Hello,
I am not a regular poster here any more, as my diabetic kitty passed away a couple of years ago, but I did want to say that my civie, Teddy, who was not a diabetic, did very well on Leukeran for small cell intestinal lymphoma. He had a 7 year remission from his disease, and passed away from a different (pancreatic) cancer. His lymphoma was diagnosed by biopsies obtained by colonoscopy. In reading your previous posts, I understand why you do not want to do invasive testing on Mali. Teddy took Leukeran continuously from the time of his diagnosis until he came out of his remission many years later. He tolerated it very well. He did sometimes experience some inappetance and nausea which we managed by treating sometimes with Cerenia (which I believe you are using) and primarily with Ondansetron (Zofran). Ondansetron may be "layered" or used simultaneously with Cerenia if needed. We used Ondansetron as his primary nausea drug, and added Cerenia when he was going through more difficult times, and particularly for vomiting.
Leukeran is used to treat both IBD and lymphoma. The diseases may be thought of as different points along a continuum. I did try it with my IBD/diabetic kitty but he did not do as well on it as Teddy did. The chemo protocol for treating lymphoma with Leukeran also calls for simultaneously treating with Prednisolone. Obviously, with a diabetic cat, this is something that you and your vet must discuss and decide if it is right for Mali. Teddy also used a different dosing scheme initially with his Leukeran, which involved using a high dose for several days followed by a break of several weeks, known as pulse dosing. This schedule is much more likely to cause nausea, as it involves the use of higher doses. After he was deemed to be in remission, he transitioned to the every other day schedule that you have described. Prior to going onto Leukeran, Teddy had been treated with three rounds of IV chemotherapy with the big gun drugs. I do not know if this helped jumpstart his chemo, leading to his very successful long remission.
Your vet sounds very on top of things, so I am sure that you will be advised that Mali's red blood cell count will have to be checked frequently, as Leukeran can sometimes cause anemia. Teddy was checked every 3 weeks, and only once did his RBC count dip low over the years.
I qualify all of the above by saying that my experience with Leukeran and lymphoma is by now two years in the past for me, and I may not be up to date on current thinking with the chemo protocols. I did hear that the price of Leukeran had gone through the roof lately. I just wanted to pop in and say that my experience with this drug over the years was a very positive one for me and my cat, and that it saved his life and gave us very many happy years together that we would not otherwise have had. I am wishing the same for you and Mali.
p.s. I have not read all of your condos, but I think that both novel diet and raw diet have been mentioned. I know that many people have had success with these. If you are considering a raw diet, I would very much advise that you discuss it with your vet first, as an immune compromised cat (i.e. as a cat on chemotherapy would be) may not be a good candidate for a raw diet. Just something to keep in mind.
