Lung Cancer in Cats

I'm curious as to what caused the cancer in my cat? While it's possible she was exposed to my mother and father's smoking for the first few years of her life and it MIGHT have caused it, our other cat who lived along side her and almost as long as her has none of the symptoms she had and he still lives with them. Mom had quit smoking when my cat turned 3 but not my dad though he moved his smoking to outside. My cat and I moved out and into a non-smoking household when she was 8. Fast forward to her being 17 years old. I noticed she was breathing weird shortly after her 17th birthday and took her to the vets for a check-up and blood work for a senior cat exam. They also checked her urine. They told me at the time that the younger kitten in the house was making her more active and wearing her out which would trigger her to breathing hard. Her blood work came back completely healthy. I was told that a cat her age should have at least something wrong and showing up in her blood work. They had to double check it was in fact the same cat. They did say that her urine seemed watered down. That she was drinking an excessive amount of water which could be an early sign she is having trouble filtering her system. So they prescribed her to eat Royal Canin renal diet formula. She actually enjoyed it and ate well. She would still run around the house and play with the kitten or me. She ate, drank, and used the litterbox regularly. So I was at ease. She was a little underweight but they said it was normal for cats her age. Three months later she was eating a lot less and her breathing was worse. She was gasping for air and coughing like a hairball was caught. Sometimes she'd vomit and then piss on the floor. I called in and took her once more. They finally did an x-ray. Her stomach was filling with air from her gasping and getting trapped which pushed onto her lungs. One of her lungs was enlarge, but both were very cloudy. They told me it was possible she had feline asthma but it could also be cancer. They gave her the injection treatment for the asthma and told me to keep an eye on her for 24 hours. I believe it was a steroid injection. If she improves it was asthma and we'd start a treatment plan, if not it was cancer. The next morning while I was on the phone with the Vet tech she had another gasping/coughing fit. I felt it was worse than before. They said it was kinder to let her sleep. Cancer treatment would not cure her at that stage and it would only prolong her suffering, so I made the choice. He mentioned she could have had it for a long while but only recently started to show signs. What would cause her cancer? Suddenly and progressively showing such symptoms and without any bad blood work? Was it the smoking my parents did? She was an indoor only cat. No house plants and she only ate hard food. She was picky and would not eat moist food. She did have bad teeth and gave a fight when it came to brushing her teeth using cat friendly toothpaste.. so it wasn't as frequent as it should have been perhaps. Household chemicals were put up in the bathroom out of her reach. ( She didn't like the bathroom. )I'm trying to think of anything else she could have gotten into or around. We don't use perfumes, but we do use Gain laundry soap and Snuggle dryer sheets. ( Neither of which she messed with as old dryer sheets and the lint was thrown out instantly. ) Is lung cancer even hereditary in cats?

My cat will be 16 in June. She has a lung tumor that does not appear to have spread (CT scan yesterday), and appears operable. However, due to her age, I'm hesitant to have surgery. I have lost 6 cats at 15 or younger, none have gotten as old as this cat. I need good, level headed advice. (One of my cats I had to let go after putting her through horrible cancer surgery in her intestine, don't want to make the same mistake.)

A month ago, my cat had x-rays and found a large tumor in his lungs. We brought him home and told us we could either do surgery (but risky because he is older and we do not have the money) or we could eventually have him put down. He does not seem like he is in pain but I do not know. He continues to eat and drink fine. His cough has gotten worse and it looks like he has trouble breathing. I do not know what to do since this is a very sad and tough situation for me. Should we put him down soon? I don't want to put him down too early if he isn't in pain, but I also do not want him to suffer. Let me know what you think. Thank you.

Hi! We have a 14 y.o Angora-Persian cat. We have taken good care of her. Before her we had her grandmother who lived to 21 years.
During the last year she has had problems with puking, which was solved with diet changes.
However, recently she also began to dry cough and had pains in her lower back. We took her to the vet and got pain medication for her. (She had elevated non-ionised Calcium as well, from blood tests). This was two weeks ago.
, which helped a lot with her back pains, but she still had the cough.
Today we took her to the vet again and requested new blood tests and a CT which we were told she would get. When the vet returned they had taken an X-ray and said that Blanche has lung cancer and immediately needs to be put down and claimed that she is in great pain.
She is a very social cat, and even during the last week's she has been very cuddly and kept me company during my medical studies, we refused to have her put down. We wanted to keep the x-rays to which the vet refused as well as the blood tests. When we asked about treatment she said that "There is no such thing", which a quick Google proved wrong.
Anyhow, we left and are now hoping to treat her cancer in some way. We do not want to lose Blanche, and we have taken very good care of her during the years.
Do you have any advice as to how we can get her treated?
Thanks in advance!
P.S also, any idea of price range for treatments?
Also, it wouldn't let me add any other symptoms :(

My cat Curly is 10 years old. He is anorexic and what we think is lung cancer (we didn't do any invasive testing, just an Xray which was alarming and blood test and an ultrasound for purposes of elimination of other possible problems). His first sypmtoms were not eating and losing weight, that was 6 weeks ago now and has not eaten voluntarily at all for about 3 weeks now only by being force fed by me with high protein food from the vet. I have him on pain medication and his breathing is slightly laboured, he is getting more stressed out by me force feeding him and has begun panting afterward.It isn't the easiest thing to not make stressful. I know his health is failing fast and he doesn't have long before I will have to make the decision. In the meantime, do you have any ways I can make him feel more comfortable? breathe easier? Is there other symptoms that will present towards the end? What are the signs I should look out for so I know when it is time for him to go?

what does it mean to have a slow growing nodule on lung of feline?
how many x rays over each month will prove it to be inflammatory granuloma? If it is cancer, how fast does it grow and when do critical symptoms show?

kazbah was scheduled for radiation iodine treatment when this was detected. When would I know I can proceed with iodine treatment to help eliminate thyroid test and medications and have more chance of stability, Now dealing with kidney issues.

have so much to deal with thyroid, kidney and the questionable mass.Finances are low and I am so worried about him, Overwhelmed
with monitoring his medical conditions. What can I prepare for regarding deterioration while he is doing fairly to pretty well. I am alone , and we are vey attached, grieving the loss of his brother Bongo last year, without surgery or chemo how long can I hope to have him and me him? We have had so much loss. please aid in my anxieties. thank you.

13 yr old, otherwise healthy, cat...x-rays show spots/ probable lung cancer.Breathing becoming labored.Prednisone prescribed, 2 days ago. Doesn't seem to help.Cat still eating, behaving relatively normal..other than wheezing, & breathing labored.

My cat was diagnosed with a tumor in his lung today. We brought him to the clinic because he was weak breathing heavy and disoriented. Is there anything that can be done other than put him down to save his life.

My vet took X-ray of my cat . 6 years old. Started coughing 4 months ago a wet deep coughs. Gave antiobiotic shot cough went away six weeks.cough returned giving steroid shot. no cough for two dsys, now returned no weight loss. loved to go outside can it not be cancer

Is thereto help prevent more weight loss? What about CBD for cats? He’s weak and goes into hiding now, use to cuddle now he doesn’t. Was an outdoor cat was told no more outdoors.

was told feline had medium mass on lung but no biopsy taken how do we know it is cancer he has controlled thyroid disease and beginning of kidney disease this mass was noted on x ray

hi, my girl just turned 6.. 2 months ago.the docs found a mass or tumor on her lung and dont know if its cancer..they are saying to cut it out and part of the lung..is this the right way to go or is there other steps before going right to surgery?

My 16 year old cat was diagnosed with mammary cancer last May. Since then (until about 2 weeks ago), she was doing amazingly well. We never had biopsies, or anything removed. The prognosis of doing so, at her age, were just as "good" as not doing anything, per 4 Vet opinions. So they are all "assuming" she has cancer. The 1st Vet at the practice we take her to is the only one who thought they were benign. That was almost 1 year ago. Since then they have grown, but not too much. Without going into 2 weeks worth of details, she started to show different signs and symptoms, and has been up and down. More down than up. We had her back up Vet come to the house, and then took her to her cat Doctor for a follow up (Xray's and labs). They compared her Xray's from last year (May) to last weeks, and seem to think cancer cells have spread to her chest and lungs. She was given a shot of prednislone and sent home with lysine. She is still eating, drinking, using the restroom, talking (though not as much). Her breathing is what worries me the most. It isn't terribly labored- not open mouthed, but often times heavy through the nose. She doesn't seem ready to leave us, we're not ready for her to go (she is my everything!!!), and the Vet seems to want to wait to "see what she tells us on a day-to-day basis). She gets winded just from eating and even taking a few small steps. As long as she is in bed, her breathing isn't as labored, and she eats and drinks on her own. Oh, she also has a UTI and is on an antibiotic now. She is also sneezing, which she never did before. I feel these Vets may have some of this wrong. I don't know... I know she is old, but we are only assuming she has cancer b/c of the masses on her mammary glands, and from what they saw on the Xray (no masses- more like cloudy throughout). Her other Vet who makes house calls has yet to reply to my messages with labs and Xrays. If I send them all to you, would you be able to give me an opinion? I am doing everything I can here to keep it together. If there is something more I should be doing, I need to know. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this long (and all over the place) message.

Last night I took my cat to the hospital she is 10 yrs old I adopted her when she was 7. She has lost weight stoped grooming herself and has been coughing / hacking daily for months I didn’t think much of it. She eats cat grass daily I have read that maybe the grass makes her hack. She hasn’t eaten or drank anything for 3 days. I had X-rays done on her blood work and a urinalysis. The vet said she has nodules in her lung and there was nothing that can be done. My question is how sure can she be that it is cancer by looking at an X-ray? and that she said it’s best to euthanize her. What if I would of caught this earlier I feel as though she may of been a canidate for surgery. I am just so upset that I had no idea I don’t know if she was suffering or in pain.

My cat had an echocardiogram done 2 weeks ago. They saw a mass that the doctor thought was primary lung tumor that would be easily removed. Today they did a CT scan before proceeding with surgery and saw other small lesions on her lungs. They are doing a biopsy now but the doctor is assuming it is cancer so they will not do surgery. She has no symptoms. If it is in her lungs does that automatically mean the prognosis is not good?

Stu is 17. Two weeks ago I took him to the vet for a dental cleaning. Blood work showed Stu has developed kidney disease. I was also told Stu has a heart murmur now. The vet took a chest X-ray and she sees a mass either in his lung or just outside the lung. She also suspected this mass probably originated from somewhere else. This was a lot to hear. The dental wasn’t done due to the multiple issues. I decided to start the renal cat food. I will not treat the lung mass, mostly due to Stu being 17and I simply can’t afford further testing and treatment. That will have to take its course.

So far Stu loves the food and has always been a good water drinker. If he feels bad or is in pain, I can’t tell it at all. He sleeps a lot, but at 27 I think that’s to be expected. He uses the litter box, seems to be breathing just fine, and I have never heard him cough. He looks good, much younger than his 17 years.
He is most definitely not suffering.

I’m baffled by this lung mass and lack of symptoms. I’m thinking if it’s already spread from somewhere else, doesn’t that mean it’s advanced. Is there a chance this lung mass could be benign? I really don’t want to do a sonogram because it will stress him out and I really can’t afford it. I was told it could still be difficult to gauge the size of the mass. I’m really stumped by this diagnosis and lack of symptoms.

Hello. My Maine Coon Stella was diagnosed with lunch cancer in april. She is nearly 18 and the cough is what brought me in. She has been taking a steroid but yesterday one of her hind legs appears to have paralysis. I thought perhaps she fell, but all her favorite spots have chairs and stool to help her jump easier since she began feeling sick. She hasn’t pooped in nearly 4 days and even 7 months ago would once or twice have a painful, constipated bowel movement taking forever to come out, panting. Nothing has come out and I don’t see her trying. I fear the paralysis could be from constipation or the cancer? It was very large mass in 1 lung. Although her blood was perfect we felt her age alone was a reason to not operate and put her through the discomfort. I am feeding her where she rests but she is not herself suddenly. She is still loving and purring but when we go to the vet tomorrow I fear he is going to suggest she will get worse and euthanize her. I don’t want to have her suffer just to be with me longer, but I can’t find it in my heart to lose her and make that call. Do you think any hope for her?

Tinker on palliative prednisolone 8 days due for meds assessment on day 14. Has wheezing sound & 1 day left of antibiotics for cold she caught after CT scan revealed lesions in lungs.

Masses were inoperable.

I wonder if she needs anything else with this development. She’s not in pain but she seems uncomfortable to me.

Niue Niue is an female cat of mine, just a week ago she started to eat less, feeling weak, and won't eat nor drink for a week. Just two days ago when she try to walk her back legs always flop up, we took her to the animal hospital yesterday night the doctor give her an x-ray saying the she is very sick, she has intestine tumor that spread into the lungs, the x-rays shows that her lungs are full with dots of tumor, the doctor explain to me that she is not gonna live over a week. Since you guys are experts can, you tell me whether there is a treatment to cure her or I have to leave her painfully dieing out. Lastly, I lived in south California do you guys can suggest a good animal hospital to let her get helped. Thank you!

My 9+ year old FIV+ cat was vomiting and coughing. I brought her to a vet and the X-ray revealed a very large tumor in her lung. The vet said it was 95% chance that she had lung cancer. I decided not to do further tests with an oncologist or seek aggressive cancer fighting treatments.
The vet prescribed a daily prednisolone pill to make her time more comfortable. What do you think of the use of prednisolone with lung cancer cats? I was told that with cats who are in better health that the dosage is reduced after 10 days due to the medicine suppressing the immune system and doing damage in the long term. However given that my cat has cancer, the dosage is to remain the same to the end.
Note I was not sure if I should put critical or serious...I guess it is critical. Please comment on the prednisolone.
Please comment.

My 6 year old cat was diagnosed with lung cancer? priior we tried antiobotics for 6 week Hes had respy cough and periodically on and off his breathing sounds conjested .6weeks ago xray showed large growth in lung. 6weeks of steriods still has cough but growth had shrunk. I asked vet to give antibotic shot in hopes of breathing beinf better. Today hes breathing heavy could the
antiobotic have made worse?