Just how common is cancer in cats? In the past 2 years, 4 of my 10 have been diagnosed with it.

Boo - Diagnosed as likely having cancer due to very elevated WBC with no other obvious cause in April 2021, euthanized 8 months later at age 18.5.

Rascal - Never diagnosed with cancer, but a hard mass was found in his abdomen during a vet appointment in Nov 2022 at which he was euthanized for kidney failure, age 6.

Roscoe - Brought to vet for suspected abscessed tooth in April 2021 (drainage and stink), diagnosed with very advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth and euthanized on the spot at age 5.

Sasha - Mostly lives in heated, insulated shelter on my porch in winter because she’s scared of my pellet stove. Noticed blood spots on porch and large swelling in her left cheek with occasional pus draining from her mouth. Brought to vet yesterday, diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma and given timed-release broad-spectrum antibiotic to knock down secondary infection. The tumor isn’t negatively affecting her in any way, she doesn’t aPpear to be in any pain, is still very active, grooms herself regularly, and sassy as only a tortie can be. Put on wet food diet because I think dry food kibble irritated the tumor and caused bleeding. Age 15.

So am I just looking at a statistical aberration, or are many cancers simply never diagnosed?

My MIL just put down her 9y/o for mouth cancer. I understand cancer happens, but (higher?) occurrences of oral cancer in cats seems a bit odd.

ETA: similar situation to your Roscoe

FWIW, oral cancer is much more common among cats of smokers, cats that wear flea collars and cats that eat canned tuna.

Oral cancer only accounts for about 10% of cancers in cats, so if you're seeing it in two out of four cases, that's a pretty
large statistical outlier for it to be due to random chance.

Unfortunately the outcomes for oral cancer in cats aren't very good.

<<<My best buddy (RIP) had what was thought to be lung cancer. I use clumping litter and wonder if that could be the cause. Everything in the room with the litter box always has a fine coating of dust.  It's been six months since he was put down and I miss him every day.

I don’t smoke, the cats don’t wear flea collars, and I might have fed them 6 cans of tuna in their lifetimes.

The vet’s recommendation was just to monitor Sasha since it doesn’t seem to bother her. It could be a week, a month, or 6 months, but as soon as her quality of life diminishes we will be making that last trip to the vet.

There could be some other unidentified environmental exposure, or it could just be chance.
I know someone that lost 4 cats -- every cat they owned -- over 6 years all to oral cancer,
but they had the risk factors to support it.

There doesn't seem to be a solid statistic on the overall incidence of cancer in cats, but it's
believed to be similar to dogs and humans -- about 1 in 4 chance over their lifetimes, so 4 out of
10 isn't a big outlier for the total.

Hope kitty has as a long and and happy life as is possible.

Serious question OP, do you like near a former tannery or the like? That's a lot of cancer.

I have a 13 yo semi-feral cat that I was told probably had cancer, and I got the long face. I have spent more money that I'd like to think about to determine that he actually has a staph infection. Been giving him antibiotics 2x a day for the last 8 weeks. He probably has 4-8 more weeks, but is very much on the mend, and has gained 1.5 lbs. One of our 9 yo indoor cats was sick. After x-ray and ultrasound, vet said it is most likely cancer. Fine needle aspiration was inconclusive. While waiting two+ weeks to see an internal medicine veterinarian, I had second ultrasound done, which looked better. A couple days before the next appointment, she was completely back to her normal self. I canceled the appointment.

We had a different semi-feral cat who had a nasty abscess on his face. The vet used the C word, and told us we should euthanize. We brought him home, and the wound drained on its own, and cleared up. He lived another 2-3 years.

I honestly don't trust vets when I get the long face or they use the C word at this point. I won't trust them about cancer until they've done a biopsy. They seem to be pretty quick to put middle age and older cats down. I have seen multiple vets at different practices do similar things.

No tannery was ever here that I’m aware of, this is a historic logging town which shouldn’t have too many carcinogens in the soil or water. There’s no higher incidence of cancer in humans or animals AFAIK.

Here are some pics I took Thursday or Friday, they’re pretty disgusting.





As bad as they look she’s really in no pain and acts the exact same way she always has. Loves to eat, loves to be brushed, quick with her claws if you’re not paying enough attention when she wants it.

Well I had to put a cone on her today because she was scratching at her cheek and bleeding all over the place. I’m guessing her skin itches either from the scabs or the fur growing back. There’s still pus draining from her mouth but it’s only been 3 days since her antibiotic shot. I’ll put some triple antibiotic directly on her cheek to help that heal faster, too.

I hate to say it but she is in pain and this is a great example of her discomfort.  I know it's difficult but i would strongly be considering her quality of life at this time.  best wishes

MegaTarsal DVM

35 years ago RC got stomach cancer at age 8, probably from ingesting too much flea spray.

2 years ago Daisy got FISS (Feline Injection Site Sarcoma.)  It's rare (1 in 10,000) but usually fatal (she died at age 6) and has been linked to things like:

- Using the same site for multiple injections
- Chilled vaccines
-  Certain vaccine adjuvants

Those 2 cats are 40% of the cats I've owned.

I had to put down our beloved "Rascal" last week. Took him to the vet 3 months ago because he was losing weight and not eating.  Made 4 more trips and still were unable to find any problem, He weight 16 lbs at first trip and last week the last one was at 5 lbs. I suspect it was cancer, it was sure hard on the wife and I to watch him wither away. Hardest thing I have ever had to do was make that drive to the vet on the last trip. RIP Rascal. He was a lion till the end.

I just assumed it was itching because of the scabs where her fur fell out, but your explanation makes sense. I guess I’ll get her to the vet ASAP.

I brought Sasha to the vet for euthanasia today, she had a tin of sardines for lunch and then we left. I let her ride on the seat, it’s about a 90 min ride and she handled it well, lying quietly most of the time but exploring the back seat and coming over to my lap a few times. Everyone at the vet said it was heartbreaking that she was so active and strong but had to be put to sleep. She was lying on a blanket on my lap, once the sedative was administered I took the cone off (and forgot it there), then 2 more shots and she was gone. I don’t know how you vets can handle seeing that kind of grief on a regular basis, but my hat is off to you for making it as easy as possible for both the animals and their people. You couldn’t pay me enough to deal with that.

<<< my best buddy was put down a little over six months ago. Still miss him every day. So sad to hear your story but glad kitty isn't suffering. I'm sure he/she had a very good life with you. I wish you well.  

Sorry about Sasha. I was hoping that they would be able to help her. It's tough losing them, and I'm with you about the vets. Seeing that constantly would be tough, I guess you would just have to know that you are really doing the animals a final favor and ending their suffering.

As I reached down to lift Daisy out of the cat carrier and onto the table for the sedative, she looked directly into my eyes and held my gaze.

You will never convince me that she wasn't telling me, "It's going to be alright."

It was a powerful moment.  One I will never forget.

OP, sorry about Sasha, but you did the right thing.  It hurts like hell.

I’ve lost 2 out of the 4 cats I’ve had since 1985 to cancer.

Sorry for your loss, man. I hope when the time is right you get another bugger to help fill in Sasha's void.

And yes, I had to put a special one down in 2019. Only about 7-8 years old (she was a "walk-up" rescue). Lymphoma ate her up and the vets couldn't help her in time. They literally said she was doing her death moan and asked us to come back asap. We heard her loathsome cries even as they carried her into our "special room" reserved for what any loving man fears. Just seeing each other, Cali almost for a split second looked like whatever ailed her was cured. The missus held Cali for a few, calm minutes until she started writhing again in pain. Cries we never heard before, and those that I wish to forget. That doc acted with such grace during her last moments. Cali looked up at my wife one last time and then drifted off. Eyes slowly closing while lightly wrapped in her favorite fleece like it was another summertime nap on her ottoman.

I have lost two to cancer.  One had a rare bone cancer.  The other had some type of Gastrointestinal lymphoma.  He was only 10.  

RIP Orion.

Deleted my dupe...

I will never forget my girl Daisy looking into my eyes as I picked her up to put her on the table for the sedative.

I swear she was talking to my soul, saying, "Don't worry, everything is fine. Thank you."  You'll never convince me otherwise.

Our Manx got it.  FW_wife put him down rather than putting him through chemo like Fatalwishes went through.

Lost one of ours this year to cancer. Initially the vet told us he just had a fever and a kitty cold.... Gave him a shot and sent us on our way. 3 days later he was barely moving. Back to the vet and they drew blood this time and told us it was probably cancer in the pancreas....  We had him put down. Poor guy looked absolutely miserable and seemed to be in pain whenever we had to pick him up. Attached File

Honestly, I think the world's just grossly polluted now, especially in suburban, semi-rural areas like those I reside in. All the wild animals that journey down from the mountains have mange. They're eating rats and mice that ingested bait poison, or eating those that have consumed those rats and mice, and the circle of life is essentially a rotting, decaying graveyard of thousands of contaminated bodies. Microplastics and chemical preservatives in food. Exposure to household cleaning materials. My neighbor is a vet, and she tells us how the frequency of cancer diagnoses in cats and dogs has increased over the past decade. It fucking sucks.