cat lymphoma--chemo

Question
My cat has been diagnosised w/ lymphoma and is about to start chemotherapy.  He wasn't that sick at the time of the diagnosis (one mass in his stomach which they removed).  What can I expect?  Will he throw up alot?  How did you handle the waste since it will have the medicine in it?  Any other advice?  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Sue.  So sorry to hear of this diagnosis.

I did very aggressive chemo protocols with two cats.  The one who was on it for four months vomited twice.  The other was only on it for about a month and hadn't vomited at all.

The first cat responded favorably to chemo and achieved a short remission.  With him, I did not see any negative effects.  He was slightly groggy after the treatments, since he had to be anesthetized.  Other than that, though, I did not note any lethargy, loss of appetite or upset stomach.  Within one month of treatments, he had gained back all the weight he'd lost, and was at his normal activity level, had back his normal appetite, etc.  You never would've known he was ever sick.

I consulted my vets about how to handle the waste.  And while views may vary on this, they suggested that the amount of the chemotherapy agents used to treat him would not be hazardous to me or any other cats that shared the litter box.  So I handled his waste as usual (scooped the box daily into a ziplock bag and discarded it in the trash).

I would recommend to put your kitty on a blood booster called Pet-Tinic.  It's available through your vet or at pet stores.  It will help prevent anemia associated with chemo.  Your vet should suggest having a complete blood count done regularly.  If his red blood cells are down, I highly recommend you start him on epogen.  It's a drug that would be injected daily at home.  It helps stimulate red blood cell production.  My cat's hematocrit count (measures the density of red blood cells) did drop to 19 (normal is in the 30-40 range) during treatment, and he had to miss one dose of chemo because of it.  We started him on epogen, and a week later, his red blood cell count was normal.

Also, I strongly support the use of prophylactic antibiotics in cats undergoing chemo.  They are very prone to infection.  And putting my cat on a fluoroquinolone was the best thing we ever did.  He was never healthier.  He took a daily dose the entire time he was on chemo.

Additionally, I switched him to a high-protein lower carb food.  Cancer thrives on carbohydrates.  It requires a ton of carbs to provide the quick source of energy it needs to reproduce massive amounts of cancerous cells.  There's not a ton of evidence supporting its benefits in cats, but it's a well-known fact to help with cancer in dogs.  So I started feeding him canned food for the most part, which has fewer carbs, and I switched him over to a prescription dry food for diabetic cats.  There are several choices.  These are dramatically carb reduced and have high protein.

Interestingly, he did not lose fur, but the fur they had shaven off to put the catheter in his leg and where they had done the ultrasound to locate the tumor never did grow back.