Our Experience with Feline Mammary Cancer (Adenocarcinoma) After discovering a growth on her abdomen in early April, we took Ripley to the vet's and she said she didn't like how it felt, that it had to be removed as soon as possible - just in case. This came as a shock, mostly because Ripley had always been such a healthy cat, especially as compared to Dexter. On April 10, 2007, Ripley had the mass removed. The vet called me at home and told me she had difficulty bringing her out of the anesthetic and had to give her a shot of adrenalin. She told me that other than a slightly lowered platelet count, her pre-op tests were fine. When we picked her up we were told that she would not be given painkillers because of her reaction to the anesthetic. Sadly, at the time we didn't know better. Ripley was in a lot of pain post-op and spent much of the time under the bed. I wish I could go back in time and not have allowed that. (We later learned - from several other vets - that the pre-op testing was insufficient, particularly for a cat her age, and that having her teeth cleaned at the same time, particularly without having pre-op antibiotic treatment, was hardly in Ripley's best interest. We are very upset that our poor Ripley had to deal with the pain of the surgery and of the dental cleaning that we think may have affected her ability to eat throughout her illness. We were also told at separate consults that there were other pain medication options that Ripley could have been given/could be given should she need them). The vet also told us that the mass didn't look good, but that she got as much of it and the surrounding area as possible. Ripley hissed at her when she reached into the carrier. We'd never seen her hiss at anyone, so I knew she had to be in tremendous pain. We had taken Dexter in to get his shots when we picked Ripley up and so while Phil settled up the bill, I sat in the car with both kitties in their carriers, side by side. Ripley's eyes were glazed and strange looking. I knew she was in pain, yet she rubbed her little face against the carrier side that was facing me and looked at me with her "I love youuuu" look. I felt so badly for her. Ripley had a tough few days after the surgery, with no painkillers and a very large incision. I tried to keep her comfortable and near me so I could pet her and try to take her mind off things. She slept with me the first couple of nights. Dexter seemed to think she was a different cat, even though he'd been at the vet's the day we took her home. She kept walking over to him as though she was saying "hey, it's me.. Ripley!". It was strange since they were so closely bonded, having spent nearly 12yrs together since they were kittens. I was later told that cats can 'smell' cancer and he probably knew she was sick, even then, or perhaps didn't recognize her because of the smells involved. He eventually got over this 'new cat' fear and realized it was her, but their days of playing and chasing were over, even though we didn't know it at the time. The pathology report came back and it wasn't good news. Ripley had mammary adenocarcinoma (breast cancer), which is highly malignant in cats. Ripley had been spayed, but she was a few years old, and apparently it should be done before they are six months in order to prevent mammary cancer. If only we had known. She had been so sickly as a kitten I wanted to spare her the surgery to be spayed until she was a little older and then because Dexter was neutered and they were indoor cats, it didn't seem a concern. I wish we'd known then what we know now. We were of course.. devastated. The prognosis wasn't good. I did a lot of research and was frustrated because the vet wouldn't tell us the size of the mass and the pathology report didn't mention the size either. This was frustating since mass size is the best indicator in terms of prognosis with feline mammary cancer, and the prognosis was important in deciding on further decisions about her treatment. We had to go by what we had palpated pre-surgery... and we knew it was at least grape sized, possibly larger. When we took Ripley back to the vet's to have her stitches removed, the vet wasn't even going to see her. The vet tech took the stitches out and then we asked about the vet and she said she'd go see if she could come and talk to us. We were stunned by this. The findings were that our Ripley had breast cancer.. and she wasn't even going to come and examine her or talk to us?? She came in, took a quick look at the incision, picked at it a bit with her nail and basically told us nothing other than she should come back every few weeks for blood tests and if we noticed another mass to bring her back for that too. No pain management plan.. no referral to an oncologist...no treatment options... Nothing. Needless to say we were very disappointed with the care we'd received from the vet/hospital where we'd been taking for Ripley for almost twelve years(Aldergrove Animal Hospital in Barrie). The next day we booked appointments with two other veterinarian hospitals, one came highly recommended and had experience in feline oncology, and the other was at a Cat Hospital near our house. We felt it was necessary for us to get second opinions and a new place where she could receive the care she deserved. If nothing else we wanted pain meds, if possible (and I couldn't imagine it wasn't possible). Our first consult was with a vet from a general practice. His name was Dr. Martin and he had experience with feline oncology. He was very good with Ripley and spent a lot of time talking with us. He suggested a chain mastectomy, which sounded radical to us, but upon further research, we realized it is considered the best treatment option. I also asked him about a couple of new trials I'd read about and he had me email him and he later got back to me with his findings. We very much appreciated this. The second consult, the following day, was with a vet at the Cat Hospital, Dr. Pilon. As soon as we walked in, we were impressed. It was all about cats! Not 'cats as second class citizens', but in a 'cats rule here!' kind of way. Cute little cat decor covered the walls and two resident cats were groggily manning the reception desk. There were also no funky doggy smells and I noticed Ripley didn't tense up the way she did at the other vet hospitals. Dr. Pilon, was also very gentle with Ripley and generous with his time with us. He also noticed a tiny little lump when he was examining her and gave her a treat(these little things mean so much). A few days later, he called and left a lengthy message as well, with some information for us (he wanted to consult with his wife and co-owner of the clinic, Dr. O'Sullivan). We felt that this was the place we wanted our Ripley (and Dexter) to be cared for. Everyone seemed so warm and sincere.. and it was peaceful and quiet, which was a huge bonus. Though we were very impressed with Dr. Martin as well, it just made more sense to go to a clinic where the focus was on felines, where there would be no doggy smells, where we already felt comfortable with the staff we'd met and that was so very close to our home. Since riding in the car was stressful for both of our cats, it made sense to choose the Cat Hospital. I do want to say, once again, that we were very impressed with Dr. Martin and felt really fortunate to have found two vet hospitals where we would have felt (finally) comfortable having our kitties taken care of. A couple of weeks later we noticed another mass at the top of Ripley's surgical incision. We immediately made an appointment with the Cat Hospital and saw Dr. O'Sullivan this time. We discussed options and decided on surgery to remove the mass the next day. She wanted to take x-rays first. When she called us back in, she told us she was surprised by what she'd discovered. Ripley had pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs) and her lungs were almost completely collapsed. The surgery would have to be postponed, perhaps indefinitely. Another blow. Dr. O'Sullivan gave Ripley a shot of Lasix (diuretic) and a prescription for it in pill form that we could give to her. She also gave us some Tolfedine in case we found she was in pain. We found her to be also very caring and helpful with us. It was such a relief to have found a place where we knew Ripley would be well-cared for, by capable and compassionate people. Less than a week later, we took Ripley back for follow-up x-rays and were happy to learn the pleural effusion had subsided, but there were some small spots that might indicate the cancer had spread to the lungs. It was a new vet, and she wasn't sure. I had, by this point, read up enough on feline mammary cancer to know that it had likely spread to her lungs. I think that was the moment I felt the most devastated. Having lost my older brother at 39yrs to leukemia that started with pleural effusion, it just seemed like a horrible deja-vu - and in many ways I think my last weeks with Ripley were a sort of reliving of losing Tom, who passed away only five days after diagnosis (so I knew how horribly aggressive this disease could be). We took Ripley home.. she was now also on Periactin to try to stimulate her appetite, but she never really ate much on her own after that. The Lasix caused her to be dehydrated (but was necessary to ward off the fluid around her lungs), so we eventually started giving her subcutaneous IV fluids. The Tolfedine was replaced by liquid Tramadol and eventually transdermal Tramadol. The Lasix pills were replaced by injections, when it became too difficult/unpleasant for Ripley to swallow pills. We would have done anything to make her feel better. Oddly enough, the first night she received the subcutaneous IV fluids, she obviously felt a great deal better and even caught a mouse! I couldn't believe it when I saw her with it. It was the last time we'd see her 'perky' and I suppose it was her last 'gift' to me - as she left it directly in my path the following morning and I stepped on it unknowingly (barefoot no less!).. resulting in a very loud screeching sound. :) I later praised her repeatedly for the nice present and told her what a good huntress she was. She seemed to understand, as she often did, what I was telling her. We were initially a bit squeamish about the IV fluids, but after the mouse incident, we were convinced it was helping her feel so much better. She also didn't seem to mind getting them or any other injections. The oral pills and syringe feeding was far more unpleasant for her. We suspect she probably had esophogal cancer as well, and her tongue just didn't seem to work properly after her surgery. It got progressively worse and she would "lap at air" at the side of her mouth, as though she were trying to make her tongue work properly. She also started gagging after the first surgery/dental cleaning. Some of that was likely due to the fluid compressing her lungs, but we also wonder about the dental cleaning and what effect that had on her eating as her condition worsened, since she never really had an appetite after the surgery/cleaning - and she had always been such a big eater. She'd even been on diet food for the past 8yrs. Sadly, we watched Ripley slowly deteriorate. We tried every kind of food, Nutrical, Essiac Tea, Turmeric, Sucrate, Milk of Magnesium, numerous prescription medications and treatments and nothing was helping for long. Each day I would put out a 'kitty buffet' with all sorts of foods I thought might entice her (cat foods and people foods), but she was not at all interested. I had to eventually start syringe feeding her and kept hoping it would jumpstart her appetite, but it never did... and she hated being fed that way. It made her gag (worse). Same for the oral pills which is why we eventually switched to transdermal/injection and then took her off the ones that obviously weren't helping (ie, Periactin). I read and read, hoping to find something to try. The more I read, the more helpless I felt.. I knew she wasn't going to get better, and that she could suffer greatly if she went into respiratory distress. Phil and I discussed it and we knew we wanted Ripley to go for the 'forever sleep' in our home. We didn't want her last moments to be somewhere she was always somewhat nervous (even though she had started to adapt somewhat to the car/Cat Hospital). After a few bad days in a row, we decided to make the call on Monday and ask if the vet could come on Wednesday. We were told Dr. O'Sullivan would come at 5pm on Wednesday. For the next few days, I spent literally every waking (and sleeping) moment with Ripley. We sat behind the fence in her favourite 'hiding spot'. We had picnics on the quilt in the backyard (with the whole family). We danced and cuddled and talked a lot. I tried everything I could to make her last days as wonderful as possible for her. Phil and James spent a lot of time with her in the evenings when they'd get home from work. I was so grateful to be able to work from home and be with Ripley throughout her illness. I can't imagine having to leave her in the morning, and I was so thankful that it wasn't an issue, because frankly, she needed someone with her at all times. I was pretty exhausted by this time.. up much of the night checking on her and putting her in the tub to drink (it was the only place she'd drink water in the last six weeks - even the expensive kitty water fountain couldn't entice her, so the tub faucet it was, and when she got too sick to jump in and out herself, I lifted her in a dozen or so times a day. The syringe feeding never got easy, but we did eventually develop a way that resulted in more in her tummy and less on me (and her fur). We used Hill's A/D prescription cancer food from the Cat Hospital. She didn't seem impressed, but I don't think anything would have tasted good to her by then, and it was nutrient and calorie packed and in a purée form that made it easier to syringe feed. I secretely dreaded the feeding - not that I wanted her to sense this, so I always tried to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal and was all just a normal part of our day. Afterward I would lift Ripley so her head was resting on my shoulder and we would walk around slowly and I'd tell her what a good girl she was. We took a lot of photos and had a lot of 'talks'. I told her how special she was and how fortunate we'd been to have her as part of our family. It was an incredibly difficult three days, but tried to hide the sadness from her and just focus instead on enjoying the time we had together. After Ripley was gone, and we'd each spent time with her (we kept her with us for a couple of hours after Dr. O'Sullivan left), I bundled her up like a baby in a soft blanket and held her as we drove to the Cat Hospital.. handing her over, even to someone I knew would be caring and respectful of her was so difficult. I felt an instant emptiness and such palpable sorrow. I was so used to carrying her in.. and out.. of the Cat Hospital all bundled up. This was the first time I would be leaving empty-handed. For a week I wandered around like a lost soul, not knowing what to do with myself. I'd gotten so used to caring for her, and was so lost in my grief, that I wasn't really functioning. I'd go to do all the things I'd become so accustomed to doing for her each day.. getting the syringes ready, tub drink lifts, walks outside, dances, medications and more medications, our special talks, keeping her beside me whatever I was doing, etc.. I felt like my most important purpose in life was suddenly gone, and I was in a total daze. When I realised one day, that it had been a week since we lost Ripley, I was stunned. It felt like maybe a couple of days had passed. I know from talking to other people who've done 'hospice' that this is a common feeling. That not knowing what to do with yourself when you're so used to doing so much for your 'sick baby', adds to the sense of loss, because there is such a sudden and dramatic change to your daily routine. Now that some time has passed and we are able to look back and reflect, we feel so fortunate, to have found such caring and competent veterinary care. We've many regrets about some things that happened with Ripley and although we can't turn back the clock and redo things, we were so relieved and comforted to know that Ripley was in exceptional hands during the time that she needed it most. An extra-large thank you to Dr. O'Sullivan, Dr. Pilon and Krystal from the Barrie Cat Hospital. You are all very special people, and our community is fortunate to have you and all of your wonderful staff. Please spay and neuter your cats! Not only does it prevent the terrible and senseless destruction of many unwanted cats, but in female cats it lowers the risk of mammary cancer to almost nil, if spaying is done within first 6 months of life. :: Home ::       :: Ripley's Story ::      :: Rip & Dex ::      :: Slideshow ::      :: Links ::      :: Mammary Cancer ::      :: Rip's Favourite Song ::