Signalment

• Species: cat

Disease Notes

• Certainty: confirmed
• Final Status:

Treatment and Outcome

Problem Notes

• Difficulty Administering Herbs: Shadow is an 11 year old tuxedo cat diagnosed with an amelanomic melanoma on her nose 2 years ago (November 2014), which was surgically removed August 2015. About a year following surgical removal, the growth has returned. Shadow's own vet recommended a more invasive surgery which may disfigure her face and still not get all of the cancerous cells or let the tumor grow until the cat would need euthanasia.
  Shadow's owners sought alternative therapy out of province, and the cat was placed on the following herbs: Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang along with E Zhu and San Leng with the hope these herbs may help shrink or eliminate the melanoma. The owner has now phoned me as he cannot get Shadow to accept the herbs. He has tried putting the granules in food, gravy, broth, tuna juice, pudding, yogurt...nothing will work. The owner has also attempted feeding the herb in a water suspension via a syringe with no luck. Now, Shadow runs when she sees them coming with the syringe which is making things more stressful for both the owner and the cat.
  Any thoughts or tips on how to help the owners to get the cat to accept the herbs? The owner was wondering if the herbs could somehow be given transdermally? The only thing that I have read was adding the granules to DMSO. Does anyone have any experience with this, and would this be safe on the nose when it is close to the eyes? Is there an option to make the herb into a tincture of some form that is not alcohol based?
  Thank you for any input that you might be able to provide or any suggestions on other therapies?