>I brought Cindy to the vet last Thursday to find out why she was
> losing weight.  The vet ran some tests and did some ultrasounds.  He
>found a couple of large masses in her belly and diagnosed her with
>lymphoma.  He gave her a shot of pred.  and I am starting her on
 
I'm a bit confused by this one.  Lymphoma can't be diagnosed by visual
inspection, even with ultrasound.  It can only be diagnosed by cytology.
I'm not saying those masses are *good* news, but I am saying that there
is no way to know that they're lymphoma by ultrasound alone.
 
Did your vet take any kind of tissue samples?  I suspect not since Monday
is a little soon to be getting pathology results for a Thursday exam.  At
the very least he will need to take fine needle aspirates and send those
to a lab for cytology.  Sometimes even aspirates aren't conclusive for
lymphoma either, and a full biopsy is needed instead.
 
Don't give up hope yet.  There's a lot more work to be done before you
can definitely call this lymphoma.  In fact, in Pete's case I would be
FAR more likely to suspect adrenal disease, based on your description.  I
would not be at all surprised to hear that this is Cindy's problem, too.
Adrenal disease will cause one or both of the adrenal glands to swell
to where they show up on ultrasound as you described.  The way Pete is
straining to pee is highly characteristic of adrenal disease (in males)
too.  Watch him *carefully*.  If he stops peeing altogether you will need
to get him to a vet as soon as possible, basically within 24 hours, to
have his bladder drained.
 
Discuss this with your vet.  Ask about doing more tests, especially
aspirates and pathology.  Mention adrenal disease to him and see what he
says.  If your vet is reluctant or refuses to do more work, find another
vet as soon as you can.  Don't be afraid to get a second opinion from
another vet anyway.  I strongly suspect that neither of these babies has
lymphoma.  There's no reason to let something that is easily dealt with,
like adrenal disease, take them because of a misdiagnosis.
 
I'm not a vet; I just visit mine far too often.
 
roger & the wolverine wannabees
missing bear and lancelot
[Posted in FML issue 4238]