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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / October 2003

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spinal cord cancer and tumor

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Brenton w Durna - 18 Oct 2003 07:16 GMT
My 10 year old cat was diagnosed with a tumor on his spinal cord today
between his neck and between his shoulder blade affecting about 5
vertebrae he had a M.R.I. and a spinal tap. the spinal tap revealed
the cancer had spread into the spinal cord and spinal fluid. My vet
said there wasn't much that could be done and very small chance for
survival I have been looking for info for about five hours and cancer
info affecting the spinal cord and column is hard to find I will do
anything in my power and financial boundaries to help my cat or at
least make him feel better the vet prescribed prednisolone which is a
anti-inflammatory. any info will be greatly appreciated thank you
Brent
Liz - 18 Oct 2003 16:13 GMT
I´m so sorry for your kitty. :( Do a Google search using the words

tumor spinal cord treatment

You will get many links. Here is one:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/spinalcordtumors-rst/

Read all you can about it and take your cat to another vet who is
experienced with treating tumors. Maybe you can find an oncologist in
your area. This type of tumor seems to be very rare and maybe you can
even find professors in some veterinary college in your area who would
be more than willing to treat your cat.

If it were my cat, I would definitively not give him any immune
suppressing drug (like prednisolone) before I saw a specialist. Best
of luck to you and your kitty. Please keep us posted if you find time.
Napoleon - 19 Oct 2003 03:19 GMT
> I´m so sorry for your kitty. :( Do a Google search using the words
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> http://www.mayoclinic.org/spinalcordtumors-rst/

?-This is info re: treatment of spinal tumors in humans.  

> Read all you can about it and take your cat to another vet who is
> experienced with treating tumors. Maybe you can find an oncologist in
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> suppressing drug (like prednisolone) before I saw a specialist. Best
> of luck to you and your kitty. Please keep us posted if you find time.

I think the idea of going to a vet school is a really good one if you
live near one of them; they welcome opportunities to treat more
unusual and severe problems in animals.  If not, most cities will
probably have a veterinary oncologist.

I found a couple of websites with info on malignant spinal cord tumors
in cats:

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/101700.htm

http://www.gcvs.com/oncology/pwc/tumorinformation.htm (has a link to
ACVM site that has a searchable listing of veterinary oncologists that
may help you to locate one near you)

Best wishes to you and your cat.  It sounds like you are going to give
him the best of care.
Liz - 19 Oct 2003 13:29 GMT
>  ?-This is info re: treatment of spinal tumors in humans.  

Procedures are usually very similar if not identical. :)
Guess Wh@-- U got Mail.!!! - 19 Oct 2003 03:31 GMT
Why put your cat through all that hell.
Brenton w Durna - 23 Oct 2003 12:46 GMT
Thank you for all your replies I have taken him to two different
specialists now and they both said the same thing because of the
location of the tumor and the size, from the bottom two of the c
(cortex) vertebrae and the top three of the thorax or t vertebrae the
treatment only has a 1 in 10 chance of being any successful and would
only add 3-9 months to his life of which most he would be in pain. I
would not wish this on my worst enemy let alone one of my best
friends. I can only make him comfortable until the disease spreads to
the point where my cat will not be happy or comfortable any more and
then I will have to make the decision to put him to sleep. which is a
very hard decision on one hand I don't want him to be miserable, on
the other hand I don't want to have him taken before his time. He has
been a wonderful cat and I'd like you to know a few things about him.
His name is You kitton pronounced yukaton he is a wonderful loving cat
that has changed the minds of many cat haters. he was a better person
than some people I have met and he will be missed by many. The last
thing I would like to say is in this whole horrible one good thing has
come out of it I like to say it is one of the last things he did for
me I have read more information about cancer in the last week that it
made me want to quit smoking and have quit for three days now because
of the things I have learned through trying to help him. it is
probably one of the best things anyone has ever done for me and I now
encourage everyone who smokes to quit it really is in your best
interest especially after you see what cancer can do. thank you all
for listening to me rant if anyone has any questions about cancer
related items I will be glad to help them out or point them in the
right direction as I now feel like an expert. email me at
brentonwdurna@hotmail.com.

Thanks again
Brent and You kitton
MacCandace - 25 Oct 2003 02:51 GMT
<< His name is You kitton pronounced yukaton he is a wonderful loving cat
that has changed the minds of many cat haters. he was a better person
than some people I have met and he will be missed by many.  >>

I'm very sorry about your little guy and, yes, it is a hard decision as to know
when the time is just "right" to help him leave this world as painlessly as
possible.  I'm sure you will make his last weeks comfortable and happy for him
and that he will know he is well loved.  I understand your reluctance to put
him through a treatment that would not likely be successful and would just
serve to detract from his quality of life.  That is the same decision I made
for my cat, Emily, a few years ago when she had lymphoma at the age of 14.  We
fed her whatever she wanted and pampered her even more than usual and when she
started to display signs of discomfort...but prior to acting like she was in
real pain...we helped her leave.  My best to you and You Kitton.  Is he on
prednisone?  That can often make them more comfortable and buy them a little
more quality time.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human."  (Loren Eisely)
 
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