11 Year Old Cat Listless and Losing Weight w/ Bad Coat and gettingBoney

"Billy" wrote:

I can also talk the the surgeon and/or oncologists at the vet practice
and see their opinion. If they see a possibility to operate for
exploratory to see if the cancer is definitively untreatable, would
you do it?

I would.

I would try if not It will always eat at you what IF

Get a second and third opinion it is only money for something you love IT IS
WORTH IT

"Billy" wrote in message
...
Here's the problem that im wrestling with and I need opinions as to
what other cat lovers would do.

I can either euthanize my cat which likely is not too long from now or
take a risk and go for surgery. The vet that did all the diagnostics
thinks it would be worthless, she claims it's a big ugly tumor at
6.55cm2, I think which seems to convert to 2.5 inches. However, I
always felt while she seems a definite good vet, she has always been a
pessamist. I'm not in denial, I understand she is dying, but I dont
give up easy, and from how i see my cat, she does not want to give up
either - she wants to still eat but cant. She is not refusing food,
she is just unable to chew it. She is trying hard.

I can also talk the the surgeon and/or oncologists at the vet practice
and see their opinion. If they see a possibility to operate for
exploratory to see if the cancer is definitively untreatable, would
you do it?

I look at it like if she dies in surgery then at least we tried. Like
someone said, she is 11, not 15, and definitely has some spunk left in
her. She was 16 lbs at one time. Now she is 12.6 lbs, still somewhat
beefy.



On Jun 8, 10:26 pm, "cyberpurrs" wrote:
"Billy" wrote:
We now have to weigh our options - it's either exploratory soon to
determine a definitive cause and try a last ditch effort to do
something or let her waste away a bit more while we spend our last
days with her. Any ideas or suggestions based on similar experiences
would be appreciated. We really dont know what to do.

I'm so sorry, Billy. We saw our responsibility as to not allow her to
suffer
just because we wanted her with us longer. Cats are so stoic, you really
have to read between the lines. With something like cancer, you can't just
let nature take its course, that is for sure. And that is where the hard
decision has to be made. I can tell you love her. I think if the vet
thinks
there is a chance the exploratory might reveal treatable cancer, go for
it,
but prepare yourself. One thing on your side, 11 is not so old. She is
stronger than say, a 15-year old might be. In our case, the vet said oral
cancers are almost always fatal no matter how early you discover them. Our
Boo was suffering because it interfered with her eating and she did love
her
food. But also, there was pain from the cancer going into her jaw bone.

Billy have you ever gone to the site raibowbridge.com? If you have
children, and I think you said you did, go there and check it out then, show
it to the kids. Purrs and prayers for you all.
"Billy" wrote in message
...
On Jun 8, 8:42 pm, "Granby" wrote:
You are in the roughest stage of being a cat slave. As my friend Lee would
say, think of it in terms of what you would want done to
you..

You loved her and were loved in return. Purrs and prayers you can think of
what is best for her.

"Billy" wrote in message

...
Thank you for mentioning the similar story. Amber had the x-rays today
and a large mass was found under the rib cage suspicion is by the
kidneys or adrenal gland.

Latest symptoms was she was acting more normal, less hiding but not
eating for now a week. She lost 1 more pound this past week too. There
still was no vomiting or anything else. Odd thing is she does not seem
in pain and still seems a bit happy!

We are having an ultrasound and aspiration done this evening to
determine the cancer which is the suspicion now. Whatever it is, the
vet assumes it is aggressive based on the loss of weight.

It sounded from the vet that we are going to lose her, if we do
exploratory the vet thinks it may be too risky based on the size of
the mass.

We now have to weigh our options - it's either exploratory soon to
determine a definitive cause and try a last ditch effort to do
something or let her waste away a bit more while we spend our last
days with her. Any ideas or suggestions based on similar experiences
would be appreciated. We really dont know what to do.

On Jun 4, 2:09 pm, "cyberpurrs" wrote:

"Billy" wrote in message

...
Thanks for the tidbits of advice all. The vet says the mass is
suspected to be on the pancreas. They determined from the ultrasound
and will better confirm when aspiration results are in. We are
surprised and devestated because they say there is no treatment or
cure and due to its size, inoperabe. She came home still seeming
herself but I suspect the end is near. My 5 & 8 year old cried all the
way home from the vet. Luckily, our other cat didn't seem majorly
affected when she wasaway for the tests. The hardest part is knowing
when to take her down. It just seems so bizarre that she isn't
vomiting or doing *all* the things a sick cat i thought would do.


How interesting that you say the thing about the lip smacking. After
trying to eat something without success yesterday, she was sticking
out her tounge really far and was I guess lip smacking, like after she
ate a really good meal but more pronounced. Her tounge was all over
the place *outside* her mouth for about a minute. I would call it
looking like she was licking her lips, but not the normal way.

Billy, this is troubling, because this is what our cat, whom we just
lost
to
oral cancer, started doing just before she was diagnosed. Her coat also
became unkempt because I think it hurt her to groom and the disease
caused
her to drool and such. She was 14. I hope this is not what it is, but I
wanted to mention it.

I had a dog operated on once so I wouldn't suffer the "what if". Well, he
lived for 6 months, no he existed. In the end, you know your cat best and
have to make the decision.
"cyberpurrs" wrote in message
...

"Netmask" wrote
My dear Max (14 years and 4 days) died from the affect of a brain
tumour - I had all the tests done including a CT scan but finally he had
a cardiac arrest and I decided not to take any action. He died cradled in
my arms assisted by a little anaesthetic from my vet.

Had I had my time over I think I would have put him to sleep 3 days
earlier and not had the final tests - the problem we humans have is cats
are just so stoic and it is very hard to tell whats happening.

Exactly. I feel the same way. I let my first cat suffer, I was in denial.
I regret it deeply.

So here's the latest to anyone interested.....

* Day 13 without more than a few bites of food here and there.
Literally maybe 5 fingernail sizes of chicken and some treats in these
past 13 days
* Vet Intern called a few days ago and says nothing can be done to
cure this, it is most probably Pancreatic Cancer which affects 1% of
cats. It is a large tumor and inoperable.
* Talked to the chief Surgeon two days ago and he says it is most
probable this is Pancreatic Cancer. We can cut, but it better be fast,
time is critical. The outcome is *not* very optimistic, sounds more
exploratory in nature
* I visited the Oncologist at the practice yesterday and he says it is
most probable that this is Pancreatic Cancer and is not curable. He is
the most optimistic of the three however, prescibing an injectable
dose of anti-nasuea meds and seperate pills for anti-nasuea and
appetite stimulant. This is all in prep for possible chemotherapy to
shrink or stop the spread of the cancerous tumor, and is all just to
ease her suffering and possibly extend her life by several months. I
liked the word "shrink" as a possibility. 1/2 hour after her
injection, I get a whopper at burger king because Im starving, the cat
is banging her head on the carrier cage to eat. She takes two pieces
of the burger and gobbles it down (not the normal food I give her
btw), but then she refuses more. Bizzare.

The cat is now on day 1 of her anti-naseau and appetite stimulant
pills, still no real appetite and def seeming more sick. The doc said
the appetite stimulant (if this is the issue) will not kick in until
Monday. If it was naseau, then she should be eating by now. She is
not, so I suspect it was not from naseau. If she begins eating, he
will recommend chemo because she is still 11.9 lbs. He said that her
weight is the one positive here, because she was so big, she is still
a candidate for the chemo because she is not yet "wasted away". She
went from 12.6 to 11.9 in one week, less of a drop than the week
before from 14.8 to 12.6.

I guess the struggle I have now is what if the docs are wrong and this
is not pancreatic cancer? What if the chemo provides results better
than expected? This is really wishful thinking is not miracle wishing,
but if I dont at least try that then we may never know. I think it may
be a good in-between other than surgery risks and after-pain or the
other option which is to euthanize. I feel if we dont try the chemo,
then we should cut to confirm that everyone is not wrong with the
prognosis.

We just now have to see if she eats. I think that it will tell us
which way we are to go.....chemo or the other and we know what that
is. I guess I want the chemo to prove or disprove all the tests which
are not 100% because there no biopsy.



On Jun 8, 10:26*pm, "cyberpurrs" wrote:
"Billy" wrote:
We now have to weigh our options - it's either exploratory soon to
determine a definitive cause and try a last ditch effort to do
something or let her waste away a bit more while we spend our last
days with her. Any ideas or suggestions based on similar experiences
would be appreciated. We really dont know what to do.

I'm so sorry, Billy. We saw our responsibility as to not allow her to suffer
just because we wanted her with us longer. Cats are so stoic, you really
have to read between the lines. With something like cancer, you can't just
let nature take its course, that is for sure. And that is where the hard
decision has to be made. I can tell you love her. I think if the vet thinks
there is a chance the exploratory might reveal treatable cancer, go for it,
but prepare yourself. One thing on your side, 11 is not so old. She is
stronger than say, a 15-year old might be. In our case, the vet said oral
cancers are almost always fatal no matter how early you discover them. Our
Boo was suffering because it interfered with her eating and she did love her
food. But also, there was pain from the cancer going into her jaw bone.

Oh, and Im not ssaying here that I think the prognosis for cancer
could be wrong, just that the type of cancer and where it is all have
said that w/o biospsy, it's not 100% of where it is. Therefore, by
some slim chance it's not on the pancreas and it shrinks, maybe her
time will be more. Slim chance, but so is the possibility of
pancreatic cancer since it affects 1% of cats. Even the primary doc
says it could be elsewhere (ie: abdomen, liver, etc.)


On Jun 13, 10:21*pm, Billy wrote:
So here's the latest to anyone interested.....

* Day 13 without more than a few bites of food here and there.
Literally maybe 5 fingernail sizes of chicken and some treats in these
past 13 days
* Vet Intern called a few days ago and says nothing can be done to
cure this, it is most probably Pancreatic Cancer which affects 1% of
cats. It is a large tumor and inoperable.
* Talked to the chief Surgeon two days ago and he says it is most
probable this is Pancreatic Cancer. We can cut, but it better be fast,
time is critical. The outcome is *not* very optimistic, sounds more
exploratory in nature
* I visited the Oncologist at the practice yesterday and he says it is
most probable that this is Pancreatic Cancer and is not curable. He is
the most optimistic of the three however, prescibing an injectable
dose of anti-nasuea meds and seperate pills for anti-nasuea and
appetite stimulant. This is all in prep for possible chemotherapy to
shrink or stop the spread of the cancerous tumor, and is all just to
ease her suffering and possibly extend her life by several months. I
liked the word "shrink" as a possibility. 1/2 hour after her
injection, I get a whopper at burger king because Im starving, the cat
is banging her head on the carrier cage to eat. She takes two pieces
of the burger and gobbles it down (not the normal food I give her
btw), but then she refuses more. Bizzare.

The cat is now on day 1 of her anti-naseau and appetite stimulant
pills, still no real appetite and def seeming more sick. The doc said
the appetite stimulant (if this is the issue) will not kick in until
Monday. If it was naseau, then she should be eating by now. She is
not, so I suspect it was not from naseau. If she begins eating, he
will recommend chemo because she is still 11.9 lbs. He said that her
weight is the one positive here, because she was so big, she is still
a candidate for the chemo because she is not yet "wasted away". She
went from 12.6 to 11.9 in one week, less of a drop than the week
before from 14.8 to 12.6.

I guess the struggle I have now is what if the docs are wrong and this
is not pancreatic cancer? What if the chemo provides results better
than expected? This is really wishful thinking is not miracle wishing,
but if I dont at least try that then we may never know. I think it may
be a good in-between other than surgery risks and after-pain or the
other option which is to euthanize. I feel if we dont try the chemo,
then we should cut to confirm that everyone is not wrong with the
prognosis.

We just now have to see if she eats. I think that it will tell us
which way we are to go.....chemo or the other and we know what that
is. I guess I want the chemo to prove or disprove all the tests which
are not 100% because there no biopsy.

On Jun 8, 10:26*pm, "cyberpurrs" wrote:



"Billy" wrote:
We now have to weigh our options - it's either exploratory soon to
determine a definitive cause and try a last ditch effort to do
something or let her waste away a bit more while we spend our last
days with her. Any ideas or suggestions based on similar experiences
would be appreciated. We really dont know what to do.

I'm so sorry, Billy. We saw our responsibility as to not allow her to suffer
just because we wanted her with us longer. Cats are so stoic, you really
have to read between the lines. With something like cancer, you can't just
let nature take its course, that is for sure. And that is where the hard
decision has to be made. I can tell you love her. I think if the vet thinks
there is a chance the exploratory might reveal treatable cancer, go for it,
but prepare yourself. One thing on your side, 11 is not so old. She is
stronger than say, a 15-year old might be. In our case, the vet said oral
cancers are almost always fatal no matter how early you discover them. Our
Boo was suffering because it interfered with her eating and she did love her
food. But also, there was pain from the cancer going into her jaw bone.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -