Large-Cell Lymphoma

[mauers]

Hi everyone,

My cat was diagnosed with large-cell lymphoma (the more aggressive form) on Monday, 12/30/13. He has a large (a little smaller than a baseball) mass that has developed from his small intestine. He has lost some weight but is otherwise healthy and happy. His appetite seems pretty normal and his bloodwork is good. He will be 12 years old in February.  I'm considering pursuing chemo and I'd love to hear opinions/experiences with this type of cancer. I'd like to give him the best chance possible as long as he is happy. The way I see it is if chemo is only going to give him another few months, it's not worth the stress of going to the vet every week and getting shots. If he's going to live another year or more, I will gladly arrange for his chemo.

Thanks!

 

[lilin]

 
Hi everyone,

My cat was diagnosed with large-cell lymphoma (the more aggressive form) on Monday, 12/30/13. He has a large (a little smaller than a baseball) mass that has developed from his small intestine. He has lost some weight but is otherwise healthy and happy. His appetite seems pretty normal and his bloodwork is good. He will be 12 years old in February.  I'm considering pursuing chemo and I'd love to hear opinions/experiences with this type of cancer. I'd like to give him the best chance possible as long as he is happy. The way I see it is if chemo is only going to give him another few months, it's not worth the stress of going to the vet every week and getting shots. If he's going to live another year or more, I will gladly arrange for his chemo.

Thanks!

I don't have experience with this, but I just wanted to say that I thought the same way you are with Pearl when she was old. It's all about weighing the stress and discomfort of treatment against how much time and what quality of life they will have afterwards, since they don't know why it's happening.

And also, I'm so sorry your kitty is going through this. Talk to your vet about what the prognosis is like with versus without treatment in your cat's case, and given his constitution otherwise. I hope everything goes well for you.

 

[denice]

Chemo is hit or miss.  There is one cat here who has been in remission for 2 years.  He had a large growth in his stomach, others didn't have very good results.  Is the growth operable?  I know the one who had a growth in his stomach didn't have an operable tumor, he only had the chemo.

 

[mauers]

I am speaking with his oncologist but I figured it couldn't hurt to get some real-life experiences rather than just statistics (though I'm definitely paying attention to the statistics).

I'm also definitely doing my research outside of what the oncologist has told me and I'm consulting with her on what I've found. The problem is that there isn't a ton of consistency, which I understand is because they don't know a whole lot at this point.

I'm not sure whether it's operable or whether it's worth it to operate on it. No one mentioned the possibility of removing it so I assume that it isn't an option. I was planning on asking them though.

Thanks for your input!

 

[vball91]

I am so sorry you and your cat are going through this. I don't have any experience to share, but member @LDG had a similar diagnosis with one of her cats, so hopefully she will see this and share her experience with you.

 

[raintyger]

So sorry you have to deal with this decision.

My kitty was diagnosed with lymphoma. We did not pursue treatment because it's very intensive and she was a big Scaredy Cat, so I knew she would be miserable. My research said that on average the cancer comes back in 6-9 months. If you do not opt for surgery and chemo, prednisolone is typically given to ease symptoms. The prednisolone usually keeps things going for 6 weeks.

Good luck. I hope your kitty will feel his best whichever way you go.

 

[ldg]

I'm the one with the kitty that had large cell lymphoma in his stomach. It was called "massive," and the vets were surprised there was room in his stomach for food (kitty's tummies don't expand like people's do). We opted to at least try chemo. We figured the worst was we don't continue it. If it stressed Lazlo too much, we wouldn't continue it. For us, the oncologist was 1.5 hours away, so it was a major commitment in terms of time (and money). His treatments were every week the first two months, then every other week for another four months. We had ultrasounds done after the first and second month - but not after that. We figured - it didn't matter what they showed, we were going the length, so why waste the money?

And so we had an awesome surprise when it was all done - there was no mass to measure.

He needed to be syringe fed at times the first month. He was very nauseous, and needed an antacid, an anti-nausea med (Cerenia), an appetite stimulant, and he was on 5mg of pred. But he took it all like a champ, and because he was SO sick when it started (he was given 4 weeks to live without treatment), and though there were some ups and downs, overall he just felt better and better.

The typical length of remission is 6 - 9 months. January 30, we will be celebrating 2 years (unless this is something that is measured from when he was diagnosed - in that case, it's been 2.5 years already). Yes, we've been very lucky. But I've also taken steps to help him. Have they contributed? I don't know. I switched him to a raw diet. I give him supplements that help regulate his immune system (probiotics and lactoferrin). Although I no longer use this supplement all the time, because it turns out it is high in iodine, I still give it to him several times a week, because it has a lot of antioxidants in it: Wysong's Call of the Wild (it is used to make just meat complete and balanced). Anti-oxidants cannot be given during chemo, as they lessen its effectiveness, but lactoferrin has been listed as being a supportive therapy - I just didn't learn about it until after Lazlo's chemo.

On the other hand, BarbB's Toby had intestinal large-cell lymphoma, and it did not help him.

Our oncologist said that though the literature indicates chemo puts large cell lymphoma into remission in cats and dogs 60% of the time, in his experience, it's more like a 50/50 chance. About 15% cannot tolerate the side-effects.

I'm so sorry you're having to face these decisions. But we're here for any questions. for you and your kitty as you navigate the next few weeks, and for your kitty to be as comfortable as possible whatever you decide.

 

[tinybash]

Daisy also has large cell lymphoma in her tummy. Her tumor was unable to be removed via surgery but she has been on chemo for 13 weeks now and is doing well so far. She was originally on weekly vincristine injections and prednisone and cytoxan orally every other day. Her tumor has shrunk from mans fist sized to a small mass and her vincristine is now being reduced to every second week.

I would recommend the chemo route to anyone. Daisy hasn't had any side effects apart from the fact she doesn't like taking her pills.

It's true that chemo is a hit or miss but only because these tumours are so unpredictable.

Good luck. Will be sending good vibes.

 

[mauers]

Thank you everyone for all of your comments! It was really helpful and also makes me hopeful.

I think we're going to try chemo for a month and see what happens. Right now, the oncologist that he's seeing is an hour away but it's at Colorado State University and they are THE BEST. I am considering having him do chemo closer to where we live but we'll see how he handles the drive to CSU.

He's been taking prednisolone since the day he was diagnosed and I've been giving him canned kitten food 3 times a day so I'm hoping that having that on top of his regular food (he has 24/7 access to dry food as well as the 3 other cats he lives with so I'm not sure how much he's eating in total) will help him gain some weight.

He has chemo on Monday so we'll see if there's any change. I know it's too early to really for there to be a difference but who knows. Cross your fingers!

 

[ldg]

:cross: and vibes!

Yes, the last month (or two?), we transferred Lazlo's chemo to the local vet. She worked with the oncologist and used his protocol. Everyone understood - the drive was just sooooo long!

I didn't use these then, but do now. To help with the weight, you can try digestive enzymes. They'll help him metabolize the food he eats, so he'll "use" more of the calories. Also, if he likes egg yolk, it's packed with calories and very nutritious, so makes a great snack once or twice a week.

 

[goholistic]

Wishing you the best of luck with the chemo! Lots of vibes for your boy! 

 

[scarlett 001]

Not sure the details of the lymphoma, but my parents had one cat with lymphoma and they began chemo, but did not pursue further when not working - the kitty lasted nearly a year despite this and did rather well until the end.

More recently, another of parent's cats had lymphoma diagnosed December 2012. My Dad pursued chemo (my mum died a few years ago, so my Dad undertook the chemo alone this time around). Mac was one of the few cats to lose hair with chemo so he looked a bit of a mess, but he was happy and had good quality of life for quite some time until he eventually passed in December 2013.

 

[mauers]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone ever had to give their cat Cerenia (Maropitant) and Mirtazapine? When I gave them to him this morning, he began foaming at the mouth and drooling almost instantly. He had what I call a foam beard that was hanging down to the ground at one point. I called the vet and they said to bring him in because they've never heard of those symptoms with those meds. While I was on the phone with him, his foaming/drooling ended. Since the vet is an hour away and the drooling/foaming has ceased, I was just going to wait until his chemo appointment tomorrow morning (as long as he doesn't have any other changes today) and have them give him his pills then to see what happens. Has anyone had this experience? Should I still take him to the vet? Could I have done something wrong when administering his medication?

Thank you!!!

 

[denice]

Both of those meds are widely used for nausea and to keep a kitty eating.  Kitties will often do the foaming at the mouth thing with a medicine that taste bad, all kitties do it with Metro because it is so bitter.  Maybe your kitty is very sensitive to the taste of medicine.  When your kitty gets chemo tomorrow maybe the vet could give a shot of cerenia since your kitty seems to be so sensitive to the taste of medicine.  With the Metro my vet cuts up the pills and puts them in empty gel caps so he doesn't taste them.  You can get empty gel caps and do that yourself.  I know that they can be found on Amazon and people usually use either a size 3 or 4.

 

[mauers]

Thanks for the suggestion, Denice! I found some empty capsules at Vitamin Cottage and it's so much easier to get him to take any pill now! I don't even have to restrain him most of the time.

I have another question regarding lymphoma prognosis. So far, he's had 2 chemo treatments. He was supposed to have his 3rd today but it had to be postponed until Thursday (he ended up with a stomach ulcer thanks to the prednisolone). Anyway, when I picked him up from the vet today, she said that his mass was "a lot smaller". It went from the size of a baseball to smaller than a ping-pong ball. The vet refused to say how significant this is except that she's "cautiously hopeful". I know that there are no guarantees, but if his cancer has gotten so small after only 2 treatments, have his chances of living longer than the average increased significantly or is it still likely that he'll die within 6 months?

Thank you everyone for all of your help!

 

[ldg]

That is a VERY good response - our Dr. Gloom would have been jumping for joy with that kind of response after just two treatments. With Lazlo, his mass "only" shrank by 40% in TWO MONTHS (8 treatments). But he was feeling so much better by then, we just stopped having the ultrasounds. He was responding to it, we knew that, so we just went the full course at that point.

I don't know if the response to the chemo has anything to do with how long he'll live after the treatment. I think that has a lot more to do with aftercare. We transitioned Lazlo to a raw diet (less processed, no additives, etc.), give him antioxidants (which you cannot do DURING chemo), and probiotics and bovine lactoferrin which both help mediate his immune system. Bovine lactoferrin has been demonstrated to help with various cancers, and all of the above help support the immune system. If you're not interested in raw, then feed the healthiest diet you can - a low-carb canned diet. Carbs feed cancer.

Because Lalzo's mass was in his stomach, it came with bleeding ulcers. We treated it with Yunnan Baiyao (to stop the bleeding and then help boost his red blood cell count) and Sucralfate twice a day.

And yes, we used the Cerenia and mirtazipine. Laz never drooled from them, but I'm able to get the pills in their throat. As explained, they drool when something is bitter. Glad you found the gel caps, those are GREAT! :bigthumb:

Continued !!!!!

 

[mauers]

Thanks! I'll definitely do some research on the raw diet and talk to his doctor about that and the supplements you recommended! I appreciate all of your help!

 

[tinybash]

Great news. We were told that cats who respond quickly have really good chances. Fingers and toes crossed x

 

[ldg]

Oh that is AWESOME!!! Yes - :cross: :cross: :cross: !!!!!!

 

[mauers]

Thanks everyone for all of your support! Yesterday he had his 4th treatment and they said that they could barely feel his tumor and as of right now, he's in a good partial remission. We find out in 2 weeks if he is in a full remission after this treatment.