My cat has cancer ( Help)

I am sorry for the misunderstanding!  I thought you said in an earlier post you had sought out services from another Cat Clinic Specialist?  Here in the US, a veterinary specialist is a veterinarian who has completed additional training in a specific area of veterinary medicine and has passed an examination that evaluates their knowledge and skills in that specialty area. Currently, there are 22 AVMA-recognized veterinary specialty organizations comprising 41 distinct specialties. Veterinarians can be specialists in behavior, ophthalmology (eye diseases), internal medicine, surgery, dentistry and many more areas.  When my Tiger was first having GI problems, an Internal Medicine Specialist (DVM, ACVIM) did the Ultrasound and wrote out the results. Your current vet likely can refer you to a specialist in your area.

http://www.acvim.org/About/FAQ.aspx

Yeah we went today in new vet  which supposed to be Cat specialist vet.... They said that amputation would be possible but it would be too much for our old cat... They didint mention nothing about chemotherapy which  I'm interested in...  it's too late for chemo if the cancer has started  meta little bit  in lung? How long cat usually live with Palliative treatment in cancer?

I honestly don't know, I would get your vet to refer you to a specialist--preferably an oncolgy specialist

Personally I always put QUALITY of life way ahead of QUANTITY of life, so I would agree with your decision to do palliative care and make whatever time he has left very comfortable.  I know two people with very YOUNG cats who opted to do the amputation, and while the cats did well with it, they were still gone within 12 months.  For a cat who is already 16 years old, I would not recommend it.  Find out all you can about good pain meds that you can use at home, steroids to keep them feeling better, and always listen to your cat.  Right now your cat is feeling pretty well, so you just have to take it one day at a time.  It's hard, I know, but you have the loving heart to do it.  You will find lots of support here, as most of us have been through similar times with our beloved furbabies. 

Thank u . Yeah Quality of life is more important than Quantity. I cannot see my cat with pain.. So when time occurs then its the time. I have heard lots of amputation opinion... Some says they live 4-5 years more.. Some say they live 12 months.. etc. I have heard also stories that some cat lived 2 years with just pallative treatment but its not same case for everyone..

If my cat lives past these months fine should I go again for Vet examien my cat? Or could it just be that he is lucky with the cancer progress..

Sorry guys for asking too much of question..I'm really sorry bumping this thread again and again....I feel desperate...  I found some research where they found that Metacam  might decrease growth of  osteosarcoma  and metastasis.. Not only that but there are research that metacam also can decrease growth of non-small cell lung cancer... 

Is this research legit?  

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16219634

Hearing about cancer is a major blow. I would definitely get a second opinion. I was on this site before with "Tom the cat" and for some reason I can no longer log in. Hence my new user name.

Tom was hyperthyroid and we did blood work on him every 2 months to get his T4 level stabilized. Never could do it with Tapazol. One time he would be hyper and the next hypo. he lost a lot of weight and the doctors said possibly kidney failure. We tried Aventi KS but nothing changed.

We took Tom for an ultra sound and they said he has 6 cancerous growths in his body. They deduced it was cancer based on his blood work.

Tom has stopped eating and only drinks water. I give him sub-q fluids each day but the end is near. Monday the 23 he will be euthanized. I am totally distraught as I have had him for a year and he will be 13 next week.

As far as the cancer goes two things. Get blood work and that will tell you a lot if its cancerous or fatty tissue. I hope it is fatty tissue. Secondly no vet or doctor can tell you how long the cat will live. They have some idea based on averages but its not always right.

Quality is better than quantity as far as life goes. my rabbit was just over 12 when he had a cancerous tumour growing on his chest. The vet wanted to operate and I said no.

Good luck with the cat. I am hoping for the best for you.

Bill

Sorry for you cat   The blood work did only show over treat hyperthyroidism... They arent sure if its 100% osteosarcoma but they said its probably  "osteosarcoma "  They found  indications for meta for lung which is very rare for cats. If my cat live past these  months its seem that Metacam really helps inhibits osteosarcoma growth.. At least its has been working on Dogs and humans..

Yeah Im not letting my cat suffer just because I want him live for longer...  I want all best for my cat.. So im trying find something that might increase his quality and quantity at same time..

Can I ask how long Tom lived with cancer?  Yeah the same thing happened  over here..  Our cat   was hyperthyroid and we did blood work on him every 3-2 months but vet never found any suspicious in bloodwork. When cat is in  hyperthyroid its very hard to know what other diseases he has because hype symptoms are similar as the cancer....

Here some recent updates..  Cat Bone tumor is so scary.... The tumor has growth very fast and my cat pawn has swollen... However my cat is real fighter! Despite of large tumor and limping leg.. he is enjoying his life!  She love our attention! She love eating and drinking... If he is hungry he walks away in kitchen like old days!

Thank a  god metacam is helping! Today I was very surprised.. I noticed today that my  cat paw huge swelling  has decreased rapidly... His foot paw looks like his left paw..  also coughing has stopped... This gives me good vibes but Im not going be optimistic.. not yet..

Here's a breakdown of what that article you posted on metacam (meloxicam) and cancer says. I'll try to break it down as simply as possible, because I don't know what your experience level reading medical papers is. Disclaimer, I'm not a medical professional. Well, not with animals, anyway (I work on plants).

Meloxicam is a COX2 inhibitor. COX2 is involved in the inflammatory response, inhibiting it can reduce pain and inflammation.

They tested meloxicam in a variety of in vitro osteosarcoma lines (types). Some of these lines expressed (synthesized, generated) high amounts of COX2. In these lines, meloxicam can reduce growth and make it less likely to spread. High doses of meloxicam can cause cell death (apoptosis), which is what you want to happen to cancer cells. The lines that didn't express high amounts of COX2 weren't affected very much by the meloxicam.

That part was all done in petri dishes. It's a lot different once you try to use a chemical to kill tumors in a living animal. They also tried it in live mice with cancer, and it reduced the amount of cancer that spread to the lungs. The effective mouse dosage was 40 mg/kg meloxicam injected into an area around the stomach lining.

"A maximum inhibitory effect of 28.2% was observed after exposure to 100 μM meloxicam for 48 h."

To know how applicable this would be to cat, we would have to know what the concentration of meloxicam is in the cat's bloodstream. It also says there was "no significant difference" between 50 and 100 μM, so a lower concentration is possibly also effective.

There seemed to be stronger effects on reducing invasiveness than stopping the cancer from reproducing or causing it to die.

In summary, it being able to help cats with osteosarcoma depends on:

1) The exact type of osteosarcoma the cat has (COX2 expressing or not). It's highly unlikely your vet will do a biopsy that would find that out, so you'd probably have to just try it and hope.

2) The dosage of meloxicam. But also note that high doses of meloxicam can cause kidney failure in cats. I don't know how the dosages they used in the study would compare to the doses normally given to cats.

3) Always an issue with cancer studies: will the studies in petri dishes and mice actually translate to other animals? Very often they don't.

And, it does seem to be most likely to stop it from spreading, with a smaller chance of killing cancer cells.

It sounds like you're lucky, though, and maybe the metacam is actually affecting your cat's cancer! Did the vet prescribe it because of the chance of it working like chemo and killing the cancer, or was it prescribed mainly as a painkiller (with the slowing of cancer growth a lucky side effect)?

Samus thank u very much for the information! They didint took biospy and they arent sure 100% what cancer it is. They believe its osteasarcoma.. So does my cat have lucky that Metacam is helping his symptoms? We give him 0.5ml by weight...  The vet gave it for final hope and painkilling too.. We are also giving him hyperthyroidism medice..

My cat started not using his tumor foot anymore..  He is literally walking with one foot and and he has trouble to walk... Its weird to see that his leg is not anymore swollen despite of his leg condition..

The swelling was probably a buildup of fluid (lymphedema) that somehow cleared up on its own. I'm sorry to hear that your cat's leg is feeling worse. Are there stronger painkillers you can ask the vet for? Or maybe you could ask for a higher dosage of metacam? (But that could cause kidney problems.)

Maybe I should ask for vet but today he looks very tired.....At least he drinks and eats.. Everything chances very fast..

your kitty is very lucky to have someone care so much for him. Midi and I are sending healing thoughts

Ty zed!

It seems the other leg has swollen but thank god it has not growing like his tumor leg.. Today I tried to touch his tumor leg.. First time he showed his pain and  his reaction was pretty painful.. I feel very sad about him. His eating habit has changed.. Not eating much of Normal cat food anymore... just licking.. He still eats Canned food, dry food, Tuna, chicken, raw meat and cheese... Also he loves to drink water and milk..  He is not tired  as two days ago.. I just hope its not the time yet...

Here is recent update.. Sadly my cat cannot even move normally..He sometimes fall down and has difficulty stand up... If I go near him he loves our company so much! The heat butting and mur mur  is unreal .. It breaks my hearth when I see my  happy  cat even thought he is in pain... It seems His love is stronger than pain. He is true soldier. .It has been couple months now and luckily the cancer has still not spread in his lung... I hope its never spread there..

He loves you and you family and will not let the pain stop him from showing you. Give him tonnes of love, he needs it more now than ever. Can you get him stronger pain killers?