Feline Intestinal Lymphoma

Intestinal lymphoma accounts for 33 percent of tumors in cats and is the most common form of feline lymphoma. Most intestinal lymphoma patients are older cats between 9 and 13. Male cats develop the disease at a higher rate than female cats.

  1. Symptoms

    • Feline intestinal lymphoma usually manifests itself through weight loss, vomiting and diarrhea. Your cat may seem lethargic and uninterested in food. It may lose weight because of diarrhea and vomiting. Your cat may have excessive thirst and may urinate more often. If you have an elderly cat that displays any of these symptoms, get it checked by a veterinarian.

    Diagnosis

    • If your cat is displaying symptoms of intestinal lymphoma, the veterinarian will most likely perform a biopsy to determine whether a mass is present. The veterinarian can also perform an aspiration and have the aspirated cells analyzed in a lab. Some forms of intestinal lymphoma do not produce masses and are very difficult to distinguish from inflammatory bowel disease without a biopsy. The laboratory will then determine whether your cat has intestinal lymphoma. Your veterinarian will determine whether your cat has low-grade (also known as small cell or lymphocytic) or high-grade (also known as large cell or lymphoblastic) lymphoma. This determines the type of treatment your cat will receive. High-grade lymphoma is the most malignant.

    Treatment

    • Most cats with intestinal lymphoma are treated with surgery and chemotherapy. During the initial surgical biopsy, the doctor often performs surgery to remove the mass. Removing the mass does not cure the disease. No matter how localized the tumor is originally, chemotherapy is needed for a chance at long-term survival. Lymphoma is usually very responsive to chemotherapy. Veterinarians usually prescribe combination chemotherapy, in which several chemotherapy drugs are given in sequence.

    Research and Outlook

    • Many studies have been done regarding survival rates among feline intestinal lymphoma patients. These survival rates are relatively low. Remission lasts from seven weeks to 20 months, depending on the grade of lymphoma and the treatment given. Cats treated with prednisone and chlorambucil seem to survive the longest.