Abdominal Mass In Cat (Case)

Question

Ziggy has an abdominal mass. His owner does not wish to pursue treatment which would require frequent veterinary visits.  Which of the following statements is true?

A-   There is no point taking matters any further; it must be neoplastic and there are no intra-abdominal tumours that could be managed without frequent veterinary visits.

B-   The most common diagnosis for an intra-abdominal mass in a cat is lymphoma.

C-   Alimentary lymphoma in cats must be treated with a doxorubicin-containing chemotherapy protocol.

D-   There is a high chance that alimentary lymphoma will perforate when chemotherapy is given.

E-   Administration of intravenous chemotherapy requires sedation or anaesthesia in cats.

Answer

B is the correct answer.

There are many possible explanations for this cat’s intra-abdominal mass. Some of those are non-neoplastic; some of them can be cured by surgery.

It is true that lymphoma is the most likely diagnosis. Alimentary lymphoma in cats is relatively poorly responsive to conventional chemotherapy. Work is ongoing which will hopefully define better treatment strategies for alimentary lymphoma cases.

A small proportion of feline alimentary lymphoma cases are of a particular type which does not respond to conventional COP or CHOP chemotherapy, instead responding for years to a much less intensive treatment comprising chlorambucil and prednisolone.