Malignant Thyroid Cancer In Cats

Nodules that have less iodine than the rest of the thyroid can sometimes be cancer.
Malignant thyroid cancer in cats. Also referred to as hyperthyroidism in cats the two cancers associated with thyroid cancer are benign adenoma or malignant adenocarcinoma. Ct or cat scan. The cancerous growths impact the thyroid making it overproduce thyroid hormone causing a number of symptoms. Although cancer isn t as common in cats as it is in dogs it still affects a number of our feline friends.
And because cats have a tendency to mask illnesses it can be harder to detect. It can take months or years to manifest. Thyroid cancer in cats what is thyroid cancer adenocarcinoma in cats. Feline thyroid cancer is a gradually developing cancer that is sometimes seen in older cats usually above the age of twelve.
In dogs they are usually malignant and nonfunctional whereas in cats they are usually benign and functional. Many cats also have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and will have a gallop rhythm and sometimes a heart. Feline thyroid cancer symptoms generally appear in older cats. The thyroid glands are paired structures located along the windpipe trachea about halfway down the neck of cats.
Thyroid scanning is the only way to determine the volume of thyroid tumor tissue that your cat has that needs to be destroyed. The thyroid glands produce hormones that are vital for normal body function. It grows rapidly and can metastasize to other parts of body. Thyroid gland adenocarcinoma in cats.
Thyroid growths in your cat can be benign adenoma or malignant carcinoma. Malignant thyroid tumors are rare. A swelling in the neck may be the only sign in a dog however a change in bark coughing difficulty swallowing facial swelling rapid breathing breathlessness weight loss and a loss of appetite are possible. This often leads to later diagnoses and more difficult and costly treatments.
The thyroid consists of two lobes of endocrine glands in the upper neck. Based on history clinical signs elevated serum thyroxine levels and palpation of a thyroid mass. Adenocarcinoma of the thyroid is more commonly seen in older. 85 90 of affected cats have palpable tumors.
Thyroid tumors can be benign or malignant and functional or nonfunctional. This test uses radio waves and strong magnets instead of x rays to take pictures. It s a special kind of x ray that takes detailed pictures of the thyroid and can show if the cancer has spread. Thyroid scans from four hyperthyroid cats with thyroid tumors ranging from small to very large in size obviously cats with small to medium sized tumors require much lower doses of i 131 to ablate their thyroid tumors.
The importance of the thyroid gland is many fold.