I have a 10 year old domestic short hair. He's recently lost some
weight, going from about 11 pounds to less than 7. The vet saw a mass
on his left kidney and suspected cancer. A needle-aspirate biopsy
sup****ted this diagnosis, and a week later his kidney was removed.
Since then, he's really become like his old self and quite
affectionate. I am sure he was in a lot of pain before, and now aside
from the pain associated from the surgery, it seems that he's feeling
a lot better.
Yesterday, I took him into the vet for his post-operative check and
all his vital signs are good. The one remaining concern is the re****t
delivered from the lab when they examined the kidney. The excerpt
follows:
Final Diagnosis: Carcinoma, type not specified, see comments below
"The kidney consisted predominantly of necrotic renal parenchyma.
There were a few scattered islands of viable tubular/glandular
structures, predominantly underlying the thick connective tissue
capsule surrounding the necrotic kidney. The epithelium was variable
in size, being cuboidal to polyhedral to elongated. Many of the
tubules/glands had a multilayered lining that more closely resembled
transitional epithelium than glandular epithelium. The diagnosis is
cancer, but I could not unequivocally determine the origin. The
histology is more consistent with transitional cell carcinoma than
with adenocarcinoma."
During the surgery, the doctor examined all the organs he could and
saw no visible evidence of cancer. He did say, however, that the
nature of this cancer the general feeling is that a follow-up
treatment of chemotherapy is recommended. He's suggesting an oral
Piroxicam accompanied by an intravenous Mitoxantrone. The estimate
for the treatment is around $1,700 USD. I don't have an unlimited
budget by any means, and while 10 years is not exactly young for a
cat, I understand the life expectancy for indoor cats can exceed 16
years. If this treatment helps him live out a full and fulfilling
life, I am more than willing to pay for it.
I am curious to hear from any other cat owners who have pursued this
course of treatment for a similar situation and how it turned out. Are
my expectations realistic, or can I only know by going through with
it?
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