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Skin Cancer in Indoor Cats

July 8, 2012 by Ozzi Cat Magazine in Cat Care

Sun on cat’s whiskers

Can an Indoor Cat Develop a Cancer?

Most Australian cat owners are aware that outdoor cats can develop a cancer on their ears and nose due to ultraviolet sunlight. Are indoor cats under the same risk even they are not much exposed to a sun?

Yes. An indoor cat can develop skin cancer from over-exposure to the sun.
It is at risk of squamous cell carcinoma, a common malignant tumour of the skin – a serious and painful disease.

What is Squamous Cell Carcinoma?

Squamous Cell Carcinoma is most often caused by excessive exposure to sunlight. It occurs mostly in white cats, light-colored cats, and cats with white patches.

At a higher risk of skin cancer are cats with pale coloured nose, white ears, ears less covered with fur. Other areas commonly affected by cancer are cat’s belly, cat’s lips and eyelids. Although tumours can appear anywhere on the cat body.

Symptoms of Skin Cancer in Cats

Initial damage to the skin shows as a pink area or a red spot. Other symptoms include hair loss in the affected area, sores which are slow to heal, crusty like lesion.

Sometimes cat starts refusing to eat, experiences weight loss, and cat coat changes. Cat can start looking ill or lethargic.

How Much Is To Treat a Cat with Cancer?

Prices at a general veterinary practice may be less than costs for treatment at a specialist and can depend on where you live.

The cost at a specialist is approximately from $500 to $1,000 for the initial diagnostic testing. Cat surgery activities, when required, may then costs from $800 to $2,000. Chemotherapy, as one form of treatment, is $2,000 to $3,000. Radiation can be $5,000 or $6,000. It is costly to treat cancer.

Protect Cat against Skin Cancer

Grey and white cat is looking through a window under sunlight

Some tips to protect your cat against skin cancer and harmful UVA and UVB rays:

Prevent your cat from excessive exposure to the sun between 10 am and 4 pm.
Apply a waterproof sunscreen of SPF15 to cat’s ears, nose, and other areas at risk.
Ask your veterinarian about brands safe for cats. Sunscreen that is safe for dogs can be not suitable to cats. (We personally use a “toddler milk” sunscreen for our cats. It is not too thick, as some sunscreens are, and soaks very quickly so cats do not lick everything of it.)
Veterinary oncologists suggest a regular nose-to-tail examination of cat’s skin. If you find any new bumps, lumps or suspicious lesions, see your veterinarian straight away.
Consider installing solar shades or honeycomb shades for East- and West-facing windows to block UV rays. Look at shade materials that offer 90% protection levels.
Tint windows. This will give you UV filtering protection and it will still maintain a nice view. Various companies offer UV filtering films that can be applied on windows.
If you live in Melbourne or a Melbourne country area, consult with TintShield. They specialise in this type of protection and offer various window film solutions.

Happy sunbathing to your protected cat!

Did you find this article useful?
Have you heard about a risk of skin cancer in indoor cats before?
What do you use to protect your cat from sun exposure?

Photo by: yellowcloud

Share With Cat Parents and Cat Lovers!

Tagged cancer, cat, indoor, outdoor, prevention, protect, skin, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, sun, sunlight, sunscreen, tumor

astronewthJuly 8, 2012 at 7:21 pm

Wow. I actually didn’t know that cats could get skin cancer, so this was definitely useful. Although I would hazard the guess that the risks are a fair deal lower in Arctic, cloud-covered Norway than Australia. :)

Ozzi CatJuly 8, 2012 at 9:10 pm

I guess you are right about the probability of cancer in Norway :)

I should say I did not know about the cancer in indoor cats too. Guys mentioned a person who had an indoor cat and it got cancer because he liked to sit near windows all the time. To be honest I was scared as we have a white cat and he adores sunbathing! So decided to investigate this topic and share information.

When we lived in Russia we had another issue with cats protection – it was a cold breeze in our apartment during winter. You kind of don’t notice that cold air flying over the floor, but cats could easily get sick with cystitis because of that breeze. So every winter we had to take extra precautions to protect cats from that “floor cold”.
Sun or no sun, you never know! :)
Do your cats prefer warm places when it’s cloudy?

astronewthJuly 15, 2012 at 7:12 pm

They always prefer warm places. ;) Case in point: We live in a block of flats with hot-water radiator heating, and Linus loves to stretch out on top of the radiator.

Here he is on a cold October day, enjoying the heat:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eiriknewth/3975791883/

Ozzi CatJuly 18, 2012 at 2:06 am

Awwww :-) Sooo cute! :) Yes, it’s nice and so warm on a radiator! Wishing you lots of sunny and warm days this season (and all seasons after)! :-)

By the way! I was doing a research and found that there is a breed called “snowshoe”. Cats of that breed have the same markings as Linus, Ada have and Manya had. The original colouring is different to the grey (mist) and white, but the rest is just like our cats! (So it narrows my search and it looks I’m getting closer to finding a cat like Manya and like Linus and Ada :) )

I will post more about this breed. This breed is not widely known in Australia yet, but it will be soon, I’m sure.

Warm hugs to Linus, Ada, and to the whole family! =^..^=

GuestSeptember 30, 2012 at 11:01 pm

This topic of the indoor cat really interests me beens I didn’t know this before. Those 2 pictures on this page of that same cat. It looks like our previous cat that we took back to the Vet here in SA in Mt.Gambier when the Vet was on James street. Is that cat name in the picture called Tiddles and did that cat have also 2 male brother cats with her aswell called James and Chester? We also had take Tiddles to the vet for them to take her back from us because we couldn’t manage and afford to keep her and her brothers beens we had bought them as kittens at the vet. As we was struggling with the money back then. The vet took them back from us. Later down later in the following year. We bought a new kitten from the pet shop. We called her Brighteyes because her eyes was shining in the light. We bought her because we was able to afford to keep just the one cat. But with the other 3. We couldn’t because they couldn’t be seperated from each other the Vet had said when we was only going to buy only one back then and they told us the other 2 would miss the other one. Which caused us to buy the whole 3 of them back then. But getting back to Brighteyes. After a few months after we bought her. She started to not eat much at the kitten age. She was sitting on the window ledge behind the curtain and it was fairly sunny aswell. A few days later. She became lazy and wasn’t doing much. That same night when we was asleep. She was meowing alot. My mum had opened the spare room door that she was in and Brighteyes was lying on her side in pain. We both panicked and then Vet wasn’t open back then at the time. I had to go with a friend who helped me pick her up and to put her in the cat carrier to take her to the vet. The Vet said to me they know what it was and that it was a tumor in her brain they told me. Unfortunately she had to be putted down because she was way late for treatment and was in a critical stage because her heart was only partly faintly beating. She died from a coma. I miss her so much. I am glad I taken a photo of her before the worst happened. The uploaded photos of her is Brighteyes.

James HarknessOctober 1, 2012 at 4:58 pm

Sorry that I posted a double post. I wasn’t logged in for this post. You can delete this guest post of mine.

Ozzi CatOctober 1, 2012 at 9:47 pm

That’s ok James! All done -Natalie

James HarknessSeptember 30, 2012 at 11:03 pm

Ozzi CatOctober 1, 2012 at 9:58 pm

Hi James, thank you for sharing your story. I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to beautiful Brighteyes.. She is a gorgeous girl with lovely eyes and you obviously miss her so much.
I hope 3 other cats found new homes. You did the right thing and did not drop them on the street. Thank you for that.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I lost my lovely fur baby to liver and lung cancer, I totally understand your feelings… Thank you for sharing Brighteyes photo. She is very lovely and will be remembered.

The cat in the photos is from the person who lives in Germany: http://www.flickr.com/people/yellowcloud/

How are you going now? Obviously no other cat can be like Brighteyes. xx -Natalie

James HarknessOctober 2, 2012 at 12:21 pm

Yes I am coping alright. Our family haven’t got any cats now because its harder now to manage the money beens our needs prices are going up for food and medicines. As much as we want to have another member added to the family. We can’t afford the costs of another cat.

Ozzi CatOctober 2, 2012 at 8:32 pm

I completely understand and support you James. You are absolutely right that having a cat in a family and providing him or her proper care requires money. And if any medical issues occur, it may require a lot of money!
I just though, if you love cats and want to give some love to some cat, there is an option – pet shelters welcome volunteers. Volunteers do various type of things, from cleaning to petting and playing with cats. It could be a good option for people who love cats but cannot afford to have them for various reasons. Many cats just need some love while they are waiting for forever home. You can also help on Adoption Days, as I personally do. It feels so good to make something good for cats. Are there any pet or cat shelters neaby that you’ve heard about? -Natalie

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11 Comments

astronewthJuly 8, 2012 at 7:21 pm

Wow. I actually didn’t know that cats could get skin cancer, so this was definitely useful. Although I would hazard the guess that the risks are a fair deal lower in Arctic, cloud-covered Norway than Australia. :)
- Ozzi CatJuly 8, 2012 at 9:10 pm
  
  I guess you are right about the probability of cancer in Norway :)
  
  I should say I did not know about the cancer in indoor cats too. Guys mentioned a person who had an indoor cat and it got cancer because he liked to sit near windows all the time. To be honest I was scared as we have a white cat and he adores sunbathing! So decided to investigate this topic and share information.
  
  When we lived in Russia we had another issue with cats protection – it was a cold breeze in our apartment during winter. You kind of don’t notice that cold air flying over the floor, but cats could easily get sick with cystitis because of that breeze. So every winter we had to take extra precautions to protect cats from that “floor cold”.
  Sun or no sun, you never know! :)
  Do your cats prefer warm places when it’s cloudy?
  - astronewthJuly 15, 2012 at 7:12 pm
    
    They always prefer warm places. ;) Case in point: We live in a block of flats with hot-water radiator heating, and Linus loves to stretch out on top of the radiator.
    
    Here he is on a cold October day, enjoying the heat:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eiriknewth/3975791883/
    - Ozzi CatJuly 18, 2012 at 2:06 am
      
      Awwww :-) Sooo cute! :) Yes, it’s nice and so warm on a radiator! Wishing you lots of sunny and warm days this season (and all seasons after)! :-)
      
      By the way! I was doing a research and found that there is a breed called “snowshoe”. Cats of that breed have the same markings as Linus, Ada have and Manya had. The original colouring is different to the grey (mist) and white, but the rest is just like our cats! (So it narrows my search and it looks I’m getting closer to finding a cat like Manya and like Linus and Ada :) )
      
      I will post more about this breed. This breed is not widely known in Australia yet, but it will be soon, I’m sure.
      
      Warm hugs to Linus, Ada, and to the whole family! =^..^=
GuestSeptember 30, 2012 at 11:01 pm

This topic of the indoor cat really interests me beens I didn’t know this before. Those 2 pictures on this page of that same cat. It looks like our previous cat that we took back to the Vet here in SA in Mt.Gambier when the Vet was on James street. Is that cat name in the picture called Tiddles and did that cat have also 2 male brother cats with her aswell called James and Chester? We also had take Tiddles to the vet for them to take her back from us because we couldn’t manage and afford to keep her and her brothers beens we had bought them as kittens at the vet. As we was struggling with the money back then. The vet took them back from us. Later down later in the following year. We bought a new kitten from the pet shop. We called her Brighteyes because her eyes was shining in the light. We bought her because we was able to afford to keep just the one cat. But with the other 3. We couldn’t because they couldn’t be seperated from each other the Vet had said when we was only going to buy only one back then and they told us the other 2 would miss the other one. Which caused us to buy the whole 3 of them back then. But getting back to Brighteyes. After a few months after we bought her. She started to not eat much at the kitten age. She was sitting on the window ledge behind the curtain and it was fairly sunny aswell. A few days later. She became lazy and wasn’t doing much. That same night when we was asleep. She was meowing alot. My mum had opened the spare room door that she was in and Brighteyes was lying on her side in pain. We both panicked and then Vet wasn’t open back then at the time. I had to go with a friend who helped me pick her up and to put her in the cat carrier to take her to the vet. The Vet said to me they know what it was and that it was a tumor in her brain they told me. Unfortunately she had to be putted down because she was way late for treatment and was in a critical stage because her heart was only partly faintly beating. She died from a coma. I miss her so much. I am glad I taken a photo of her before the worst happened. The uploaded photos of her is Brighteyes.
- James HarknessOctober 1, 2012 at 4:58 pm
  
  Sorry that I posted a double post. I wasn’t logged in for this post. You can delete this guest post of mine.
  - Ozzi CatOctober 1, 2012 at 9:47 pm
    
    That’s ok James! All done -Natalie
James HarknessSeptember 30, 2012 at 11:03 pm

This topic of the indoor cat really interests me beens I didn’t know this before. Those 2 pictures on this page of that same cat. It looks like our previous cat that we took back to the Vet here in SA in Mt.Gambier when the Vet was on James street. Is that cat name in the picture called Tiddles and did that cat have also 2 male brother cats with her aswell called James and Chester? We also had take Tiddles to the vet for them to take her back from us because we couldn’t manage and afford to keep her and her brothers beens we had bought them as kittens at the vet. As we was struggling with the money back then. The vet took them back from us. Later down later in the following year. We bought a new kitten from the pet shop. We called her Brighteyes because her eyes was shining in the light. We bought her because we was able to afford to keep just the one cat. But with the other 3. We couldn’t because they couldn’t be seperated from each other the Vet had said when we was only going to buy only one back then and they told us the other 2 would miss the other one. Which caused us to buy the whole 3 of them back then. But getting back to Brighteyes. After a few months after we bought her. She started to not eat much at the kitten age. She was sitting on the window ledge behind the curtain and it was fairly sunny aswell. A few days later. She became lazy and wasn’t doing much. That same night when we was asleep. She was meowing alot. My mum had opened the spare room door that she was in and Brighteyes was lying on her side in pain. We both panicked and then Vet wasn’t open back then at the time. I had to go with a friend who helped me pick her up and to put her in the cat carrier to take her to the vet. The Vet said to me they know what it was and that it was a tumor in her brain they told me. Unfortunately she had to be putted down because she was way late for treatment and was in a critical stage because her heart was only partly faintly beating. She died from a coma. I miss her so much. I am glad I taken a photo of her before the worst happened. The uploaded photos of her is Brighteyes
- Ozzi CatOctober 1, 2012 at 9:58 pm
  
  Hi James, thank you for sharing your story. I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to beautiful Brighteyes.. She is a gorgeous girl with lovely eyes and you obviously miss her so much.
  I hope 3 other cats found new homes. You did the right thing and did not drop them on the street. Thank you for that.
  I’m so sorry for your loss. I lost my lovely fur baby to liver and lung cancer, I totally understand your feelings… Thank you for sharing Brighteyes photo. She is very lovely and will be remembered.
  
  The cat in the photos is from the person who lives in Germany: http://www.flickr.com/people/yellowcloud/
  
  How are you going now? Obviously no other cat can be like Brighteyes. xx -Natalie
  - James HarknessOctober 2, 2012 at 12:21 pm
    
    Yes I am coping alright. Our family haven’t got any cats now because its harder now to manage the money beens our needs prices are going up for food and medicines. As much as we want to have another member added to the family. We can’t afford the costs of another cat.
    - Ozzi CatOctober 2, 2012 at 8:32 pm
      
      I completely understand and support you James. You are absolutely right that having a cat in a family and providing him or her proper care requires money. And if any medical issues occur, it may require a lot of money!
      I just though, if you love cats and want to give some love to some cat, there is an option – pet shelters welcome volunteers. Volunteers do various type of things, from cleaning to petting and playing with cats. It could be a good option for people who love cats but cannot afford to have them for various reasons. Many cats just need some love while they are waiting for forever home. You can also help on Adoption Days, as I personally do. It feels so good to make something good for cats. Are there any pet or cat shelters neaby that you’ve heard about? -Natalie

Cat Info

Skin Cancer in Indoor Cats