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"Eppey" is a 19 year old, much loved cat who
was presented to me several months ago with what originally
seemed to be a very straightforward problem. She had a wound
on her face which had a purulent discharge. Antibiotics
were prescribed but after an initial improvement the problem
was still there several weeks later.
"Eppey" was admitted to clean and debride the
area around her right cheek, radiograph her skull and take
tissue samples for analysis to see whether there was any
underlying disease process. Much to our disappontment, the
pathologist was so concerned by the abnormal behaviour of
the cells observed that he made a tentative diagnosis of
cancer. Needless to say there was a great deal of despondency
by all concerned.
However after careful discussion with her owners and close
scrutiny of the x-rays we decided to attempt to remove a
section of her cheekbone (zygomatic arch) in the hope of
making her more comfortable. Although she was a "very
old girl" she was still bright, lively and in very
good condition.
Surgery went well and I was hopeful that, by removing the
section of bone, we had at least made an impact on her disease
without compromising what she already had.
"Eppey" recovered very quickly and her wound
healed over beautifully. Little did we realise that when
the pathologist examined our second sample he realised that
the very reactive, rapidly dividing cells were a result
of a bone infection (osteomyelitis) and not cancer. This
underlines the difficulties involved by the pathology department
in making an accurate diagnosis when there is lots of inflammatory
cells around.
Not that "Eppey" cares as she has recovered completely
and is simply waiting for her whiskers to reach their full
length!.
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