Dental surgury and mast cell tumors

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Netty N.

Netty N.

Member Since 2015
Hello,
Jones is having his dental cleaning today. We know he'll need at least 2 extractions, but he's having an x-ray dental, so possibly more. The vet called shortly after I dropped him off and said she noticed a bump on his head that she hadn't noticed at his pre-op, and she thinks it's a mast cell tumor. He's got one on his shoulder as well. She's going to test them while Jones is under, and remove them if they turn out to be.The bumps have been there for a long time, and his regular vet knew about them but never seemed concerned, or even had the one on his face noted in his chart. I'll have to wait to hear from the vet today to know for sure, but I've been reading about them this morning and it seems pretty likely that's what they are. They're especially prevalent in Siamese cats, and Jones is half. Also, he often scratches the one on his face, and they can apparently be itchy.
I also read that if they're aspirated or removed they'll cause a severe histamine reaction, so he'll need to be on antihistimes for a while too. Not sure if that's a concern with his diabetes?
Anyone have experience with mast cells? I'm not so worried about the ones she's removing today, just more so that he has the internal kind as well. he doesn't have symptoms - just one more thing to always be worried about!
I haven't updated Jonsie's SS in a while - he's gone high again after his week in the greens, but i wanted to wait until after surgury to start dose adjustments again.
Annette
 
Does it look like this
IMG_0300.jpg

The above is a mast-cell tumor before it was removed from my Patches I. I also had a couple removed from my Izzebelle at different times. My vet never prescribed antihistamines after removal and I never had problems. I have used, with vet approval, antihistamines on my diabetic cats (and civi's) with no BG effect noted.
 
Yeah, it looks a whole lot like that, same size, on his temple. It's often a bit crusted over. Did yours need to wear a cone afterwards? I read that it might be recommended, but I can't imagine that working out, with any cat, ever. Jones definitely wouldn't have it.
 
Hi, Netty H. I don't know anything about mast-cell tumors, but I do know my cat has been on anti-histamines more than once since his diagnosis, and has never had a problem with them affecting his BG. He has allergies, so I expect at some point we will need to use them again! I also have another cat who is incredibly resistant to wearing a cone, and he will fight and seriously draw blood when we try to put it on him. My son will scruff him for me and I put the cone on (in a big hurry). Once we manage to get it on it stays until all is well-healed! I have discovered that the soft cones work best for him; if your baby needs a cone you might want to ask your vet about a soft cone for him.
 
Just heard from the vet - she says her needle aspiration test was not 100% conclusive, but she still thinks they're mast cell. I told her to go ahead with the removal, and she'll have to send them out for testing. So maybe that's good - even if they're mast cell, they're apparently not raging enough to be undeniable on the slide?
Poor guy needed 7 teeth out! She said she doesn't normally do this, but she saved one that was extra nasty that she said looked totally normal before the x-ray. Good argument for x-ray cleanings.
 
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Frankenkitty!
frankencat02022016.JPG

He's doing well, I just wish I could feed him more. The vet said only 1/4 his normal meal tonight, and he's been sitting by his dish ever since.
 
Since he had anesthesia, they just want you to go slowly with the food

If he holds it down, I don't know why you couldn't give him a little more every few hours
 
Speckles had two mast cell tumors, one was a relatively large one on the base of his tail and would puss and crust over sometimes. We had two vets look at them. One of them thought it was best to leave them alone, because they are often benign, and the other was ambivalent about removing them. He said we could remove them but didn't have to. In any case, we ended up not removing them because they didn't seem to itch or bother him, but if they were itchy, we'd have probably removed them.
 
I've a civvie that has had each of 3 mast cell tumors on the skin removed because they were in areas which could become locally invasive. Otherwise, I might have left them alone.
Internal mast cell tumors are worse; they can be a serious problem..
 
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