Lymphoma?

[ameliashuman]

I have a post below about increasing calories in my elderly cat, Neil. He was going steady but deteriorated over the weekend resulting in us having to hospitalize him for IV fluids. This evening the vet she thought it was likely lymphoma (and maybe kidney disease). So new questions, new post. Any recommendation for reading about lymphoma. Anyone have experience of treating lymphoma?

 

[neely]

Although none of my cats have had Lymphoma I thought this thread with posts from other members might be helpful for you:
In Need Of Support, My Cat Has Lymphoma. I Am Worried.
And an Article with a detailed description:
Lymphoma

Please keep us posted on Neil's progress. Sending special thoughts.

 

[MissClouseau]

I like WagWalking the most to read about conditions. Lymphoma in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

When it's a serious diagnosis like that, I think it's the best to get a second opinion with the test results and symptoms.

 

[ameliashuman]

These are great resources thank you. The threads of people's experiences seems to lead me to read other threads, and on to other threads, has been both illuminating but also sometimes heart breaking.

Neil is stabilizing from his acute crisis Monday and we're meeting with the Vet this evening to discuss everything. I intend on talking about preventative measures so we can try to avoid getting back to the shape he was in on Monday and I wanted to talk with the vet about Lymphoma and next steps (including referrals for specialists/second opinions). This vet was actually my second opinion from our normal vet, I knew something was more wrong than just a food allergy. The new vet is closer to our home and offers hospital services so they're now our primary.

Are there questions people wish they had asked in the beginning? Topics I need to ask the Doctor about? I'm making list now based on things I'm reading, but I wanted to see if the benefits of other people's hindsight would give me more avenues to pursue.

 

[silkenpaw]

I had two cats with intestinal lymphoma. Both were middle aged. One (Little Bit, my avatar photo) did very poorly, developed diabetes (which we could never properly control), never went into remission and had to be euthanized when her white blood count went through the roof. The other (Frangi) went into remission and did well for about 18 months, then relapsed and did not respond to more aggressive therapy.

The mean survival after biopsy diagnosis of intestinal lymphoma is 18 months. Of course, some cats do much better and some, like Little Bit, go downhill rapidly.

I don’t know whether lymphoma that develops outside the intestine has a different course, treatment and prognosis. My cats were treated with prednisolone and chlorambucil. They did not get vomiting from either drug.

Best of luck with Neil. I hope he does well. Ask me about anything that’s not clear or that I did not address.

 

[ameliashuman]

Thank you silkenpaw. I was able to look up that combo of meds and now have them down in my notebook to ask about. Neil's come home for the night, he's still anemic (but better than Monday) and his white blood cell count is going up. They've switched antibiotics and we're going back today and maybe Sat. for Sub Q fluids. On Tuesday we'll rerun the blood panel. Depending on his anmenia and white blood cell count we'll decide if we want to pursue the specialist consult. I guess if he continues to be anemic and with increasing white blood cell count we're looking at a very different prognostic picture. I'm just so glad to have him home, although at the moment he's not super interested in cuddling. I guess I need to give him some space after all the stress of this week.

 

[silkenpaw]

Best of luck to Neil. How are his kidneys? You can’t blame the high white count on renal failure but some of the anemia, maybe.

You know, you can give SQ fluids at home. It’s easy to learn and so much nicer for the cat not to have to go to the vet.

 

[ameliashuman]

Bun and creantine all dropped to normal levels, which is a first since February (his annual visit, though he was starting to throw up around then, vet thought it was a good allegry). Still on the higher end of normal, but normal. So I'm not sure what to think about that decrease, though I like the normal values

We just tried to give him his remeron for appetite and he managed to eat the cheese and the pill pocket while leaving the pill.
. Back to pill drawing board I guess.

I think the vet wanted to check on him after the first night home and then again before the long weekend, hence the sub q at the vets. But my plan is to do ask for the instructions to do sub q fluids at home if he needs it more often.

 

[ameliashuman]

Would feeding Neil wet food with liver help with the anemia? Increasing iron helps right? Just trying to figure out options so we can get good blood work in Tuesday. He's still sleeping a lot, but will cuddle a little. He doesn't leave his room but will occasionally look out the window. I miss cuddling with him at night though