Feline fibrosarcoma - how long has she got?

[Rhubarbgarden]

My beloved cat has a lump between her shoulder blades. The vet thinks it may be feline fibrosarcoma. She's going in for a biopsy on Monday then we have to wait for the results to find out if it is this.

I've done some googling and the prognosis is not good. Can anyone advise me how long she's probably got left? She's seven years old and in good health.

I love this cat more than life itself, I don't know how I'm going to deal with this.

[thecatneuterer]

i'm really, really sorry to hear this. I'm afraid i don't know the answer. Hopefully your vet will find the time tomorrow to speak to you in more depth about this. Good luck to both of you.

[bakingtins]

Fibrosarcomas are locally agressive tumours - they don't tend to spread elsewhere but they do come back at the surgical site, usually worse each time. If a biopsy confirms a fibrosarcomaher best chance is radical surgery first time, removing wide margins of normal tissue. It is worth discussing whether to refer her to a specialist soft tissue surgeon for this.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Thank you both. Useful to know that there are specialist soft tissue surgeons - I shall definitely ask about this. I fear that because of the location of the tumour, there isn't much room to take a wide margin.

Spent all weekend crying. This is just awful.

[cozietoesie]

The best of luck today. I'm guessing you likely won't have any results until, say, midweek? Let us know how she gets on anyway.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Thank you. I'm glad I posted. The vet just called and said she'd recommend going straight for removal of the lump rather than biopsy, and to get the lump analysed. So that if it's benign we avoid a second surgery. I asked about wide margin etc and she said she'd just do a minimum margin then if it grows back, do a wide margin in the second removal.

As Bakingtins said the best chance is radical surgery first time, and this is in line with my minimal Internet research, I said I'd really prefer her to do a biopsy first and take it from there. I hated questioning a vet's recommendation - but I feel in my gut this is the best chance of saving her.

This is so hard - I'm trying to keep a brave face for the kids and failing.

[VictorKilo]

Our vet has just told us that the lump we found on our cat near her rib is fibrosarcoma. Our cat is 17 years old but still very strong, healthy and somewhat overweight. We plan to go ahead with a biopsy test and then decide upon specialist recommendation what her options are. It came as such a shock we are still trying to recover from it and decide on the best course of treatment for her.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Hello VictorKilo. I'm so sorry to hear that. When they do the biopsy, make sure they don't remove the whole lump but stick to doing a biopsy. My vet wanted to take the whole thing out and I had to be quite firm. It was just as well I did - when we got to the oncologist she underlined how important this was; the soft tissue specialist surgeon was then able to remove the lump properly with the necessary 5cm margin.

We followed up the surgery with radiotherapy. The whole process took a couple of months; it was difficult and upsetting for cat and human family, but we are out the other end now and Rhubarbcat is back to her old happy little self. Obviously fibrosarcoma is a very aggressive form of cancer and could easily come back, but I know that we have done everything we possibly can so it's just down to finger crossing now.

One thing I would say is that the situation is not quite as bleak as googling would have you believe. A lot of the statistics are based on taking a 3cm margin - best practice now is to take a 5cm margin, which improves a cats chances. But your vet will probably refer you to a specialist and they will be able to advise you best.

It's all really devastating - I do feel for you.