This month we have decided to award Sophie the Persian cat title
'Pet Of The Month'. Sophie first came to see us back in March after
she had become very unwell, on examination the vet could feel a
mass in her abdomen and blood tests showed that Sophie had very low
red blood cells. Sophie was taken straight to surgery for an
Exploratory Laparotomy. During surgery the abdominal mass was
removed from Sophie's bowel and we sent it away to an external
laboratory for diagnosis. The results confirmed that Sophie had
alimentary Lymphoma a type of gastrointestinal cancer. We kept
Sophie hospitalised as she had stopped eating and was losing
weight, she received intensive nursing care and was fed through a
tube placed in her nose down into her oesophagus. However before
Sophie could begin chemotherapy treatment we had to wait for her
red blood cells to regenerate. It is this regeneration that can be
affected by chemotherapy treatment as the drugs we use target
rapidly dividing cells such as cancer cells, but also rapidly
dividing cells in other parts of the body such as the bone marrow,
as a result the bone marrow produces fewer red blood cells which
can lead to anaemia. Therefore throughout Sophie's treatment she
has had regular blood tests so we can monitor her number of red
blood cells. When Sophie was well enough we began her chemotherapy
treatment, for Sophie this involves a 25 week protocol which
includes a number of different chemotherapy drugs which all act in
different ways to target the cancer cells. Some of the drugs are
given intravenously others are oral medications. The chemotherapy
drugs used are the same used for human patients but in our animal
patients we use lower doses so the side effects are less severe and
less common than with humans. The quality of life in our animal
patients is generally very good and the chemotherapy in some cases
can prolong the life of our patients for a significant amount of
time compared with no treatment at all. Sophie has been doing
really well on her chemotherapy and is currently up to week 19 of
her protocol she has put on some weight and is eating well. She was
a very popular choice among the staff here at Maple Vets as Sophie
is a real character and we think she is very brave for undergoing
such major treatment! We also feel chemotherapy is a big decision
for the owner to so we would also like to congratulate Mrs Worral
for being a fantastic owner and taking great care of Sophie!