Low lymphocytes and weight loss-- lymphoma?

[profcat]

Our Willie (9 years old) just had her annual exam and bloodwork. Her bloodwork was perfect BUT her lymphocytes were very low. And she's lost 2 pounds. She was a very heavy cat (quite large in size), and we switched her to diet dry food this past year to get her to lose weight. So we were happy with the weight loss, but now we're concerned about lymphoma. The vet said we should recheck her CBCs and weight in 3 months. She has no other signs that anything is wrong-- no vomiting, etc.

Anyone have experiences with this?

 

[BlackCatOp]

A low lymphocyte count (lymphopenia) shouldn't cause a concern for lymphoma. Lymphoma causes a high lymphocyte count (lymphcytosis). I would call the vet office to confirm the blood work results with your veterinarian and the suspected causes of the abnormalities. There must be a miscommunication or misunderstanding somewhere.

Hope you get some answers to your kitty's problems and it is nothing to serious!

 

[profcat]

A low lymphocyte count (lymphopenia) shouldn't cause a concern for lymphoma. Lymphoma causes a high lymphocyte count (lymphcytosis). I would call the vet office to confirm the blood work results with your veterinarian and the suspected causes of the abnormalities. There must be a miscommunication or misunderstanding somewhere.

Hope you get some answers to your kitty's problems and it is nothing to serious!

Thanks for the reply! I picked up a copy of the blood work results and am trying to read online. I see that low lymphocytes can be a sign of cancer, but that lymphoma is usually causes high lymphocytes. The weight loss also concerned the vet. Her WBC was slightly low, but more in the range of an incidental finding. Everything else in her blood work was normal.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I think you should ask to have a conversation with the vet about the cancer issue, just for more clarification - as suggested above. But, about the weight loss. How long of a time period passed related to her 2 lbs loss? If over a year, it might be nothing to worry about. However, if you do wait for 3 months to have her re-checked, I would recommend that you weigh her at least every other week in the meantime, so you can see if she is still losing weight, and how fast - especially since you said the vet was concerned about it. If she loses too much, you might want to request the vet to check her sooner.