My cat has lymphoma. What are treatment options and quality of life?

Hello, and thanks for your question. I'm sorry to hear about Trixie's diagnosis! It's great that you're working with an oncologist; I can tell you're wanting to provide the best care for Trixie. Most cats do feel better and perk up on the medication. If her appetite was down, you may see her start eating a bit better, and if you had noticed lethargy you may see her perk up and act more social again. Often we can see an increase in both appetite and thirst, which leads to more urination as well. Generally we don't see too many other side effects from the medications, and your oncologist will want to know if you do have concerns with how Trixie is feeling on the meds, as they may tweak the dose based on how Trixie's responding. I have seen a few animals go into remission, but I would defer to the oncologist on the actual numbers, as they see far more cases than we do in general practice! Hope this helps. Hugs to you and Trixie.

Hello sorry to hear about Trixie. If her small cell lymphoma is in her intestines, it’s likely that her IBD has become the lymphoma. There’s a few studies describing this process. However, given that she is being treated with pred, this will often also suppress any flare ups of IBD. Often as pets begin to respond to treatment they may regain their normal appetite, and occasionally we can make use of appetite stimulants to achieve this sooner. Given that she has been on a novel protein diet, it is likely best to continue this same food, but if she is not eating anything other than fancy feast this may also be acceptable for now. I would recommend speaking with your veterinarian about Trixies diet to determine if you need to worry about feeding her something other than fancy feast or if she needs appetite stimulants to go back to eating her regular diet. Hope this helps and best of luck.

These are great questions. Contrary to popular belief, most cancer patients in veterinary medicine have completely unremarkable bloodwork. Just because there are many extra lymphocytes in the walls of the intestines, does not mean there are extra lymphocytes in the blood stream - where our sample comes from. We can be suspicious of it from an ultrasound but cannot truly diagnose it without the biopsy. As for the second part, small cell lymphoma is a disease that affects large sections of or almost the entire small bowel. It is not a single mass that can be removed. Luckily for you, small cell lymphoma responds well to chemotherapy in most cases. Best wishes to you and Trixie.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry to hear that. Lymphoma is an aggressive disease in cats, especially when in the gastrointestinal system and in circulation. Usually even with chemotherapy you are looking at a prognosis of 2-6 months depending on the exact type of lymphoma. You could try prednisolone as a palliative treatment to make her feel better for the time being and perhaps extend her survival time for a few weeks. If she is already anemic, she may also require a blood transfusion making things a bit more complicated. If she is not doing well and you are not interested in pursuing therapy knowing the prognosis then euthanasia is a good option. Let me know if you have further questions regarding her disease. Sorry for the sad news!

It seems unusual to have both B and T cell lymphoma and both high and low grade lymphoma. Lymphoma is generally treated with chemotherapy, although the cell type and grade can influence what protocol and drugs are used. I would recommend seeing a veterinary oncologist to help interpret the pathologist's findings. They can also recommend a chemotherapy protocol.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry to hear that Trixie has this issue :( It is very difficult to give much of an opinion about this without having the entire medical history, but in general, I would say that if she has been doing very well so far with no set backs, you could stop the Leukeran and just continue with the prednisolone. Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes!

Poor Kitty! Since she is already 17 years old and she is having such a tough time with her inflammation in her GI tract, I think steroids will be the best choice for her. If her blood work looks okay now, then I think she can tolerate the steroids. Unfortunately, if you don't put her on steroids the lymphoma or IBD may continue to get worse. It is true the steroids will not CURE lymphoma, but it certainly give her a better quality of life right now. It could keep the IBD under control and eventually you may be able to decrease her steroid dose to a lower dose. The concerns of long term steroids are much lower since she is already geriatric. If she was 4 or 7 years old, then I would be much more worried with starting her on long term steroids at that time. At the age of 17, our goal is to give Kitty are good quality of life. If you want more options about the lymphoma and interested in seeing an oncologist, I would ask your vet for a referral for a oncology consult. I hope this helps!