Soft Tissue Sarcoma

One of our cats has just been diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma. He has
a lump on his left front shoulder for which he is going in for a CT or MRI
scan (hopefully) on Tuesday to see the extent of the tumour and to see
what the surgeon feels regarding a clean & positive outcome of surgery.

Does anyone in the group have any experience of this with their cat? Can
anyone tell me what to expect?

If the surgery is not 100% successful, chemotherapy has been mentioned.
How do cats cope with this?

Aslo, is it fair on the cat to put him through all this? Opinions please.

He's 11 years old, we got him 3 years ago from Cats protection (UK).

Thanks.

I had a cat diagnosed with this about 10 years ago at age 9. It is my
understanding that this is caused from the vacinations that they
receive.

The first surgery didn't get it all. She had about 3 surgeries in all
- about a year apart each. The lump kept coming back. About 4 years
later we had to have her put to sleep. Hopefully if they get it all
during the first surgery, you will be ok. There was nothing else
given to my cat - no chemo or radiation.
Good luck.

On Feb 10, 9:41?am, Steven C wrote:
One of our cats has just been diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma. He has
a lump on his left front shoulder for which he is going in for a CT or MRI
scan (hopefully) on Tuesday to see the extent of the tumour and to see
what the surgeon feels regarding a clean & positive outcome of surgery.

Does anyone in the group have any experience of this with their cat? Can
anyone tell me what to expect?

If the surgery is not 100% successful, chemotherapy has been mentioned.
How do cats cope with this?

Aslo, is it fair on the cat to put him through all this? Opinions please.

He's 11 years old, we got him 3 years ago from Cats protection (UK).

Thanks.

My cat had a fibrosarcoma on her leg (not from injections). She was 17 at
the time. My vet did not prescribe surgery due to her age and the fact that
they often recur. She had a good quality life for months and then I had her
euthanized when the tumor was quite large.
Gail
"Steven C" wrote in message
...
One of our cats has just been diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma. He has
a lump on his left front shoulder for which he is going in for a CT or MRI
scan (hopefully) on Tuesday to see the extent of the tumour and to see
what the surgeon feels regarding a clean & positive outcome of surgery.

Does anyone in the group have any experience of this with their cat? Can
anyone tell me what to expect?

If the surgery is not 100% successful, chemotherapy has been mentioned.
How do cats cope with this?

Aslo, is it fair on the cat to put him through all this? Opinions please.

He's 11 years old, we got him 3 years ago from Cats protection (UK).

Thanks.

This may seem like a drastic measure but is amputation a possibility? I had
a cat who developed a giant cell tumor on her hind leg 3 months after a
vaccine. The only treatment was amputation. In her case it worked she's
now 9 years old and doing fine.

Celeste

"Steven C" wrote in message
...
One of our cats has just been diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma. He has
a lump on his left front shoulder for which he is going in for a CT or MRI
scan (hopefully) on Tuesday to see the extent of the tumour and to see
what the surgeon feels regarding a clean & positive outcome of surgery.

Does anyone in the group have any experience of this with their cat? Can
anyone tell me what to expect?

If the surgery is not 100% successful, chemotherapy has been mentioned.
How do cats cope with this?

Aslo, is it fair on the cat to put him through all this? Opinions please.

He's 11 years old, we got him 3 years ago from Cats protection (UK).

Thanks.

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 17:42:47 +0000, Spot wrote:

This may seem like a drastic measure but is amputation a possibility? I had
a cat who developed a giant cell tumor on her hind leg 3 months after a
vaccine. The only treatment was amputation. In her case it worked she's
now 9 years old and doing fine.

Celeste


The initial thoughts of the vet was that it was a bone tumour and
amputaion was talked about then. However, after further tests it was
revealed as a soft tissue tumour. I guess we won't know until after the
scan whether amputaion is an option, the tumour is pretty close to the
joint at the shoulder so it may have roots into the body.

Despite an amputation being a drastic measure, it seems that had it been a
bone tumour then amputation would most likely have been a cure!

Steven.

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:35:34 -0800, Buddy's Mom wrote:

I had a cat diagnosed with this about 10 years ago at age 9. It is my
understanding that this is caused from the vacinations that they
receive.

The first surgery didn't get it all. She had about 3 surgeries in all
- about a year apart each. The lump kept coming back. About 4 years
later we had to have her put to sleep. Hopefully if they get it all
during the first surgery, you will be ok. There was nothing else
given to my cat - no chemo or radiation.
Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. How was your cat between the surgeries? Was she back
to normal? Our cat has a pretty bad limp due to the location of the
tumour, I'm hoping the limp will disappear after the lump is removed and
he'll be pain free...

Steven.

She tolerated the surgeries better than I did!!! She was a real
trooper! She did quite well between surgeries. We only did more
surgeries because she did so well. Then, in about a year, the lump
would be bugging her and she would bite at it. She always came home
the same day as the surgery. The worst part of the surgery was that
she would bite the stitches. But in 10 days they were taken out. I
never tried that angel shield, or whatever they are called. That
would have freaked her out. I would say to go for the surgery. See
how you kitty tolerates it. I do believe that you will be giving your
kitty some extra time. If this is what you decide to do - please keep
us informed on your progress.

On Feb 10, 1:31�pm, Steven C wrote:
On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:35:34 -0800, Buddy's Mom wrote:
I had a cat diagnosed with this about 10 years ago at age 9. *It is my
understanding that this is caused from the vacinations that they
receive.

The first surgery didn't get it all. *She had about 3 surgeries in all
- about a year apart each. *The lump kept coming back. *About 4 years
later we had to have her put to sleep. *Hopefully if they get it all
during the first surgery, you will be ok. *There was nothing else
given to my cat - no chemo or radiation.
Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. How was your cat between the surgeries? Was she back
to normal? Our cat has a pretty bad limp due to the location of the
tumour, I'm hoping the limp will disappear after the lump is removed and
he'll be pain free...

Steven.

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 13:16:31 -0800, Buddy's Mom wrote:

She tolerated the surgeries better than I did!!! She was a real
trooper! She did quite well between surgeries. We only did more
surgeries because she did so well. Then, in about a year, the lump
would be bugging her and she would bite at it. She always came home
the same day as the surgery. The worst part of the surgery was that
she would bite the stitches. But in 10 days they were taken out. I
never tried that angel shield, or whatever they are called. That
would have freaked her out. I would say to go for the surgery. See
how you kitty tolerates it. I do believe that you will be giving your
kitty some extra time. If this is what you decide to do - please keep
us informed on your progress.


Thanks, I will do.
Your posts have given me some much needed hope after the doom and gloom
I'd been suffering from since Friday.

Thanks,
Steven.