Eponine has cancer

[ugaimes]

Hi everyone,
I know I haven't been very active on here lately (working full-time and taking care of a very busy toddler will do that to ya!), but it is with a heavy heart that I am letting you know that my beautiful little Eponine has cancer.

Last week, I felt a lump on her side, just in front of her rear right leg. I took her to the vet on Saturday and his immediate reaction was, "This is not good at all, she needs immediate surgery to remove this."

The surgery was yesterday morning and it confirmed what he suspected" Vaccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma. He said the affected area was relatively small, and he removed a LOT of muscle AROUND the affected area just to be sure he got it all. If he DID manage to get it all, she will be fine. But, if he so much as missed one single cancer cell, she'll form more lumps later on and it will be fatal.

I am so heartbroken about this. First my son had a heart transplant due to a "freak" medical condition, now my sweet Eponine has cancer because of VACCINES! Our family just cannot seem to catch a break. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Hope everyone else is doing well!
Amy

 

[mews2much]

So sorry about that.
My friends cat had cancer from a shot also.
Do not blame yourself.
It happens more then vets want to admit.

 

[consumerkitty]

Amy, you and Eponine will be in my thoughts and prayers! Lots of vibes that every last cancer cell was successfully removed.

 

[halfpint]

Aww I am so sorry I have never even heard of that before. I hope Eponine
Heals quickly and that it doesn't come back.

 

[ugaimes]

Thank you so much, y'all. She is recovering AMAZINGLY well right now (thank you God!) and time will tell how things look in the long-run. Does anyone here have any experience with feline VAS?

 

[addiebee]

For a complete recovery!

 

[white cat lover]

I'm sure there are other members here who have dealt with VAS, I just cannot think of any names right now. I'm drawing a complete & total blank.

I'm sending many that your vet got it all.

 

[bunnelina]

Here's my little story, copied from a previous thread:

My aunt's cat had injection-site sarcoma in 2002. My aunt was in her 80s, ill, lived alone, and dreaded losing her only companion, so she didn't tell anyone her cat had a tumor. When I finally saw the cat, the tumor was the size of half a tennis ball between her shoulders, and it was open, and clearly causing pain. Against my aunt's objections, I took the cat to the vet as soon as I saw the situation. (She told me that if her cat died, SHE would die... luckily, I inherited her stubbornness

) The cat was in her late teens and frail; the vet was not optimistic, but promised to do his best.

The cat recovered nicely and the tumor never returned. My aunt died in 2004, and her cat died of other causes in 2005. At that point she had to be around 20. She was deaf, and had dementia.

Hang in there, and don't give up hope!

 

[farleyv]

Get well vibes or Eponine

 

[rosiemac]

Amy i'm so sorry to hear this

The new vet we started going to last year has persuaded me not to give my kids anymore injections with them being indoor cats, because he too is of the opinion that they can help cause cancer.

Out of all the vets weve been registered with, he's the only one who gave me his honest opinion, all the others were "Yes it's best to give them it blah blah blah" = £ £ £

Lots of mega healthy healing coming over for Eponine

How old is Eponine now Amy?

 

[eilcon]

I'm so sorry to hear about Eponine, Amy. Your pretty girl will be in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[otto]

I'm sorry to hear of Eponine's diagnosis, and pray your vet got it all. Vaccines are done in the leg just because of VAS, because a leg can be amputated if need be. I hope it doesn't come to that point with your beloved Eponine, but if it does I'm sure she would adapt well under your tender loving care.

 

[littleraven7726]

We lost our Raven

to vaccine related fibrosarcoma. His was inoperable, and we had about 6 months with him after diagnosis. He had tumors everywhere internally at the end. His started with a lump on his spine, near his tail.

This website was very helpful for me.
http://www.zzcat.com/

I'm very sorry about your kitty's diagnosis. I hope the surgery gives you more time with Eponine.

 

[buttercup29]

OMG I didn't even know that this even could happen. My Zipper hadn't had any shots until just before we brought the boys home and I wanted her safe. We also got the boys done and now I wished I had waited. They are all indoor cats. Anyway sending vibes your way.

 

[katachtig]

There are some slow growing fibrosarcomas. Petunia had some tumors removed from approximately from the same area you were describing. The vet was surprised that I had found the tumor as it was hidden behind her hip bone. She ended up dying of something else 3 years later and we didn't see a recurrence of the tumors. I hope that Eponine has the slow growing version and that you don't see any more tumors.

 

[phillygal]

Prayers for you and your sweet girl.

 

[jenwales]

My Jack had a large fibrosarcoma removed from his side on April 30. He had his stitches removed this past Monday and other than the big ugly scar you'd never know he just had surgery. He's acting completely normal.

It had not spread and the vet believes he excised enough normal tissue that it should not return. Even if it does, I'm glad we had the tumor removed because Jack is getting lots more quality time. He's somewhere between 12-13 years old, we think. We've had him for 11 years.

Fingers crossed for Eponine.

 

[ugaimes]

Wow! Thank you all SO MUCH for all of the kind words and shared stories! Made me feel a lot better than I have been over the past 5 days!
Susan (great to see you!!!)- Eppie is approximately nine years old and she's been with me for 8.5 years.
Bunnelina- WOW WOW WOW! What an amazing story! I am so glad your aunt's cat actually recovered from the tumor removal- incredible! Gives me so much hope!
Brenna- I am so sorry to hear about Raven

This is such a horrible, horrible disease. I hope these stories will encourage more vets to be up-front about some of the dangers of vaccines and be more willing to suggest that they only get them every 3 years or so if the cats are indoors-only. Of course, it seems like so many vets only care about the $$$, more so than our furbabies' well-being.
Jenwals- Wow, it sounds like you and I are in a very similar situation. I'm so glad to hear that Jack is recovering so well (as is Eponine, two days post-surgery). I will keep you and Jack in my prayers as we go through this journey together!

 

[taryn]

When Attitude and Nuts go in for their rabies vac I'm going to ask the vet what he recommends for vaccines since they will only be a year old(they are 11 months now) and both have leukemia so I need his recommendation on what to do. They are indoor only so I need to see if they need anything other than rabies this year. My vet doesn't vaccinate for anything other than rabies unless he thinks it is necessary(kitten shots or whatever else.) Maude only got her rabies vaccine(he never recommended anything else) and nothing else until we moved Attitude and Nuts in when she got her leukemia vaccine since she was negative and they were positive. I like my vet in that respect since he doesn't push for unnecessary vaccines which not only lowers their risk of sarcoma but also doesn't hit me in the wallet.

If they need a booster for anything they'll get it but he doesn't vaccinate against anything on a regular basis other than rabies(and I'm going to see if they can receive the 3 year shot) for indoor-only cats(and that is because it's the law that they get regular rabies vaccines.) Like I said I'll see what I need to do(if they need a booster now or they need it in 3 or so years from now they were both fully vaccinated as kittens), but I'm all for fewer vaccines due to the sarcoma and the fact that it saves me money. When I first got Attitude, even before her first vet visit, I had already said she wasn't getting a leukemia vaccine(since it seems to cause VAS more commonly than other shots), turns out that was a moot point since she was already(at 8 weeks old) FeLV positive.

It's matter of risk of disease vs risk of yearly vaccine and for indoor only cats I think the risk of yearly vaccine(other than rabies) is more than the risk of the disease. Like I said I trust my vet on this since he wants what is best for the animal and won't vaccinate against something unless he thinks he needs to. Like I said he only gave Maude her rabies vaccine and recommended nothing else, she was 10. She wouldn't have been vaccinated against anything else if it wasn't for Attitude and Nuts.

A lot of vets are needle pushers because they like what it does to their bottom line and they don't care about the effects on the animal and a lot of owners don't know that yearly vaccination against everything, especially indoor only animals, is no longer recommended. The initial kitten series is important since it establishes the immunity and then they only require occasional boosters.

I hope they got everything and that Eponine never has to deal with this again. I will say prayers for both her and Jack for speedy healthy recoveries.
I also haven't heard much about it recurring unless they missed part of the tumor and I think most of the VAS are of the slow growing variety, which I hope is the case for both of your cats.

Taryn