Do injections cause cancer?

Morris is experiencing what I believe is his 2nd p~itis flare (I started him back on his meds Sat evening). Morris is an INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT cat to pill and to even get the bupe into his cheek pocket. There has been a bit of discussion over in my lantus land condos about getting injectable bupe & pepcid for him (the mirtz in pill form isn't too bad since I only have to give that to him once every 3 days). I know the last time I spoke with my vet about getting injectable bupe & pepcid for him, she was reluctant as she said there is some research saying that cats are prone to get cancerous tumors around injections sites & she doesn't want me giving him more injections than necessary. While discussing this over in lantus land, someone mentioned that it is vaccine injections only that are prone to cause cancerous tumors rather than all injections. I was wondering if anyone around here had any information about this topic!

I will be stopping by my vets office after work today to pick up more SQ fluids.....1 suggestion was that if I could get injectable meds, I could add those meds into the line as I am giving his fluids. I have a bit of liquid bupe left, but will need more soon & I am hoping to get my vet to give me injectable next time around!

 

the only injections I know of that have caused cancer are some vaccinations - the vax, not the injection.

I would certainly wait for others to weigh in but I readily give injections of bupe to Moochie when she needs it for the same reason you are considering it for Morris. I cannot pill her and I cannot get the bupe on her gums

 

When shadoe had her p-titis attack i got bupe to start, injections, and then I had some codeine transdermal gel that I rubbed inside her ear flap for pain. what about something like that for pain?
I would tell the vet that you want the injectable bupe, and that's that.
As for the pepcid, I cannot pill my two acro cats, but pepcid did help shadoe in the past.
The pilling is tough but maybe if you crush the 1/4 tab and hide it in some laughing cow soft cheese, you can slip it by.

 

actually you can get injectable famotadine (pepcid) from your vet as well - believe me, I ask for anything and everything that can be injected subQ :mrgreen:

 

I have heard others say that their vets claim that transdermal on ears is not very effective.

I have tried that - did not work! I have also tried pill pockets & peanut butter - he is an EXTREMELY smart cat & will not let me slip anything past him! LOL!

Thanks Susie! I am working on writing up a note for her which I will drop off this afternoon when I pick up the fluids. She normally does not work on Mons, but hopefully she will see it early tomorrow & I will be able to pick up some injectable pepcid on my way home from work tomorrow.

 

Gwen,

The gel for inside the ear flaps was to be used after the first 3 days of bupe shots - sort of like the wind down stuff. I did not use it all that much because Shadoe did NOT like it, but Booboo loved it. As soon as I put it on Shadoe's ears, Booboo would appear and volunteer to lick ALL of it off the ears! Booboo LOVED the stuff, so it was doing something :lol:

 

I just want to add that some cats can get cancer from injections. It is mostly from vaccinations and is rare even with that. Any injection that causes inflammation can cause injection site sarcoma(rare). So I would say your vet is right to be hesitant. But I have never heard of a cat getting it from those meds. Your call.
I want to say I belonged to the VAS yahoo support group and that is where I got my info. Hoping Morris is better soon!

 

Thanks for the info Jill!

What is the VAS yahoo support group?

 

VAS - Vaccine Associated Sarcoma

There is a theory, not proven, that it is the adjuvant (an additive that stimulates the immune system and makes the vaccine more effective) in vaccines that causes the cancer. There are some adjuvant free vaccines available. The adjuvant free rabies vaccine is PureVax and it must be given yearly.