Lymphoma

I have a female Maine Coon cat. she is 4 now and a year ago started to lose weight, seemed miserable and then started vomiting throughout one day, just frothy stuff. I took her to the vet who gave an antibiotic injection and anti emetic. The following day she began vomiting again, had diarrhoea and looked really poorly. Our vet referred to the Veterinary Hospital as Tabitha needed rehydrating. Long story short, multiple investigations and we had the devastating Lymphoma diagnosis.

I went ahead with the Chemo from November until February of this year when I decided enough was enough, Tabitha is very nervous and the Vet had hge problems giving the Intravenous dose of Chemo which she was having alternatively with oral Chemo that I gave. Tabs had lost weight, lost most of her fur and so I made the heartbreaking decision to stop treatment. On the advice of the Oncologist we continued with daily Prednisolone. I expected to have her for a short time and let nature take it's course.

By May I decided to take her back to the hospital for a scan, her tummy was quite large and she was getting very heavy, I presumed the tumour must be very large and as we were going on holiday was considering having her put to slepp while I was there with her.

This is where the tale takes an extraordinary twist, the scan showed nearly all the affected lypph nodes had returned to normal, the weight gain becasue whe was much better.

we recommenced oral Chemo (which I give) in May and to date she is amazingly well. I cannnot get any idea of how long she has, the Vet says all he can say is she 'has bucked the trend'

Of course I am delighted to have her for so much longer than anyone expected, the Veterinary hospital have never seen this happen, does anyone else have experience of this?

I wanted to share my story just to show that when you get such a horrrible diagnosis they can sometimes go on longer than anyone thought.

I am under no illusion though, she is not cured and never will be, I just cherish every extra day I have her. She goes out in the garden (supervised) and is currently having a lovely life.

Yes. In 2011 our Lazlo had a massive mass in his stomach. It was large cell lymphoma. He handled the drives and the chemo just fine, so we went the full six months. At the end of the first two, the mass had only been reduced by 40%. His oncologist was not happy.

We stopped having the ultrasounds done, figured we were just going to finish the treatments and see. The treatments after that first two months are... I forget what they called it. A kind of maintenance. Doses aren't changed and adjusted as they are those first two months where treatments are weekly.

Three weeks after he completed chemo, the ultrasound showed he'd gone into complete remission! We've done ultrasounds every six months or so, and he has remained in remission! (Knock wood). His cancer was found almost exactly four years ago.

He was 9 when it was found, he's 13 now. FYI, a side note. Just Saturday a spot was found in his lungs. His needle biopsy was Tuesday. We're waiting for results. If it is cancer, it's likely unrelated to the lymphoma he had before.

I'm so glad your kitty has done so well! I hope you have many more years together! Every day is a gift. :heart2:

Thank you so much for replying, I have a little comfort hearing how well Lazlo has done, we didn't finish the prescribed chemo as she got so upset each time they tried to administer it, on the last occasion I was told 3 people had to try and hold her down, they tried all 4 legs to get a vein and I had one very distressed Tabs, the Oncologist was pretty upset as well.

I went today to get the blood test before chemo tomorrow, Tabs hasn't been examined for a couple of months and when the Vet got her out of the basket she obviously recognised him and growled and hissed every time he went near her!

We have another scan booked for 6th September so fingers crossed all is well.

I hope that the news for Lazlo is good and look forward to hearing your update.

Thank you again

K

Aw poor baby! Cats do have looooooong memories! I hope all checks out OK!

As to my Lazlo - well it isn't cancer! I took him in because he was limping. Apparently he banged himself pretty good in whatever fall he took, because he has a rare (as in never seen at this vet clinic before as well) tear in his lung - and his liver is poking up through it! The biopsy results were - his liver! :lol3: It should heal on its own! So can anyone spell R E L I E F?

THanks for the good wishes - we received them!

I am so sorry you are going thru  this with your kitty...have they thought of giving kitty some Valium or something to calm him down first?

My cat used to get very upset, so I bought him a Thunder Shirt. He is by no means perfect now, but it has helped a good deal. It might me a good buy.

Hi,

I saw your story about your kitty with Lymphoma. My cat was just diagnosed with large cell lymphoma. I am worried sick and not sure what to do. I don't know where the tumors are, just that she has very swollen lymphnodes and is starting to lose her appetite quickly. I have been struggling whether chemo is the best route or not and overwhelmed by all the info. I feel like she is slipping fast. I have an appointment with a different vet oncologist in the morning as the one I saw Monday was not very engaging or reassuring- not that I want someone to lie to me, but she provided absolutely no silver lining. Reading your story gave me some hope. If you could share more with me, I would appreciate it. Like what type of chemo treatment- the different drugs in particular- how far gone was your kitty when you caught it? My cat Isabel is still fluffy and beautiful with sparkling eyes... but she is completely listless and will not eat very much. It's breaking my heart.

My cat has large cell lymphoma..large cell is more aggressive. She is currently on chemotherapy and is doing better, but it is scary because "cure" is not really a word they use..chemo buys time and it is very random as to how well your cat responds to it. My cat handles chemo with no real issues, she has some mild GI upset sometimes, but that is it. If your cat is FIV positive, then the outcome tends to be worse as well. Chemo is expensive, and that is another consideration.