(It's easiest to read if you start at the oldest entry)
Bugaboo had an appointment with Holistic Vet Dr. Skiwski of The Western Dragon to discuss nutritional and supplemental needs in conjunction with radiation treatments. Dr. Skiwski said she looks healthy and for starters will just migrate her to a better cat food, Innova Evo and start her on a daily dose of Thorne Research's Feline Geriatric Basic Nutrients. We will check point once she starts radiation and see how she handles it.
Second biopsy comes back clean. Dr. Boltz said there are no signs of neoplastic cells in the muscle tissue removed and the sub-tissue removed does show some reactive fibroblasts
Bugaboo goes back in for a more agressive tissue and muscle removal surgery. Dr. Boltz takes muscle down to the "first plane". Tissue is sent in for biopsy. Referral is made to Dr. Fineman for radiation treatments. She came home a little more out of it but alert and her incision is a little longer and has more sutures now. She was prescribed more Buprenex 0.1ml 2-3 times a day for pain as needed and Baytril suspension .8ml one a day as an anitbiotic precautionary since she'd been opened twice in a week.
Got voicemail from Dr. Boltz saying Bugaboo's path report came back positive as fibrosarcoma. She says she has clean margins but they are <1 mm and she'd like to go back in and remove more tissue and potentially some muscle.
Same day appointment scheduled for Bugaboo at Adobe Animal Hospital with Dr. Boltz. Dr. Boltz expresses concerns that this could be fibrosarcoma and offers to remove the mass and send it to biopsy that afternoon. Bugaboo has surgery, and comes home alert and fiesty with an approximate 2 inch incision between her shoulder blades. She was prescribed Buprenex 0.1ml twice a day for pain as needed.
Grape-sized lump noticed in Bugaboo's scruff area. Lump appears to be just under skin and seems "detached". You can grab around the thing and the cat is completely unphased.
FELINE INJECTION-SITE SARCOMAS
a.k.a. Vaccine Associated Sarcomas
a.k.a. Fibrosarcoma
What is an injection-site sarcoma?
An injection site sarcoma is a tumor of the connective tissues in the cat. The most common cell type affected is the fibroblast, giving the tumor the name fibrosarcoma. Other tumor types have been described (osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma). The tumor types behave similarly and are therefore treated the same way. The tumors are often located between the shoulder blades, in the hip region, and in the back legs.
A cause and effect relationship has been established for certain vaccines, including rabies and feline leukemia. However, other chronic injections such as lufeneron (Program) have been thought to cause these tumors. It is likely there is a genetic predisposition to the development of these tumors in certain cats; however, the exact genetic problem has not yet been identified.
