Foggie: Pet of the Month for January 2000

Foggie Briggs

Foggie and Ms. Briggs

Foggie is a beautiful fifteen-year-old gray neutered male cat. He began coughing prior to mid-April 1999. Since the cough was not severe, we assumed that Foggie may have the beginnings of feline asthma. Further tests were not pursued at that time.

Eight months later, Foggie was presented to the hospital for dental cleaning and polishing and to explore the throat under general anesthesia. Foggie had developed a deep, persistent cough (especially at night) and had some trouble swallowing. The oral exam was negative. However, chest x-rays revealed a very dense right accessory lung lobe. Cytology from a fine needle aspirate of the lung lobe was inconclusive. Foggie was put on antibiotics in hopes this was a lobar pneumonia.

When the antibiotics did not result in any significant improvement, Foggie was scheduled for surgery to remove the consolidated lung lobe. On January 12th of this year a right lateral thoracotomy was performed at the sixth intercostal rib space (between the 6^th and 7^th ribs) and the right accessory lung lobe was removed.

Figure 1. Lateral view showing cancer in Foggie's right lung.

Figure 2. Ventrodorsal view of Foggie's lung cancer.

After five or six rough postoperative days, Foggie began to eat again. The biopsy report came back with a diagnosis of intermediate- to high-grade bronchogenic pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer. There were no other signs of the tumor in the lungs or regional lymph nodes, which is a good sign for this handsome senior citizen.

The picture at right shows Foggie about three weeks after surgery. At this point he was still a little "under the weather." But today Foggie's owner reports "Foggie is doing great. He is acting like a 10 year old these days instead of a 15 year old!"

Foggie is a beautiful fifteen-year-old gray neutered male cat. He began coughing prior to mid-April 1999. Since the cough was not severe, we assumed that Foggie may have the beginnings of feline asthma. Further tests were not pursued at that time. Eight months later, Foggie was presented to the hospital for dental cleaning and polishing and to explore the throat under general anesthesia. Foggie had developed a deep, persistent cough (especially at night) and had some trouble swallowing. The oral exam was negative. However, chest x-rays revealed a very dense right accessory lung lobe. Cytology from a fine needle aspirate of the lung lobe was inconclusive. Foggie was put on antibiotics in hopes this was a lobar pneumonia.
When the antibiotics did not result in any significant improvement, Foggie was scheduled for surgery to remove the consolidated lung lobe. On January 12th of this year a right lateral thoracotomy was performed at the sixth intercostal rib space (between the 6^th and 7^th ribs) and the right accessory lung lobe was removed.		Figure 1. Lateral view showing cancer in Foggie's right lung.
Figure 2. Ventrodorsal view of Foggie's lung cancer.
After five or six rough postoperative days, Foggie began to eat again. The biopsy report came back with a diagnosis of intermediate- to high-grade bronchogenic pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer. There were no other signs of the tumor in the lungs or regional lymph nodes, which is a good sign for this handsome senior citizen.
The picture at right shows Foggie about three weeks after surgery. At this point he was still a little "under the weather." But today Foggie's owner reports "Foggie is doing great. He is acting like a 10 year old these days instead of a 15 year old!"