Cat Acute Myeloid Leukemia

You’ve heard the term leukemia, but do you really know what it means? In cats, something called acute lymphoid is something that can develop very rapidly. Cats may appear anxious, have a swelling of the lymph nodes, show a Cat Loss of Appetite, experience spontaneous bleeding, Cat Fever, Cat Anemia, Cat Difficulty Breathing, pica (eating dirt, rocks, and other “non-food” items), experience lameness in limbs, or suffer from a lack of coordination. Acute lymphoid leukemia usually occurs in older cats, as opposed to how it usually occurs in humans, where children are its biggest target.

Diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Cats

Rapid diagnosis is imperative for proper treatment and managing of the disease if not its complete cure, as with most Cat Cancer. Therefore, if you have a cat and he or she exhibits any of these symptoms (especially if your cat is considered to be in its senior years), see your veterinarian as soon as possible.

Acute myeloid leukemia as it occurs in cats is part of something called myeloproliferative disease, which originate in bone marrow. With this condition, cells called multipotent cells (“parents” to all types of blood cells) grow very rapidly, but maturation is impaired, as is function; this means that blood cell components don’t mature normally, leading to problems, including destruction of other tissues.

The condition is quite rare in cats, and does not discriminate between the different breeds of cats. With acute myeloid leukemia, cells grow out of control, and cells as a result are less mature than non-cancerous cells and poorly differentiated.

The onset of acute myeloid leukemia is sudden, and it’s a much more aggressive cancer than is chronic myeloid leukemia. The resulting overproduction of immature cells can ultimately affect every organ in the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, heart, kidneys, tonsils and the central nervous system. Symptoms usually first include Cat Anemia and a low white blood cell count, particularly in neutrophils. In addition, thrombocytopenia, low platelets, may also be seen. As a result of these disorders, hemorrhaging and infection can occur. In cats especially, chronic myeloid leukemia can lead to Cat Lymphoma Cancer.

Therapies for chronic myeloid leukemia

Therapies for cats with chronic myeloid leukemia include cytoreductive chemotherapy, using drugs like an interesting, anthracycline, prednisone, and cytosine arabinoside; cyclophosphamide, vincristine, cytosine arabinoside and prednisone are also used as maintenance therapies (also known as COAP).

With this treatment, bone marrow suppression is significant, such that thrombocytopenia and anemia may result. Transfusions of plasma or whole blood may be required to treat the prophesied opinion and anemia. Infection, too, may become a significant problem, such that aggressive in the attic therapy may be required. Because the disease is so invasive, palliative supportive care is also necessary.

Prognosis for acute myeloid leukemia is “guarded” for cats that acquire this disease, although treatment can certainly make your cat more comfortable and in some cases may even prolong a cat’s life.