Lung Cancer in Cats

Hello, my 9yo cat was diagnosed with cancer in the lung. He was having difficulty breathing and fluid buildup in the chest cavity. The vet did tests and said it was cancer. He drained the fluid from his chest and he seems to be more comfortable now, but the vet recommended palliative care and humane euthanasia, since we did not want to pursue surgery or chemotherapy. I am wondering if the cat can still live a decent life for a while if we had the chest fluids drained regularly, assuming he was still eating and could breathe OK. I am just trying to decide if I should put him down as soon as he starts to decline again, or if it is worth trying to have the fluid drained again to help his breathing.

I just had to put my 3 year old kitty down because he had lung cancer so bad there was nothing left to do. Last fall he was treated for respiratory infection with antibiotic shot. He got better after the shot. This summer I started noticing that he would sometimes breath really hard but otherwise he was normal. Then he started to be less active, sleep a lot and crouch down to breathe sometimes. I took him to vet to get his yearly shots and I asked whether he was sick. They said there was nothing wrong with him. Then a month after this one day he just couldn't breath anymore. He was crouched down with his mouth open trying to breath. I took him in immediately, they took his blood and listened to his heart and x-rayed him. The x-ray showed fluid in his lungs and his poor lungs were black with cancer. The blood was normal and his temperature was normal. The vet had to put my poor kitty down immediately. I was left wondering why he got cancer at the age of 3. We don't smoke, he was an outdoor kitty who slept every night in our "kittyshed", visited indoors frequently, ate Iams dry food for normal adult cats. Every day I clean the kittyshed and change their water every other day unless it's dirty. His mother cat was a yearling when she got a litter of 5 kittens in our garage. 4 males and 1 female, all seemingly healthy, all the others still alive. He was the first to be born. Very big and long cat. His father was a stray, his mother came to us when she was about 6 months old. Could it have been genetic or what in his environment could have caused it at such a young age while other siblings and mother cat are healthy?

At 8pm my cat started to have trouble breathing. I thought he might have a cold. He did not have a fever and his eyes were clear. I knew I had to take him to the vet. I was hoping he would make it thru the night. So, I was checking on him every hour. First thing in the morning we went to vet. The vet did an ex-ray. It showed massive tumors. She said because of his age (12 years) and the extent of his tumors he was not a candidate for surgery. I agreed even though the thought of putting him down killed me. What I thought was odd as he never showed signs of a breathing problem prior. He had always been a lean cat. So, his weight was always constant. Good apatite. The only thing, and this was mentioned as one of the symptoms, excessive hiding! For the last two years he was always looking to be in a closet or cabinet. Sometimes at night I would half to hunt him down to find where he was hiding. He has a brother. Is he at risk at getting cancer as well? They always ate Iam's kibble.

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.)

My cat (86 in people age) last 6 months started coughing took him to vet she did exrays couldn't find anything just guessed it was asthma. He took the medicane for a month it was working. He stopped coughing since with people the medicine can only help for a period of time as the body gets use to it & doesn't help the problem. He started coughing off & on we comftert him of course. Then 7 weeks ago he stopped eating his dry food lost weight (6 lbs) we gave him can food stopped his coughing for awhile. I did notice though right after he was taking his asthma medicine his back feet manly his skin really hurt he never had this before that. My parents took him 5 weeks ago she said it might be worms. I think it could be something else as he never been out door cat. Now even with his can food he coughs and his brething has gotten heavier. All alought the other night he coughed got himself stressed and was really painting after I told him nicely to relax after 5 mintues he breathing settle down. So my question is (for others reading this so we can help) do you think this cancer or worms? If it is cancer how can a cat get it with nonsmokers in the house?
Can asthma medicine lead to cancer? If it's worms how can a cat get worms if it's inside cat? Last is there anyway we can treat cancer or prevant in cats before they get 9yrs or more?

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.

My cat coughed for over a weekend in May and was taken to the vet. After the X-ra​y he was suspected to have lung cancer. However​, he as well suffered from HCM so CT or surgery would be very risky. We took a palliative treatment option and he was subscribed with steroid and medication to help with HCM. When first detected, his weighed only 4.8kg (normally 6kg), and he breath ​was aprox.​ 28 respirations per minute. Over the course of three months, now he's gaining the weight back a bit (5.5kg) however the breath​ accelerated to 40+ per minute. Monthly X-Ray also showed indication of spreading. Apart from the short of breath, he is sweet and happy as always, as if he's not sick at all.
We now work hard to keep his appetite and weight, however, I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to help him feel better and live longer with a life​ of quality.
Thanks.

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?

Hello. Our Cat Sophie (9 years old) just passed away from lung Cancer a few days ago. Our Cat began throwing up after eating in November. By January we noticed this was becoming more frequent and took her to the Vet. Blood, Abdominal xrays were taken which came up clean. Vet put her on Purina EN food to see if it eased the Gastro symptoms. Symptoms became worse and she developed a slight wease, so she went back to the Vet. This time Xrays showed a potential mass in the right lung. Dr was unsure if this was a Pneumonia or Potential Lung Cancer. She was treated with Prednilisone and an antibiotic. The followup xray showed that the mass was smaller and we continued with another round of antibiotics. The breathing was better, but she continued to lose weight and now had an aversion to food (sniffed it and trys to bury it). We had to start syringe feeding her with Purina AD food. ANother round of antibiotics had no effect. We were sent to an internal Medicine specialist who performed a needle point aspiration and confirmed a 7mm Lung Carcinoma. All other tests were normal, but she still had food aversion and was losing weight. She was referred to an oncologist and was now taking Prednilisone, Cerenia , and an appetite stimulant (Mirtazaprine?). Sophie was scheduled for a lobectomy but the morning of the Surgery, a preoperative CT showed Metastic nodules in other lung lobes and surgery was cancelled. She was put on Chemo (Carbo platin). After the 2nd treatment, the tumor was still 7mm but she developed a slight Plural effusion. It did not require draining, but Chemo was switched to Palladia. After a couple of rounds the tumor was still 7mm and was considered "stable". The Plural effusion was still there but since the vet could hear her hear really well, the thought was that draining was not necessary at this point. About 10 days later, she was extremely lethargic and breathing appeared labored. We took her to the hospital. They said cancer had spread to both lungs and the Plural effusion had increased exponentially. They drained the fluid, but she still had trouble breathing and went into cardiac arrest. She came too long enough for us to hold her, and euthenize her in our arms. She fought a valiant fight for seven months, and never showed any signs of pain. Question I have is--Is it normal for a tumor to remain stable under treatment and just spread on a dime like that? My cat was very stoic with a high tolerance for pain. I wish she would have let us known she was in distress sooner. Rest in Peace girl. We love you Sophie

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.

What are the treatments for lung cancer in cat? He's 10 years old, otherwise healthy. Prognosis? What are the parameters for making appropriate decisions regarding his health?

Hi my siammess cat had breast cancer 1 year ago noe she has big mess in her breast and smallon his front underarm. We went to vet they did xray and find out that she has tumor on her lung. She is my life. Any solution any cure any hope my little angel?

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 cat has bad asthma and has been going to the bathroom out side of the litter box lately he eats fine and he coughs a little bit but he doesn’t have any lumps of bumps and he coughs up no blood

I took my 8 uo shorthair in because of a cough that happens 2x a day, laring 2 or 3 minutes. Eats well. Vet saya lung sounds are harsh. Elevated wbc. Granulomas.xray showed no pleural effusion. Multiple disseminated ill defined nodular soft tissue opacities throughout the pulmonary parenchlyma, some in contact with pleural surface. Biggest appears 1.5 cm." Test for heartworm. Do you recommend blood test $350+ ? Lung biopsy? Thoracentesis which i heard could kill her. Blood test is for fungus and paracites. Thoracentesis is $600 plus cost for vet specialist. Should i just give up, accept that cancer is likely, and have my darling kitty put down even though she seems moderately strssed by her labored breathing. I dont know if shes in pain. Possible pulmonary neoplasia, mesastatic cancer, fungus, parasite. What test do you recommend? Which order? My email is [email protected]

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?

Good evening, I don’t know for sure if my cat has cancer but he hasn’t eaten anything in 3 weeks, he’s loosing weight, all he does is lay around, I took him to the vet 2x n they prescribe a medicine for his appetite n steroids but there pills n if he’s not eating how is he gonna get the meds. The vet suggested euthanizing him but just wanna know something definite 1st

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!

how likely is it that my cat has lung cancer?
he’s been to the vet and he has masses in his lungs but his tests came back, saying he has cancer no where else so they don’t know what’s happening with his lungs. what could it be? he needs to go back soon

My cat has just been diagnosed with FLDS. My vet says she is in a lot of pain but she seems happy. The only thing is she rarely comes to us for cuddles but she is eating and drinking. The vet thought we would be back by now to have her put to sleep. How will we know when the time is right?

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.

I noticed my cat had a bit of a cough starting a few months ago. We brought him to the vet for an x-ray and they saw a mass in his right lung. We were referred to a cancer centre where they performed an ultrasound, bloodwork, a CT scan and a biopsy. They found that the mass had spread to several spots in his right lung. I was surprised because his bloodwork came back normal and he seems to be his normal self besides the coughing. The vet has told us it is aggressive and the only treatment would be chemo which would be hard on him and would only extend his life a short time. We have decided to do an at-home vet service to euthanize him when the time comes. I do not want to end his life prematurely, but I also could not stand to see him suffer. Will it be obvious when his time has come and he is suffering? What should I look out for? Do you have any idea of how long he will have left? I am absolutely devastated at the thought of losing my best friend.

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?