Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

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AndyMac
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Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by AndyMac »

Had Jet at the vet yesterday - she will be 14 next week and she had been off her food and drinking more water also she has been eating more grass to make herself sick and a touch of diahorrea. The vomit was mostly bile with cat fur so I assumed it may be fur balls. The vet examined her and found an obstruction/mass in her abdomen.

Jet had been at the vet in February for dental work and it was not present then when they checked her - the vet was surprised with its rapid growth. She was not sure if it is in the kidney or stomach. The options I was given was to give some pain relief with an anti sickness jab and vitamin shot or have an abdominal scan with a biopsy. I chose the injections for pain relief as she is still alert and active. I asked the vet if she thought it was cancer and she replied yes. She said if it were hairballs or compacted poo she would be able to feel it but the mass was hard. I think it is only sinking in today with the seriousness of what she has - the vet give an estimate for the scan and biopsy which would be £350. She did say to get a blood test which would rule other things out but she is pretty sure it is cancer.

Not sure what to do next as I when I got home Jet ate a few pouches of food and has been out in the garden and is alert. She did sleep in the wardrobe last night like she wanted to hide away. This morning again she has eaten and has been out in the garden. I will keep an eye on her over the next few days and if she does go off her food and the diahorrea persists I will have to make the decision on her quality of life. I had to go to work but my neighbour will be calling in later to check on her and give her more food. The vet did say to keep her diet bland with chicken or sensitive food pouches as the important thing now is to maintain her weight - she had lost a bit of weight from her visit in February. The only food she will eat is a Hi-Life brand from the pound shop which must be bland - she was not interested in her usual Gourmet Perle or Felix brands but is eating roast chicken breast. There was no long term option given of chemotherapy etc but given her age I really do not know what to do now !!
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Lilith
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Re: Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by Lilith »

Hi Andy and so sorry to hear. At the moment you're in shock and in no state to make a decision. If Jet's still eating and leading a normal life that's good; you will know when her quality of life declines, but so awful to have that hanging over you both.

Lots of good wishes, Lil x
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Ruth B
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Re: Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by Ruth B »

I'm so sorry AndyMac, that sounds so familiar.

One of the first cats I had as an adult, Patch, a beautiful little dark tortie went through something similar, but didn't show symptoms until late on. She too had been for a dental work about 6 weeks beforehand and seemed to pick up really well for about a month then slowly deteriorated. Over a weekend we realised she wasn't interested in eating and only just in drinking so on the Monday night we took her and by chance it was the same vet that had done her teeth, he was adamant that the lump in her stomach wasn't there when he did the pre op examination, and his whole reaction made me never doubt it. He gave her a steroid injection to try and perk her up and while it made her want to eat, it didn't seem to make her want to live. I spent tha Tuesday, torn apart emotionally, but in the end she wasn't interested in life so we took her back and called it a day before she started to suffer.

It's a terrible time, scared you might make the decision too early, and scared you might let it go on too long and they suffer, all i can say is if she is interested in food, willing to get a drink when she wants and use the litter tray then let her keep going, when she loses interest in those simple things it is time to say good bye. You could have all the scans and biopsies done, but in the end would you want to put her through all the intensive treatment that would be needed.

I still have the feeling that the vet gave patch the steroid injection for our sake not for hers, he knew what the outcome was going to be, but gave us 24 hours to come to terms with it.

Hugs to you and Jet.
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Re: Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by alanc »

Sorry to read of Jet's woes. Afraid I can give no hopeful advice. My experience of cancer in cats has been uniformly bad. My 5 year old Badger passed his annual check up (nearly 3 years ago, now) and was dead from cancer 1 month later. He showed no symptoms until 4 days before his death and even then (he was very lethargic) the vet was not certain and only decided to give him a scan at the last minute. Not that it would have been any different if he hadn't done the scan, Badger would have died anyway.
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bobbys girl
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Re: Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by bobbys girl »

I am so sorry to hear about Jet. I have nothing else to add to the good advice already given. But I know how hard it is and all about that dilemma. We went through the same thing with our lovely, smart Lurcher, Katie. It all happened far too quickly.

Thinking of you. Fusses to Jet.
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Re: Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by AndyMac »

Thanks for the support - Jet is still alert and eating and is going out as usual the only diffence before the diagnoses is the diahorrea which is not significant and she is sleeping in the bottom of the wardrobe - I have put her blanket down to make her more comfortable. She had me up at 04.30am this morning looking out and she came back at 06.30 when she came to bed with me and slept until I got up at 07.30.

The vet did mention about the scan and biopsy might cause further distress to Jet and thats why I decided not to pursue this. I may contact the vet early next week to ask their advice on another course of injections - the anti sickness was a 24 hour lasting and 48 hours later she has not been sick just mild diahorrea. I know she probably has not got too long but hoping she will reach her 14th birthday on 22nd April.
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Re: Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by booktigger »

I'm surprised they didn't offer something like steroids or a bland diet to help with the diarrhea
AndyMac
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Re: Cat has been diagnosed with Cancer

Post by AndyMac »

booktigger wrote:I'm surprised they didn't offer something like steroids or a bland diet to help with the diarrhea
The vet did mention about the bland diet - chicken and sensitive food and jet had been on steriods before and she got a UTI so the vet give a small dose of steriod mixed with the anti sickness injection.
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