** Have you used CHEMO for your pet?? UPDATE!

[chickerdoodle]

Our 14 year old cat was diagnosed with Lymphoma a few weeks ago.

She had been loosing weight and her blood tests showed very slightly elevated kidney enzymes so we put her on a kidney sparing diet. She continued to loose weight so we took her back to the vet and had more tests including an ultrasound and biopsies. Well they found lymphoma in her gut and a single tumor in her lung. As a side note her kidney functions were back to normal. The lung lesion is not affecting her oxygen at all and is not infiltrated--just a single spot.

Lymphoma affects humans and dogs too but cat lymphoma is typically more severe and kills much quicker and they often don't live longer than 6-8 weeks after diagnosis unless you use chemotherapy. We were devastated as we adore this cat and her sister.

She is very affectionate and loving to us. We keep our cats indoors only and they are spoiled family members.

Has anyone else given chemotherapy drugs to their pet? What were your results? Would you do it again??

Our journey so far:
Since she was feeling pretty good we wanted to try chemo. First we added prednisolone every day. I also use subcutaneous fluid therapy every other day to flush toxins out and it makes her feel better (I can do it myself). After two weeks of that she only gained a teeny, tiny bit weight but started to use the scratching post again! Took her back to the vet and we decided to add an appetite stimulant and Chlorambucil (another chemo drug) three times a week to help shrink the lymph nodes and help bring her into remission. Supposedly if they tolerate it there is a good chance they'll be their old selves again for a much longer time. The appetite stimulant works well so far!

We gave her first dose of the Chlorambucil last night and so far she is not sick from it and asked for breakfast. Cost wise its not too bad. All the drugs/fluids cost us about $100-120 month plus monthly lab work ($60-100 depending on how much we need to do). The biggest cost was all the tests (blood, urine, ultrasound, biopsies and cytologies) which was over $1,500. Considering our dog's knee surgeries were over $10,000 (OUCH!) that's really not that bad in comparison.

Any information on your results or maybe a friend's pet would be good to know. We realize it may seem crazy but if you can get another year or more of good health that is a long time for a pet whose lifespan is only 15-18 years.



*****************************************UPDATE!!**************************************************
Well Amelia is doing much better since on the chemo.

She is eating more and her hydration is so much better the last time I gave her fluid therapy was nearly a week ago! She appears to have gained weight as well. We will continue as long as she feels good.

 

[Higins00]

Sorry you are going through this. I had a friend who tried chemo and she said she would not do it again. Unlike a human the cat did not know what was going on. She seemed to have gotten stressed out alot with the pills having to be put down her throat. It really didn't buy her any quality of life and seemed selfish to keep her alive. She could tell she didn't like having all the tests done as well. If what you are doing is helping then you keep going. You will know by your cats actions on how she is feeling. You will know when it's time to put her to sleep and end her suffering. It is one of the hardest things to do.

 

[Katy]

I've lost 2 of my inside cats to mammery gland cancer....a mother and daughter. The first had surgery, but they couldn't get all the tumor and it regrew over time. The surgery itself about killed her so when I found the lump on her daughter I did not have the surgery for her. Jasmine (the mother) lived for about 2 years after her surgery which was a year longer than the vet thought she would and her daughter Baby lived probably 3 years from her diagnosis. My vet didn't recommend any treatment other than surgery since he said cats, unlike dogs most times don't have a longer life with treatment than they do without it.

I hope your kitty does ok.....my mother cat was about your cats age when I found her tumor.

 

[chickerdoodle]

One important thing I left out is that Amelia, our cat, LOVES the pill pockets from Greenies! She literally begs for them so giving pills is like giving her a treat.

I am using the salmon flavored ones and may try other flavors to keep it interesting for her.

I am so sorry Katy about your kitties cancer. You seemed to have some good luck with them living so long with it.

Higins00--I mentioned the pill pockets above as I also worried about stressing her out. If she didn't feel good or hated the treatment I would not do it. My sister kept her dog alive too long as she was in denial. I would never do that to Amelia as her quality of life is more important that my feelings.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

We used chemo with our golden retreiver who had lymphoma and she was absolutely miserable. We should have just put her down when she had trouble eating. After that experience we vowed never to put a pet through chemo again because it would only be for us, not for the pet's benefit. When my ferret was diagnosed with lymphoma we opted out of the biopsy and the chemo. The vet gave him a couple weeks. He lived for many MONTHS. We had a feeling the biopsy done on our golden cause the cancer to spread at a faster rate. We had decided that we already knew the ferret had cancer so a biospy would not change the fact since we already knew we would not put him through chemo. He was only 5, as was our golden when we had to put her down. It was really sad, but as hard as it was, I was glad we did not put the ferret through chemo. Its a personal decision you'll ultimately have to make, but in my mind chemo is more just an extension of life, not a cure or anything else. It seems like chemo generally does not put cancer of pets in remission, especially when dealing with lymphoma. I worked as a vet aid for a year and never once did I see an animal diagnosed with cancer go into remission with chemo. I guess depending on some types of cancer, it may work better. But lymphoma is already in most of the system which makes it really easy to spread and really difficult to treat.

 

[mandelyn]

My dad opted for chemo for his GSD when she had lymphoma, and after all the cost, he still only got an extra 6 months with her and she wasn't good through most of it. If it ever happens to one of my dogs, we'll start with the steroids and anything to make them comfortable, but when it's time, it's time. Tough illness to fight!

We are going to do a hip replacement on my GSD male, he's only two. My dad tried the chemo on his GSD because she was only 7. But it's all up to the owner and how the animal is coping. Always do what's best for the animal. It's hard for me because I want every second I can get.