I read through older posts and am curious if anyone has experience with lymphoma in cats. My girl is 18, I have had her since she was a kitten.
She has lost weight and her appetite has tanked. She had an ultrasound today and her spleen is enlarged and her large intestine thickened. I was offered going to an ocologist or more palliative; steroids and B12 injections.
Any thoughts. I cannot convey how much I love this cat…She travels well. I just don’t want to put her through treatments that will make her feel bad just to keep her alive a little longer.
Thank you for any thoughts.
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I’d do palliative care and enjoy the time she has left. At 18, she a pretty senior cat.
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I’m so sorry about your kitty. 18 - that’s a good long life!
I think that at this point you aren’t left with a lot of choices. I don’t think you can do anything but palliative care and it depends how much of that you want to do. I’ve been thru this too many times so I feel you. I think the decision comes when they are no longer comfortable and have more miserable days than good ones. Give kitty a gentle hug from me and hugs to you, too.
ETA: as far as the appetite, at this point it does not matter what she eats. I had an elderly kitty (cancer pt) like that - I just would up opening can after can to see what she would eat and sometimes it just wound up being an entire bag of cat treats. Her fave was little dried shrimpies. Could snarf an entire bag in a matter of moments.
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I’m so sorry!
I second what @shiloh says about letting her eat anything that sparks her interest. I had my 20-y-o existing almost entirely on KFC chicken breasts and Temptations soft treats for the last few months of his life, and my current 18-y-o with mammary cancer gets Churu products for every meal, although sometimes she’ll still deign to eat some Friskies Pate.
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Thanks all. She is such a cool cat, more like a dog. Loyal and so loving.
She has stopped eating Churru. But is happily eating cut up canned chicken. And I have about 15 kinds of canned cat foods I’ve been offering trying to figure out what she likes best. Of course her palate leans towards Royal Canin. 
I totally understand 18 is a long life for a cat and I am so grateful. I’ve slept with my arms around her and her head on my pillow for 18 years. My heart is so sad…
As far as moving forward the plan is steroids and vitamin B12 shots at home. She is still purring and snuggling. The last thing I will ever do is let her go on too long. I love her too much for that.
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What kind? That matters. We had a kitty who had small cell intestinal lymphoma, so we went with chemo (chlorambecil) + prednisolone which she tolerated very well. She actually went into remission! However, she was 14 (I think) at the time, and the difference in 4 years at that age is pretty significant in kitties. It’s worth the conversation to find out what kind and what the chemo options are (if any), then decide.
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Yes, quite a difference between 14 and 18. I would need to take her to an Oncologist to find out what the chemo options are. IDK if they would want a biopsy. Which I am not doing to her.
Her spleen is very large and part of her intestines are thickened. Bloodwork showed low Potassium which my vet said is caused by malabsorption.
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yeah, I think they’d have to do a biopsy to find out what kind specifically. I can say the biopsy wasn’t a big deal for our kitty, though I’m not sure if that’s normal or not. I think her spleen was also enlarge, I know her intestines were thickened. I don’t know if it’s even possible they’d entertain chlorambucil without a biopsy, but my guess is no. It won’t hurt to have the conversation though, and maybe your vet could facilitate that vet to vet.
I’m so sorry, it really does suck. Why can’t they all just slow down and take one last sleep, instead of coming up with all sorts of ways to make it dramatic 
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The last week of my diabetic kitty all she ate were poached whole chicken breasts. Cheaper than buying canned. I was giving her about 1/2 of a very large breast a day. Her last meal was a whole one which she gobbled with great glee.
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I am so very sorry
I would also offer palliative care only (no chemo) and prioritize her appetite. I’ve managed several hospice kitties very well with pepcid, zofran, cerenia, mirtazipine. I add them in that order, and judge their quality of life based on their willingness to eat. Once that slips, we make the call. It’s just not fair to ask them to continue if they’re not willing to eat enough to sustain.
This is definitely the part of critters that sucks a whole lot. Big hugs.
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Thank you!
My Chewy order just arrived and she chowed down. Yay!
Trust me (please), this girl is not going to be kept alive for me. I understand the huge gauge appetite is. I am calling tomorrow to have a mobile vet to put her down, when it is time.
In the meantime, I will spend as much time as I can with her and be grateful for another snuggly night.
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My boy (est. 15, I adopted him from a rescue 5 years ago) was diagnosed with lymphoma and also liver issues about 6 months ago. His appetite hasn’t really changed and he readily eats his steroids and oral B12. I opted against chemo for him because of his liver and also because he is quite reactive and aggressive so trying to pill him would be a logistical nightmare. He is dropping weight and slowing down but he is otherwise perky, still doing his Oscar things, and appears to be comfortable in himself. He gets to eat what he wants, when he wants, and generally be a menace to society.
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I just want to say that I appreciate all of you for responding. My heart is slowly breaking, until it fully does…
And while she is not interested in the Churru, Choolip is quickly eaten. And she is eating chicken breast and Royal Canin canned.
She started the steroids today and the B 12 arrives tomorrow. I will let you know how she is doing.
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Hopefully the steroids make a big difference in her!
It’s common, in my (sad ) experience that these end of life kitties will eat, and then refuse. And find something else they’ll eat, and then refuse. It’s a really common presentation of nausea, even if they’re not actually puking. But there are really awesome meds that can manage that nausea, and make their life much better.
Pepcid is easy, it’s otc. All the others need a vet’s rx. Zofran is cheapest from the people pharmacy, and I’ve found it to work a lot better than cerenia, which is what the vets like to prescribe, but cerenia does pair really nicely with zofran and has action on visceral pain, which might serve you really well with your kitty.
Vets often seem to discount cats not eating, or not eating well, or playing food roulette as “it’s a cat, shrug” but advocating for meds to address those issues can make such a huge difference for them. Don’t be afraid to push if (or when ) you’re seeing that sort of thing in her.
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Thank you so much Simkie. It is really hard days, trying to do what is best for her.
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Steroids can definitely breathe new life into them, hopefully you get just a little more quality time.
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They can do a fine needle biopsy to look for abnormal cells and then do PARR testing to see what kind of lymphoma. Small cell lymphoma (scl) you can treat with steroids and chlorambucil (can get it compounded in different forms). You can do pulsed dosing with the chlorambucil (a dose every 2 weeks) so it’s easier. My boy was diagnosed with scl just about 6 years ago.
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Thank you! I appreciate all of the replies! Phoebe is doing very well on the steroids and weekly B12. I also added Omega 3’s, probiotics and Turkey tail to her daily buffet. She has gained the pound she lost back and is 100% back to herself.
I am not unrealistic, but I am so grateful for these very good days.
Zoe is on the left and Phoebe is on the right. (I lost sweet Zoe last year at 15 to heart disease.)
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Where did you get your turkey tail from? Wondering if it would be good for my boy.
Chlorambucil and prednisolone gave my lymphoma cat an extra year. Unfortunately on his recheck the ultrasound showed some changes in his kidneys that the vet thought was kidney disease… but it was actually cancer and he very quickly grew a large tumor on his kidney and I had to say goodbye as his kidneys failed.
Goodluck. Cancer sucks.
