- Joined
- Jan 29, 2018
- Messages
- 59
- Purraise
- 122
When I left Tijuana about five years ago, the only thing I took with me was my best friend - a 2 year old Grey cat that I rescued as baby after being bit on the head from a dog.
After finding him injured behind behind a house, I found homes for his brothers, sisters and mom (after getting them fixed) but nursed Greyman back to health. He was only a couple months old, and most of the damage was to his eye that was blood red for weeks and slowly got better. The vet that gave him his kitten shots in Rosarito only said that he was very lucky, and even though I figured he couldn't see out his eye I was relieved that it healed enough that it was rarely noticed and Greyman's life was great (awesome, actually).
He was a couple years old when I brought him to a vet here in Laveen, AZ for a check-up The doctor confirmed that he couldn't see out of his eye and that he should be just fine. A couple years later (a couple weeks ago) when I brought him back to the same doctor for a check up, he told me that "it's nothing to be too concerned about and no emergency" but cats that have damage to their irises have a higher chance of getting cancer in that eye. He didn't even "recommend" enucliation as much as suggest that I consider it. I asked a few questions and left with the words "nothing to be too concerned about" ringing in my ears.
Now I've read as much as there is available on the internet about Trauma Induced Feline Ocular Sarcomas. The worst part is that the younger the cat the more likely to develop the sarcoma. I've learned that the average time for a trauma induced sarcoma to develop is 5 years, but that is because it can happen any time between 1-10 years. Most reports refer to this cancer as rare (it is somehow similar to an injection site sarcoma)... what I don't know is how rare it is?
This is a tough decision for me. Greyman is a fantastic young dude with no physical limitations. I'm actually horrified of subjecting him to the trauma and risks of surgery and I have to admit that the cost is a real hardship and will be a tough one to manage.
The more I think about it and as I write this I fell more and more like I can't leave a ticking time-bomb (if that is what it is) in his head. Still, any information from anyone that has had experience in any aspect of this would be appreciated. I realized that my big question "will my cat eventually get cancer?" is going to be an impossible one to answer, maybe I'm just hoping to better weigh the risks.
I've attached a picture of Greyman. This photo doesn't tell the whole story though, if you looked into the bum eye with a light, instead of black or a reflection you would see a mottled grey shape (that hasn't changed in the year or so that I've actually been paying attention to it).
Thank you for any help in this challenging time.
Correction, it was almost 3 years ago that I let Tijuana for Arizona... so Greyman is almost 5 years old.
After finding him injured behind behind a house, I found homes for his brothers, sisters and mom (after getting them fixed) but nursed Greyman back to health. He was only a couple months old, and most of the damage was to his eye that was blood red for weeks and slowly got better. The vet that gave him his kitten shots in Rosarito only said that he was very lucky, and even though I figured he couldn't see out his eye I was relieved that it healed enough that it was rarely noticed and Greyman's life was great (awesome, actually).
He was a couple years old when I brought him to a vet here in Laveen, AZ for a check-up The doctor confirmed that he couldn't see out of his eye and that he should be just fine. A couple years later (a couple weeks ago) when I brought him back to the same doctor for a check up, he told me that "it's nothing to be too concerned about and no emergency" but cats that have damage to their irises have a higher chance of getting cancer in that eye. He didn't even "recommend" enucliation as much as suggest that I consider it. I asked a few questions and left with the words "nothing to be too concerned about" ringing in my ears.
Now I've read as much as there is available on the internet about Trauma Induced Feline Ocular Sarcomas. The worst part is that the younger the cat the more likely to develop the sarcoma. I've learned that the average time for a trauma induced sarcoma to develop is 5 years, but that is because it can happen any time between 1-10 years. Most reports refer to this cancer as rare (it is somehow similar to an injection site sarcoma)... what I don't know is how rare it is?
This is a tough decision for me. Greyman is a fantastic young dude with no physical limitations. I'm actually horrified of subjecting him to the trauma and risks of surgery and I have to admit that the cost is a real hardship and will be a tough one to manage.
The more I think about it and as I write this I fell more and more like I can't leave a ticking time-bomb (if that is what it is) in his head. Still, any information from anyone that has had experience in any aspect of this would be appreciated. I realized that my big question "will my cat eventually get cancer?" is going to be an impossible one to answer, maybe I'm just hoping to better weigh the risks.
I've attached a picture of Greyman. This photo doesn't tell the whole story though, if you looked into the bum eye with a light, instead of black or a reflection you would see a mottled grey shape (that hasn't changed in the year or so that I've actually been paying attention to it).
Thank you for any help in this challenging time.
Correction, it was almost 3 years ago that I let Tijuana for Arizona... so Greyman is almost 5 years old.
Attachments
-
547.3 KB Views: 116
Last edited by a moderator: