa is still alive as of today. Funny thing is came back on here and just happened to see your post as was trying to figure out how to post a question again with latest concern, which no one had anything to say about anyway. Chalupas's latest scary problem is actually weight gain, possible fluid build up in belly. Torn between taking her to vet or not, not sure it's time or bad enough to go to vet if there is anything vet can do. Know that if she goes to vet, will probably not come back home, but never know, we have had a lot of problems and got through them, my vet knows she's my only cat and I live for her, but don't want to make her suffer too much. It may be very selfish to keep her alive, as much as I want her to stay.

Chalupa has been taking 1-5mg pill a day since April, tried for brief time to reduce dose to half but for most of time it's been 1-5mg pill a day.

Noticed writing with other cat owners of lymphoma cats, that all these cats seem to love being outside, including mine, we sleep outside sometimes. Think the moonrays  help her feel better, seems to prefer the night. Think the only thing my cat looks forward to and enjoys is being outside(she's kept on a leash with me).

Forgot to mention about feeding, always try to buy some new canned foods never tried before. Alternating different food all the time seems to help, and when seems to like something go back to it regularly. My vet and I agree that they seem to remember certain foods might make them feel sick even though it's not the food, it's their illness. I waste a lot of money on cat food, and try to buy really good stuff and bad stuff, to see what works. She's worth it to me, and know she is not going to last long anyway.

Also, I give my cat extra water with syringe and unflavored pedialyte to keep her hydrated sometimes. If you want to do this though, please make sure you know the proper way to syringe feed-ask vet.

My cat also likes to watch cat entertainment videos, there's a lot on youtube and amazon has a good one.

Also, new toys, (that don't require too much energy) are really good to keep them happy, the favorite are these nano-robotic cat toys I found called hexbug. They make fish too but never got around to trying to find them.

Thank you again for all this info.  2nd opinion tomorrow but know it could be bad.  But I appreciate the time you took during a time when you where making such and important decision.  

The gnawing in my heart brought me back to a new Vet for a 2nd opinion today.  You can read my previous posts regarding 1st Vet.  1st Vet said Franny is 85% likely to have lymphoma.  Small mass on her lower region.  Diagnosed by my Vet and the sono Vet(or maybe she was not a vet just a sono doc for animals).  But the 15% was gnawing at me cause Franny was still active and drinking water but in the last 2 days almost no food.  Today the new vet told me he believes it's not lymphoma but a more aggressive tumor that could be intertwined with the bowel. He did a new sonogram and blood work.  He will have more answers when the blood work comes in by tomorrow.  There was a lot more info but until I have more to post I just wanted to say.....IF you can afford it....I am so so glad I went for the 2nd opinion today.  Franny is all most wasted away, almost no body fat left.  This is his biggest concern.  He gave her electrolytes, fluid, and nutra-cal and during this visit he gave her a can of Pro Plan(a brand I really like) salmon and rice, she ate a lot of it.  He said she will be hungry again in 1 hour and sure enough she was, this time she eat a good tablespoon of food and she was really crewing it up, first time in days I have seen her do that.  He told me to get her to eat anything even people tuna, chix which I have in cans.     First vet 500.00, 2nd vet 500.00, this is not for everyone.  We also talked about chemo which I was against after the 1st vet and I talked but todays vet said it is really not a bad option and many pets live 1+ years.  Right now the only thing that matters is the blood work.  The look on my vets face today when I left was not encouraging.  I'll update when I hear.  MOST of all....if you can afford a second opinion and you feel you should get one...DO IT!  What ever I am told now, I know how to better handle it.  

KyleeBrown, thanks for your advice, it really pushed me to do it.  So glad I did today get a 2nd opinion.

I will be curious of the 2nd opinion.  Please let us know.