Hi all,
I have a 15-1/2 female kitty named "Linda" that was diagnosed 2 months ago with early renal failure. Her creatinine is 2.9 and urine specific gravity is 1.016. It was also revealed that she has high blood pressure and is slightly anemic. And suddenly things have gotten even more serious.
Linda's appetite went downhill 2 weeks ago and she became very lethargic and was breathing fairly hard. So I had an ultra sound and x-rays done. It turns out that her chest and abdomen were full of fluid! The heart function was perfectly normal - pumping nicely. But the radiologist said that the ultra sound revealed "changes" in the liver and intestinal wall (and other places) that is indicative of a systemic cancer (probably lymphoma). The lymph nodes in her abdomen were also swollen.
My vet was concered about using Lasix to remove the fluid due to my cat's CRF. So she gave Linda some gas and extracted the fluid manually (via a needle I guess). My vet got 150ml off her chest. We sent a sample of the fluid to a lab for analysis. The lab didn't happen to find actual cancer cells in the fluid sample, but they found certain kinds of lymphocytes and lymphoblasts that they said pointed toward lymphoma. My vet doesn't want to do a biopsy because of the delicate shape Linda is in. Plus, she thinks that the evidence pointing toward a systemic cancer is very strong.
Linda felt so much better once that fluid was removed. I took her home that night and she was affectionate, bright-eyed and she ate. Yes!! So that fluid was causing much of her problems for the past 2 weeks. But just 48 hours later, the fluid was back!! She was lethargic, not eating, not affectionate. So my vet manually withdrew *another 150ml of fluid* tonight. And sure enough, Linda (for now) is feeling so much better. She's eating, wanting affection, bright eyed.
But, clearly, I can't do this to her every 3 days. I can't afford it, and it can't be good for her. And, yet, knowing that she feels so much better if I can simply get that fluid off her chest, I don't want to give up on her yet. I'm sure Linda will start filling up with fluid and breathing hard in a day or two, so time is of the essence. My vet is discussing this case with a local Dallas oncologist to see if there's something we can do.
Have any of you heard of systemic cancers causing fluid to build up around the lungs like this?
I may have to try using Lasix on Linda even if it hurts her weak kidneys. Perhaps some Lasix will let her go a few weeks in between having the fluid manually released.
Thanks for any advice or information,
Brad