Fred and Abbey,
I'm so sorry to hear that your baby was just diagnosed with Lymphoma.  This
is a very serious illness.  The goal in treatment is to keep the patient as
comortable as possible for as long as possible.  There are a few chemo
protocals ; one of them is prednisone alone (this is Prelone).  This is one
of the mildest forms of chemo which usually has limited side effects.
 Although the stronger forms of chemo may increase the amount of time the
patient there are more side effects, many more hospital visits, more
bloodwork to be drawn and more medicine to give (not to mention much more
expensive).  The decision which chemo to try is a individual dicision made on
a case by case basis, by the veterinarian and client with the patients best
interest in mind.
If Abby does not like the prelone (not to mention that that is a large
quantity to give) I feel it would be better to have the pharmacist compound a
liquid from the prednisone tablets.  It could be compounded with a palatable
flavored solution (bubble gum or cherry) and made more concentrated so you
would only have to give a small fraction of that amount.
 
Dr Weiss
301-299-4142
[Posted in FML issue 1180]