Cat Chemo

[PK1975]

Hi

We’ve found out today that our gorgeous girl (8) has cancer (stomach/intestines). Waiting for tests to confirm the type but vet mentioned chemo - potentially.

Our thoughts are that we wouldn’t want to put her through it but just wondered if anyone had gone down this route.

Thank you :(

I'm sorry to read this. I've no experience of it as our clinic (charity so there is a limit to what we can do) doesn't offer it. There are some vets on this board who might post with some useful info.

Yes, my boy had chemo. It was a tablet he had to take every 3 days, but as a controlled drug it could only be administered by the vet. At the time I would have done anything to help him, but looking back I wonder if it was fair. He had to have a lot of drugs but we kept on top of them scrupulously and he had an extra 6 good months.

We chose not to do a full on chemo. My boy was never going to be cured by it. But we had him on a steroid and a low dose chemo I could do at home. Kept him comfortable and helped ease symptoms.
Sorry. It's horrid.

I have two experiences of cats with lymphoma which i just wanted to share.

My first cat to get it, had it in her neck. She had chemo and steroids, responded really well to them, and lived for another four years on chemo until the chemo stopped working. Sadly a month after she died another of my cats (not related) also got lymphoma.

My second cat to have lymphoma had a large tumour in her intestine. She had that removed. Knowing the process of chemo, and she was a nervous cat, i decided against chemo and she just had the steroids. She lived for another four months but the tumour came back.

The chemo doses are very low compared to humans apart from exceptionally slow hair regrowth, my cat had no other side effects. She was on steroids too. So i guess i only wanted to add that there are different types of chemo and that also it's worth getting your vets to seek advice from an cat oncologist for the best drug protocol in case they haven't.
My cat that had chemo tolerated it very well. It didn't make her sick or anything like that and her fur didn't fall out.
Will answer any questions if i can.

Thanks for your responses. We’ve got a lot to think about. She’s such a gorgeous girl. We’ll know more when the type is confirmed.

Our old cat had fibrosarcoma and we thought we were doing the right thing in putting him through 2 ops. With hindsight we think differently. It’s so difficult.

My cat has been having chemo on and off for the last year. It has given him a good quality of life with very little in the way of side effects. He is 18 so don't let age be a barrier! All cats and all cancers are different so you have to do what you think is right for your cat. Our vet doesn't do chemo so have to go to a specialist centre - fortunately it is only a 15 minute drive away.

I would say just get as much information as you can and then make your decision.

Good Luck.

We found out our beautiful long haired cat had cancer between her intestines when she went in to remove a furball. Our vet recommended chemo as she was otherwise so well in herself.
She had to go into the vets every Friday for chemo and came home in the evening.
We previously said we wouldn't have ever put a cat through this sort of treatment but she was otherwise well in herself. She was never ill from the chemo and it extended her life by over a year.
Ultimately she couldn't tolerate food, and we had to cook fish for her for every meal but she lost too much weight and we had to say goodbye to her.
I'm glad we did it as she was a happy cat and we did everything we could for her but I'm also glad we had a high level of insurance as it cost a fortune.

Chemo for cats is nowhere near as tough as human chemo. My boy had chemo for lymphoma and had no ill effects. His lymphoma returned after a few months but until this he was fine.