Hello, my cat began having blood in her urine in January. At that time they removed a tumor and it was diagnosed as TCC. They felt that they got it all but explained that this type of cancer would likely come back within weeks or months. It has been eight months and she now is has blood in her urine again and ultrasound showed a small mass which may or may not be a tumor. They said it could be a blood clot. They gave her an anabiotic injection in case of uti, which was three days ago but she is now going more frequently and there is what appears to be a large drop of bright red blood on top of each clump. Before they removed the tumor in January she was beginning to get very ill and needed a blood transfusion. I hate to see her go through any of this again not to mention it was quite expensive at about $5000. I would very much appreciate an honest opinion as to what her prognosis would be if this is a cancerous tumor again. Thank you.

Nibbles is 11 years old,since December she has been on several antibiotics for blood in her urine. The blood seems to go away for a few days after she finishes her meds. She has lost about 2 or 3 pounds since the blood started. She's still active, but strains and sits in the cat box along time. We had a ultrasound done(she peed just as they took her to do it) they said they didn't see any stones or crystals, but their was a thicker side of her bladder. I've had her since she was born and she's never peed outside the litter box but has recently started to. What do you think?

My 15.5 yo DSH cat BJ just had bladder surgery to remove a mass later identified to be transitional cell carcinoma. It was not in the trigone area. Although the mass was successfully removed, the pathologist's report stated the following: "This mass is a transitional cell carcinoma that is predominantly exophytic at this point and also spreading along and replacing the normal urothelium adjacent to the mass. Local recurrence is likely. There will likely be metastatic potential as well with common sites of metastasis including lymph nodes, liver and bone. Mitotic activity is low (two mitoses per 10 HPF). The cells are spreading along the urinary bladder mucosa and extend to the surgical margins. There is not yet evidence of significant invasion into the submucosa and no evidence of invasion of muscularis." His diagnosis was urinary bladder transitional cell carcinoma, low to intermediate grade, incompletely excised. I have two questions, the first regarding the definition of metastasis. Does the TCC cell spreading in the bladder equal metastasis? You wrote to another commenter: "If the transitional cell carcinoma was removed with good margins and no metastasis, then prognosis is excellent; time and histopathy will tell." Since in BJ's case the TCC cells are spreading in the bladder and extended to the surgical margins, would this be considered metastasis? I am wondering if "good margins" means no cancer cells evident and if because of their presence, BJ's prognosis is consequently poor. We are trying to decide whether to give BJ piroxicam or piroxicam along with chemo beginning in another week. BJ had slight visible blood in his urine occasionally for a few days following surgery, which I was told was to be expected. He has finally been allowed out of confinement and has had several normal urinations and defecations in his litter box. Just this morning, however, along with defecating, he had blood in his urine again. Is this still acceptable one week post surgery or should I be worried? He is acting normally, but then again, the only sign before diagnosis was very occasional blood in urine. He didn't exhibit any of the other signs commonly associated with TCC, and his mass was found incidentally. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

At midnight, Mr. Dave was straining to urinate and vocalizing which hasn't happened in 10 years. I took him to overnight ER and they gave us a pill of gabapentin 25mg, and we went home. We were at the opening of our regular vet's office and the opinion was that he had crystals, but his labwork and urine didn't agree. The vet did an untrasound and found a polyp in his bladder near the head, which was causing the blockage. Since my cat survived thyroid cancer, my vet wants to try the antibiotics and gabapentin and renal diet (that my cat has refused repeatedly to eat). His appetite and water intake are fine. Only once have I had to assist him express. Thank you google! I believe it's cancer due to previous symptoms of coughing, repeat rhinitis. When the gabapentin doesn't have him conked out, he seems like his normal relaxed mellow self. The vet did not get a conclusive diagnosis when he inserted a needle in the bladder to try to get cells..maybe he didn't hit the tumor, I didn't see that part. I don't want his life extended if this is cancer and he's going to be zoned out on painkillers while he slowly dies. He's a high risk for surgery and the polyp is in a poor location at the head of the bladder. Am I doing the right things for my little friend?

My cat Deeder is 17 years old, actually almost 18. I thought he had a bladder infection and my vet treated him with antibiotics. It didn’t go away so I took him back and finally did an ultrasound. It showed a very large mass. At first we thought it might be a blood clot and hoped it would resolve but after 10 days another ultrasound showed it had grown. I made the decision to do surgery. Very hard decision considering his age and the risk but the other alternative was worse. He is a very young 17 year old. Lots of energy left and still jumps. I was a nervous wreck and on Veterans Day my vet went in. Prayers for Deeder were being said by many friends and family members. My vet said we could lose him today. He removed the mass and part of his bladder. Then had to reconstruct the bladder as well. He made it through the surgery and spent one night at the vets office on a catheter. My vet said he had a 50/50 chance of this being a success. I saw the tumor. Size of a golf ball. It was transitional cell carcinoma. His kidney values went up also after surgery which was a concern. However he started eating real well the next day and urinating. He came home and sailed through his recovery. I kept him caged while recovering which he didn’t like but it gave him time to sleep and recover. I am laying in bed now and he is by my head on my pillow. It has been 5 weeks now. Best decision I ever made and and I am very grateful to God for hearing our prayers. Deeder is also a diabetic. He was in remission for a year before the tumor was discovered and now has to take insulin. I can cope with that because I have another diabetic as well and I am used to caring for diabetic cats. He does well on his insulin and I am anticipating that he will go back into remission again. I am not going to do chemo or peroxican as I am afraid they will hurt his kidneys. I am giving him herbal medication. Stasis breaker to stop cell growth and shred tumors. Wei qui booster to build up immune system and stop cell growth. Both medications have been know to help dogs, cats, horses, and people also. There are a lot of stories that I’ve read where these ancient Chinese herbs have done wonders. After the holidays I will be taking Deeder back for another ultrasound. Please include him in your prayers for good results, and a cancer free bladder and body. This is our story. He is my baby and I didn’t want to say goodbye. I moved forward in faith and gave him a chance.