This post was written by my best friend Stefanie after her beloved cat Roxy had surgery yesterday.  After speaking with the specialist who performed the surgery and doing a little research on her own this is what she learned about pet vaccines.   I believe that this is the most important information I have ever posted on my site.  Thanks Stef!

Me with Roxy:

I Just wanted to report that Roxy's surgery went very well :) The surgeon believes he got all of the mass (a suspected vaccine-associated sarcoma). Thankfully, he did not have to take any of her scapula (shoulder blade), where the vaccine was administered, as the mass was not attached to the bone at all.

Roxy will not be coming home w/ me tonight. The surgeon and his wife, who is also his technician and anesthesiologist (they're an amazing team; here's a link to their website: http://www.fidossurgeon.com/), as part of their fee, offer post-operative care in their home and have indicated they would feel more comfortable doing that w/ Roxy. She has a drain at her wound site that will be difficult to deal w/ and they want to keep her on IV fluids for the night.

I'm actually relieved they're going to be taking care of her tonight, as I know she will receive the best care. However, I am definitely looking forward to seeing my precious girl tomorrow!

I've done a little research on Feline Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma (VAS), which as I mentioned above, is what they suspect Roxy had. Apparently, the cause of the cancer is being linked to the adjuvant that is used in vaccines. This is the agent that enables the cat's immune system to recognize the protein/virus being introduced by the vaccine so that antibodies will be created. It should be noted that Feline VAS is not associated w/ any particular vaccine, but rather vaccines in general. Many vaccines are now supposed to be adjuvant-free. My regular vet has indicated she wants to contact the FDA about the vaccines they've been using b/c of our situation.

In Roxy's case, it was the Feline Distemper vaccine that she received a YEAR ago; however, the tumor showed up almost over-night (I swear) and was extremely fast growing. I noticed it last Tuesday (6/16); between then and now it almost tripled in size. Talk about scary! Watch your kitties carefully for this, especially after vaccination.

For anyone wanting to read up more on the issue of Feline VAS, here are a few links that might be of interest...

See these links for more general info on Feline VAS awareness and the benefits/risks of immunization: 
http://www.avma.org/vafstf/default.asp
http://www.vas-awareness.org/
http://catvaccines.misterlinks.com/

See this link for more info on Feline VAS and the various immunizations:  http://placervillevet.com/feline%20sarcoma.htm

See this link for more info on Adjuvant:  http://www.whale.to/vaccine/adjuvants.html

My thanks to everyone for their thoughts/prayers, and especially to "MariaMichelle" and "DavetheHubby," both of whom I love dearly.

A special "Hi" to Daisy; "MM" always talks about your blog! :)

~Stef

Please see some photos of Stef with her two kitties Roxy and Oliver in the following post.

Here are some photos of me with Roxy.  I am very proud of these photos because she is very shy, but still let me pet her!

My best friend who lives in San Diego, California has a beautiful cat named Roxy who has a very fast growing cyst or maybe tumor on her shoulder.  Roxy was supposed to have surgery yesterday, but they realized the surgery was going to be too extensive.  They may need to remove part of her bone from her shoulder.  Stef's cats are just like her babies to her.  All of us cat lovers understand how that is :)  Please pray for her that all goes well and maybe the problem is not as bad as they are worried it is.  The cost was supposed to be $370 now it is $2.500 (this is California fees).  Stef is mostly worried about Roxy of course, however, the sticker shock never helps in these situations. 

The SPECIALIST said certain vaccines were sometimes causing cancers in cats.  I haven't gotten the details on this.  I will certainly find out more and post what I learn about this.

Please send positive thoughts, purrs, and prayers her way.  You've all certainly helped me in the past.  Maybe we can work a little miracle for her too.

Here are some photos of Stef with her kitties - Roxy and Oliver:

Here is a photo of Stef with her other baby Oliver:

Coco's visit to the oncologist was wonderful!  Her tumor is GONE.  The doctor did a sonogram and he saw NOTHING!  She will still need to go back once a month for her pill, but hopefully she will be well for a very long time.  The oncologist said he'd seen animals be healthy for many, many years with this pill.  Those of you that have followed my blog know this is pretty much a miracle!

Our cats health insurance is around $10.00/month.  If you want to know more please contact me.  That seems like a good deal to me.  A friend of mine just brought her kitty to the vet for what is probably a cyst and it cost a total of more than $700.00 with x-rays and all!

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm too happy to type right now.

TGIF and have a great weekend :)

I have been thinking about writing a post on this very important topic for some time.  Coco is going to her oncologist tomorrow, so I thought now would be as good a time as any.  Needless to say, I am hoping for more good news.  Our last few doctor visits have been quite positive.  She also weighed in at a record 7 pounds 3 ounces tonight and is acting more like herself than since she got sick around November first last year.

We have health insurance for all of our pets NOW, but we did not when Coco first got ill.  I'm sure you can imagine what we have spent which of course we have no regrets about whatsoever.  We discussed getting insurance for our pets many times before Coco's illness, but with our oldest cat being just a little more than four years old we kept putting it off :(

I need to get a little shut eye now but will talk more about pet health insurance and Coco's doctor visit when I post tomorrow. 

Try to have a great Friday Everyone!