Hi,
My vet thinks my 14.5 yr cat has chronic leukemia -- not the FELV type -- but 'true' leukemia. I can't find any info on it online, everything I see is about FELV. Do these 2 types act the same?
He has a tumor on one his lower mammary glands, which is how this was discovered. We were set to do surgery but first they did a blood test and discovered high white blood cell count (40k or so). Antibiotics didn't bring the level down. So a blood sample was sent to a pathologist who says it is consistent with chronic leukemia.
They wanted me to do a bone marrow test to finalize the diagnosis, but that's a $600-800 cost. The surgery we were going to do was around $500. Right now I'm holding off, mainly because my vet talked to a vet oncologist who said many times chronic leukemia is treatable using predisone. I suggested we put my cat on predisone and see what happens.
All this has taken 4 weeks to transpire. Meanwhile, I've noticed the tumor is getting larger.
The vet doesn't think the tumor is related to the leukemia. But I can't help but wonder. Can anyone provide additional info or input?
Thanks,
SuzanneA
My vet thinks my 14.5 yr cat has chronic leukemia -- not the FELV type -- but 'true' leukemia. I can't find any info on it online, everything I see is about FELV. Do these 2 types act the same?
He has a tumor on one his lower mammary glands, which is how this was discovered. We were set to do surgery but first they did a blood test and discovered high white blood cell count (40k or so). Antibiotics didn't bring the level down. So a blood sample was sent to a pathologist who says it is consistent with chronic leukemia.
They wanted me to do a bone marrow test to finalize the diagnosis, but that's a $600-800 cost. The surgery we were going to do was around $500. Right now I'm holding off, mainly because my vet talked to a vet oncologist who said many times chronic leukemia is treatable using predisone. I suggested we put my cat on predisone and see what happens.
All this has taken 4 weeks to transpire. Meanwhile, I've noticed the tumor is getting larger.
The vet doesn't think the tumor is related to the leukemia. But I can't help but wonder. Can anyone provide additional info or input?
Thanks,
SuzanneA