Thanks for the tip; I'll ask my vet about diet changes. The specialist asked me if he has any allergies (none that I'm aware of) and what he eats (dry and canned, nothing special, open to change). If I recall correctly, Yates was particularly sensitive to beef? Erik mostly eats fish and poultry flavors, and -- recent discovery -- he loves Friskies classic seafood "special diet". I don't know what's special about the special diet; he likes but doesn't love the regular version, and ditto for the "special diet" in other flavors. (I bought a can once by accident, then explored when I saw his reaction to it.)
Prednisone/prednisolone is typically included in chemo regimens.
IIRC, early lymphoma can just be an elevated WBC (the lymphocytes are part of the total WBC; mostly the WBC is done with a differential so we can find out what the (relative) numbers are for each type of WBC.
(BTW, the differential can be done several ways, depending on the lab. The minimum you get is granulocytes/lymphocytes. More commonly you get neutrophils/lymphocytes/monocytes/eosinophils/basophils/lymphocytes, as well as any immature versions of the above - this is usually done with an automated machine, with a tech reviewing the slide for any gross abnormalities. Often, you can't tell without a pathologist reviewing the blood smear if there are any oddball/cancerous cell types)
Thanks for the information. Am I correctly understanding that there might not be anything to see that couldn't be determined from a blood sample?
I don't want to cross a line into asking you for professional advice about a cat you've never met. Is there anything else you can say or point me to that might help me make this decision?
While I was writing this comment my vet called, so I also asked her about reading material. She'll see what she can find that a layman might understand. (She's not on the net, though, so we're probably talking copies of journal articles or something.) She also said that they might be able to diagnose lymphoma by aspirating the liver, which is much less invasive than surgery, so she will talk with the specialist about whether that makes sense in Erik's case.
Yeah, a liver biopsy that way is a heck of a lot easier (provided there are no clotting problems). Drawback: small sample, higher risk of being non-diagnostic, which would bring you back to surgical options (where you can get a bigger piece, and from any abnormal looking areas).
Blood sample may or may not be diagnostic for lymphoma - sorry to say, if it was obvious, your vet would probably have picked it up by now. GI lymphomas are pretty hard to diagnose.
Re: Can't offer too much on this...cellioJuly 17 2008, 01:33:36 UTC
Wow, I didn't know it was physically possible for a Maine Coon to be that small. :-)
To make sure Erik gets his fill, I feed him on a counter that Baldur is too fat to jump up onto. The third cat, Embla, is skittish, so she won't try to jump up there while Erik is there.
Is the thyroid problem hyperthyroidism, treated with tapazole? Two of my cats have that -- or, I should say, Erik does and Embla did. Hers was pretty severe (the vet's comment on seeing the test results was "I didn't know that number went that high"), but she's otherwise healthy and not that old (12), so I went for the radiation treatment and things have been just fine since. For an 18-year-old cat the one-time radiation treatment would probably not ultimately be cheaper than the drugs, but if the drugs are causing problems it might be something to discuss with your vet.
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IIRC, early lymphoma can just be an elevated WBC (the lymphocytes are part of the total WBC; mostly the WBC is done with a differential so we can find out what the (relative) numbers are for each type of WBC.
(BTW, the differential can be done several ways, depending on the lab. The minimum you get is granulocytes/lymphocytes. More commonly you get neutrophils/lymphocytes/monocytes/eosinophils/basophils/lymphocytes, as well as any immature versions of the above - this is usually done with an automated machine, with a tech reviewing the slide for any gross abnormalities. Often, you can't tell without a pathologist reviewing the blood smear if there are any oddball/cancerous cell types)
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I don't want to cross a line into asking you for professional advice about a cat you've never met. Is there anything else you can say or point me to that might help me make this decision?
While I was writing this comment my vet called, so I also asked her about reading material. She'll see what she can find that a layman might understand. (She's not on the net, though, so we're probably talking copies of journal articles or something.) She also said that they might be able to diagnose lymphoma by aspirating the liver, which is much less invasive than surgery, so she will talk with the specialist about whether that makes sense in Erik's case.
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Blood sample may or may not be diagnostic for lymphoma - sorry to say, if it was obvious, your vet would probably have picked it up by now. GI lymphomas are pretty hard to diagnose.
I'll point you to my usual online info source for owners, veterinarypartner.com; specifically this page: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1446 (on lymphoma in cats) and this page: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 (on IBD).
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To make sure Erik gets his fill, I feed him on a counter that Baldur is too fat to jump up onto. The third cat, Embla, is skittish, so she won't try to jump up there while Erik is there.
Is the thyroid problem hyperthyroidism, treated with tapazole? Two of my cats have that -- or, I should say, Erik does and Embla did. Hers was pretty severe (the vet's comment on seeing the test results was "I didn't know that number went that high"), but she's otherwise healthy and not that old (12), so I went for the radiation treatment and things have been just fine since. For an 18-year-old cat the one-time radiation treatment would probably not ultimately be cheaper than the drugs, but if the drugs are causing problems it might be something to discuss with your vet.
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