At home treatment for lymphoma

candh

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Hello all -

I'm new to the forum. I hate to say it but I was brought here based on the unfortunate news that my one cat has lymphoma. As you all know, this is devastating. He's been with me for 14 years. I got both of them as brothers. His brother is still going strong.

As so many here have experienced, just the diagnostics and running between vets and hospitals alone is expensive. I'm already up to $1000. The veterinarian now wants me to take him to an oncologist - preliminary fee estimates for treatment are around $4000 (consisting of pred and chlorambucil).

Now here comes my, perhaps, unconventional question. Have any of you  had a vet prescribe those medications for at-home treatment? My vet does not feel comfortable giving cancer treatment and wants me to go to a specialist. While I appreciate that the hospital will closely monitor progress, do continual blood tests and adjust dosage, the reality is my poor pet is going to die without treatment, so can I really do any worse by giving low dosage of that medication? This route, while not as precise as the oncologist, definitely makes it within the realm of being affordable versus not affordable and watching him die.

Do vets prescribe those medications to allow people to administer at home? Or am I completely misguided for even thinking about this and it's only to be administered in a animal hospital?

Thanks for your input,

Chris
 

talkingpeanut

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I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.

I would not try to treat at home. The wrong dosage of medication could make him feel worse, or lead to side effects that really need monitoring. My advice would be to look into care credit and other options for affordable vet care, or to provide only care that will keep your cat comfortable.

Again, I am so sorry.
 

white shadow

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Hi Chris and welcome to the forum !

Forums like this are a good starting point for many people.....but, when it comes to dealing with serious health conditions, the very best sources of information and support are sure to be the specialized online communities that deal with each type of disease/chronic condition.

For the last 18 years there has been an active online community of people whose kitties have lymphoma.....that's where I'd be posing my questions.

People who run these groups are, by far, the 'specialists' where it involves best practices of care and management as well as the very latest treatment information - including clinical trials etc.

Now, most of these groups were started in earlier internet days before forums like this came along, and they used email as their 'operating platform'. The majority, including the lymphoma group, continue like this today. I'd suggest that you get yourself a new separate email addy to use exclusively for the group as that will help better manage the info flow.

The group can be found right here: Discussion of Feline Lymphoma

And, hopefully you'll not be a stranger here......where we'd love to see some pics of your kitty !
 

denice

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Actually leukerin, I have an easier time spelling the brand name, is a pill that is given at home.  Your vet isn't comfortable prescribing it and wants you to go a specialist,   It isn't something that you can get on your own a vet will have to prescribe it as well as the prednisolone that is given in conjunction with the leukerin.  

What kind of diagnostics were done?  If this is digestive issue it is often very difficult to differentiate between small cell lymphoma and IBD.
 
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