Today we are going to talk about oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats. This is a cancer that
is very serious and early detection is critical. To learn more about oral squamous cell carcinoma
in cats, we are going to meet with Dr. Mona Rosenberg who is board certified in veterinary
oncology. A very common form of oral cancer in cats
is called squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cells are the cells that line our skin and
our oral cavity. Unfortunately, in cats, and in dogs too, but in cats much more commonly,
one of those normal skin cells or oral lining cells actually has the ability to become cancerous.
We really aren't sure why cats develop this particular form of cancer so commonly, but
some of the thoughts include that when you look at the behavior of cats, with how fastidious
they are, licking themselves and cleaning themselves all the time, that their oral cavity
becomes exposed to foreign objects on an ongoing basis. We know that cancer can be caused by
chronic inflammatory processes, so if the mouth of a cat is always being exposed to
these external, foreign objects, that can set up a genetic mutation within the normal
oral cell, and that cell can become cancerous. Typically, these cancers can occur anywhere
in the mouth. We can see them on the upper jaw, on the lower jaw, or even associated
with the tongue, in particular underneath the tongue. The most common presenting signs
of a cat with oral squamous cell carcinoma is drooling, weight loss, loss of appetite,
and sometimes even a little blood tinged in the water bowl or in the saliva, and the reason
that this occurs is because the cats start to develop difficulty in eating, the tongues
don't work as well as they should, so instead of being able to swallow their saliva, it
tends to drip out. The other sign that we can sometimes see is bad breath or halitosis,
and that's because the tumor itself can become infected with all of the bacteria that occur
within the mouth. So should you notice any of these signs, such as bad breath or drooling
or decreased appetite, please take your cat right away to your family veterinarian to
be checked out. This cancer, like many other cancers that we are aware of, with early detection
we have a much better chance of providing good quality of life to your pet. If your
family veterinarian finds a mass in the mouth of your cat, the first thing that he or she
will likely do is get some blood work and a urinalysis to make sure that your pet is
healthy. Additionally, chest x-rays and perhaps even an aspiration of the draining lymph node
is warranted to make sure that the cancer has not spread.
Then your veterinarian will put your cat under anesthesia to get a surgical biopsy and possibly
even some dental x-rays, in order to determine how invasive the tumor may be. Only with a
biopsy can we determine whether or not your pet has cancer, and the type of cancer.
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, likely a cat scan of the mass and the mouth will be
performed in order to identify whether a wide surgical excision is possible for your cat.
If it is, then a surgeon will likely go in and remove as much of that tumor and normal
tissue surrounding it, because if we can achieve complete surgical margins, then likely the
cancer is not going to come back. If we find out that your cat is not a good surgical candidate,
then we've found that radiation therapy is very effective at controlling the disease,
either shrinking it, so that we have improved the quality of life, or in some cases actually
making the tumor go away completely. Your oncologist may also decide to use chemotherapy,
as a radiation sensitizer. Sometimes chemotherapy low doses will actually increase the sensitivity
of cancer cells to the effects of radiation, making the radiation much more successful.
Chemotherapy in cats, as well as radiation, has very few side effects, and in fact 95
percent of the cats that we treat with chemotherapy actually have no side effects whatsoever.
The main reason for that is that cats don't know they have cancer and so they don't psychologically
have the same baggage that a person would have if they were going through the same treatment.
Our goal is always about quality of life. Dr. Rosenberg gave us an excellent overview
of oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats. If you think you notice a tumor on your cats
mouth OR under the tongue... you should bring it to the attention of your veterinarian immediately.
If found early; surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy may actually provide a cure for
the cancer. If a cure is not possible, additional therapy may include antibiotics and pain medicine
to help provide the best quality of life possible for your pet. I am Dr. Mike, I hope this information
is helpful and thanks for watching.