Lymphoma of Guts?

[Elaine]

Sorry to hear about your kitties problems. My Bernie, who is aprox 10+ has a suspected lymphoma high in his abdomen. My vet said that this cannt be confirmed without a biopsy and that treatment for his supected lymphoma has a very poor success/prognosis rate.
We have decided NOT to put him through the stress of a biopsy, he is eating and toileting ok, his weight fluctuates a little and he has lost muscle tome in his chest, this is thought to be because of a secondary lymphoma but as I say he is bright and happy for now.

[Captain Helen]

Thank you everyone.

Salem had surgery yesterday to take biopsies. I was so worried about the risk of the GA with his heart problem! He made it through the surgery and is doing well.

The surgeon said that his lymph nodes are not as large as they were expecting, and his pancreas is bumpy, both things that would point more towards IBD.

We won't know for sure until we get the biopsy results back later in the week, but she said she would be surprised if it was lymphoma.

I've recently switched Salem and the new cat family onto Tesco Finest. Unfortunately he has spent most of his life eating Whiskas and Felix, which I'm sure can't of helped!

Would sticking to a 40% meat cat food with extra fresh chicken or fish be enough to help him do you think? Or should I expect to be advised to try a radical diet change?

[Elaine]

If he has IBD or pancreatitis, I think a switch of food is the way forward but it may be a long road as you may have to find out exactly what he can and cannt tolerate.
My wee dog has IBD and almost a year on, she is still on steriods and prescription food, I am struggling to reduce the steriods to the doseage needed for her to undergo a blood test to check what her allergies are.