Here's Dorey's Story:
Besides battling weight problems and
itchy ears his entire life, Dorey has been a healthy boy. During Dore
y's
wellness examination, his mother was told that he needed to come in for a
professional dental cleaning. As you may
know from experience or from our dental
health page, a professional cleaning entails the same procedures as a human
professional cleaning (with the exception that animals require the use of
anesthetics because they absolutely will not sit still for 30 minutes holding
their mouth open, breathing through their nose, while we scrape off tartar!)
Just as a human dental hygienist and dentist do, we check every aspect of the
mouth for abnormalities. We also clean, polish, and
apply fluoride. Because our patients are relaxed and still, we generally
find (and estimate the severity of) the majority of oral health problems during
the professional cleaning (as opposed to the awake exam, where we get a basic
idea of the health of the mouth).
This was the case with Dorey.
After Dorey went to sleep, Rachel (our main dental hygienist)
flushed his mouth with an antiseptic and began checking his teeth, gums, and
mouth prior to the cleaning. She quickly noted an abnormality on the roof
of his mouth and alerted Dr. Susan. They both knew that the small, round
growth was not a good sign. With owner permission, the area was
numbed, a biopsy was performed, and the remainder of the procedure was finished. Dorey recovered smoothly and went home with a very nervous mother.
Growth found during procedure
A few days later, the pathology
report came back: malignant adenocarcinoma. Dr. Susan called
Dorey's mom and delivered the news. She said that the cancer type was not
the type of cancer of which feline oral tumors are generally comprised (squamous
cell carcinomas-poor prognosis). She referred Dorey to
Veterinary Specialists and Animal Cancer
Center of North Texas, where Dr. Philip Treuil (a veterinary radiation
oncologist) became his cancer specialist. According to Dorey's mom, Dr.
Treuil had never seen this type of cancer in this location in this species, but
he was optimistic about the response to radiation therapy.
Dorey underwent 18 doses of radiation therapy
and did very well throughout. The tumor completely disappeared from view.
the grey spots on the roof of his mouth are
pigment; that is common in cats
Dorey had extensive oral treatment
for FORLs (the feline version of "cavities") and aggressive treatment to help
his ears. He had frequent oral check-ups. He took it all (mostly) in
stride (he got a little upset without his mom in the room; he was a
big momma's boy), and he continued to battle his weight.
We are so proud of Dorey and his mother for
fighting the cancer. If he had not come in to have his
teeth
cleaned, the tumor would not have been identified until his next exam (in which
case, it probably would have been much
larger and may have metastasized by that time). Although oral cancer is
not a common incidental finding during a professional cleaning, other problems
are.
***Update: Dorey's oral
mass returned a year later and metastasized to his lymph nodes. He had
laser treatment to his mouth and took oral medication to slow the growth of the
cancer. He did not suffer side effects from the treatments. He was
very happy (in fact, much more active than he had been in years) and lived for
an additional year. From the time of his teeth cleaning and initial tumor
discovery, he survived 25 months and had very good quality of life according to
his mom. Had he not had the dental cleaning scheduled (and tumor found)
when he did, it likely would not have been noted for several more months.
By that time, it likely would have already spread and grown so that survival was
only a few weeks or months.
Dorey was a courageous and happy cat and showed no
indication that he had cancer. He will be missed very much.
For more information on oral care, please visit our
Dental Page.