Oliver: The Cat That Could
I have been in cat rescue for more than 25 years, and I’ve never met a cat like Oliver. He was a striking 15 pound long-haired red tabby. A lot of red tabbies are short-haired, but he had a long, soft coat.
I first met Oliver through the cat rescue organization I worked with. I thought a good friend would like to adopt him, and loaded him into a crate to take him to meet her. She decided not to adopt him because she had another cat, and as I put him back in his crate to take him back to the rescue, I realized something. Oliver was going to be my cat!
As soon as Oliver was part of the household, he was an instant family member. He was a big fuzzy dynamo. He had a boundless curiosity about the world, but also a very gentle side. (For a few months, he was the loving parent of two feral kittens.) Oliver was also bold. He never met a person or cat that he didn’t like.
Oliver was about 11 years old when he came down with a bad upper respiratory infection. The veterinarian prescribed a course of antibiotics, but the nasal infection did not resolve. The veterinarian and I wanted to see what might be going on, and an x-ray showed that Oliver had a tumor in his nasal cavity. I was referred to UC Davis, where I met with the oncology specialists to see what could be done.
The team at UC Davis did some tests, and diagnosed him with very advanced nasal adenocarcinoma. For most cats, this diagnosis meant that there wasn’t much time left. I remember how compassionately the specialists at UC Davis delivered the news, explaining all options so that I could make the right decision for Oliver. I wanted as much time with Oliver, and elected to begin a course of radiation. Even with radiation, we expected about six months.
The radiation oncology team at UC Davis was incredible. Their positivity uplifted me during that difficult period of treatments with frequent drives from Sacramento. At the time, the team at UC Davis was also doing a study exploring whether acupuncture would help their health, so Oliver sat quietly for a relaxing acupuncture session after each radiation treatment.
When the radiation concluded, the tumor had shrunk. I cherished the next several months with Oliver. And then those months turned into a year! I brought Oliver back to UC Davis for his check-up, and the team was astounded that he had beaten the odds. He was in very good health – sparkling and energetic. He became the first cat to live for a full year with this form of cancer: Oliver was the cat that could.
At his one-year checkup, with Oliver’s tumor still present, I heard from the team at UC Davis what his next options were. He began less intensive chemotherapy treatments for a short time, which helped for a few more months. I am grateful to Dr. Ghuman at SacPetVet in Sacramento who was so instrumental in his weekly care during Oliver's treatments and afterward. Unfortunately, a few months later, he started to decline. I knew there was nothing else that could be done, but I was grateful that I had received the gift of more time with Oliver, thanks to UC Davis’ extraordinary veterinary care team.
I hope that Oliver’s story gives others hope. He was a pioneer in many ways, even part of a UC Davis study about treating nasal carcinoma. That time was more than I could have ever hoped for, and I am so grateful.
- Betty
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To learn more about options for animals facing a cancer diagnosis, please navigate to the Center for Companion Animal Health.
Learn how to support veterinary cancer research, or see if your dog or cat may be candidates for a veterinary clinical trial.
Learn more about, and support, the new Veterinary Cancer Center (part of the Veterinary Medical Complex expansion).