leukeran/chlorambucil

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Pandasmom

Pandasmom

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Hi,

Is anyone else using Leukeran/Chlorambucil? Has it affected your cat's fur?

Odie's fur has pretty much stopped growing since he's been on it. He had his last ultrasound a year ago now, and his tummy is still peach fuzz! The fur on
his sides are also thinning now. I don't know how far it'll go. I'm envisioning eventually needing to make him a sweater :)

He also has stopped shedding. You would think with his fur thinning, I'd notice more shedding, but I'm not. It's the weirdest thing. In a way, it's kind of nice to not have my furniture and clothes covered in fur, but it's so strange. I've tried googling, but can't find anything about it -- everyone else seems to be searching for ways to stop shedding, they're not worried that their cat has stopped :)

I realize it's a chemo drug and this could very well be a side-effect, but I can't seem to find anyone else experiencing the same thing. We're using it to treat IBD (along with Budesonide and Pepcid)

Thanks
Odiesmom
 
I may have experienced the same thinning with my Mario. I remember some thinning before his ultrasound and little growth afterwards.
 
My civie has been on it for 5 1/2 years. His whiskers fell out at the beginning. His fur has thinned and greyed over time (he used to be black, but now is more grey), but he is also on steroids, and it could be those, or the combination, affecting his fur.
 
My late cat was on pred and chlorambucil and not only did he have delayed, straggly regrowth from his ultrasound shave, but he also eventually lost all his guard hairs. THose are the longer hairs which keep a cat's fur looking sleek .. very young kittens don't have them which is why they are very soft and fluffy looking. ANyway, I think it was more an issue of him not replacing hair than it was of his hair falling out abnormally, if you know what I mean. You should report it to the vet, but I do think it is likely part of the spectrum of side effects. Depending on how your cat is doing, it might be possible to decrease dosing frequency or something.
 
I have mentioned it to his internal medicine vet. She doesn't seem very concerned about it. Odie's been so difficult to stabilize, that if he feels well and this is a side-effect, well so be it.

Beside Chlorambucil, he's also now on Budesonide, Pepcid and Lantus... so it could be a combination of things (He was on Dexamethasone up until recently, when he was diagnosed with the diabetes, now it's been replaced by Budesonide)

He doesn't seem to care. The only thing I notice is that occasionally when he's washing his tummy, he'll become fixated on a nipple, and lick and lick and lick until it becomes so red. That's gotta hurt! I stop him when I catch him doing it, but of course I'm not always there. I imagine it wouldn't be such an issue if he had fur.

Odiesmom
 
odiesmom said:
He doesn't seem to care. The only thing I notice is that occasionally when he's washing his tummy, he'll become fixated on a nipple, and lick and lick and lick until it becomes so red.
Click to expand...

I have to say that this made me smile. My cat Dillon (no health issues knock wood) has a particular nipple he occasionally focuses on and it gets very chapped! I think he dries out the skin with his grooming, then it's itchy, so he licks it more, and then it's itchier, etc. I'm sure he'll be mortified I've told everyone his embarrassing problem, but you can tell Odie he's not alone, and to just stop it with the nipple-licking already ;-) !
 
My Abbey wasn't on leukeran but she was one of those kitties that lost a lot of fur on chemo. It was sad to see her beautiful Ragdoll coat go but if it meant more time with her, then it was a small sacrifice to make.

Interestingly, her fur really started growing back right before she came out of remission. That was probably our first sign that the chemo wasn't working anymore, although we didn't realize it at the time.
 
Minivan had a chlorambucil regime for his lymphoma last year, but I never had to worry about hair loss since he didn't start with much!

http://picasaweb.google.com/passportcol ... nMemorial#

Come to think of it now, though, he had always had a little fuzz growth on his back and feet, and that stopped around the same time as his lymphoma might have begun. Strange, just the opposite of Deanie's cat.
 
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