A Shorti Story         9/98

Shorti is a twelve-year-old black and white cat with an extra toe on each foot. In September of 1997 we noticed a small lump on her shoulder. Not knowing what the lump was our vet said we should wait and see what happens.

As the months passed the lump became larger and larger and by April we decided it was time to have it removed. During surgery a biopsy was taken and the results showed Vaccine-Related Fibrosarcoma. An aggressive surgery took place with removal of a lot of muscle and even some of her shoulder bone. We were told that Shorti might have a limp the rest of her life. The surgeon suggested Shorti have Radiation at a cost estimate of $2,000. and that Chemotherapy would do nothing for this type of cancer. The surgeon told us that he felt he had removed all of the cancer so we were banking on his surgical skills because we didn't want subject Shorti to radiation.

Shorti's recuperation went very well. She was pretty quiet the first day we brought her back home but after that she wanted to hop up onto her favorite perches despite the surgeon's advise of no jumping. After few days, she walked normally, there was no limp at all. But within a month of the surgery, a little lump appeared. We didn't know if it was scar tissue or the tumor coming back. Unfortunately, as the weeks and months went by, we could clearly see that it was the cancer returning.

Shorti's tumor became very large; it was beginning to slow her down. We didn't want her to go through another surgery, just so that the lump could come back again. We wanted to see if there were any other options.

We did some research and found out about Acemannan, which is manufactured by Carrington Labs. It is FDA approved for treatment of Fibrosarcoma in cats. I also read about a German anticancer drug, Carnivora, which is actually being used for people in Germany. We are now treating Shorti with both of these under the supervision of a new vet. We are all hoping for the best. The tumor has actually gotten smaller, before this new treatment it was the size of two oranges put together, the new vet said it was about the size of a softball or small melon. Shorti's skin was actually splitting because the tumor was growing so quickly. The new vet drained the tumor and it became rather flat with the largest part of it being about the size of an egg.

Here is our update: (12/27/98)

Well, that was September, here it is December and this is the most difficult part of this website for me to write. On November 21, 1998 we decided that Shorti had fought enough. I always thought that if any cat could beat this cancer, it would have been Shorti. She was such a fighter, she was purring up until the end of her special life but the cancer progressed to a point where we just didn't want her to suffer anymore. Here is how her last few months went.

After we visited our new vet, Shorti's tumor did shrink. The Acemannan was actually killing the tumor. But along with the dead tumor tissue came an infection. We brought her to our local vet and she had a fever of 105. The tumor was causing her fever because there was a massive infection going on inside of it. Everything was bottled up and needed to drain. We applied warm compresses, gave her antibiotics and had to clean out the tumor every few hours. Within a day, the fever was gone and she really bounced back. She was amazing.

Then the tumor itself started to open up. This was good in a way, because I was then able to take out whatever was dead. I would say that the direction that this type of treatment was going in is not for weak-stomached owners. I did have a hard time at first with all the tugging and swabbing inside this tumor, but I did it because we were given hope and it was a joy to have that hope. The vet who gave us this protocol of Acemannan and Carnivora said that Shorti was doing wonderfully. The medications were working, the cancer was dying. Regarding the tumor's look, she told us "the grosser the better" and that is what I would keep on saying to myself. This looks so bad but our vet says it is great.

Shorti's spirits were terrific. She was happy and did her little special habits that would always make us laugh. But then after a while, she began loosing weight and was not able to do all of her jumping up in places that she used to like to sleep. The vet still said everything was great.

On November 18th our original local vet came over to give Shorti her Acemannan injections. (We had been alternating vets, so that we wouldn't have to take Shorti for an hour car ride each week. The Acemannan had to be given once a week by a vet.) Our vet said she didn't think Shorti looked well and she took a blood test to see how her body was coping with the treatments. When the blood tests came back, we found out that Shorti had another infection and in our vet's words this one was "huge". Her white blood cell count was at 47,000 (10,000 is normal), her red blood cell count was very low and her liver was not functioning properly. We were given an option of giving her IV antibiotics or a combination of antibiotics to clear up the infection. The other vets words "the grosser the better" kept on going through my mind but I didn't believe them anymore.

After much thought we decided Shorti had been through enough. If the infection cleared up, she still had this horrible cancer. We decided to end her suffering on Saturday, November 21st.

Right up until the end of her life, she purred and made us smile. She was truly a very special feline. She is missed terribly.

We are having a tough time now trying to get over this loss in our home. The only way I feel like I can deal with this is to keep this website active and up-to-date with whatever research or information I find out.

If you have any questions about Vaccine Related Sarcoma or if you have a cat who has this cancer, please contact us and if we can be of any help we would be more that happy to do so.

Thank you.
Gigi & Chris
Gigi&Chris@shorti-online.org

(If you would like more information on Acemannan, please refer to New Hope's Journey website.)