FACIAL MELANOMAS ON LIGHT-COLORED CATS
One of the things I tell to people who adopt cats with light fur on their heads is that they should have only limited exposure to sunlight. Fast-spreading melanomas occur relatively frequently on cats who spend time in the sun, and especially on light-colored street cats. The only way to treat them is to remove them completely when they just appear and to hope to get the margins of the tumor, or it will keep spreading. A facial cancer like this one can kill a cat very quickly.
A few years ago, one of my favorite local cats, a diluted calico who had been abandoned on the streets, had what looked like a cut on her ear one day. A few days later, she had a similar wound on her nose. When it was clear they weren't healing, I took her to my vet, assuming he'd give her an antibiotic. Instead, he prescribed her a major operation to remove most of her nose and part of her ear. She had a fast-growing melanoma and it would have been untreatable if we'd waited just a few days more to operate. The surgery required the combined efforts of two veterinary surgeons, and was successful! So I took Pinky home, and her story caught the eye of an awesome girl who fell in love and decided to adopt my sweet, noseless catty. Years later, Pinky is the happiest, most beloved, spoiled cat alive. Her story had a fairytale ending and the cancer hasn't returned, but she was very lucky.
So, if you have a cat with any light fur on its face or head, be aware that the sun can be lethal. Cats might love sunbathing, but you might have to limit your cat's access to the sun.
