Cat X-ray shows a mass. Can vets identify it or is it lymphoma?

I am so sorry to say but these x-rays are highly suggestive of an intestinal tumor. I would have an ultrasound done next to confirm and then go forward with treatment for suspected intestinal lymphoma, especially if she is symptomatic (i.e. vomiting, decreased appetite, etc). I wish you all the best moving forward with Fluffy. Best wishes and take care.

I'm sorry for your loss. The most commonly condition mistaken for IBD is intestinal lymphoma, i'm not sure what tests have been done for cancer but in order to diagnose intestinal lymphoma she should have been sent to an ultrasound specialist, i guess that would be the first thing that comes to mind but of course without being able to run tests and check the full history it's just an educated guess.

So sorry about your cat. It Is sometimes hard to predict the likelihood of neoplasia versus a benign cause. I have had cases that I thought would be lymphoma and turned out to be an infection/inflammation. I know it is hard waiting on the biopsy results but try not to worry until the results are back. Hoping for good news when the results are in.

Hello. I’m so sorry to hear about your cat. I had a lovely long haired cat with lymphoma years ago. There is lymph tissue throughout the body. Before deciding on any types of surgery, it is beneficial to know just how extensive her cancer is. If she, for example, has a section of intestinal tract with a tumor or a couple of tumors, that area can be removed. However, if it seems that the cancer is already metastasized to liver, spleen, lungs, etc. , her prognosis would change and possibly surgery would not be if much benefit. A treatment plan if surgery/ chemotherapy / both can be arrived at after more information is collected.

These are great questions. Contrary to popular belief, most cancer patients in veterinary medicine have completely unremarkable bloodwork. Just because there are many extra lymphocytes in the walls of the intestines, does not mean there are extra lymphocytes in the blood stream - where our sample comes from. We can be suspicious of it from an ultrasound but cannot truly diagnose it without the biopsy. As for the second part, small cell lymphoma is a disease that affects large sections of or almost the entire small bowel. It is not a single mass that can be removed. Luckily for you, small cell lymphoma responds well to chemotherapy in most cases. Best wishes to you and Trixie.

Oh dear! I'm sorry to hear that Bean is having this problem. Unfortunately, there is no way to diagnose what the mass is just by looking at it - he would need to have a biopsy or a fine needle aspirate (FNA) to get a sample of the tissue in the mass for analysis in order to get a specific diagnosis. In general, I can tell you that lymphoma is a common cause of a mass in this area in cats, but there's no way to know for sure if this is what Bean has without further work-up. For a mass or tumor in this area, I would normally recommend referral to a specialist for advanced imaging studies, biopsy or FNA, and discussion of treatment options. Your regular veterinarian should be able to help you set this up, if you wish.

Hi there and thank you for your post. While ultrasound can be quite a values tool in diagnostics, it is unable to diagnose lymphoma on its own. Endoscopy is considered good standard because samples of tissue can be biopsied and then processed at a lab by a pathologist and interpreted at the cellular level, which ultrasound cannot do. I would suggest an ultrasound first if you haven't already and then if no at is not a concern, set up a second opinion with an internal medicine specialist to discuss the next diagnostic steps and treatment options. If lymphoma is confirmed, you may want to consider a consult with an oncologist at that point. Hope that helps and hope Sam feels better soon! Please feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns you may have.