My cat has mammary cancer.

[mariand]

My cat has a scab that turned out to me a mammary tumor discovered at the vet last week.  She is 15 and was in for some routine blood tests related to her hyperthyroid condition.   I can afford to do the surgery or chemotherapy.  

What kind of time frame am I looking at? 

The vet has not prescribed any antibiotics at this point, I think he is waiting for me to magically print money or something, and  one spot is ulcerated.  Is there anything to put on that area someone recommends.  Has anyone tried Vetracyn?

 

[mariand]

correction.  I can not afford.

 

[goholistic]

I so sorry about the diagnosis. I do not have any experience in mammary cancer, but hopefully someone will be along who does.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

One of our members, @Feralvr, has recommended Vetericyn for wound healing to other members, so I believe she has used it with good results. It may help with the ulcerating spot, however, it probably won't be able to cure the cancer

I'm so sorry about the diagnosis.  At age 15, I'm not sure it would be worth putting her thru the surgery and chemo even if you could afford it.  I've heard it's a pretty tough surgery

.  One member put her girl through it, did the chemo, and the cancer came back

.  (I think you read her post).  It's always a difficult decision no matter what their age. 

But, to your original question, I would definitely try the Vetericyn for what it's worth.  It might help make her comfortable, at the very least.  If it can heal any ulcerations, that's GOT to feel better.

 

[mariand]

I got the vetericyn directly and used it as directed.  It made me feel better to do something.  I also made a c-collar to keep her from licking. 

After a couple of days when I was cleaning the area I realized I was not doing a better job than she was.  Also she seemed so depressed about the collar.  I deiced to take it off and just see how it goes.  I still clean the raw nipple area with peroxide and put vetericyn on once a day.  There seems to be some healing going on of the rawness. 

Yesterday I felt another bump about 2cm away from that nipple.  I'm not sure if that is another nipple or just a bump under the skin because of the fur.

In general I feel better about the situation.  She seems fine.  She still comes to find me for her thyroid medicine 2x day.  I still give her "her old lady medicine" a cat generic glucosamine chondroitin MSM in a spoon of mushy food. Her appetite is good. 

I was afraid that I totally jinxed her by getting a whole bottle of thyroid medicine (200 day supply).  I've started in on the new bottle, just last week so I'm not sorry I got it.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Does the Vetricyn say to clean the area with peroxide?  If not, I would change that procedure and clean it with something else.  Peroxide is not really the best thing, IMHO, since you are cleaning it on a daily basis.  For once in awhile use, I think it's ok, but too much could be caustic to the skin and actually not allow it to heal, again IMHO.  You might ask your Vet if there is something else you could use to clean it with, or maybe it doesn't need cleaning, since she is licking it. 

that she continues to feel good.

 

[cprcheetah]

It really depends how long you have.  I had a standard poodle whom we did surgery 3x she lived about a year after the 1st surgery before it spread through her system.  Sorry you are dealing with this, it sucks.

 

[mariand]

So far so good.  Her one area does get messy from time to time but otherwise she seems fine.  She sleeps a lot but then she is a cat and 15 years old.  She enjoys her cat nip and mushy food treat that I give her with her glucosamine-chondroitin-msm.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm glad she is still hanging in there, and hopefully she is staying pain free

 

[goholistic]

Great to hear she's being strong for you. 

 

[mariand]

The veterycin tended to get all her hair stuck in it and form a  hair crust.  Now I tend to the area once a day now with clean water or a weak beta dine solution on cotton balls.  Shaving her tummy has made it easier for me and her to keep the area clean.  I am going to look for an antiseptic that doesn't have iodine on account of her hyperthyroid.

 

[cookiebear291]

I just stumbled upon this thread and wanted to say my cat is going through the same thing.  She has mammary cancer and I cannot afford the surgery and treatment. It is upwards of $4000 and I feel so guilty because I wish I had the money to help her. She is 12 years old and seems okay for now. She was diagnosed on May 19th.  I am trying other methods, holistic and I just wanted to ask what you are doing for your kitty to help. Maybe we could offer each other some advice.  Thanks and hope your kitty is doing well.

 

[mariand]

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty.  I'm glad she is doing okay.  My kitty is doing okay too. 

My cat presented with an open lesion on a teet (sp?) which I didn't notice.  A vet tech did when she was in for her thyroid level checked.  That was in the beginning of January.  I took her to a second vet's office and he studied the big vet book right in front of me.  Surgery only seemed to have a good prognosis if the tumor was under a certain size.  I want to say 1cm but I'm not positive.  Then they wanted to remove all the mammary chains.  Of course chemo was also mentioned, yadda yadda.  I was a vet tech and it is a pretty hairy surgery, lets just say.  I would not do it unless I could go all in for her.  Financially even the just the surgery was out.

The raw spot is about the same but I feel more hard tumor under her fur around it.  I am doing wound management on that one spot.  Otherwise I am treating her the same as I was.  She gets hyperthyroid pills, cat glucosamine/msm (she is 16 and has 3 legs), vitamine B and E, and milk thistle (human supplements cut to the dose the vet recommended related to her thyroid condition).  Of course I spoil her more with the mushy food . 

I don't know if you are dealing with open lesion.  If so I can tell you my routine there.  I gave up with the vetrycin.

Do let me know if you find anything like a supplement or such that you think improves things for her. 

 

[cookiebear291]

Thanks, she is ok how is your kitty doing? My cat has a tumor about 1.5 cm and a couple pea sized ones under her skin. For cookie, they wanted to do a unilateral mastectomy and chemo. I know a lot of people who went through the with surgery and their cats only made it 6 months to a year even with chemo. And the surgery is pretty hard on the cat cause it's 2 surgeries. It seems like when you mess with it he cancer it comes back worse. The vet gave my cat depo medrol for pain and I've been giving her vitamins and proanthozone. I've been trying to giver her omega 3 but she won't try it, it is suppose to be really good with cancer, keeping it at bay.

 

[mariand]

Thank you, I will look into those.  My Littles is doing okay but I am always trying to get her to eat more. .

 

[cookiebear291]

Hi, yes both seem proanthozone and omega 3 fatty acid seem to help her have more energy.  If I may ask, how long has your kitty had the cancer now since being diagnosed? 

 

[mariand]

The tech at vet noticed it in January of this year. I had not on account of how I pick her up, which I had and do, everyday twice to give her thyroid medicine. Imagine my surprise. I felt like quite the bad mom.
It must have been brewing a month or more earlier.

 

[hocuspocus]

My 10 yr old got mammory cancer. After one lumpectomy, it came back 6 mos later. Took her to a cancer hospital and she had a unilateral mastectomy. So far she has been lump free for 1 yr 3 months.
They wanted to do both sides but they found a heart murmur and she is so tiny that we would have had to go back and the 2 hr trip each way seemed more detrimental than the surgery. Surgery to remove the chains is your best bet to prolonging life. We caught it early and after doing a LOT of research I went against my vets opinion since she didnt know anything about mammory cancer and would have loved taking each lump off as they came at $800 a pop SMH.
We just barely paid off the credit card we put the mastecomy on. All I can advise is....I would do it all over again. Shes my baby (ive had her since she was6 mos old and she'll be 11 in Sept).

 

[cookiebear291]

@ Marian D, I am  sorry.  Has the tumor grown alot from the time it was found in January? I am worried about Cookie.  She seems like she is in pain. They gave her a depo medrol shot and they said it would help with pain but its been a week and a half since she got it and it seems like she is still in pain, they told me it would last 6 to 8 weeks.

 

[cookiebear291]

@ MarianD, sorry  i forgot to say in last message that the tumor hasn't ulcerated but it seems like it is getting bigger.