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My sister has a female cat named Izzy (short for Isolde).
Izzy spent the first 9 years of her life in a shelter, until my sister got her a couple of years ago. Izzy wasn't friendly towards anyone, until my sister came in, and the cat jumped into her lap and started purring. She was home later that day.
Last week, my sister found a lump on Izzy's neck. Small, but immovable. She took her to a vet, they did a biopsy, and today it came back: malignant. It's either thyroid or salivary cancer, says the vet.
Izzy's not showing any signs of being in pain. She's eating the same, playing the same, cuddling the same. My sister is a grad student and doesn't really have the money for "top of the line" treatments.
So I ask you, Hatrack: What do you know about this kind of thing? Any advice I can pass on to my sister? Anything to make Izzy more comfortable?
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Hey-I have am currently in my oncology rotation at the vet school and I have a few questions for you.
1. How old is Izzy? Is she spayed? 2. How did your sister find the mass? Was Izzy feeling sick or was it incidental? Has the cat lost weight despite a good appetite? 3. Where is the actual location of the mass? Is it behind the jaw, under the jaw, lower on the neck, etc? 4. Was the biopsy actually a needle aspirate or did the veterinarian actually perform a surgical removal of tissue? I am suspecting a needle aspirate because I would think a biopsy would be able to differentiate between thyroid and salivary gland. This would change my opinion on options available. 5. Was the biopsy read by the veterinarian or was it sent out to a lab? 6. Do you have more information on what the biopsy report actually says? I am curious if you have a mitotic index number that could give a little more information on prognosis 7. Was bloodwork performed and a urinalysis? If so-did it include a T4 level? 8. Were radiographs taken to check for metastasis?
Sorry for all the questions. I am just trying to get a better picture of what is going on with Izzy.
Posts: 306 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I hate to say it, but Izzy is a cat. If your sis doesn't have the money to poor into it, then it's best to just let nature take it's course. If Izzy still feels fine, then great. When she starts to show signs of being in pain, then your sis will have to make a tough decision.
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Jun 2006
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My cat, Simon, died last December from malignant tumors in his lungs. From our best guess, he had them for about a year before he started to appear like he was in pain: eating less and less, loosing weight, and noticeably less energy. Some things, like the weight loss happened so gradually, we didn't notice; we just attributed it to his age (he was 14 years old when he died). Other things appeared quite suddenly.
It was a very difficult day when we had to make the decision to put him to sleep. It's never easy. My advice to your sister would be to enjoy her time with her cat while she's still feeling well, and if Izzy starts to appear to be in pain, or slowing down, spend a lot of time with her and say goodbye.
It still won't be easy when the day comes, but I feel like, in my case, it made the recovery easier.
Posts: 681 | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote:Originally posted by RackhamsRazor: Hey-I have am currently in my oncology rotation at the vet school and I have a few questions for you.
1. How old is Izzy? Is she spayed? 2. How did your sister find the mass? Was Izzy feeling sick or was it incidental? Has the cat lost weight despite a good appetite? 3. Where is the actual location of the mass? Is it behind the jaw, under the jaw, lower on the neck, etc? 4. Was the biopsy actually a needle aspirate or did the veterinarian actually perform a surgical removal of tissue? I am suspecting a needle aspirate because I would think a biopsy would be able to differentiate between thyroid and salivary gland. This would change my opinion on options available. 5. Was the biopsy read by the veterinarian or was it sent out to a lab? 6. Do you have more information on what the biopsy report actually says? I am curious if you have a mitotic index number that could give a little more information on prognosis 7. Was bloodwork performed and a urinalysis? If so-did it include a T4 level? 8. Were radiographs taken to check for metastasis?
Sorry for all the questions. I am just trying to get a better picture of what is going on with Izzy.
I'll respond as best I can, but my sister lives in Chicago and I'm in Ohio, so I don't know details.
Izzy is 11 or 12, we're not sure. She was spayed at the shelter. My sister found the bump while cuddling with Izzy--as far as I know, it's just behind the jaw. I believe it was a needle aspirate. Beyond that, I don't think any more tests were done, and I don't know the exact results of the test they did do (like I said, we're quite a distance apart).
Epictetus, that's probably what she's going to do, to be honest. Watch it, see if it gets worse, do what she can to make Izzy comfortable and happy. I just want to know if there are any options at all that we haven't thought of.
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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