Advice about possible breast cancer diagnosis

Hi, I have an older female Himalayan that we took in a few years ago. We very recently found a large lump thatis starting to excrete fluid on her underside. I'm devastated because i did not notice it before it got to this point. We took her to the vet who thinks it's probably mammary cancer and wants to remove the growth. Her lungs aren't full of growth yet. Has anyone had experience with this? Is the surgery going to hurt her more than help her? I'm feeling horrible because the trip to the vet seems to have made her feel worse already. I'm definitely planning on removing the growth since it's seeming to cause her discomfort now and if possible I'd love to prolong her life add much as possible. I don't want to just let her go. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm not sure who to talk to about this.

My cat Little has mammary cancer but her tumor isnt ulcerated. I cried constantly after I found the lump on her 2 months ago. When I found it was about the size of nickel with lymph node involvement and currently it's about 3x the size.Thankfully, it dosent seem to bother her yet. Taking her anywhere at all causes her way to much stress so Im choosing no surgery and instead using holistic methods to slow the progression of the cancer which I think is helping. Switching to a low carb canned food and no dry food at all has been what helped the most. And I'm making sure she knows how much I love her and making her as happy as I possibly can for the remaining time I have her with me. I'm sorry you and your kitty are having to go through this. For me it was pretty overwhelming to say the least especially at first.

Raven716 said:

Hi, I have an older female Himalayan that we took in a few years ago. We very recently found a large lump thatis starting to excrete fluid on her underside. I'm devastated because i did not notice it before it got to this point. We took her to the vet who thinks it's probably mammary cancer and wants to remove the growth. Her lungs aren't full of growth yet. Has anyone had experience with this? Is the surgery going to hurt her more than help her? I'm feeling horrible because the trip to the vet seems to have made her feel worse already. I'm definitely planning on removing the growth since it's seeming to cause her discomfort now and if possible I'd love to prolong her life add much as possible. I don't want to just let her go. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm not sure who to talk to about this.

Click to expand...

I guess the first thing you need to do is find out whether or not it IS cancer, and talk to an oncologist if it is.  Then between the two of you (or three depending on whether or not you are married), determine the indepthness of the surgery, chances of survival, recovery, quality of life, etc. and make a decision. 

It's always a difficult thing to face, but first know the facts.  Right now everything is just a guess.  All you know is that there is a large lump. and it's possibly spread to her lungs (I think).  

Try not to beat yourself up about not noticing this until now.  I don't know the situation, but sometimes these things can come up quickly, and if your cat is one who doesn't like to be touched, particularly on her underside, then it's understandable how you might not have seen it, especially since cats are so good at hiding things (like pain) .  

Thanks danni88. It's terrible you are going through a similar situation. I may look into some holistic approaches just to improve her health some also.

Mrsgreenjeens you are correct about not knowing for sure it's not cancer. But my vet recommended removing the growth regardless. I could have got it asperated and wait for the results but I'm leaning towards just getting it removed and then they will test it. It's smelling horrible now and seems to be affecting her movement as it's so close to her leg. Her lungs are still pretty clear with just a few small spots.

It's just a difficult situation when I feel at fault because I feel I should've known this was something to check for and she isn't acting differently so I thought the smell was a clump of hair with waste stuck in I couldn't locate. I'm just hoping to try and help her live a little longer and/or that removing the growth will help her feel better once it heals.

I have a cat whose gone through mammary cancer.

At the age of 10, a lump was detected.  I don't remember if I found it or if it was during a routine exam.  The vet told me that cats aren't dogs and there are no good treatments for mammary cancer in cats like there are for dogs.  About all that could be done was surgical removal and it nearly always comes back.

I cried a lot, Shadow is my baby.

The tumor was small, they removed it, biopsy of the mass confirmed cancer.

4 years later, I had gotten pretty lackadaisical about the monthly checks.  I found two lumps close together and one was ulcerated.  Clearly they had been there a few months.  The vet did express some surprise that it took 4 years to return.

That surgery, the vet removed most of the mammary tissue on one side.  We didn't even bother to biopsy it.

She's 18 now.  A few months ago a new vet found another lump.  So tiny that a needle biopsy can't be done, and placement of it also argues for scar tissue.  So we are just watching it for the moment.

I don't want you to think that it's a nothing thing.  But I do want you to have hope, I do want you to know that it is possible for a cat to live for 8 years following a mammary cancer diagnosis with only surgery being the treatment.  And that cat is as b**chy as ever and a good weight.  (The vet said that most cats her age are skin and bones so she was thrilled about the extra 1 pound on Shadow.)

The first surgery, where they removed just the tumor, Shadow bounced back pretty quick.  The second surgery, she was acting the same way as she did after being spayed as far as positioning herself to avoid pain.  She was on pain pills though.  Strangely enough they didn't send her home with antibiotics and she messed with the site enough to get an infection, licking it a lot, so antibiotics were prescribed during the followup.

What they recommended, I didn't do, which was buy a baby onsie so the surgical site would be covered and she couldn't mess with it.  I wished after that I had done that.

You are going to flip and freak out.  I did the first time.  I thought it was a death sentence, that I would be saying goodbye.  Ironically, four years later when it came back I really didn't care.  As far as the emotional part of my brain went, she was going to have surgery and be perfectly fine, just like before.

Both times (adjust for minor inflation) the surgery ran around $500.  That covered the blood tests, the actual surgery and 1 night boarding, one followup and the post-care medicines.  It also covered the first surgery's biopsy.

Hugs.

@arouetta, yours is an amazing story.  No chemo or anything, huh?  Truly amazing!  I'm so glad your old girl is still with you, and hoping the best for her now. 

Also glad to hear the the removal of the lump is easier than I thought.  From other threads I've read, some recoveries were pretty hard, but maybe that's because they took several mammary glands too.  I can see the difference might be like a lumpectomy and a mastectomy.

raven716 I somehow missed you saying in your first post her lungs arent full of growth. Has the cancer spread to her lungs already?