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Hi, I'm Dr. Colleen and this is another edition of Petsecure pet health tips.
November is Pet Cancer Awareness Month and today we're talking about intestinal lymphoma in cats.
Intestinal lymphoma is one of the most common causes of internal cancers in cats.
The signs at home can be very subtle.
These tend to be middle-aged to older cats who a lot of people think are just getting older
They're slowing down, they're losing a little bit of weight 9 00:00:27,910 --> 00:00:33,100 In some cases there will be gastrointestinal signs like vomiting and diarrhea.
So if that diarrhea becomes chronic and the simple fixes aren't making a difference, you do want to check with your doctor and you do want to let them know what's going on.
There may be some blood testing, some x-rays done
We also will go to diagnostic testing like ultrasounds and CT scans.
In a lot of cases we do recommend surgery to actually get biopsies of the intestines
and the stomach to make this diagnosis.
While intestinal lymphoma can be a very serious disease, many cats have the less aggressive form
And with special diets, chemotherapy -- which in many cases is just oral medication -- we can see these cats live for many years, feeling very well and healthy.