Smokey, a 13-year-old cat with a liver tumour
 

Smokey is a delightful 13-year-old cat who had been rehomed a few months previously. He had lost some of his appetite and was vomiting a little but was otherwise feeling very spritely. A very large liver mass (cancer) was diagnosed by his vets. Alison worked with his vets to meticulously plan his surgery, including assessment of a CT scan to document the vascular anatomy of the mass and confirm that it was resectable. Jinx, a cat of matching blood type who belonged to one of the nurses, came to the hospital on the day of surgery in case he needed to donate blood. 

 

Smokey’s tumour took up the whole left medial liver lobe with major blood vessels only millimetres away. Cats are so little that they don’t have much spare blood and livers are very prone to bleeding. This is a surgery where experience really counts – over 40% of feline liver resections require a blood transfusion. I’ve resected lots of liver tumours over the past 19 years as a Specialist and so when Smokey’s liver started to bleed when tumour dissection started, I was able to get the tumour out quickly and safely with a TA30V surgical stapler. The TA30V stapler places a triple layer of small titanium staples that close the blood vessels and allow safe removal of liver. In Smokey’s liver, this meant that the mass could be removed without any damage to the adjacent liver lobes despite their major blood vessels being only millimetres away. 

 

The handsome Jink remained on hand during the surgery, but fortunately he didn’t need to donate blood, and he was spoilt by his mum after Smokey’s surgery. 

 

Smokey has recovered really well. He stopped vomiting and his owner reported that after just a week he was happier and just wanted to go outside! Fortunately, he has a great prognosis. Despite being very large, most single liver masses in cats and dogs are of low-grade malignancy and don’t tend to recur or spread. 

 

The take home message of Smokey’s story? Removing liver tumours is complex surgery but with careful planning and an experienced surgeon, they can give cats and dogs a new lease of life and greater life expectancy.