Anyone else familiar with mammary cancer in cats?

I have mentioned that my sweet Maine Coon has malignant mammary cancer in other threads.

She was first diagnosed in January of '05 and they did not think she would last long. They removed one tumor at that time, done with a laser. Ouch, my pocketbook!

Her liver enzymes were excellent, which really surprised the vet. Six months or so later, she had two more mammary tumors which were removed by laser.

Yesterday, I just discovered another pea sized mammary tumor. Hard to the touch.
I silently wept into her fur, nuzzeling her with my face, begging her not to go.

What is the progression of this disease, and how many operations are too many? Would it be unfair of me to want to have it removed? Might they open her up only to find something awful that I (we) can't perceive with our fingers? Does this ever happen?

I love her with all my heart.
Oh darn, I am dripping again....

because of what you are seeing. They are going to keep popping up. They also tend to be quite aggressive, and have a high propensity for distant metastasis. It is uncommon to find and remove a feline mammary CA before it has already spread.

That said, I have a patient who I diagnosed a year ago (that's four years in "cat" years), who has been going in for weekly chemo all this time, and is still alive. The owner opted out of mastectomy, so of course new lumps are cropping up. But the oncologist says not to fuss over them - the chemo will (in theory) keep them from spreading. Quality of life is ok - she has kidney problems due to age and exacerbated by the chemo but it's not major.

This is one of those diseases that is virtually 100% preventable. I cannot recall a single case in a cat who was spayed on schedule. They all tend to be cats who at the age of ten still haven't been fixed. Except for the one male (neutered, FIV positive, former stray) - he was a WEIRD case. But human males can get it, too.

Can I save her life by doing giving her chemo? She is about 12 years old.

Yes, it is my fault. I never let her have kittens, I thought if you kept all of your own "equipment", you were doing the right thing. Nobody ever suggested to me otherwise. I never even had her declawed. (I don't begrudge anyone else who has done this...)
My sister in law was the first to say that not spaying her could cause cancer. Tuffie was already ten years old.
I scheduled her to be spayed once I found out, but I guess it was too late.

http://www.vetinfo.com/cmammary.html

http://www.thensome.com/mammary.htm


:hug: :loveya:

chemotherapy has helped many cats live longer, happier lives than they would have without. For chemo-responsive tumor types (feline mammary CA is one) it is ALWAYS worth a try, IMHO. It is, however, very expensive and not widely available. I do not offer any cancer chemo in my clinic, and I make no attempt to keep up with the various treatment protocols. I send clients who want a cancer consult to a veterinary oncologist in the area and let them deal with it.

If chemo is not an option either due to lack of availability in your area, or cost, then a bilateral mastectomy (unless it has spread to her lungs or liver and made her a bad surgery candidate) is a viable option. If your vet is not comfortable with this, perhaps you can get a referral to someone who is. The surgery (bilateral mastectomy) is not technically demanding. It should be done as a two-stage procedure. Do one side, let it heal, then do the other side.

I didn't know about the connection between not spaying and mammary cancer until you wrote your post -- please don't beat yourself up for what you did not know.

You are doing the best you can for her and she knows that... :hug:

The type of cancer is Mammary Gland Adenocarcinoma.

I will update after I know more....she did indicate they would need to take
a blood sample.

The blood tests came back extremely positive.
Liver values were the lower end of normal.
Albumin 3.8 which is still within normal range.
Kidney is within normal range.
Same with CBC, and thyroid.
For a geriatric cat, she said these values are surprising.

She said it is a "string" of round growths, of which, I could feel
the largest one.

We are going to do a lumpectomy on Monday. The vet does suggest this instead of a mastectomy because she said the growths have been on either side of the lower end of mammary glands. She said cancer does not go side to side, but more up down one side.

A friend of mine is mad at me for wanting to submit Tuffie to yet another operation, but after the results of the blood test, I feel I need to do this.
Had the results been poor, I am not entirely sure what I might have done.

Ah, she is one tough kittie!

We've had a couple cats with mammary cancer. None of which lasted more than 6 weeks after removal.

We are waiting for the test results on what was removed.
The vet did say that she removed the 3rd mammary gland and the 4th & 5th had been removed prior.
The other nodules she found she said were fat deposits.

Tuffy is bouncing back nicely and gives me head butts and kitty kisses.

Your post really opened my eyes to how lucky I am to still have her.

Because of this horrible disease I will never again wait to have a female spayed. Safest time to do it is before the first heat cycle to prevent the possibility of mammary cancer. (Same for dogs)