Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat's hair loss from pancreatic cancer cleared after tumor surgery
By Tasker, S et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·1999·Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Resolution of paraneoplastic alopecia following surgical removal of a pancreatic carcinoma in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old female domestic longhaired cat was brought in because she had been losing weight and developing shiny bald patches on her belly, legs, and rear for five months. After tests showed a mass in her abdomen, the vet performed surgery to remove the pancreatic tumor. Following the surgery, her hair grew back completely within 10 weeks, indicating that the hair loss was related to the cancer. Unfortunately, the hair loss returned after 18 weeks, and further examination revealed that the cancer had spread. This case shows that removing the tumor can help reverse the skin issues caused by the cancer.
People also search for: cat hair loss treatment · cat pancreatic cancer symptoms · why is my cat losing weight and hair
Abstract
A 13-year-old female neutered domestic longhaired cat was presented with a five-month history of progressive weight loss and bilaterally symmetrical alopecia of the ventrum, limbs and perineum. The alopecic skin had a shiny appearance and hair in the non-alopecic areas was easily epilated. Fine needle aspirate cytology of a palpable cranial abdominal mass revealed it to be of epithelial or glandular origin. A pancreatic mass was excised by left pancreatectomy during exploratory laparotomy, and histopathology and skin biopsies confirmed a diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma with concurrent paraneoplastic alopecia. No evidence of metastases was found on liver and lymph node biopsies. At re-examination 10 weeks after surgery, the hair had fully regrown. Skin signs recurred after 18 weeks and metastatic spread of the tumour was confirmed on postmortem examination. This case confirms that paraneoplastic alopecia associated with internal malignancies is a potentially reversible process if the internal neoplasm is excised.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10092037/