Feline Lymphoma Diagnosis

My cat was diagnosed with feline lymphoma yesterday   She's only 9 years old. She's currently on prednisone and the event told me to take the weekend to think over weather or not to start chemotherapy. I want to save her, but I don't want to keep her alive if she's going to be miserable. If anyone else has been through lymphoma with a cat and went through with chemo, id love to hear about how the experience was for them, and also if anyone didn't chose chemo, did your pet get worse quickly? Eberle is still eating and drinking normally, but she's been pretty lazy lately and thats not typical of her.

I want her to have a good quality of life for however long she has left. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated 

eberlesmom said:

 
My cat was diagnosed with feline lymphoma yesterday 

 She's only 9 years old. She's currently on prednisone and the event told me to take the weekend to think over weather or not to start chemotherapy. I want to save her, but I don't want to keep her alive if she's going to be miserable. If anyone else has been through lymphoma with a cat and went through with chemo, id love to hear about how the experience was for them, and also if anyone didn't chose chemo, did your pet get worse quickly? Eberle is still eating and drinking normally, but she's been pretty lazy lately and thats not typical of her.

I want her to have a good quality of life for however long she has left. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated 

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One of my former cats had severe IBD that later became a rarer cancer than lymphoma, but lymphoma can often be managed for quite some time, but not cured, and it can be done with good quality of life.  Sometimes its best to start just with the steroids, and move on to the chemo (Leukeran) later when the steroid stops working, other vets may want to do both at the same time.  With cats and chemo, its not the same as with humans.  We will ask humans to endure great discomfort for life extension, but we don't ask that of our animals.  About 80% of cats on Leukeran (the 1st choice chemo for lymphoma, also known as chlorambucil) tolerate it well enough to continue using it, those that don't get taken off it.  That simple, more or less.

Assuming your cat has small cell lymphoma, this isn't a tumor, a mass, but a type of cancer that changes the intestinal cells at the microscopic level, resulting in a decreasing ability to digest food and usually resulting in diarrhea or vomiting.  The goal of the steroids and the chemo is to reduce inflammation of the intestines by working on those cellular structures.

I would get a second opinion as to whether you do just steroids or steroids and chemo, but treating your cat can help her quality of life.  The steroids are generally very well tolerated.

I'm assuming your cat had a surgical or endoscopic biopsy?  There is no other way to distinguish between IBD and lymphoma.  Without the biopsy it could be either, but both get treated with steroids.

I have to double check the report , but I believe it's large cell lymphoma.. she has a tumor in her chest and cancer in her pancreas as well

eberlesmom said:

I have to double check the report , but I believe it's large cell lymphoma.. she has a tumor in her chest and cancer in her pancreas as well

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I'm so sorry.  Yes if its a tumor the chemo may be different and there is a big quality of life issue.  We have a cat right now with liver cancer that we aren't treating.  She's symptom free at the moment but it didn't seem helpful in her case to try and prolong things.

I'm so sorry to hear and I hope your cat continues to do well ! The vet tells us that chemo is a good option for eberle .. she's a good candidate because she's otherwise healthy and doesn't have any gastrointestinal blockages related to her pancreas yet which is good news . The vet also told us it could improve her quality of like and give her longer too .. but it's 8 weeks of IV's and blood work and I don't know if that's too much to put her through

How is your kitty doing? Eberle is currently septum free apart from being a little less energetic, but i must say im nervous that it won't last. Can I ask what made you decide not to go with chemo? and also is your cat on prednisone? Eberle is and it seems to be helping in terms of her energy levels for the time being.

Here is a website that discusses lymphoma and gives a lot of information but as a cancer survivor it is important to understand that the attitude of the patient and the support are VERY IMPORTANT.  I had a friend along time ago whose dog (and I understand the difference) developed cancer.  He spent about 4000 dollars on trying to save the animal.  This dog every time I would do the yard would bark and bark and eventually would hide from me.  Suddenly,during chemo  when I would enter the yard it would not bark and its behavior was very different.  I saw that an a substantial change in behavior.  A year later after all of the chemo the animal died but during that time I never detected that the animal was suffering, or in pain or that its quality of life was affected.  I am not saying that to discourage you but rather to make you aware that the most important thing is the quality of life of the animal and the support and love you can give it.  

This article discusses chemo and radiation and who should determine whether it will be useful. 

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/cancer/c_ct_lymphoma?page=1

Keep your spirits up!!!

I just posted this on another thread but thought it might be helpful here too:
I adopted a (2 y.o.) Persian cat from Animal Care & Control in August this year. Almost as soon as I got him home I realized something was not right- he was vomiting constantly and violently. Several vet appointments and a whole lot of money spent later, the conclusion was that he has Lymphoma (I think it is small cell but they haven't said for sure). I decided to go ahead with a steroid+chemo combination (Prednisolone and Chlorambucil). It's been two months now and my kitty is doing very well. He is back to pooping and eating mostly normally (I do use an appetite stimulant every few days which helps), looks healthy and bright, and is running and playing with his brother. His next vet appointment is in a week, but at the last one they told me his mass had shrunk significantly, and he was in partial remission. I am hoping at this next visit they tell me he is in complete remission. I definitely think chemotherapy is worth it. My cat tolerates it very well- he gets sleepy for the 24 hours or so after I give him his pill, and that is it for side effects. Even if he does go into remission, the meds will eventually fail and the cancer will return, but that might be years down the road, and I am very happy to have more time with the little guy as I adore him. Hope that helps.