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Our Cats
Read below for information on Feline Nasal Lymphoma
We have 4 cats and one dog. All of the cats are domestic short haired felines and the dog is a Peek-a-poo or Peekapoo. All of them are wonderful family members. Cosmo and JJ are best friends. Click on the COSMO link to see more pics of him.
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FELINE NASAL LYMPHOMA
After a two days of sneezing blood and a runny eye we took Stitches to the vet to find out what was wrong with him. After blood work up, a nasal scope and tissue biopsy, Stitches was diagnosed with Feline Nasal Lymphoma July 22, 2002. This means he has cancer in the nose cavity (Nasal Lymphoma).
We sent his medical records to Tufts surgical unit in Boston, Massachusetts for review and a recommendation, due to the nasal cavity being so thin surgery was not recommended. His case was transferred to Tufts Oncology unit for further evaluation. The oncology unit suggested that we have Stitches staged. This means they want to put him to sleep and run a multitude of tests: blood work, X-ray, bone marrow test and another biopsy of the cancer. After all of that they would be able to tell us how far advanced Stitches cancer (Feline Nasal Lymphoma) was.
The Oncology unit also explained what the standard treatment is for a cat with Nasal Lymphoma - 15 days straight of radiation treatment of which he would have to be placed under a mild sedative for each radiation treatment. He could either stay overnight for the duration or we could take him each day of the treatment. After this he would lose his hair and then he would need to have most of the above mentioned tests re-run again so that they could determine if the treatment had worked and there are no guarantees and no way of telling if the treatment would help extend his life. The success rate for remission was only 25%.
We pondered for 2 days over this and spoke with our vet again about the chances of survival for Stitches with & without treatment. As Tufts had explained our vet also explained that there are not guarantees that the treatment would help. So we decided to keep Stitches comfortable and give him the best love and care we could possibly provide. We just could not bring our self to put him through so much trauma and not be able to explain why we were doing this to him.
STITCHES HEALTH JOURNAL
August 24, 2002 - Stitches has stopped sneezing blood and his eye no longer is leaking. his appetite and mood is normal
September 25, 2002 - No change all is well
November 24, 2002 - No change, all is still well and Stitches is a very happy cat.
January 19, 2003 - Good news no change
February 14, 2003 - More good news, Stitches is eating normally, his coat has improved and his spirits are better then ever. He has even taken to playing with our puppy Cosmo who now at almost 7 months old is quite a hand full at 8.2 lbs. Stitches is still a bounding 15.2 lbs.
May 5, 2003 - No change at all since February. Stitches is still weighing in at 15.2, eating normally and acting just like there is nothing wrong with him. One very happy cat he is!
July 12, 2003 - Again more good news. Stitches is still eating normally same weight and wonderful disposition. Happy as he should be. He is still playing with the puppy in his own way, he is so patient with the little pup.
October 27, 2003 No change! Still eating sleeping paying normally.
November 30, 2003 - Stitches is doing great!
October 1, 2004, Annual check up everything looks good.
February 10, 2005 Vet visit for runny eye, and sneezing, which resulted in finding of a 3.5cm growth in his side and a smear test indicated that the nasal tumor was growing and causing difficulty with breathing and causing a discharge. Since he was eating and very social we opted to take him home and provide him comfort.
February 28, 2005 After spending a week on vacation at home with him we saw that he was having difficulty breathing and each day it seemed to be getting worse. We took Stitches back to the vet and after another check up we agreed to let him go. We stayed with him until the end.
Stitches brought happiness to our home and family he was a great companion to us and our other cats. RIP
Three of our kitties were adopted from a no-kill animal shelter Kitty Angels
Page was last updated on: Saturday, April 02, 2005