Feline Mast Cell Tumor Warriors

“Marlin” (The Buddha Cat) Williams (4/10/09 - 6/16/20)

If you are no stranger to social media, pet cancer, and cats, then you have probably come across “Marlin” in your recent internet perusing.  Fondly nicknamed “The Buddha Cat” by his mom, this spunky, New Jersey feline oftentimes would sprawl out like Buddha for pictures, showing off his furry belly.

Marlin and his mom, Sally, were huge advocates already for pet cancer awareness (as Marlin’s older brother “Brodie” passed away in 2016 from a year-long battle with nasal adenocarcinoma) when she happened to find a pinhead-sized bump on Marlin’s skin in August of 2018.  Although it was very small and LOOKED innocent enough, Sally had the bump evaluated at Marlin’s annual wellness appointment soon after discovering it.  Because it was a very small bump, Marlin’s veterinarian chose to perform a punch biopsy of the bump rather than attempt a fine needle aspirate (FNA) that would likely not retrieve enough cells to make a diagnosis.

This innocent-looking, less-than-pea-sized bump turned out to be a mast cell tumor.

Marlin was immediately scheduled for surgical removal of the tumor.  The nearby lymph node was also removed at that time, as it was enlarged.  Unfortunately, it was determined that Marlin had metastatic mast cell cancer, as the lymph node was also affected.

Over the next 22 months, Marlin lived life to the absolute fullest while being treated for his mast cell cancer.  Because his mast cell cancer was metastatic, he received chemotherapy in order to help slow the progression of the cancer to other areas of his body.  Over the course of treatment, he received lomustine, then vinblastine, and finally Palladia.  He also received prednisolone during that whole time frame.  He had very few side effects associated with these drugs - a few times, his white blood cell count dropped, and he was febrile.  But, overall, he felt really good.  

Marlin ended up having a total of three surgeries to remove mast cell tumors from his skin. The last two surgeries resulted in multiple mast cell tumors being removed. A very small mast cell tumor above his right eye was too tricky to remove, so it was treated (successfully!) with Strontium radiation.  Towards the end of that 22-month time period, he had begun to slow down and was acting more sickly.  He had a somewhat prolonged recovery after his third mast cell tumor had been removed.  His last abdominal ultrasound recheck revealed that the mast cell cancer had spread to his spleen.  Sally made the difficult decision to move forward with a splenectomy (removal of the spleen), as the survival time associated with this particular surgery was fairly good.  Unfortunately, Marlin did not recover well from his splenectomy due to the cancer itself, and Sally had to make the extremely difficult decision to let him go on June 16, 2020.  

Despite restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic that she faced, Sally was able to bring Marlin outside to a nearby park to say goodbye to him.  As Marlin was at the end of his journey on Earth, fireworks went off in the distant sky at the same time, giving this cancer-fighting superhero a beautiful send-off.

Marlin was and will continue to be a “spokeskitty” for pet cancer for a very long time.  His mom, Sally, is the founder of The Brodie Fund, a non-profit organization (named after her beloved cat, Brodie) that offers financial assistance to families with cancer-fighting pets.  Marlin continues to have a strong social media presence on Instagram and Facebook as “Marlin The Buddha Cat” and continues to raise awareness for pet cancer to the general public.

One of the most important things that Sally wants people to know is that, despite having cancer and being treated for cancer, Marlin was an extremely happy and affectionate cat.  He lived with cancer, but it didn’t define him.  He continued to have “Friday Night Box Pawties” with his favorite cardboard boxes, loved eating Tostitos, and was a true ham for the camera.  He truly lived life to the fullest with his family, and he will never be forgotten.