Gastrointestinal feline lymphoma

[Frazzle76]

Please help me make a hard decision. My beloved cat has just had routine bloods and been diagnosed with (almost certain) lymphoma.

Do we go ahead with investigations amounting to: ultrasound with sedation. Separate biopsy with general aneasthetic. Pathology results. More bloods and then chemotherapy.
Outcome if high grade: 2 months outcome if low grade: 6 months average. 18 months max.
Cost : 2 grand or thereabouts.
Or do we accept its his time and give him cuddles and tuna until he is in pain and then do what needs to be done.

Hes 10 and the darling of our house, adored by everyone and our first and favourite and most important child. I am bereft already but do not want to put him through it if there's no good outcome. I can do for him what I couldn't for my parents and end it with kindness before the pain starts.

Hi Frazzle,

So sorry to hear you are going through this. My siamese contracted multiple lymphomas in his heart lungs and other organs when he was 6 months old. I thought at the time it might be best to put him down but after a year with chemotheraphy he was in complete remission and 6 years later he is still doing well.
Realise its a completely different situation as your cat is ten years old but I wanted to let you know our experience. Is it possible they could do a short course of chemo (say 3 months?) And see how he responds?
But equally if the prognosis is not good no one would blame you if you decide to let your gorgeous boy go. Please don't feel bad, you obviously love your cat. Take care

Oh OP, I'm so sorry this is happening to you & your LO. It all depends on how he seems now & the vets prognosis - chemo could grant a few months or years if you're very lucky.

I lost both my boys to lymphoma last year. LB1 had a tumour in his neck and responded very well to chemo right away (and was in terrible shape the day before treatment began). He survived a year post diagnosis with only minor issues like fur loss and kept his sassy personality to the end. His protocol required vet visits every 2 weeks (bloods one day & treatment two days later) & tablets every other day. I'm SO thankful for that extra year and he bore it very well. Apart from weight loss towards the end, I can't say that he ever felt pain or discomfort, only cuddles and chin scratchees. On a practical note, thankfully my job was flexible otherwise it could have been difficult to work around, or required overnight stays.

Shortly after losing him my other precious boy began throwing up daily and after £2k of investigations was diagnosed with gastrointestinal lymphoma. I don't regret the biopsy, we got the definitive answer we needed, he underwent GA and was insured which helped.. But I'd just had a baby & was bfing, so heartbreakingly there was no choice for us but palliative care. A couple of weeks later, fighting to feed him tablets that would get his appetite up, we realised it was unfair to let him go on.

It's one of those things that will be different for everyone and there is certainly no 'right' decision. I believe some locations respond better than others, so seek guidance from the vet on a realistic outcome but you could always begin treatment and see how it goes. Cats seem to tolerate chemo very well.

Either way I'd say cuddles and tuna are definitely in order no matter what and my condolences, he is a very beautiful handsome boy.

Thank you so much for the kind words. Unfortunately I get the impression any treatment is buying time and they can't guarantee that time will be good quality. I'm so torn as to what to do, like both options would be letting him down! I've spent most of the night thinking / crying and looking for the bugger because he didn't come in for his usual snuggle and stayed outside.