Norman. May be cancer now

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Cindywith4cutecats

Cindywith4cutecats

Member Since 2014
Long story short. Norman is in remmision for months now. His ss is not up-to-date and I can't even think about updating now. He stopped eating. He hascbeen picky in the past. Then i thought upset tummy from all the food changes. Labs are perfect , ran a full panel. T4 perfect. Chemistry panel perfect urinalysis perfect. Did xrays and saw trouble. Large mass in intestines and kidneys not symetrical , one looks enlarged. Ultrasound in morning. Internest will review and call friday. Vet said possible lymphoma but she cannot feel the masd on exam. He is chunker lol even with hus recent weight loss. Vet gave short acting steroid shot. He was eating good for a dew days on generic zofran but not today. He is on cerenia also and got some today but this past sunday he was 5 days on so he needed a 48 hour break according to his other vet. He ate great sunday thru last night. 2 times puked clear liquid on tuesday morning then this morning. Today he only ate boiled dark meat chicken. Vet said looks like lymphoma and prognisis not good. I understand he can have steriod treatment he would just come out of remission. How will i know if its large cell or small cell. I will probably come back friday and post afaig what internest tells me Friday. The vet would not commit to answer one way or other ...they brought up chemo but he is 12 years old and it seems like that would be expensive....not sure what to do. Can you treat large cell and small cell with steroids ....I no nothing on cat cancer......thank you all for any input. I feel like I'm dying, I want Norman forever but I know I have to do the right thing for him
 
Hi Cindy,

I'm so sorry that Norman is not well. I know how scary this is. Harvey had small cell Intestinal lymphoma, and he lived for a year after diagnosis with steroids and chemo (Leukeran). His cancer was still stable when I lost him to CKD. So it is possible for Norman to have some more quality time. Try not to imagine the worst just yet. Yes, chemo can be expensive. If the suggested treatment is Leukeran (Chlorambucil), you can get it for much less from a compounding pharmacy. I got mine from Diamondbackdrugs.com.

I used Ondansetron (Zofran) for nausea, as well as Cerenia (they can be given together), and gave Cyproheptadine to stimulate his appetite. When he was on Pred, that helped him eat more, too.

Cindywith4cutecats said:
I understand he can have steriod treatment he would just come out of remission.
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It depends on the dose, but yes, it will most likely push him out of remission. That's not the worst thing that could happen, though, if the treatment gives him more quality time with you. Harvey became diabetic because of the Pred, but we played with his Pred dose and reduced it to the least we could give while still keeping him feeling well, and his FD stabilized.

Cindywith4cutecats said:
How will i know if its large cell or small cell.
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They will need to do a biopsy to determine this.

Please keep us posted on Norman. Sending loads of vines for him and :bighug:s for you.

 
Sending vines and love to you and Norman and hoping for the best. I don't have answers for you about lymphoma but wanted to send you support. I'm so sorry for what you're going thru. Sending hugs and hoping for the best :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
((((Cindy)))) so sorry Norman isn't going well. Both Neko and civie Theo were being treated for small cell lymphoma. Theo went into remission for a year and a half and I have heard of some going several years in remission from SCL. It usually shows as thickening of the intestines on ultrasound, but you need a biopsy to differentiate from IBD. A mass is more likely large cell and the mass can be sampled with a fine needle aspirate and sent for analysis. FNA cannot distinguish small cell.

Theo did well on chemo. He did a once every two week Leukeran dose and pred every day. It raised his BG, but he was still in normal numbers. Neko didn't do so well, but she had CKD and heart condition that complicated things. She went on budesonide instead of pred, and it didn't impact her BG's.

Keep us updated. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
I’m so sorry. To distinguish between large and small cell requires a biopsy. Usually a mass means large cell but not always. If it is chemo is given and nobody can tell whether a cat will respond well until it’s tried. Some even go into remission. The goal of chemo is to make them feel better. I’d see an oncologist. Many regular vets are pessimistic but an oncologist has the experience and will give you the real scoop. I hope Norman is one of the ones that goes into remission.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
((((Cindy)))) so sorry Norman isn't going well. Both Neko and civie Theo were being treated for small cell lymphoma. Theo went into remission for a year and a half and I have heard of some going several years in remission from SCL. It usually shows as thickening of the intestines on ultrasound, but you need a biopsy to differentiate from IBD. A mass is more likely large cell and the mass can be sampled with a fine needle aspirate and sent for analysis. FNA cannot distinguish small cell.

Theo did well on chemo. He did a once every two week Leukeran dose and pred every day. It raised his BG, but he was still in normal numbers. Neko didn't do so well, but she had CKD and heart condition that complicated things. She went on budesonide instead of pred, and it didn't impact her BG's.

Keep us updated. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
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Vet gave him short acting steriod shot to see first if he responds and eats. She said if he still refused food then that could show he would not respond to steriod treatment. Ug then why do cats gets appy stimulant ....in my case he ate tonight so I am feeling better about that. Byt niw i have to take uo food and water in case he has to be under anesthesia for ultrasound. She said most cats do well for ultrasound without but just in case
 
Wendy&Neko said:
((((Cindy)))) so sorry Norman isn't going well. Both Neko and civie Theo were being treated for small cell lymphoma. Theo went into remission for a year and a half and I have heard of some going several years in remission from SCL. It usually shows as thickening of the intestines on ultrasound, but you need a biopsy to differentiate from IBD. A mass is more likely large cell and the mass can be sampled with a fine needle aspirate and sent for analysis. FNA cannot distinguish small cell.

Theo did well on chemo. He did a once every two week Leukeran dose and pred every day. It raised his BG, but he was still in normal numbers. Neko didn't do so well, but she had CKD and heart condition that complicated things. She went on budesonide instead of pred, and it didn't impact her BG's.

Keep us updated. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
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budesonide ??? Never heard of it. Would it be in normans best interest to use yjis instead of prednisone because of diabetes ?
 
I’ve had ultrasounds on my cats and they were never put under anesthesia.

I think prednisone needs to be given for cancer.
 
Budesonide can be used for small cell lymphoma. It works specifically in the bowels, unlike pred which is more system wide. Neko had a heart condition that precluded using prednisolone (it weakens muscles). Some diabetic cats will also go on budesonide for IBD or small cell. It may not work as well as pred, but it did the job for Neko. It's worth a discussion with the vet. And I second going to either an oncologist or an internal medicine vet - they can deal with lymphoma.

None of my cats ever had anesthesia for ultrasounds. Mild sedation maybe, but not when I was there during the ultrasound.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Budesonide can be used for small cell lymphoma. It works specifically in the bowels, unlike pred which is more system wide. Neko had a heart condition that precluded using prednisolone (it weakens muscles). Some diabetic cats will also go on budesonide for IBD or small cell. It may not work as well as pred, but it did the job for Neko. It's worth a discussion with the vet. And I second going to either an oncologist or an internal medicine vet - they can deal with lymphoma.

None of my cats ever had anesthesia for ultrasounds. Mild sedation maybe, but not when I was there during the ultrasound.
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You are correct, this morning they told me sedation....my brain is fried.
 
So sorry to hear this. Murphy has had multiple ultrasounds - they do give him some sort of sedation - he's not put under though.
Murphy was given a course of budesonide for IBD and I did have to increase his insulin by a full unit - I thought I could decrease the dose when he was weaned off it, but that was not the case. I agree with the others - if a steroid does knock him out of remission, it's not the end of the world as you know that can be managed. Lotsa vines and good wishes
 
I am so very sorry for this DX. I do not have any experience with it and glad Wendy weighed in. I will keep fingers and paws crossed.
 
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