Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Status:
"Mistress of finance and foods."
(set 11 days ago)
Location: Coastal Georgia
49,955 posts, read 63,265,686 times
Reputation: 92371
Advertisements
We have a cat we love, who's about 10 yrs old. We can't afford to waste money. He has a large tumor, either on his spleen, or intestines. He has lost almost 3#.
Best case: Benign tumor on spleen
Worst case: Malignant tumor on intestines.
He is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, but in the mean time we could opt out and just let him progress
(we would put to sleep, if we thought he was in pain).
X-rays show the tumor is pushing on his intestines, but so far, he is still eating (only treats and canned food, not his regular dry food), peeing and pooping, and seems pain free. His blood tests show his vitals are still good.
If they open him up, remove the tumor and everything else involved it is $1500+.
If they open him up, see it is metastasized cancer and euthanize him, it will be less. We've already spent over $300.
This is a 10 yr old cat, who we've given a good life. Would you spend the money?
We have a cat we love, who's about 10 yrs old. We can't afford to waste money. He has a large tumor, either on his spleen, or intestines. He has lost almost 3#.
Best case: Benign tumor on spleen
Worst case: Malignant tumor on intestines.
He is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, but in the mean time we could opt out and just let him progress
(we would put to sleep, if we thought he was in pain).
X-rays show the tumor is pushing on his intestines, but so far, he is still eating (only treats and canned food, not his regular dry food), peeing and pooping, and seems pain free. His blood tests show his vitals are still good.
If they open him up, remove the tumor and everything else involved it is $1500+.
If they open him up, see it is metastasized cancer and euthanize him, it will be less. We've already spent over $300.
This is a 10 yr old cat, who we've given a good life. Would you spend the money?
Wow...this is the scenario we lived through with our Jack just last September. He had been losing weight and I started discovering spots of fresh blood throughout the house - although since we have a lot of cats I wasn't sure where the blood was coming from at first. I was going crazy stalking everybody - watching the litterboxes, seeing if anyone was having obvious "problems", and in the meantime I suspected it was Jack only because of his weight loss and his personality change - he was more quiet, more clingy, and spent more time laying in his favorite spot in the sunroom. I took him in - they did some testing and some meds which didn't help at all. They thought he was constipated and the blood was from him trying to pass stool that was too hard. I took him back - and I told the doc he was eating but not much, and nothing was coming out. Long story short - they opened him up to do a biopsy and discovered a huge mass in his intestines - and it had started to metastasize. She called me while he was still on the table and unconscious to tell me, so we let him go. No point in making him hurt any more - I had loved on him and kissed him when I left him at the office. So - we had already spent a couple of hundred on bloodwork and meds previously, then the surgery, then the euthanasia, then the cremation fee. All told it probably cost well in excess of $1500 - I'd have to go dig up the paperwork now. BUT, truthfully, I would spend it again in a heartbeat if I could have my Jack back without his being sick, or in pain, or living on borrowed time. He was 9, and I hope they were 9 of the best kitty years ever - I know they were great kitty mom years for me. He was a true gentleman and a loverboy and I miss him - but for you to make you own decision - you need to examine your own feelings, the quality of life the surgery would give him, how much time would it buy him, and are you prepared to handle continuing medical care for the remainder of his life? Please don't consider his treatment a waste of money - he's been and is a member of your family for a long time. I guess it boils down to his health and comfort. In truth - I would probably consider letting him go - maybe not Tuesday - but take some time and get used to the idea of him not being there, understand what he is going through. Even if he can be treated - he's 10 and the surgery itself will be painful and upsetting for him. Talk to your family and your vet - and I'm sure you'll come up with the best choice for your little buddy.
Our little boy cost us $7,000 last year. Much of that was, in my opinion, getting jerked around by the vet but we eventually found our way to someone who could help him. He is ten and doing very well now.
Have you talked to your vet about the charges to work out a payment schedule if you decide to continue? At this stage, the only thing that matters is the comfort and peace of your companion. No one in a public forum knows your complete financial situation so that is something you and your family will need to determine among yourselves. I know it is very difficult to know the outcome of the surgery at this time, so I do not envy your position, and have no magic formula to help you make the best choice. With my little boy, his outcome was expected to be good and it has been. I hug him a little tighter as I know that somewhere in the future his time will also come.
Our little girl has always been very nervous and cranky so we have already made the decision that with her, only comfort care as she becomes so stressed even getting in the carrier that she pees all over. I can't imagin stressing her over repeated trips to the vet in her declining years.
My heart goes to you and your family. What ever your decision, it will be the right one for you.
I would have already had the surgery. He has a very good chance for another ten years. If it doesn't work out you'll know you tried. I couldn't euthanize an animal unless I knew that the situation were hopeless.
I had to have my 15 yo dog euthanized on April 23rd. My vet performed ultrasound and did other tests. He had an immense tumor on his spleen. She told me that these can grow very rapidly so don't waste any time.
I suspect my Basset has stomach cancer. He wasn't diagnosed. I saw his x-rays though and formed my own conclusion. He is 14, definitely in his last years. The vet doesn't believe it's the type of treatment to give a dog in the end of its life. Surgery wasn't recommended, and I didn't push for it. We do spend a fortune treating his eyes and feeding him a special diet though because those two things contribute direction towards his comfort and quality of life. Like your cat, the Basset is eating, pooping, peeing, and happy.
You do have the additional problem of the weight loss and your cat being younger for its lifespan compared to my dog who is at his very last couple of years. I wouldn't make you feel guilty if you opted to not have the surgery and waited until it was time to PTS. Don't let people make you feel guilty for not being able to afford something like this. Don't let people make you feel guilty for not being able to afford something like this. Not everyone has the resources to prolong a pet's life an additional 10 years
I wanted to give you a different perspective from what you've already read here.
I'm sorry you and your cat are going through this.
Status:
"Mistress of finance and foods."
(set 11 days ago)
Location: Coastal Georgia
49,955 posts, read 63,265,686 times
Reputation: 92371
Thanks everyone, for your kind thoughts.
He was just diagnosed today, so with the holiday, Tuesday is the first open date.
Unless he deteriorates over the weekend, I expect we will have the surgery done. If they open him up and find it inoperable, they'll just not bring him out of the anesthesia. In that case, the cost will be much lower.
My feeling is that if I take responsibility for an animal, I should do the best I can for him. We are not rich, by any stretch, but $1500 won't matter in the big picture.
We opted to not do this for the Basset last year. I suspect he has stomach cancer. He is 14, definitely in his last years. Twenty years ago, my husband and I decided we would never treat a pet for cancer. We opted to not do surgery. We do spend a fortune treating his eyes and feeding him a special diet though because those two things contribute direction towards his comfort and quality of life. Like your cat, the Basset is eating, pooping, peeing, and happy.
You do have the additional problem of the weight loss and your cat being younger for its lifespan compared to my dog who is at his very last couple of years. I wouldn't make you feel guilty if you opted to not have the surgery and waited until it was time to PTS. Don't let people make you feel guilty for not being able to afford something like this.
Not everyone has the resources to prolong a pet's life an additional 10 years (based on someone's comment. It might not be just $1,500. There could be complications afterward. I know someone who had fatty tumors removed from her dog (which are not life threatening so I don't know why she did it), and the poor dog was bleeding everywhere for weeks from the incisions. You just never know what will happen after surgery.
I wanted to give you a different perspective from what you've already read here.
I'm sorry you and your cat are going through this.
I agree.
I successfully treat my little Yorkie for Congestive Heart Failure for 3 years, and he had a good quality of life up until the very end when his kidneys gave out. He was almost 14 when he went to the Bridge in 2012. In that 3 years time I spent close to $6000 in vet visits and daily medication. I don't regret it one bit & would do it again if I had to. But his condition was manageable and he was able to live a normal life. I would not have tried prolong his life otherwise. Had I been dealing with a different medical problem, I might have done things differently. It all depended on what was best for my Yorkie.
Thanks everyone, for your kind thoughts.
He was just diagnosed today, so with the holiday, Tuesday is the first open date.
Unless he deteriorates over the weekend, I expect we will have the surgery done. If they open him up and find it inoperable, they'll just not bring him out of the anesthesia. In that case, the cost will be much lower.
My feeling is that if I take responsibility for an animal, I should do the best I can for him. We are not rich, by any stretch, but $1500 won't matter in the big picture.
If it's inoperable, I'd have a problem putting him to sleep right away since he is "still eating (only treats and canned food, not his regular dry food), peeing and pooping, and seems pain free. His blood tests show his vitals are still good." I'd want to wait until it was time to PTS.
I'm not trying to make the decision more difficult for you, but putting him to sleep during surgery when he's still doing okay is not something I'd be comfortable doing. He might have a couple of years before he has pain.
Status:
"Mistress of finance and foods."
(set 11 days ago)
Location: Coastal Georgia
49,955 posts, read 63,265,686 times
Reputation: 92371
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes
If it's inoperable, I'd have a problem putting him to sleep right away since he is "still eating (only treats and canned food, not his regular dry food), peeing and pooping, and seems pain free. His blood tests show his vitals are still good." I'd want to wait until it was time to PTS.
I'm not trying to make the decision more difficult for you, but putting him to sleep during surgery when he's still doing okay is not something I'd be comfortable doing. He might have a couple of years before he has pain.
By eating, I should clarify that he is only eating very small amounts of canned food now, so we know that the tumor is pressing on his intestines. If the tumor cannot be removed, his ability to get enough nourishment will go further downhill. He may not be in pain now, but he will not be able to eat enough to avoid losing weight. There would be no point in prolonging his life.
He did not budge from the sofa all night. I hope he can hang in there til Tuesday.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.