* Prednisolone for kidney/renal lymphoma *

[Tabby1177]

Hi everyone,

My 18 year old car has been diagnosed with kidney lymphoma.

My vet, in consultation with a veterinary oncologist, had suggested a low dose of prednisolone to start with, and then chlorambucil as a treatment later on. Vet believes chlorambucil has a lot more side effects than the low dose prednisolone.


Right now my cat is eating and drinking well, seems happy, and has been able to maintain a steady weight to date.
My vet said it would be a low dose of prednisolone given that would not suppress my cat’s immune system, and would provide a meaningful extension of survival time for my day.

I am very scared of steroids because of their huge list of side effects on humans, but my vet has advised that cats do not suffer the same detrimental side effects that people do on them.

I was just wondering what your thoughts were on regarding prednisolone and chlorambucil usage on cats.

Should I be pushing chlorambucil over the pred?

Is pred relatively safe for cats?

Any thoughts/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tabby1177]

My apologies for the typos, I can’t seem to edit my post as a new member, so I’ve reposted my messages below with corrections.

Hi everyone,

My 18 year old cat has been diagnosed with kidney lymphoma.

My vet, in consultation with a veterinary oncologist, had suggested a low dose of prednisolone to start with, and then chlorambucil as a treatment later on. Vet believes chlorambucil has a lot more side effects than the low dose prednisolone.


Right now my cat is eating and drinking well, seems happy, and has been able to maintain a steady weight to date.
My vet said it would be a low dose of prednisolone given that would not suppress my cat’s immune system, and would provide a meaningful extension of survival time for my cat.

I am very scared of steroids because of their huge list of side effects on humans, but my vet has advised that cats do not suffer the same detrimental side effects that people do on them.

I was just wondering what your thoughts were on regarding prednisolone and chlorambucil usage on cats.

Should I be pushing chlorambucil over the pred?

Is pred relatively safe for cats?

Any thoughts/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. It seems that many vets suggest Pred as a prelude, or in addition, to chlorambucil. A lot of them believe it can help retard the advancement of lymphoma just by itself, others recommend it to help offset symptoms that can be experienced with lymphoma. Since it would seem your cat is not experiencing symptoms as yet, your vet must believe it will help slow down the cancer. There are cats that do well with both/either, and others that don't. The trend seems to be more do well than not, but as you know to be true of most anything, there are always exceptions.

What brought about the investigation that identified lymphoma?

Because of your new member status you are prohibited from editing. Once you have been a member for 5 days - and have more than 20 posts, you will be able to edit.

 

[Tabby1177]

Hi. It seems that many vets suggest Pred as a prelude, or in addition, to chlorambucil. A lot of them believe it can help retard the advancement of lymphoma just by itself, others recommend it to help offset symptoms that can be experienced with lymphoma. Since it would seem your cat is not experiencing symptoms as yet, your vet must believe it will help slow down the cancer. There are cats that do well with both/either, and others that don't. The trend seems to be more do well than not, but as you know to be true of most anything, there are always exceptions.

What brought about the investigation that identified lymphoma?

Because of your new member status you are prohibited from editing. Once you have been a member for 5 days - and have more than 20 posts, you will be able to edit.

Hi FeebysOwner!

You helped me with my last question, thank you very much for your reply to this question as well.

My cat is 18 years old. He was diagnosed with kidney lymphoma via fine needle aspiration and serum protein electrophoresis.

I am approaching pred with caution and wanted to hear others’ opinions or experiences. I am not sure if I should start kitty on the pred, or push for the chlorambucil. My vet does seem to believe the pred will slow down the lymphoma as he said pred will buy us some meaningful survival time..

 

[FeebysOwner]

What I meant with 'what brought this about', is what caused you and vet to see a need for a fine needle aspiration - that isn't usually done without reason, nor would the serum blood test be done without something prompting suspicion of a medical/health issue.

I can give you a link to previous threads, but they may cover numerous types of cancer, various related subject matter, and might make your head spin in trying to decipher what you are reading. Here is the link when I used the primary words in your title, just as a starting point.
Search Results for Query: prednisolone for kidney lymphoma | TheCatSite

 

[Tabby1177]

What I meant with 'what brought this about', is what caused you and vet to see a need for a fine needle aspiration - that isn't usually done without reason, nor would the serum blood test be done without something prompting suspicion of a medical/health issue.

Thank you for the search link.

This was brought about because my cat had a high level of globulins in his geriatric profile blood test. He had his kidneys examined and they were smaller than normal. My vet said that though kidneys being smaller than normal doesn’t immediately suggest lymphoma, he was suspicious of kidney cancer, which then led to the FNA and then the SPE. I have a chronic illness that causes brain fog, so please let me know if I missed anything and can clarify/explain anything further.

 

[FeebysOwner]

No worries!!! Thanks for the clarification! I was just curious, and probably not doing anything other than satisfying my curiosity, as opposed to giving you any helpful information (sorry). So, the FNA tissue was taken of ?? and clearly confirmed cancer?

I ask so many questions because I am always suspicious of a cancer diagnosis unless duly confirmed, if possible. None of your cat's other elements that measure kidney function, as well as liver, were out of range?