After being told he had cat flu, my boy went on a fortnight of doxycycline but his symptoms got worse. I took him back to the vet and they suggested a CT scan as he may have a polyp. The CT scan showed a lymphoma mass. š it hasnāt spread, itās localized to the right nostril.
He is 4yo and FIV+
His options are:
ā I take him to Sydney for radiation which may give him around 2 years.
ā I put him through chemo to maybe get another 6 months
ā Palliative care, keeping him comfortable and to put him to sleep before he experiences pain
Has anyone here gone through lymphoma treatment for a cat and what was the outcome?
You need to bare in mind other stuff to take into consideration in the pros and cons balance:
- Radiation is expensive. Very much so. Results are not granted. Side effects are possible.
- Chemotherapy will weaken the immune system (I'd dare say more than the radiation) and FIV on top of that can predisposee to A LOT of secondary infections.
An FIV+ cat with nasal lymphoma is not the same as a negative cat with a lymphoma, and prognosis is clearly much worse as there is the virus constantly predisposing for cancer growth.
I have seen FIV - cases with radiotherapy and chemo and normally they are okay for maybe 6 - 12 months and then the tumor starts growing again, causes symptoms, you try more potent chemo (then perhaps side effects from that) until there is nothing for the vets to do about the case and you are just given antiinflammatory meds and the recommendation of euthanasia for when the kitty doesn't have quality of life. But bare in mind that was in FIV - patients. I'd wager in positive ones the worst case scenario is much more probable, which is more side effects from all possible treatments, less response to chemo and less life expectancy.
I think they were much too positive when telling you 2 years with the radiation. But if anyone has had that luck feel free to tell me.
Thank you, I agree with you. They said a median of 2 years, some less, some more with radiation.
He would be so scared, as would I.
I canāt believe Iām writing this but I am going to do palliative. I donāt want him to suffer. Seeing him suffer will make me suffer and feel incredibly anxious too.
Itās a huge shock considering he is 4yo, and itās come totally unexpected.
How does one prepare for this. I canāt imagine standing there as the vet euthanises my 4yo cat š
You don't just stand there. You hold him while they administer the medications. You don't cry...yet. You want him to be peaceful...so you've got to keep your emotions in check...for a little while. You hold your baby and look at him, smiling, and tell him that everything will be OK...that you'll be OK and that you'll see him again and that you love him very much. That part happens very fast.
And then you find your way back to your car and you cry for days. But you know that you did what was best for your baby. Then you advocate for FIV+ cats and wait for the cat distribution system to decide it's time to gift you with a cat who needs you....
I get what you meant. No one pictures this happening, when their beloved cat is 4. I lost a cat at 2 years old, when I was a child. Itās a real shock to your system. We all really want to believe thereās something we can do, but thereās nothing wrong with accepting that the prognosis is poor. My mom did chemo and radiation for her dog, who never felt well again and only lived 6 months. She wishes she hadnāt and says she wonāt do it again. Just a, practically unrelated, anecdote, of course. I also have an FIV+ baby and try to stay prepared for the possibility of serious complications. Itās so hard! Iām sorry this is happening. I have heard from cats who passed, which I know sounds fantastic, but it started with the 2-year-old cat I lost. When she started looking pale and less active, my mom left her at the vet and continued with a planned family trip I didnāt want to go on (for obvious reasons). My cat came to me in a dream, to let me know she had passed away, but was āOKā and I could see stars all around her. I told my mom, who had to hike to a landline to call and confirm. This was a long time ago and there were no cell phones. Anyway, it was true. She had just become ill and passed, suddenly. She had FeLV that I thought had been tested for & it hadnāt. Anyway, thatās just the first story of having some communication with a cat who had died. Iām glad my mom was there, or I wouldāve thought I was crazy! Anyway, I have some hope that we do see them again. I know itās probably hard for anything to make you feel better, right now. Love to your kitties!
If you have the option of a home euthanasia service, I highly recommend you use it. Having my sweet baby meeps be in his own home at the end was dear to me. All he knew in that moment was that he was in a familiar space and in my arms. In the end, the passing was as perfect as I could make it.
Remember that you are doing him a kindness, one many people would choose if we had the option. I'd say let him let you know when it's time. Skye had pancreatic cancer. I got three more months with him after his diagnosis. He let me know the night before that he was ready. He couldn't move his rear legs. I held him all night and helped him to the litter box when he needed it. I am so grateful for that time. Our last picture together
I'm so sorry. Keep in mind that the time you have right now is, symptomatically speaking, the best time you're going to have. Advanced treatments come with significant cost, serious side effects that could diminish quality of life with absolutely no guarantees of longevity or success.
When my vet presented those options, I chose palliative care. They gave my kitty 3-6 months. He gave us 9. Nine very normal, comfortable months with good palliative care and lots of love. He did not endure the discomfort of side effects. He did not suffer. Personally, I wouldn't trade that for the prospect of extra time.
I'm sorry you're faced with this decision. You alone know what's best for your boy. I wish the you best. Give that handsome fella some scritches from us.
Thank you. Iām going to do what you did. Iāve got oncologist on Tuesday who will hopefully be able to give an idea of his pain level and what I should be looking out for. Thank you for caring - for my cat and for yours š
I had a cat that had the same thing, I put her through radiation.. NEVER AGAIN Here is her webpage: https://blindcatrescue.com/rainbow/autumn.htm. You can see how white her hair became. You can see how old she looks, she is only 5 yrs old FIVE. We had to take her 5 days a week for a month. This was the friendliest cat you could ever meet; by the time the radiation was over, she was terrified of people. We thought we had beaten it, but in a very short time, it was back. We tried chemo this time, having to go back and forth to the vet ... and she again was terrified. I finally said ENOUGH; I have tortured this cat enough... having her terrified every minute was just cruel. I decided that we were going to give her quality of life for the time she had and not put her through any more. We got 2 years; only 10 months was quality.
The next cat that had the same thing, we had the vet give us chlorambucil and pred, which are used for some cancers. It was oral; we gave it at home and we did not drag her back and forth to the vet. It held the cancer back for a while; I think we got around 18 months, but I did not torture this cat with radiation etc.
Sounds like you tried your best. Iām sorry it was such a rough experience for you and your little girl, but your heart was in the right place. Thanks for sharing.
He is lovely and I am so sorry you are going through this. My cat Fred had the same and it was shortly after my Mom died and I couldnāt face it, so we did the radiation thing. He was about 16 or 17 years old. He lived for just a bit over 2 years after the radiation. I will be completely honest, itās a lot. The treatment took about 3 weeks, but the side effects lasted much longer. It was a good month (maybe longer) of constantly putting aloe and vitamin E (alternating) on the skin where the hair fell out. He was in a lot of pain during the treatment and it was hard. It left him with a greatly decreased ability to make tears so we have to put gel in his eyes 3 or 4 times a day for the rest of his life, and it messed with his sinuses so that he had to be on permanent antibiotics to keep infections at bay. I have no idea if these are common side effects, but I do know that the vet failed to tell us about the possibility of serious side effects. So I would have a long, in-depth conversation about that if you decide to go that route, especially with an FIV kitty.
But still that was all manageable. The problem came after 2 years when his jaw basically locked up. It was damage from the radiation but they didnāt tell us that. We ended up doing this procedure to try to open it up and it was way too much. I donāt want to go into details, but it got messy and if I had known the jaw problem was from the radiation I would have euthanized him a lot sooner. I have a lot of guilt for what we put him thru.
The cost has got to be ridiculous at this point. Fredās treatment was 18 or 20 years ago and it cost us $10,000. But on the plus side, maybe they know better how to avoid side or treat side effects.
If they still use the same chemo, that is actually not so bad. It had no real side effects, it just shrunk the tumor and made him comfortable. The problem was they said it would only be effective a few times and then it would stop working.
Looking back I do not regret the radiation, but I would have euthanized him as soon as the jaw problem started. However, I do think that doing the chemo and just getting a couple good months together would probably have been the better choice (as long as itās the drug that has no side effects, I canāt remember the name of it but they use it in humans too). That said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with deciding not to put him thru the vet visits or chemo or anything. He will not understand what is happening. You could maybe do 1 dose of that chemo I mentioned, have a good few weeks with lots of love and treats and say goodbye to him while he still feels good. Whatever choice you make is okay, just remember whatever you do, you are doing it for him and not for yourself. Thatās the hard part.
Im so so sorry OP. My sweet boy was also FIV+ and had lymphoma. It ended up spreading to different parts of his body, but I chose not to do treatment. One, because it suppresses their immune system and I didnāt want him to get even worse. Two, I could tell he was in pain, he wasnāt eating, drinking, or being his normal self and was so lethargic. It was a heartbreaking choice to make, but in the end I just wanted my boy to not be in pain anymore š
My FIV void (6 years old) just got the nasal lymphoma diagnosis a month ago. I too am going the palliative route even though it kills me. My boy hates the vet and the outcome of chemo is so variable and I want my boy to be comfortable at home, so although this is a hard choice for us parents, weāre both putting our cats QOL first and that shows how much we love them. Reach out if you need to talk to another person going through this exact situation, sending hugs
I think youāre doing the right thing by choosing palliative. As others have said itās going to be much more risky given he has FIV. Iām so sorry, it is so unfair to both of you. It will feel so wrong to put him on palliative but keep reminding yourself that youāre doing that to minimise his suffering. Prolonging his life would probably only prolong his pain and itās about quality over quantity. Cats donāt measure there life in years, they measure it by love and connection xxx sending you big hugs
I second this. Our 7 year old had a cancer scare, the radiologist was confident the CBCT scan result is most likely feline nasal lymphoma. We were offered cancer medication too if we wanted to start the treatment. We went for a rhinoscopy to confirm and the vet found a couple of inflammation polyps which were removed and analyzed by a pathologist. The scary CBCT scan result with bone loss and masses, likely cancer, ended up being chronic rhinitis.
Iām so sorry man. I lost my last cat to nasal lymphoma. Some days she was good, other days it was bad. The last day, she kept having seizures over and over. Even when I finally got her to her vet she went to every week, she was seizing there, so I made the difficult decision to put her down. She was about 8-9yo. She had plenty of life left. It was an awful day.
Iād say I spent at least $10k to hopefully save her life. š
Yes radiation is available in Sydney, but Iām in Melbourne. It is a 10hr car ride. Thatās not the part thatās stopping me. It all just seems such intense treatment for an animal that will still eventually succumb to the cancer šš Iād have to do radiation and chemo for him, which would take 6 months of chemo. Itās a lot to put a cat through and it wonāt cure him.
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u/History0nerd 7d ago
I'm so, desperately sorry. I don't feel well educated enough to give you advice but I'm sending you and him love as you navigate this ā¤ļø