I posted this originally on my new My Cat Jeoffry blog, here, and here, but decided to cross-post here as well.
My cat, Rhea, recently underwent stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). I thought I’d write a post about it since, after the oncology vet recommended it, we tried to research it online but found very little. Especially about SRS and cats.
SRS is a new kind of radiation therapy – well, new to use for animals; it’s been used for humans for some time. Instead of traditional radiation, which isn’t as effective, and can take many multiple treatments, SRS can be administered as little as once, or up to a few times. And, because the vet takes a CT scan of the tumor beforehand, it’s delivered very precisely to the tumor. This means that there’s little chance of the radiation affecting any healthy, non-cancerous tissues. And, every time the animal is given a dose of radiation, s/he has to be anesthetized, which is always risky and can result in complications. So, the fewer treatments an animal has to have, the better.
Of course SRS is costly. Luckily, I had pet insurance that footed a big chunk of the bill. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford it.
Rhea developed a tumor or the right side of her head, which grew very quickly. Above is a photo taken shortly after I first noticed it. I thought our dog, Sofia, had just played with her a bit too rough and she had an abscess. I took her to my regular vet who said it wasn’t an infection. She did some tests and it came back positive for cancer. So she referred me to a veterinary oncologist.
By the time I was able to get her in to see the oncologist – about three weeks later – it had grown substantially. It also seemed to be affecting her eyes. He did a full CT scan from her head to her chest and found that, thankfully, it hadn’t spread into her body; it was a sarcoma that was only above the bone on top of her head. The reason her eyes were affected was that it was growing so fast it was pulling the skin back, so she couldn’t close her eyes. This would mean I’d have to give her lots of eye drops, to keep her eyes moist. Anyway, the fact that the tumor was only on the top of her head made it ideal for SRS treatment.
The vet told me she would likely lose some hair on her head and when it grew back, it may be white. He also said some of the skin on the affected area could die. But the tumor was inoperable due to its size and location, and this was our only chance for her to have a full life (Rhea is 10 years old). Chemotherapy didn’t make any sense since it wasn’t metastasizing.
I was really scared! I was so afraid she was going to be in pain. I had several friends and family members who couldn’t eat for a long time after radiation because it burnt their mouths so. But both my regular and specialist vet said animals didn’t experience pain with radiation like humans often did. My regular vet said that’s the course of action she would definitely pursue if it were her pet. But I still worried. One of my friends referred me to a holistic vet and another to an animal communicator. I would have tried both if I had more money and time, but the tumor was getting bigger so quickly, I had no experience with animal communicators and had no idea what to expect and whether to trust one, they weren’t cheap, and my pet insurance plan pre-authorized my claims. So, I just went with it and trusted my oncology and regular vets’ opinions. And I prayed I wasn’t putting my cat through horrible pain.
So, Rhea had three days of SRS. I kept her at the hospital throughout because I felt like it was going to be traumatic to have to keep taking her there and back. So, I packed a little bag of food and treats and her eye medication. The man who administered the radiation called me every day with updates on how she did – which was well! When I picked her up, they gave her the little certificate below, signed by all the techs and the radiation administerer, along with the cute cape!
Everyone at AZ Veterinary Oncology was so wonderful, so supportive. I really appreciated all of their help, and that little certificate made me ridiculously happy!
When I got Rhea home, she seemed perfectly fine. She didn’t seem to be in pain at all. She went straight to her food bowl and feasted to her heart’s content, rubbed up against Sofia, then trotted upstairs and jumped from the balcony onto the top of the bookcase, always her favorite perch 🙂
Anyway, it’s been two weeks since the end of her SRS. We just went to the oncologist today for her check-up and he said the tumor has definitely shrunk, which I’d noticed but was afraid it was just wishful thinking on my part!
She honestly has not seemed to be in any pain whatsoever for the past two weeks. She’s been purring, wrapping herself around my feet, sitting at my desk while I work, rubbing up against Sofia, being tolerant toward our other cat, Katusha, (as usual), eating, drinking, pawing open cupboards and closet doors to explore, fitting herself into tiny spaces, making noise in the middle of the night, trying to get outside (I don’t let her, she is an indoor cat; but since she does like to explore the outdoors, I push her around in a little dog stroller 🙂 ) Basically, she’s been her usual self, and with all the purring, she seems perfectly happy. The only thing the doctor noticed is that she’d lost a little weight. I have noticed that some days she doesn’t eat as much as she normally does, although other days she does. So I’ve been trying to buy her her very favorite food, even if it’s not the healthiest 🙂
She has yet to lose any hair, although I suspect that still may be coming. I’m hoping that blasted tumor continues to shrink down to nothing, and never returns. For now, we can only hope she’ll continue her progress. I will keep you posted!
Below, today, enjoying the Arizona sun with Sofia 🙂
Update six weeks later (cross-posted here):
It’s now been a little over two months since the treatment. A couple of days after we came home from her two-week follow up, right after I wrote the last post, her hair began falling out – which I was expecting – but they exposed some burns on top of her head, where she had the treatment. I took her back to the doctor, and he told me they were indicative of burns from radiation and were to be expected. He gave me a topical steroid and told me to keep a cone over her head so that she couldn’t scratch or lick the burns.
I applied the steroid for a few weeks, but the wound area – some of the burns were open and pus-filled, seemed to keep growing. She also seemed to be depressed and in pain, as she wasn’t her playful self and wasn’t eating like normal. I took her back to him about two weeks ago and he said the burns looked like they were getting infected. So he gave me an antibiotic, a stronger steroid, and some pain medication.
It’s been two weeks since then and she is definitely much better. I can tell she’s no longer in pain – or at least not is as much pain as she was, as she’s running about, getting into things, playing with the dog, and is back to eating normally. She doesn’t like taking her meds, but what animal does 🙂
The burn still looks yucky – for lack of a better term – but it isn’t open and blistery and pus-filled. It now looks like it is scabbed over. Her tumor is still there but I do think it’s still shrinking. The doctor told me sometimes it takes months for it to go away or get down to a small size. He also told me it could come back or never go completely away.
So, I’m happy that she seems to feel better and that the burn area looks improved. But I know this could be a long journey, and that it could still not end well. If the tumor comes back or doesn’t go completely away, I really don’t want to put her through this again, especially since we went through over a month of dealing with open, pus-filled, potentially infected burn marks, and I know she was in pain at points. Not to mention, I don’t have a lot left in my insurance account and the treatments are very expense. So, basically I’m trying to brace myself for the worst while hoping and trying my hardest for the best.
Anyway, I just wanted to record my experiences here in case anyone else has a cat who goes through stereotactic radiosurgery / stereotactic radiation. There hasn’t been a whole lot written about the treatment, and my vet hadn’t had much experience with cats undergoing it – only dogs. So maybe we can benefit from each other’s personal experiences.
