A County Durham cat has got a second chance, after a team of expert vets treated him for a rare and aggressive kind of cancer induced by injections. 

Five-year-old Ragdoll cat Yurtie was referred to Linnaeus-owned Wear Referrals in Bradbury, County Durham, after his owner noticed lumps around his neck and shoulders.  

The veterinary practice duly carried out a CT scan, finding a mass under his skin.

*Warning: This story includes images of Yurtie with stitches after surgery, which some may find distressing.*

(Image: Wear Referrals)

Wear's head of oncology Aaron Harper and oncology resident Katerina Holenova have been leading the multidisciplinary case.  

It was diagnosed as feline injection site sarcoma (FISS), a rare cancer which can develop at the site of an injection.

The cancer is triggered by an abnormal inflammatory response and affects around one in 50,000 cats, with that number decreasing thanks to modern injection practices.  

Aaron, RCVS Specialist and a European Diplomate in small animal oncology, said: “After discussions with Yurtie’s owners, we planned to give chemotherapy to shrink the tumour before our soft tissue surgery team performed surgery to remove the mass.  

(Image: Wear Referrals)

“The operation involved a lot of creative surgical planning from our Specialist soft tissue surgeon Anna Cronin and involved operating on four shoulder muscles.  

“It was a complete success thanks to our dedicated teams.”  

Yurtie’s treatment was made even more challenging because he had developed a fear of needles through his ordeal. 

Aaron added: “Though confident, Yurtie was particularly needle-shy and also did not like his head being touched.  

“Through the amazing teamwork of our oncology and anaesthesia teams, we created a tailored approach to minimise Yurtie’s stress while receiving chemotherapy. He received two infusions and purred the whole way through!”  

(Image: Wear Referrals)

Owners Fraser and Robyn Jame said their beloved cat was now back to his old self thanks to Wear.  

They said: “Yurtie is amazing and full of life, energy, love and the playful charm that makes him so special!

"He’s back to eagerly chasing toys, giving the best cuddles and absolutely loving his food. 

“During the treatment, he became quite head shy, which was difficult to witness as he's usually such an outgoing boy.

"Thankfully, the team was incredibly supportive, giving him medication before each session and sedating him if he became too stressed. 

"We can't thank Wear enough for calming our nerves, reassuring us and guiding us to make informed decisions. It truly felt like we were part of the team.  

"From oncology to surgery and everything in between, it's not something anyone wants to go through, but if you have to, this was the best experience we could have hoped for.” 

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Aaron added: “Yurtie will hopefully have a good prognosis.  

“His case is a fine example of collaborative teamwork at Wear Referrals, through our oncology, soft tissue, imaging and anaesthesia teams, which also wouldn’t be possible without the effort from his dedicated owners.”  

Wear specialises in providing expert multidisciplinary care, including anaesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, intensive care, internal medicine, neurology, out-of-hours emergency and critical care, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue surgery.