Abdominal liquid mass. Anyone?

Maria Bayote

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Maria Bayote Maria Bayote I am so sorry that you returned to see this after being away. This is not the kind of thing I hoped to greet you with after your journey. I had hoped it would all be sorted out before then. We have had lots of medical help and lots of good wishes, hope and prayers so I still hold faith that we may find answers or solutions. When we first discovered there was a mass, the doctors envisioned a large tumor. This is not what we expected. We wait for more information and do not know anything for sure yet except that whatever it is, it is presenting oddly. Perhaps prayers, hopes and wishes are helping Banjo. She is content, active and not exhibiting pain. She is eating very well and all systems are functioning. Thank you my dear friend for adding your prayers. :hugs:
Hang in there, friend. I wish I had that same calmness. I tend to panic easily, get scared easily, and cry so hard very easily.
I will keep you both in my prayers and hope for a much better tomorrow.
 
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Jcatbird

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Mamanyt1953 Mamanyt1953 Good idea. Thanks! Where to start?!?! No new cleaning supplies or other changes made inside except the hot water heater and that is very recent. No new fabrics or flooring. I had the problem with the LVT and VOC which I eliminated immediately after installation. Exposure time was a matter of days but…..Already have water and soil samples. If I go waaaay back to the beginning of the colony, someone did spray Roundup in my greenhouse. Not sure if one incident would do it but cats were around then. I have been researching and, of course, these are colony cats. The inbreeding could well be an issue. All of these cats started life under great stress, poor conditions and all had parasites back then. One more very good reason for spay and neutering and rescuing!!!! Smokey was an old girl and had experienced exposure to Felv and had some previous health issues unrelated to cancer as far as I know. Perhaps her immune system just broke down. BJ ,being head of colony, is likely to have produced many, who produced many, before I stopped it. Inbreeding is never good. From what I know, if it is cancer, genetics play a role. The first colony here never exhibited any cancerous tumors (but Felv related deaths) except for Smokey. The “in between colonies ferals that showed up” have not either. Just these two and with BJ being FIV, kidney tumors can happen. His immune system took a big hit with having heart worms by the time I got him. Who knows how long he had battled that or what he was exposed to before that. Then he had extensive dental surgery . I have some other ideas about cause but I doubt it could be proven. Also, we don’t know for sure what this is yet. Still waiting for labs on the cells drawn. Hoping it is not FIP or malignancy. Only time and test will tell.
The itching is declining. Thank goodness! I still feel that goes back to the litter. Possible exposure to something during warehousing or shipping. IDK I have been scrubbing everything to remove any trace of the dust. That actually makes me itch! So many variables! So many things to investigate.
This info from Cornell might be of interest even though the topic is mammary cancer, it touches on much more.. Cats are living longer. Spays should be done early. If I counted all cats from both colonies, over twenty years, at least two hundred.
From research being done , cats live longer these days and therefore have higher rates of cancer now. Some say 1 in 5. Some say as much as 40%. !?!?!?! Can we change this?
One of the great things about that vet school is that they are looking at everything mentioned above. History, food, litter, allergens, etc. etc.. They learn from every patient.

Mammary Tumors
 
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Jcatbird

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rubysmama rubysmama Positive vibes are most welcome! As you know, I believe in being diligent, investigating but remaining positive and hopeful as long as Banjo responds to that in a way that is good for her. :hugs:

artiemom artiemom Thank you. I know you understand and all hugs and prayers help.

fionasmom fionasmom I thank you too! I am very grateful for prayers and support!

Maria Bayote Maria Bayote I may be calm for much of this but not all. Trying to get Banjo out of state had my nerves showing. Cry? Yeah. I am trying to stay confident for Banjo. Cats read us so well! If I am confident then maybe she will be too. Scared? I am worried but mostly I try not to think too far ahead. It does creep into my thoughts but I don’t have all the facts yet and I am holding on to the knowledge that cats can do amazing things. No matter what comes, I have today to love her and store each great moment in my heart and mind. Each moment is always a blessing in life. I hold them as treasure to be cherished. Thank you my friend. I will let myself feel everything when this is all over and I have time to just sit down and turn into a giant bowl of jello.;)
 

Mamanyt1953

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One of the great things about that vet school is that they are looking at everything mentioned above.
When you talk with the vet school again, mention this...that many cats are affected, and you have a small "cancer cluster." Ask if there are any studies going on that your clowder might qualify for. SIGH...probably not, but it doesn't hurt to ask! Perhaps some PhD hopeful might be interested! You never know!
 
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Jcatbird

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Mamanyt1953 Mamanyt1953 Thank you! I did mention all the itching and BJ and Smokey. I also told them that BJ was Father to Banjo. They took notes on the cat litter, the three types of flea treatments I have used in the past six months, the foods eaten and lots of other details. They seem very thorough and very interested. They asked a lot of questions about the colony history. The one thing that did not occur to me to mention is that everyone was immunized during the wellness checks at year end. Everyone was immunized the same day. I did not ask about a study but I will. 👍
 

silent meowlook

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Hi. You can make yourself crazy trying to figure out what is going on. It sounds like you have your cat at the best place and are doing everything that can be done for her. You have done an ultrasound with a specialist, and it sounds like, also a CT scan? There isn't much more that will give you information short of an exploratory. Personally, I always think it is better to know what you are going into before you cut. Your University Vets and your Specialist are the ones who will be able to figure this out. I have worked for Veterinarians for around 30 + years. Of that time 9 of those years were in specialty internal medicine and surgery, and about 8 years in feline only practices. The rest was Emergency and GP. I cannot remember anything at all like what you are describing. It sounds like a cyst attached to the abdominal wall encompassing the aorta, yet it is vascular. So, not a cyst. Tumors are vascular, but one attached to the abdominal wall would be unusual to say the least. I wouldn't worry about FIP at this time. There is no abdominal fluid, just what is inside the mystery mass? Listen to your cat and to your specialists.

There is one interesting case I remember where a cat came in with a weird hardening of the abdomen on the skin. I thought it looked like a burn. It covered the entire abdomen. The cat was very ill and the blood work showed elevated liver enzymes. The cat was indoor only but did have access to the garage. The owners swore there was nothing toxic he could have got into. An abdominal ultrasound revealed what a large hematoma on the liver and nearby areas. I don't remember all of the details now. He did also have pancreatitis. He was hospitalized for about a couple of weeks on supportive care. . Nobody could figure out the huge hematoma inside him. The skin sloughed off eventually and he did finally heal enough that he went home. The clients called back to report that when getting their car serviced the mechanic found an area inside the car on the engine that had fur burned onto it. So, the cat must have somehow fallen on the hot car engine. Weird about the hematoma though. My imagination had me thinking the poor cat had been kicked or worse. Unfortunately he did decline and wound up passing away with in the year. Really sad case. I loved that cat and spent quite a few secret nights with him worried sick about him. He was a great cat.

Anyway, back to your cat, what your cat has sounds nothing like the above cat and the specialists would have seen crenated blood cells on the cytology. The above story is just an example of how much is not known about cats.

I think the good news is that your cat isn't acting ill. I am sure they will figure out what is going on before long and offer you the best options for treatment.
 
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Jcatbird

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S silent meowlook Thank you so much!! Your years of experience are invaluable. I know we are covering a lot of details that may seem like we are driving ourselves crazy but Banjo and the colony have pretty much grown up here on TCS. The awesome people here want to make sure that I cover every possible detail of her complicated life since they watched as each colony cat was rescued, socialized and most were adopted out. She and the others were rescued from abuse and a poor environment as ferals. Basically a swamp filled with problems. They have been greatly loved by all those who followed their stories on TCS and members are giving me lots of input so that I relay every possible piece of info to the specialists and to people like you who have dedicated their lives to cats. I can’t leave out an piece of the puzzle in case it may be relevant.
As for listening to Banjo and the specialists, yes! I totally agree with that and to avoiding surgery without some answers. I am hoping that the aspirated samples will give us some direction. I really don’t know if this is fluid ,free floating , in the abdomen or if it is contained as a tumor. I have seen many types of illnesses in cats and other animals but this is a new one for me. For now it is palliative care at home. Again, thank you for the input and support! It helps to hear from someone who has been in a position to see many, many things.

The story of that poor kitty that was burned was tragic. I advocate for all cats to be indoor only if possible. Cars are one of the great dangers. I wonder if that cat was inside the motor when the car was started and struck by a belt or fan? I once met a family who had a cat that had lost the majority of one side to an injury like that. Cats are amazing! Not only did that kitty recover but it became perfectly content , happy and able to leap and play with only the legs on one side. She was adopted by a very loving family and I often baby sat so I got to follow her story for many years. Ever since then I am in the habit of hitting the hood of my car every time I get in to start it.
 
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Jcatbird

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Update!
The specialist has consulted with many, many others and here is the latest. It is still very weird and not seen before by anyone consulted. The aspirated sample does not show cancer cells or wet FIP! Apparently, at some pint in life, Banjo had a tapeworm die inside. It was not digested as would normally happen and did not pass. It became necrotic tissue and formed the mass we saw on CT. It is not all liquid but not a totally solid like tumor. It is a mass of dead tissue. That is not to say that some cells cannot change. Surgery is not a good option right now since this would be very invasive and extensive surgery. We cannot draw this out like a liquid because it is full of tissue. Instead, the current plan is to use oral tapeworm meds to try and shrink the tissue. Banjo has been regularly treated for tapeworms with topical meds but oral meds may work in a different way. The first step is to try and reduce the mass. We will go back for another scan in several weeks to see if this is helping. Banjo is eating, drinking and all systems are functioning well. She does not exhibit any pain. She is still active and playful. I have tried to find examples of this but I find nothing about it anyelwhere. It really is wierd. I will update as we go!
 

Whenallhellbreakslose

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Jcatbird Jcatbird as artiemom artiemom mentioned this should be put in the vet journals. Who would have thought of this? I was so focused on tumors both beign and cancerous. It just goes to show you that you must keep an open mind because it could be something you would never have though of. Kudos to everyone who worked tirelessly to help Banjo and get her abdominal liquid mass properly diagnosed. You had a lot of people helping you. God bless everyone. You may want to put a new title on this thread or put up a separate thread and in the title put "Liquid Abdominal Mass turned out to be a Dead Tape Worm". That way it would draw attention to this mysterious diagnosis. You never know one day someone may be researching about a mysterious liquid mass and stumble upon your thread. This is definitely one for the books.

Well, I am so happy it is not cancer. I hope whatever meds they put Banjo on will do the trick and dissolve it and that will be the end of that. All the best to you. Take care. 🙂
 
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Jcatbird

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artiemom artiemom Thank you! I am relieved and we have a direction to follow! I expect that if this is something that the specialists find is truly as unknown as they say, they will do something to share the information.👍 Leave it to Banjo to be a little different!

Lari Lari Thank you! I hope they work too! The meds are not available so far. I am hoping tomorrow.
It seems that I will be tearing any cat around Banjo. We doubt that any eggs would have survived in there but in the off chance, I asked and we are taking the safest route.

fionasmom fionasmom Thank you! I am so very, very hopeful!! Banjo deserves better days after such a tough start in life.

Whenallhellbreakslose Whenallhellbreakslose You know, the funny thing is that I had been talking about parasites on the kitty thread and M maggiedemi said that she hoped the mass would be “just a big ball of worms.” I agreed. Who would have thought it could be very old worm? It does pay to keep an open mind and I am most grateful to all who helped Banjo and posted here. I can see that a thread under a different title might be helpful. Right now I need to concentrate here but it is a topic that should be known. Without such extensive testing this might have been treated as a cancer or given up as wet FIP which could both have been treated differently or ended quickly by PTS. Very good idea. Rest for us first though. Tough few weeks and more coming.

:heartshape: To everyone and I will update as we go.
 
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