Hi all,
This is my first post here, and I'm hoping to find some suggestions or useful info from others who have gone through this or are currently going through treatment. My 10-year old cat Lucky was diagnosed last week with small-cell lymphoma. He had been vomiting up bile and saliva all last week and was unable to keep anything down. About 5 weeks ago he had had similar symptoms, but they cleared up with some anti-nausia & appetite stimulant meds and at the time we were hopeful it was just an isolated incident, since his blood work and x-rays were normal. When the symptoms came back we also got a urinalysis (which showed blood in the urine) and an ultrasound, which showed a mass in his intestine. Thankfully it wasn't blocking anything, but we had to act fast since he was quickly going downhill. He had also lost a decent amount of weight. The vet explained all my options and we decided to start him on Predisolone in hopes we would see an improvement in the next couple days. I was shocked to see great improvements after his first dose (Oct 2nd), he was finally able to eat some and keep it down. His appetite has continued to improve over the weekend, and I'm excited to see that he is much more alert, affectionate, and even playful! It's crazy to think that just last week I was fearing that this was the end for him.
I'm taking him back to the vet on Wednesday for them to show me how to administer vitamin B12 shots weekly (eventually this will go to every other week), and then the next step is to start him on leukeran (while continuing with the prednisolone). The leukeran makes me a bit uneasy, because of the higher risk of side effects, but if it works out it would give him a better prognosis so we're going to give it a try and see how it goes. Thankfully I have pet insurance to help me with the cost...those pills are pricey!
I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions for supplements to have on hand that may help him with side effects or otherwise during his treatment. Also, so far I've been able to hide his prednisolone in pill pockets, which is wonderful because he gets pretty stressed when I have to force him to take the pills. I'm hopeful he won't decide to stop eating them anytime soon! I know I'll find this out in a couple days, but are leukeran pills small enough to hide in pill pockets as well? Do they have a bitter taste that might not make them a good candidate for pill pockets? Any suggestions or tips are greatly appreciated! Success stories to help keep my hopes up are welcome too
--Melissa
Below is a photo of Lucky being happy & purry a few hours after his first steroid treatment...his little belly is bald from the ultrasound:
This is my first post here, and I'm hoping to find some suggestions or useful info from others who have gone through this or are currently going through treatment. My 10-year old cat Lucky was diagnosed last week with small-cell lymphoma. He had been vomiting up bile and saliva all last week and was unable to keep anything down. About 5 weeks ago he had had similar symptoms, but they cleared up with some anti-nausia & appetite stimulant meds and at the time we were hopeful it was just an isolated incident, since his blood work and x-rays were normal. When the symptoms came back we also got a urinalysis (which showed blood in the urine) and an ultrasound, which showed a mass in his intestine. Thankfully it wasn't blocking anything, but we had to act fast since he was quickly going downhill. He had also lost a decent amount of weight. The vet explained all my options and we decided to start him on Predisolone in hopes we would see an improvement in the next couple days. I was shocked to see great improvements after his first dose (Oct 2nd), he was finally able to eat some and keep it down. His appetite has continued to improve over the weekend, and I'm excited to see that he is much more alert, affectionate, and even playful! It's crazy to think that just last week I was fearing that this was the end for him.
I'm taking him back to the vet on Wednesday for them to show me how to administer vitamin B12 shots weekly (eventually this will go to every other week), and then the next step is to start him on leukeran (while continuing with the prednisolone). The leukeran makes me a bit uneasy, because of the higher risk of side effects, but if it works out it would give him a better prognosis so we're going to give it a try and see how it goes. Thankfully I have pet insurance to help me with the cost...those pills are pricey!
I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions for supplements to have on hand that may help him with side effects or otherwise during his treatment. Also, so far I've been able to hide his prednisolone in pill pockets, which is wonderful because he gets pretty stressed when I have to force him to take the pills. I'm hopeful he won't decide to stop eating them anytime soon! I know I'll find this out in a couple days, but are leukeran pills small enough to hide in pill pockets as well? Do they have a bitter taste that might not make them a good candidate for pill pockets? Any suggestions or tips are greatly appreciated! Success stories to help keep my hopes up are welcome too
--Melissa
Below is a photo of Lucky being happy & purry a few hours after his first steroid treatment...his little belly is bald from the ultrasound:
