Hello,
My 12 yo neutered male was just diagnosed with suspect lymphoma in his stomach. He'd been having problems vomiting lately which ultimately resulted in an ultrasound. He's also had some weight loss but this was originally attributed to his still fairly recent diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. The internist said his stomach is severely thickened and he has several enlarged lymph nodes in his abdomen. She sent off a thymidine kinase test to confirm lymphoma (his lymphocytes, oddly enough, were normal as of a week ago when a massive blood panel was done). I have zero experience with lymphoma and the vet didn't want to get into too many details until the blood test comes back. He was started on prednisone in the meantime. However, the vet was not too optimistic on survival time when I did press her for details. She said chemo could be given in the form of either a pill or IV (both with prednisone) and she knew a couple of cats who survived 18 months but most were 6 months to a year. She estimated he has maybe 3 weeks left without chemo. According to her, his stomach wall will continue to thicken until it prevents food from entering his intestines. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with stomach-based lymphoma? What I've read online is much more optimistic than what she told me, but everything online is about lymphoma in the intestines and not the stomach so now I'm torn. He gets very stressed at the vet so treatment is going to be difficult (quality of life).
My 12 yo neutered male was just diagnosed with suspect lymphoma in his stomach. He'd been having problems vomiting lately which ultimately resulted in an ultrasound. He's also had some weight loss but this was originally attributed to his still fairly recent diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. The internist said his stomach is severely thickened and he has several enlarged lymph nodes in his abdomen. She sent off a thymidine kinase test to confirm lymphoma (his lymphocytes, oddly enough, were normal as of a week ago when a massive blood panel was done). I have zero experience with lymphoma and the vet didn't want to get into too many details until the blood test comes back. He was started on prednisone in the meantime. However, the vet was not too optimistic on survival time when I did press her for details. She said chemo could be given in the form of either a pill or IV (both with prednisone) and she knew a couple of cats who survived 18 months but most were 6 months to a year. She estimated he has maybe 3 weeks left without chemo. According to her, his stomach wall will continue to thicken until it prevents food from entering his intestines. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with stomach-based lymphoma? What I've read online is much more optimistic than what she told me, but everything online is about lymphoma in the intestines and not the stomach so now I'm torn. He gets very stressed at the vet so treatment is going to be difficult (quality of life).