Squamous Cell Carcinoma - Photodynamic Therapy

I have a geriatric cat who has Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the nose. I've already consulted with three oncologists and a surgeon regarding treatment options. Radiation is not optimal as it would not be curative and is extremely taxing on the cat. Surgery is also not an option as the tumor is inoperable. After doing some research I read about photo dynamic therapy. I found one vet that offers this treatment in Ohio, which is very far from where I live. I was wondering if anyone here has ever had any experience with this type of treatment or perhaps knows of another facility that offers it? Any feedback would be much appreciated!

Could you call or email that vet and see if they know anyone in the area? 

When I was thinking about getting gold bar therapy done for Sadie (one of my dogs) for her epilepsy, I contacted a vet that did it about three hours away and she send me recommendations of clinics closer to me that were doing it. I never ended up getting it done for other reasons, but it's worth a shot. 

Well Sweetheart..depending on the age of the cat maybe you need to let it go. For me, I think it's sort of ridiculous to spend the thousands of dollars on a cat with cancer..My persian had cancer..and I thought about it..and decided to let him go. I know we love our animals..but at some point you have to think of the money. Is the surgery for us, or for the animal?

Hi Nerdrock,

Thanks for your quick reply! I actually have spoken to the vet in Ohio but he doesn't know anyone else who does it unfortunately. I am willing to travel but just wanted to see if I have other options. I also wanted to get feedback on others experiences with the therapy if possible.

What is gold bar therapy by the way?

I don't mean to be harsh. I know it's diffcult. Whatever you do I hope for the best for you and your kitty

honigkatze said:

Hi Nerdrock,

Thanks for your quick reply! I actually have spoken to the vet in Ohio but he doesn't know anyone else who does it unfortunately. I am willing to travel but just wanted to see if I have other options. I also wanted to get feedback on others experiences with the therapy if possible.

What is gold bar therapy by the way?

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Gold therapy is where they surgically implant little gold balls along pressure points in the animal's body, like permanent acupressure. It's still a pretty new technique, it was first done in the 1970s and not many places are doing it. It works for some animals and not for others. 

Here's a site that kind of explains it, I'll see if I can find another when I get home. http://www.himmlisch.com/goldbeads.htm

We have decided, with Sadie, that if she goes down (she's a dachshund, it's a common problem) that we will probably revisit it then, but for her epilepsy we would have had to have an MRI or a CAT scan on her and it was just too expensive to justify at the time (they run around a couple of thousand dollars here). Her epilepsy isn't that bad either, she hasn't had a seizure in almost a year now, so there is no need for her to have it for the epilepsy, but if conventional therapy doesn't work when she goes down we're going to consider it for her back. 

I've never heard of this treatment either. What did the oncologists you consulted say when you brought up photo dynamic therapy with them? I looked it up and it sounds like a good idea, and not as stressful for the cat as some procedures. Did you contact the clinic in Ohio and have your cat's notes sent to them so they could assess - so that your hopes are not raised only to be dashed.

Simka said:

I've never heard of this treatment either. What did the oncologists you consulted say when you brought up photo dynamic therapy with them? I looked it up and it sounds like a good idea, and not as stressful for the cat as some procedures. Did you contact the clinic in Ohio and have your cat's notes sent to them so they could assess - so that your hopes are not raised only to be dashed.

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I think those are excellent suggestions. The other consideration, IMO, is how well your baby travels. :heart3:

Iris said:

Well Sweetheart..depending on the age of the cat maybe you need to let it go. For me, I think it's sort of ridiculous to spend the thousands of dollars on a cat with cancer..My persian had cancer..and I thought about it..and decided to let him go. I know we love our animals..but at some point you have to think of the money. Is the surgery for us, or for the animal?

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I don't know how honigkatze feels, but for us, money isn't ever the consideration (and not because we're rich). The quality of life of our kitties is what counts. If treatment would be too stressful, we'd opt for palliative care. So from that perspective, age, in my opinion, really has nothing to do with it. How the kitty would handle whatever is required for treatment is what matters. :heart2:

Hi again,

Thank you for all your answers and suggestions. LDG - well said! That's exactly how I feel and believe me, I am very thorough when I have a decision to make. Thus the reason for me posting here You are right, age or money has nothing to do with it. It really depends on the cat as an individual and their health condition overall. I always consider their quality of life. That's why I opted not to do radiation. It is non-curative and it's far too trying on the body to justify such treatments. At best it would extend her life for approximately 9 months of which 2 to 3 months of that would be absolute hell for her. Also, I have strong values when it comes to my cats or any animal for that matter. I believe that they deserve the same level of care as I would give myself or any other person in my family that I love. If treatment is available that could help them in any way, I will do my best to provide that for them.

If you have read my other posts, I recently went through a very scary episode with my 20 year old cat. I had him to three different vets who all thought he was going to die because of his age. His gall bladder was blocked and he had a very bad case of jaundice. Well I decided to keep going and not give up. I nursed him back to health in 2 weeks. Now you would never know he was ever sick. He is completely back to normal like nothing ever happened. My vet was so thrilled and could not believe it. He said it was a miracle! It taught me a huge lesson - never give up, even if the doctors think the odds are against you. I have had too many other experiences where vets have misdiagnosed my pets and thankfully I persevered until I found answers. The internet is a great research tool as well. I just wanted to put this out there because I'm sure so many animals are given up on unnecessarily because of a misdiagnosis.

Anyways, back to my cat with cancer - I guess I should have written that initially, but yes I have already contacted and spoken to the vet in Ohio twice. He is an extremely kind and knowledgeable doctor and is ready to do the therapy. Normally this type of therapy could be curative if caught early enough. Unfortunately in her case it is a little more advanced. However, there is a chance it can be controlled and maintained so that it never spreads. He would combine the photodynamic therapy with chemo and vitamin D. He was not aware of anyone else doing this type of treatment. I just wanted to see if anyone here had personal experience with it and could share that with me. I also wanted to see if there was a closer option. My cat is pretty relaxed and travels extremely well. Of course I've never had her on a plane before but she is very laid back and loves attention. I'm sure she would do fine. I am the one who hates flying and would probably do worse than her traveling, lol.

I'll keep you posted as things progress. Thanks again for your support and advice!

PLEASE do keep us posted!

And for this "I believe that they deserve the same level of care as I would give myself or any other person in my family that I love. If treatment is available that could help them in any way, I will do my best to provide that for them."

You are SO right about not giving up!

FYI, our Lazlo has lymphosarcoma. We did opt for chemotherapy, and the "massive" mass in his stomach (the vets gave him 4 weeks to live when diagnosed) was gone at the end of the treatment cycles (six months). He was a total trooper the entire time, and handled not only the vet visits but the treatment really well. :heart3: He's gained back all his weight, and is completely himself again. I hope you will have the same outcome with your baby. :heart2:

What's her name?

Hi again! I haven't written for awhile so I thought I'd post an update.

LDG: Her name is Precious thanks for asking. It's been a long month of communicating back and forth to the vet in Ohio as well as consulting with our regular vet and a local oncologist. Turns out, the tumor is too far advanced to do PTD. The recommended treatments are either radiation or chemo injected straight into the tumor. If radiation is done,PTD cannot be done afterwards. One vet says chemo may shrink the tumor enough to do PTD, while another says chemo won't work at all. Both oncologists agree that radiation is the more aggressive treatment and probably the best bet. I also read a study today that said great results were seen with a combination of radiation and chemo. It's a very difficult decision to make. 

How is Lazlo doing? How old is he? I'm really happy to hear that you had such great results and that he is doing so well! I truly believe in love, prayers and hope, especially in cases like this.

:heart2: Precious. How... precious! :rub:

And how disappointing.

I don't know anything about radiation, let alone radiation in cats. It makes it especially difficult to make decisions when there's no consensus. Well, I guess there is one, but it was the last option you wanted to consider. I wish I had any useful advice. :heart2:

Lazlo, I'm so happy to say, continues to seem like he's doing really well. He's 10 this year. In fact - his "Gotcha Day" is tomorrow. He's happy, hungry, and playful. :rub: All his whiskers have grown back in, and most of them are fully grown. He's loving his favorite thing, being brushed. We should probably take him in for blood work soon. His last chemo treatment was the end of January, so we're coming up on six months. :cross:

My thoughts are with you and Precious. :heart3:

My boy Toby is on chemo and vitamin B12 along with a lot of other homeopathic remedies. He is 12 years old and doing very well! I have not heard of photodynamic thereapy but I wonder if it is similar to ablation therapy for people. Toby's thread is this one http://www.thecatsite.com/search.php?search=toby+vomiting.

It has been expensive and we are not rich, but Toby is our little boy. I think each person needs to make their own decision and take one step at a time. Chemo for animals is different than for people, they don't put them through the wringer.

I'm not sure about radiation, I've had it myself and I think a lot depends on what part of the body is being radiated and to what extent it can be targeted. The original center where Toby had his surgery wanted to do chemo and radiation. I chose to go to a different center ultimately on the advice of my veterinarian, and that center did not advise radiation. 

I think you should ask them to tell you in no uncertain terms what the post-radiation effects will be on the area radiated. And you can also ask who will be doing the radiation, what is their experience doing radiation on this particular area, and whether it will be lesser radiation for a kitty, the same way they do way less chemo for cats and dogs, i.e. nothing that will make them really sick the way it is with people.

My experience is that short term there is some effect post radiation, and then in about 5 years there can be other side effects because scar tissue can form. But again, I would ask the radiation oncologist.

Good luck and keep us posted!!  I think it is a wonderful thing you are doing for your kitty. And you will know when/whether it is time to stop at any point. I can tell you Toby has a much better quality of life than if we had done nothing or simply used anti-inflammatories. I don't think he would be with us at this point.