# Cancer - fibrosarcoma



## monu (Aug 13, 2009)

I want to thank everyone in advance for reading my post. I am new to this forum and have come across it in an attempt to gather as much information as I can and find help to very difficult decisions that I now have to make.

I have a 9 year old, female, short hair calico/tabby mix. Last November I found a hard lump on her right thigh as I was brushing her hair with my fingers. The Veterinarian took a cell sample that showed abnormal cells and we decided to get it removed. The Veterinarian told us that there was a chance the tumor would come back as Fibrosarcomas are very aggressive. She did not suggest combining the removal with chemo or radiation therapy, and we did no other treatment except removal at that time. The surgery took place in February and Kayla (my cat) recovered well.

About 2-3 weeks after the surgery, I noticed small lumps (3-4) at the same exact location. I took her in and the Veterinarian said it could be scar tissue or the tumor was back. I was advised to watch it. Over the weeks/months the lumps grew into a large mass. We knew soon after it starting growing that the tumor was back. We decided not to seek further treatment.

When I got home yesterday I noticed blood on the carpet and when I looked at my cat's right thigh I noticed that the tumor had ruptured. We immediately took Kayla to the Veterinarian and they told us that this is common for Fibrosarcomas.

They gave us a few treatment options:

1) Remove the tumor again and follow up with radiation therapy or chemo (Veterinarian says he's 100% sure they won't be able to cut it all out and follow up treatment will make her sick)
2) cut the tumor down (this way they will be able to at least close the wound but it may erupt again)
3) Amputate and follow up with radiation therapy or chemo (50% chance it will still be there)
4) Watch the wound, give her pain meds (which she is now taking), and when her quality of life goes down considerably, put her down

The wound is bloody, keeps draining blood, looks even worse today than yesterday.

This is a very hard decision for me. I don't know what to do. I know I have to make a decision soon.

Has anyone been through anything like this? How did you make your decision?


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

I had a cat with fibrosarcoma on the top of her head. There were 3 lumps that were removed. I did a consult about chemo and radiation at Tufts University veterinary school. I was told that there really wasn't any chemo that had significant effect on fibrosarcoma. This was 6 years ago, so maybe something changed, but I suggest you really investigate if you're thinking of going that route. The radiation would have been way too traumatic...the location would likely make her blind in one eye and dealing with the treatments...daily for 6 weeks would have killed her before the cancer imo. And they thought it would only extend her life another 6 months or so, no possibility of a complete cure. And the cost was going to be somewhere around $7K. So I chose to roll the dice...3 years later, no re-occurance and I lost her to something else.

So looking at your situation, unless something has significantly changed, the removal followed by chemo/radiation doesn't seem to be an option that would have good results. I guess the other options depend on your financial circumstances. If finances aren't a major concern, I would investigate the amputation solution further. But I would not do it with a local vet, I would go to some place like Tufts and deal with specialists. A consultation at a place like that will probably cost you $150, worth it for your peace of mind to know you did everything you could, assuming you can afford it. 

If the amputation doesn't look like a good option (BTW, we've had several tripod cats on the forum that do just fine), then I'd probably opt for removing what you can of the tumor and then making her comfortable from there. 

I know it's hindsight, but it makes me angry that the vet didn't encourage you to remove the second set of bumps when they were still small or suggest amputation at that point...it may have made a difference in her prognosis. I'm not bringing this up to make you feel bad, but to commiserate...when I took Callie to the vet for the lump, they also suggested watching it. Then it grew and multiplied, making it much more difficult to remove with good margins given the location. I will never again listen to a suggestion of monitoring a lump, it will come out as soon as I find it. 

I hope you find a resolution that gives you more time with her....


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## monu (Aug 13, 2009)

THanks for your response. I'm sorry to hear about Callie. I also wish they had suggested amputation at that point because we would've had a better chance of getting it all. 

I did read that chemo isn't effective for cancers that don't rapidly spread to other areas of the body, and fibrosarcomas tend to stay localized. We had xrays of her chest and lungs taken yesterday and they are clear. Don't know about other organs.

Radiation therapy, as you were saying, makes cats very sick and I don't want to have her last days to be like that. 

I was thinking of having a consult with an oncologist - the vet said he would refer me to one. 

Do you or anyone else know a good vet oncologist in Richmond, VA area?

IF amputation isn't an option, what worries me about getting it removed again is that it will come back and burst again. How many cycles can we go through? 

But I also don't think I can do nothing about it because it's probably very painful for her and the wound will just get worse unless we do something about it.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

No...I don't know any oncologists near Richmond...I'm way up in NH. I would look for a clinic associated with a veterinary school. 

The vet here told me that I could keep removing the tumors until they become inoperable. In Callie's case, inoperable would mean that it spread into the surrounding bone of her skull. Hopefully you're not at that point. 

Do you know if this is an injection site sarcoma? Just curious....


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## monu (Aug 13, 2009)

It is an injection site sarcoma. After we discovered the tumor and learned that it may be immunization related I was upset to learn how common this occurs. 

We're not at the point where it is inoperable. I struggle because I know the tumor will come back (we were told it's a 50% chance of it coming back with removal and radiation). We can keep removing it, and I hate that this is a factor, but we're looking at $1200 every time and I can't keep doing that. 

I wish that there was something I could do about the open sore - it hasn't clotted or scabbed - still an open wound seeping blood. We clipped the hair around the tumor and are cleaning it daily. 

The pain medication we're giving her is called Tramadol, 50mg tablet that I break into quarters and give her twice daily. I'm going to pick up antibiotics from the vet tomorrow.

Did they put Callie on any pain medication? If so, do you remember what it was called?


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Injection site sarcomas are a large component of the avocation for less vaccinations. It's a relatively high percentage risk taken for little or no gain since it's been proven that vaccines last much longer than we've been led to believe. Unfortunately everything I read indicated that injection site sarcoma is more aggressive than non-injection site.

Callie didn't have any pain meds, once they removed the tumors they did not return. I lost her 3 years later to complications from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (not sure of it was nutrient absorption issues or possibly digestive tract lymphoma). 

I understand the financial issues your facing with this. I don't know what to suggest because I was a recipient of the 'miracle', the tumor didn't return even though we didn't do any treatment and they told me it would be back in 6-12 months. So there's a part of me that wonders if you might get the same miracle if the appropriate surgery is done. I think I would be inclined to do the amputation (if financially feasible), as I suspect that would give you the highest likelihood of success. 

Whatever you choose, I'm sure will be the right decision and you should not feel bad if you have to take the $$ into consideration. You're doing everything you can, no one can fault you for that.


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