Orion's Diagnosis

You guys may remember Orion, my daughter's Maine Coon. He was just
diagnosed
with a vaccination-related cancerous sarcoma.

The curious thing about this, is that he has not had a vaccination
since probably 2001 or so.
I wasn't aware that they can form from old vacc. sites, but apparently
they can.

It started as a lump on his shoulder. The regular vet did a
lumpectomy, and the tumor
is about as big as a 1" section of a cigar. But it had "fingers" going
down his back, so
she was unable to remove all of it. She sent them to a feline
internist.

The internist doesn't think further, radical surgery is the answer.
Apparantly sarcomas
send out little "sattelites", and these cancerous cells will skip over
healthy tissue, and
won't even be attached to the tumor. She says it has not mestacized
to other
organs.

So they're doing IV chemotherapy, twice a week for 16 weeks. Orion
doesn't mind
going to the vet. There is not a feline oncology facility in this
state, and traveling
out-of-state twice a week with him is not an option.

Orion is 10 years old, and she isn't going to put him through too
much, I don't think.
She said they're going to finish the 16 week treatment and hope for
the best. But
if he gets sick, or starts freaking out at going to the vet, she is
going to stop
treatment and hope for the best. What I've read so far indicates the
recurrance
rate is very high.

I am just sick about this. This cat has never been outdoors, is
pampered beyond
belief. The part I'm most sick about is that the vet encouraged her so
much back
then to vaccinate him. I already know the sarcoma risk is low, but his
chances
of contracting disease were practically nil. I won't ever encourage
anyone,
*or* vaccinate my indoor cats anymore. Yoda nearly died from
vaccinations.
I think we all ought to weigh the risk-benefit deal really carefully
about vaccs.

Prayers, purrs, appreciated.

Sherry