Cats don't get Cancer ?!?!?

From: Paul Kemner <pkemner_at_bright.net>
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 1996 09:55:46 -0500 (EST)

I thought that this didn't sound right, so I asked the experts- the
rec.pets.cats newsgroup. Here's a selection of the responses so far...
**************************************************************
Of course they get cancer!!! My Abigail died of liver cancer in 1993,
and I've seen many, many people talk on this group about cats with
various kinds of cancer since I started reading it in 1987. Ask
whoever told you this what school of veterinary medicine he or she
attended ... :-)
------------
Unfortunately, cats do indeed get cancer. I have several friends who have lost
cats to cancer recently. It is probably under-reported in pets (compared to
humans), because a lot of pet owners would not go to the expense of diagnosing
the cancer.

Hope this was a hypothetical question.
---------------
Tuck, possibly the nicest cat our family ever owned, died of
lung cancer. And he never smoked.
-----------
Well, considering that just one week ago I lost a cat to cancer (confirmed
by an atopsy done by the Vet), I would say that the person was incorrect.
Not only did this cat die of cancer, but her mother had also died of cancer,
so it the tendency toward cancer tun in the genes in cats as well as humans.

I also spoke to a friend who has had numerous cats over the years and she
says that she has lost more cats to cancer than any other cause.
***************************************************************
I'll probably be getting more mail on this subject for a while, but I won't
bother to pass it along unless there's something more technical. I would bet
that few folks pay for an autopsy on their dead pet, so you don't hear about
it so much. After thinking about it, I should have known the answer to this.
I have a FeLV positive cat, (Fricassee), and after reading up on the virus,
I knew that in the final stages a cat will get all sorts of wierd cancers.
Like HIV in humans, there can be a long stage where one tests positive, but
appears otherwise healthy.

On a different subject, there's been a "SF for Cat Lovers" thread on
rec.pets.cats for a while. I mentioned the upcoming SK superchunk, so maybe
a few more folks may watch it.
---------------------
Paul Kemner | "Many people appear to imagine that they cannot
Toledo, Ohio | afford to have artistic surroundings, whereas
pkemner_at_bright.net | the wonder is that they can afford so much
--------------------- expensive ugliness." M. H. Baillie Scott


Received on Sat Mar 09 1996 - 10:19:21 PST