My cat has cancer.

bigpinkelephant

Hello all,
Our 19 year old cat has been diagnosed with cancer. She's had a tumour in her mouth for a while now and after 3 vet visits the diagnosis is squamous cell carcinoma.
We are under no illusions that she is going to get better, and we don't want to put her through extensive treatment trying to take out the whole tumour and rid her of the cancer- for a cat of her age, it would be pointless and would only stress her, and the vet told us that even if we wanted him to try and get rid of the cancer, he wouldn't do it, it would be unfair to the cat. The plan is to just do whatever will keep her comfortable for however long she has left.

At the moment, she seems happy- running around, eating like a horse, her usual loving self. But in addition to the tumour, her eye (above the tumour) is weeping more than usual, and the pupil has got much lighter and cloudier. The vet says the eye is under pressure from the tumour, I worry also that the cancer has spread to the eye. The vet is doing a quick operation today to reduce the size of the tumour to make her more comfortable, but we know we are not going to have her anymore this time next year.

I have never had an animal develop cancer before. At the moment she is happy and I would not be happy to put her down at the moment because of that. The vet said that despite the cancer she is in great condition for a 19 year old. Any of your experiences would be appreciated. I have never had to make this decision for an animal with an ongoing illness before- the only things I've had an animal put down in the past was for a major accident that would have caused them a slow painful death.

Thanks

Lemon

Hey there,
First things first I am so sorry to hear your cat has cancer. That is a diagnosis no cat owner wants to hear. But I also have to say that 19 years is a remarkable and inspiring age for a cat to be!

My partner and I had to make the tough decision to have our beloved cat put to sleep this August. She was diagnosed with kidney failure and, despite the efforts of our vet, her symptoms did not improve. She was in the vets for 4 days, on a drip, not eating and her urinary outputs remained the same. Our vet is a wonderful practitioner, I know that now, as she didn't just chuck a question at us, she sent her home to us for the weekend, probably fully knowing that we would decide, through experience and compassion, that keeping her alive was untenable. Having her put to sleep wasn't a decision forced on us, we knew she deserved a peaceful exit and so we went ahead.

Our vet was so lovely, she gave her a sedative first so she was more relaxed and would not feel the final injection. We said our goodbyes, and she was gone.It was very peaceful and we felt we did the right thing.

As you say in your post, your cat is ok right now. Her symptoms are treatable. You will know yourself, in your experience of the cat and her behaviour, when the time is right to end any suffering she may have.Best of luck and I hope she recovers well from her operation.

fend

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

Our 19 year old cat

:eek: Phooooar well done! :eek: That is a FANTASTIC age for a cat!

joyce2009

i'm so sorry for you as i know exactly what your going through .9 weeks ago we were told that our 12 year old dog had cancer and that there was nothing that could be done.We were in the same boat as she her self was in great form eating and running around, we decided that as long as she was ok we would let her be, but the first sign that she was suffering we would have to make that journey that every pet owner dreads. She was her normal self for 3 weeks and then one morning she couldn't get up and had been sick everywhere,,it broke my heart ,,we just knew by the look in her eyes she was miserable..We took her to the vet and he said it was time ,,so i held her in my arms and she just went off to sleep, it was so peaceful.The vet was great and gave us time to cuddle her and say good bye..It was one of the hardest decisions to make but in the end one of the easiest cos i couldn't see her in pain...
Best of luck to you and i hope you'll be ok with what ever happens.

sold

Hi, The best thing (and least painful) is to have your vet put her down.

Dixie Chick

What wonderful pet owners ye are to have a 19 year old cat. Thats an amazing age. I am very sorry to hear about her sickness but you are taking the right attitude. It will be very hard for you, but you know you are doing teh right thing by just letting her live the rest of her days happily and at peace in her own house.

My own childhood cat (I think she was 16 as she was a stray when we got her) had a tummour in her face also and when she lost interest in her food and in her life in general my parents brought her to be PTS. I actually still get a lump thinking of her but I have two cats in my own home now who have helped heal the pain.

kerash

Hi, we had a similar experience with our dog. His condition deteriorated rapidly and we had to make the decision to put him to sleep, it was better for him because he was suffering terribly and there was nothing we could do.

But you say for now your cat is happy and eating and comfortable and it sounds like the vet is happy with her.
You'll know when your animal is in pain and suffering and when nothing more can be done to help her at least you can decide to take her suffering away, even though it is so tough it will be for the best.

Best wishes for the future.

bigpinkelephant

Thank you for all your kind words everyone. It means a lot to me to find sympathetic people who have had a similar experience- too many people are the "it's only an animal" brigade

Well we got her back from the vet's last night, he removed as much of the tumour as was possible. He did it in two separate small operations as he did not want to have her under anaesthetic for too long.

She was still drowsy from the anaesthetic last night but she was purring away and enjoying being petted. After a few hours she devoured some milk but couldn't eat the soft food we gave her. She put her lips to the food but the inside of her mouth seemed to be too sore for her to have a go at eating. This morning we offered her milk and more soft food and she devoured both and then proceeded to wash her face

She is sleeping as I type this. I did give her a box with blankets to sleep in and she was in it when I was going to bed but I woke up during the night and she was on my bed beside me, purring away

Her coat has deteriorated recently, it's not as shiny as it was, and she has lost weight, but she is still happy and behaving like her normal self so it will just be a matter of keeping a close eye on her and knowing when the time has come. There is someone home all the time so she has whatever she wants, whenever she wants it

tk123

Lemon wrote: »

She was diagnosed with kidney failure and, despite the efforts of our vet, her symptoms did not improve. She was in the vets for 4 days, on a drip, not eating and her urinary outputs remained the same. Our vet is a wonderful practitioner, I know that now, as she didn't just chuck a question at us, she sent her home to us for the weekend, probably fully knowing that we would decide, through experience and compassion, that keeping her alive was untenable. Having her put to sleep wasn't a decision forced on us, we knew she deserved a peaceful exit and so we went ahead.

:(:(:(:(:(:(
This is what happened to our cat in July. I took him home on the Saturday morning and he purred and miaowed and rubbed his head on me for the last time by Sunday afternoon I just knew I had to make the decision and took him to the vets on Monday. We were all heartbroken. He was only 6 so OP you're so lucky to have had your kitty this long!