Sassy's surgery

At this time, Sassy is recovering from surgery.done on Feb 10, 2014.  She had one tumor removed from her breast. The other 2 lumps removed were said to be fatty lumps. and nothing to worry about.

This is the one with the tumor

This is where the fatty lumps were removed

The blur on top is 4  fingers

From researching, information on Breast cancer and tumors in cat's It is almost the same as in humans,

 I found it is very important to have your cat spayed before the age of 6 month. Sassy either was not spayed early or she is one of the few who can still get it. 

Male cats can get it. But not likely. You need to feel from the armpits down and all over the body. 

 Sassy had 1 tumor on the breast. And (2 on the side of them, that turned out to be fatty lumps.) So she had 3 incisions. She  was not drastically cut like I saw some surgeons did on utube videos. It is important to ask the vet. How S/he will cut the cat. Minimal is so much better. And if it will be a lump removal or the entire breast. The cost can be high. But we were lucky to have the shelter in a near by area. Who offered very low cost, quality surgery. We were lucky. One person we saw online paid $1,400. So you can find lower cost if you look around. 

There is a chance this can regrow. But like in humans it could be gone forever. You never know. But this can extend the life of the cat 3+ years. One site I looked at said 3-5 years. Like the commercial on TV. There is no expiration label on the foot of your cat. So you have to think positive. And know in your heart, this is the right thing to do. We did not send away the mass for lab work. It would have been more than the surgery. 

 We know from stats. "over 85 percent of mammary tumors in cats are malignant "

I learned a mastectomy verses a lumpectomy, will more than likely keep the tumor from reoccurring.  But cancer could still form in the outer lining. If it was not caught in time.   And the smaller the lump the better chance of survival results.
Sassy has been loosing hair by leaps and bounds. But we assume it is from her being an out side cat living on the streets, now turned into an inside cat. Because in People it is chemo, that causes the hair loss. Not the cancer. Sassy will not be having chemo. We have high hopes this surgery will take care of her issue. Only time will tell. If you find you have this issue. Watch some of the utube videos. If you can deal with watching a surgery preformed. You will see good and bad. But So happy we had the best for Sassy. The smaller the cut the faster they heal.
There is more info on the net. But this is the basic info. That helped me decide to go forth with knowing, this is the right thing to do.

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