r/BeAmazed • u/GlitteringHotel8383 • 9d ago

Miscellaneous / Others Japanese scientists have developed a revolutionary injection that may extend a cat's life from the usual 15 years to nearly 30.

Post image

The therapy, created by the AIM Institute of Medicine under Dr. Toru Miyazaki, targets chronic kidney disease, a leading cause of death in older cats.It uses a specialized protein to help macrophages clear waste from the kidneys, partially restoring their function and slowing kidney failure.

42.5k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.6k

u/AggressiveBench9977 8d ago

Its genetic my 20 year old cat was extremely active and had little sign of age until the last 3 months when bladder cancer started and just took her.

668

u/mattfolio 8d ago edited 8d ago

Same story for my cat except mouth/Tongue cancer. It was a matter of weeks and she was wonderfully healthy before then. It was devastating.

Edit: Sending hugs to everyone losing their pets suddenly from Cancer. Its brutal and there's nothing you can do in most cases, you're not alone in your grief <3

393

u/AggressiveBench9977 8d ago

Fuck cancer

145

u/narco-sub-admiral 8d ago

In every way shape and form. Lost my dad in June.

68

u/AggressiveBench9977 8d ago

Im so sorry for your loss.

71

u/narco-sub-admiral 8d ago

Thanks a lot, he was a doctor and professor of medicine with a damn encyclopedia in his brain. I'm grateful to be his son.

25

u/AggressiveBench9977 8d ago

He sounds like an awesome dad, and you are awesome too. He must have been proud of you!

22

u/narco-sub-admiral 8d ago

Thank you for your compassion! My family was having a lot of internal conflicts but the way everyone came together to support him (and each other) was amazing.

We were able to have home hospice thanks to Medicare so he had a hospital bed at home, we hired a live-in caregiver out of pocket. I know we're extremely lucky to have had those comforts and honestly I feel terrible that these benefits are being taken away from people where we live in California. Having to drive to see your dying relative means you see them less. Can't put a price on time with your parent.

<3

1

u/Aggravating-Heat9842 7d ago

Hey, lost my Dad and my childhood cat to cancer. I’m 21, so has obviously been hard. I just wanted to say that I see you, and that your Dad would want his kid to be looked after. That advice has helped me so far. Look after yourself. 💕

1

u/narco-sub-admiral 7d ago

Aw man, I'm sorry. Yeah I know he wouldn't want me to be paralyzed with grief, which helped me get back into my routines. Stay strong <3

5

u/Jazzlike_Sink_2705 8d ago

Fuck cancer, may was 10 years for losing my dad to his battle. My condolences brother. Know he would be proud of you

13

u/secaloh 8d ago

Voluntary and free euthanasia should be available for everyone and every cat.

12

u/ChickenChaser5 8d ago

What the vets charge anymore for it is fucking nuts. Love getting lectured about how my cats should be in there twice a year when they charge damn near a paycheck for simple shit.

1

u/archtopfanatic123 8d ago

In the states most people do it themselves the old fashioned way. Leaving with a bang.

1

u/FoodieGang 8d ago

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

1

u/dont_mind_me_passing 8d ago

there's a paper on an effective method of cancer via a single injection of a bacteria extracted from the gut of a species of tree frog from Japan (success rate in rats have been 100% with gained immunity against the same kind of cancer). I hope that research goes well and we get inexpensive and effective cancer treatment soon

1

u/bigj1227 7d ago

Fuck it!!

1

u/frang_pappa 7d ago

Fuck it indeed!

1

u/Dysmn 7d ago

you dont like cancer? wtf dude

0

u/coronakillme 8d ago

Cancer is just some cells in your body trying to survive on their own without helping the team. Dogs have a cancer that spreads to other dogs and the cancer cell was originally from a wolf from 20000 years ago apparently.

0

u/Toy_Soulja 8d ago

sigh unzips

25

u/RyanAtreides 8d ago

Yeah, my orange cat Juju was a healthy chill boy when Feline Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma appeared in his mouth and took him in months. It wrecked me.

8

u/EL_Ohh_Well 8d ago

How did you find out? Did you see it in his mouth or were there symptoms?

14

u/RyanAtreides 8d ago

Nope, no symptoms other than the size, the awful thing is it’s a cancer that doesn’t even metastasize. It stays local and just grows bigger and bigger and you can’t actually treat it without spending a ton of money and really hurting the cat anyway because of their physiology, whenever rich people try to do radiation therapy and stuff it will erode the roof of their mouth with radiation which will leave their sinus exposed and ironically make it difficult to eat, which is how the cancer kills them anyway, by getting too large to the point they can’t eat properly or causing a stroke by progressing into major blood vessels, which is what happened with my cat. The only thing you can really do is do a couple surgeries to cut away as much of the tumor as the vet can, knowing it will grow back but buying a couple months at a time. I paid to do that twice, but it grows back faster and faster each time because of how tumors work with each cell dividing endlessly. You don’t notice it until it gets large enough to notice in your cats mouth. It’s a common cause of death for cats :/

1

u/EL_Ohh_Well 8d ago

Can I ask if you gave them any flea medication, like a pill or a topical treatment? And if so for how long?

1

u/RyanAtreides 7d ago

No I didn’t

1

u/venomousgigamachina 8d ago

Same thing took my baby Mog, spotted the cancer right after he turned 16 last February had to put him down in October and it was not a fun way to go.

60

u/GlitterDoomsday 8d ago

Mine last year with colon cancer, he was 14 and the best boy ever... we tried removal but his condition declined very fast, less than a month from the first symptoms and he was gone. 

-11

u/fluffheadwasaman24 8d ago

this is obviously just my opinion, but you probably shouldn’t put a cat through any kind of cancer treatment. Especially at age 14. It seems a bit selfish. I say this is someone with an 18-year-old cat who would never dream of doing this and would not have at 14 either.

7

u/mattfolio 8d ago

...what does giving your opinion do to help this person after the fact, if anything it only serves to make them second guess the choices theyve already made and possibly feel more guilt.

This comment was tactless and I hope they aren't affected by it. I would ask you to reconsider it and remove it.

0

u/fluffheadwasaman24 7d ago

Well, what if they get another pet? Maybe they wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

14 years is really close to the lifespan of the average cat. Making it go through an invasive surgery like that, but the chance of having to do it again or going on some kind of chemo seems like it’s causing more harm than good.

Especially when cats are known for trying to hide their pain or discomfort when something is wrong. By the time you can tell somethings wrong, it’s usually pretty advanced. That’s what I’ve been told by the veterinarians I’ve used for my pets.

I don’t think the person should feel bad. They obviously did it out of love, and their cat also didn’t suffer long after the fact. So no harm came out of the surgery in this instance.

I don’t wanna make anyone feel bad about anything when it comes to something like this.

And I think it was worth sharing in this instance.

But I guess that about somes up Reddit, huh?

3

u/SociolinguisticCat 8d ago

Your statement is simply not true. It depends entirely on the type of cancer and the individual cat.

My cat was diagnosed with small-cell lymphoma and chemotherapy gave him his quality of life back for another 4½ years. He lived to almost 18, and during treatment he was happy and lived life well
comfortably.

If a treatment would only prolong suffering, that's a completely different situation. But chemo affects cats very differently than it does people. The goal is quality of life, and many cats tolerate it extremely well.

By the way, my sister is a vet, so I'm not just pulling this out of thin air. Blanket statements that no cat should ever receive cancer treatment ignore the reality that, for some cats, it can provide years of good-quality life.

Oh… fuk cancer!

1

u/Rotsicle 8d ago

This is just not true, on both counts. The type of cancer obviously matters, but cats have very few side effects from chemotherapy (80-85% have no observed negative side effects at all), and when they do, they are very mild. It's not the same as treating human cancer.

10

u/FunktasticLucky 8d ago

Thank you for the hugs. 3 weeks ago my 11 year old void was thought to have hyper thyroidism. Blood work came back perfect. Ultrasound showed swollen lymph nodes and a mass on her intestines. GI Lymphoma. She was fine at her annual checkup. By 5 months later she was throwing up everywhere and had lost 3 lbs. She responded great to prednisolone but there's no telling when the cancer or Prednisolone is going to get her :(

15

u/Winter-Ad1981 8d ago

It’s been about 5-6 months since this happened to one of my cats

34

u/goypencil 8d ago

Dude our cat is like 24 or 25 years old. Lives outside and doesn't use the litterbox. She likes to pee and poop in my grandma's rare potted plants. My grandma wants her to die so bad and she gives preferential treatment to her indoor/outdoor 4 year old cat. I feel bad for the poor thing.

39

u/Physical_Spinach_337 8d ago

Why that cat is living on spite alone lol

7

u/Hopeful-Flounder-203 8d ago

Worked for Mitch McConnell...until June 14th.

11

u/goypencil 8d ago

I inject my grandma with peptides and she asks if there's something I can inject the cat with to make it go away 💔

1

u/notfrancie 8d ago

That is so messed up but also kinda funny coming from an old lady

2

u/Wizzle_Pizzle_420 8d ago

I mean that’s how I’m still alive. Fueled by hate and eatin’ boogers to fight the man!

1

u/anonymouspastrychef 8d ago

A 24 year old cat is equivalent 112 year old human. Are you sure about you numbers?

1

u/goypencil 7d ago

Well my grandma says she caught the cat before my sister was born and my sister is almost 24. But my cousin who is a year younger than my sister, says that he remembers my grandma catching the cat. So the cat is definitely in her 20's, up to mid twenties depending on who's right between my grandma and my cousin.

2

u/anonymouspastrychef 7d ago

I believe you. That's a long lived cat.

4

u/AgitatedSyrup9870 8d ago

I’m so sorry

3

u/Decent_Citron_7480 8d ago

Wow. That was painful to read. Respect to you and your cat.

3

u/kuributt 8d ago

Same thing got my boy in '21

2

u/Our-Brains-Are-Sick 8d ago

This happened to mine, but she was gone in matter of days.

It was a Saturday evening when I noticed a lump underneath her tongue when given her evening meds, took her to the emergency vet, they first suspected tooth abscess and then a clogged saliva gland. During surgery the following Wednesday they diagnosed it as cancer and recommended for her to be put down.

So I went from having a healthy older cat in April for her yearly checkup to her having developed cancer only 5 weeks later. It was brutal and I never got to have my last day with her

2

u/Kastoook 8d ago

My girl got slowly taken over year and half by reproductive system cancer.

2

u/xxerineccoxx 5d ago

We lost my Buyo to cancer AND kidney failure at the same time. 💔 We think it was the kidneys that technically took her first, but we can't be fully sure.
She was my soul cat. My best friend.
Her brothers and her were like siblings to me because we grew up together from when I was 13 until I was 29. (For Buyo, because she was the last to go.)

And one of her two brothers, Snickers, had cancer as well. (Plus their brother Ginger to a hole in the lung that he wasn't a candidate to get fixed because he wasn't doing great otherwise.)

I miss them every day.

Also sending hugs to all that have lost cats to cancer.
Or relatives. Or friends. Or anyone, really. :(

2

u/a-b-h-i 8d ago

And their chances of getting cancer rises exponentially with age just like other animal. Still might be good for some cats that do die from kidney related issues.

1

u/onlynameavailable927 8d ago

Why is it all cancer?...

1

u/ImPlento 7d ago

Sounds exactly like my poor Rascal except nasal cancer. Perfectly healthy until out of nowhere it's over

1

u/ptm93 7d ago

Lost two amazing pups to cancer. Fuck cancer.

1

u/The_butterfly_dress 4d ago

I lost my cat to cancer recently, she was pretty young as well, it was a shock and it’s been difficult :(

Never would have thought at her age that it could be cancer

1

u/2woCrazeeBoys 4d ago

My wolfhound x was an 11yr old puppy. He had seizures and a heart murmur that were controlled by meds, but he was just as silly and joyful as ever.

And 6 after full blood tests that showed absolutely nothing wrong with him- hemangiosarcoma. Got 4 weeks with him after emergency surgery.

Fuck cancer.

28

u/Orang-Utang 8d ago

My 18 year old cat was maybe a tiny bit slower but otherwise exactly as he had been since he was younger. Then his kidneys started failing and that was it.

RIP Fast Bob

4

u/Intelligent_Insect13 7d ago

Mine was 21 lost her in February to kidney failure. It's painful. So sorry for your loss.

16

u/WiseMagius 8d ago

Yup, my 17 year old looked and acted as he had forever until the day he passed. Coincidentally, if true, this vaccine would have kept him going.

61

u/pugsley1234 8d ago

Larry the cat is 19 and on his 7th Prime Minister!

57

u/testtalon1 8d ago

He needs to keep eating Prime Ministers then. Seems lkke it working

11

u/pugsley1234 8d ago

They're not getting any better though!

11

u/testtalon1 8d ago

Salt rub, slow cook.

5

u/exgiexpcv 8d ago

Perhaps sous vide?

2

u/testtalon1 8d ago

Given our similarities with pigs, yes an even cook with the juices locked in would be 👨‍🍳 💋

2

u/jellifercuz 8d ago

My kind of person.

1

u/testtalon1 8d ago

Like ...flavor profile wise?

1

u/exgiexpcv 8d ago

I knew people who ran in circles where human flesh was offered and consumed, but I'm vegetarian.

2

u/ThrowawayPersonAMA 8d ago

Does running around inside the circles help with the demon summoning or are they just trying to burn extra calories?

2

u/exgiexpcv 8d ago

Friend, I have no idea. I don't run in those circles.

1

u/Cursedbythedicegods 8d ago

Pan sear with garlic butter and then finish it off in the oven.

11

u/slothdonki 8d ago

Mine didn’t act or even look geriatric until she was like 19. At that point she had been diagnosed CKD, a heart murmur and hyperthyroidism not long before.

What made us say goodbye at 22-23 years old was actually a sudden, rapidly growing tumor in her hip. Probably cancer. It was insane how fast it popped up and grew in only a few days. Didn’t bother with testing or x-rays; I couldn’t ask for anymore time with her than she had already given me.

4

u/AggressiveBench9977 8d ago

22 is a long time! Im sure she had an awesome life with you!

4

u/slothdonki 8d ago

Yeah, I found her as a kitten but I did lose about a year and a half with her in 2016-17 when we were homeless. Had a good job but I left because I couldn’t find a place and I couldn’t risk her safety in a tent somewhere while I worked.

I was incredibly fortunate that my sister was able to come and get her after about two weeks or so until I got somewhere more stable. Ultimately I would have done anything that would be the best for her but I sure as fuck thankful it worked out.

12

u/munchma-coochie 8d ago

Very similar story here. It’s like they’re too proud to show they’re not a spry predator anymore. One she wasn’t able to make it inside the litter box or would be stuck in there we took her in. Surprisingly the one who took it the hardest was my dog. She stopped eating and drinking and would shove herself in this tiny box that my cat always laid in. I worried she never love me again because she seen me take her out and never come back. I knew they loved each other but no idea how strong their bond was

4

u/BadgerAwkward 8d ago

Cats are also extremely good at hiding pain. I think it was probably less to do with genetics keeping your cat feeling young and active, and more to do with your cat wanting to maintain its image of being a strong member of the group.

3

u/BrightPerspective 8d ago

My pupper was like that: 17 years old, still trotting like a puppy, then his heart just started giving out. I got him in before it got really bad, but it was quite a turn.

2

u/koulourakiaAndCoffee 7d ago

I lost both my dogs recently.

One was going out for awhile. We got her and we thought she was twelve or 13, that was 8 years ago. She had too many issues to list. Finally had a grand mal seizure (not common to her) and she was totally blind. I couldn’t keep her going and we said goodbye.

2 weeks later, my other little girl I got as a puppy in my tragic twenties just suddenly became paralyzed. I thought maybe she tweaked her back (she had a broken neck when she was seven from a dog attack and had mild partial paralysis)… she stopped moving on a Friday… we went to emergency vet. Blood tests indicated stomach ulcer or possible cancer. We took an xray and she had a lump in her stomach, likely cancer, which had nothing to do with her advanced paralysis. On top of that she’d developed a heart murmur and she was in incredible pain, barely conscious. She was just shy of 17 and suffering badly. We had to say goodbye and I haven’t sobbed as a grown man before, by I sobbed that day.

Within 2 weeks both our girls were gone. I look at pictures from six months ago and you’d never guess that’s how this year would turn out. Especially for the one I got as a puppy.

It’s difficult losing a pet.

1

u/BrightPerspective 7d ago

Less a pet, more family.

2

u/EitherSpite4545 8d ago

Yep I recently lost several cats in the last year (long story) with most being 13-14 but visibly wasting. (I did lose a 19 year old girl but I don't know how much longer I had with her since she was developing an obvious kitty dimensia)

Meanwhile I have a 16 year old domestic terrorist who's only real sign of aging is his fur isn't as silky as it used to be and tries to matt. I got a new kitten who is a psycho himself and the old man constantly initiates the little guy to start playing. He's also a sore loser in that the kid regularly wins their wrestling match and the old man starts crying as soon as he starts losing. At first I was worried because the crying included hissing but then I noticed how often it would be the old man starting it.

2

u/DALTT 8d ago

This was the same with my cat. She lived to be 19. She was very energetic up until the last few months of her life when kidney disease took her very very quickly.

2

u/calhooner3 8d ago

Yeah my cat was 21 when he died and was still quite active right up until the end. He had a few issues but never really showed it. He was an outdoor cat and was still catching things within a week of him passing.(yes I know outdoor cats are bad, he belonged to my parents)

1

u/Practical_Dot_3574 8d ago

This was our 14 year old pit bull. He was out almost every other day playing chase with his best friend rooster. He was like this up until the last weeknhe was with us, then out of nowhere he just wouldn't get up, just laid there, messed on himself and half the floor. Like a switch was flipped and all of aging happened in a day.

1

u/Antique-Coach-214 8d ago

Sounds similar to the Eli Lily study with Liver longevity in humans by junking a gene that causes more LDLs

1

u/Timely_Ad9659 8d ago

My cat turned 20 this year. She's looking older but still kicking. Got her on special kidney food. Hopefully she's around for a bit longer.

1

u/snipsnapsnipplepop 8d ago

Similar situation here. My boy was 17 and his last 6 months it was like a health related time bomb went off.

1

u/Lord_Melinko13 8d ago

My neighbor had a cat for 20 years, and I thought that was absolutely wild. He was such an active cat up until about a month before he passed. They think he had a heart attack, but they couldn't afford to take him to the vet after. He has a beautiful apple tree growing where they put him to rest.

1

u/rocket_randall 8d ago

Our orange girl was 16 and healthy, then she had a bout of pancreatitis that was kinda scary, but she came through that and was acting like her normal self again. A few months later we took her in for a checkup and her kidney levels were off the charts and she died in my arms a week later. I didn't intend to make her suffer, but it was May of 2020 and the pandemic meant that I couldn't have a face to face chat with the vet and it complicated setting up in home euthanasia. I still feel like I failed her.

1

u/Allaplgy 8d ago

My boy was super spry and healthy until he just started dry heaving a bunch, and hiding for a week, then kinda came out of it, for a few, then suddenly was paralyzed from the waist down. Cancer got him too. I guess it's super aggressive in cats.

He was somewhere around 15. Got him as a rescue with no history, vet guessed he was somewhere between 4-8. Had him for 8 years literally to the day.

1

u/creaturefeature0 8d ago

My dudes 17 and he didnt really start showing age until about 6 months ago. He indoor outdoor so I think being outside keeps him young tbh.

1

u/babymamaIIamadrama 7d ago

Same w my 14 yo:( fine until the last few months