I Am Second-guessing My Decision

[arouetta]

For those with a little patience, this video is 1 minute 30 seconds long. It shows my baby in motion, including how she walks with the arthritis the way it is. It also shows alertness levels and all that.

I'm really thinking about asking for bloodwork, and if that's normal maybe actually going ahead and asking about surgery. I don't know though if that's for her or for me. I really can't imagine life without her. She moved in 16 years ago.

Because I know that there's a lot of "me, me, me", I guess I need some objective opinions. The shape she's in to the casual observer, what do you think?

 

[arouetta]

Duh, brain's off.

Shadow probably has malignant mammary tumors. The lumps feel like cancer and they are growing. I've found two.

She is 18 years old. She has completely quit grooming anything more than her face and front legs.

She has a pretty bad case of arthritis and she's gotten to where she either can't hide the pain anymore or doesn't want to bother with hiding the pain.

We live in a two story home and she never goes upstairs, even to be with her people at bed, due to pain.

The last surgery was when she was 14 and she had a very hard time bouncing back from that.

 

[arouetta]

I suppose I should add that the vet said at her age and the difficulty she had last time, there probably wouldn't be a successful outcome. However that was a brand new to me vet, and I don't know if she was agreeing just not to guilt me or she really meant it.

 

[talkingpeanut]

First, my goodness Shadow is adorable.

I may have missed a thread. Are you considering surgery for the lumps or for the arthritis?

What does your vet think about timing with and without intervention?

 

[arouetta]

First, my goodness Shadow is adorable.

I may have missed a thread. Are you considering surgery for the lumps or for the arthritis?

What does your vet think about timing with and without intervention?

For the lumps. A tiny one was found during a routine visit and the vet and I talked about the odds. I'm not sure if either of the current two are the original one she found, and they are larger and growing at a pretty decent rate. The vet simply said that the lump she found was too small for a needle biopsy, the odds of Shadow making it through at her age were not good at all, especially with the difficulty four years ago, but that she was in great shape for her age. The vet was gushing over her extra weight, since apparently she almost never saw a cat that old that had a decent weight. When I said no surgery, the vet didn't even bother to try and offer options, so I guess she meant it when she said the odds weren't great.....or she didn't want to guilt a determined owner.

Traveling to the old vet for a second opinion involves a trip of 3½ to 4 hours one way. And Shadow has never, ever traveled well.

 

[talkingpeanut]

I think I would go ahead with the blood work and see how things looked. I would also talk to the vet about what a recovery would be like from the surgery, how invasive it would be, etc. Would a surgery guarantee that the cancer would be stopped or slowed?

I would also lean towards no surgery at her age, but I would want more information to make sure it was the right choice.

 

[lavishsqualor]

You should also ask your vet for pain medication for her. To my eye, she does appear to be in pain when she walks. And if she can't even make it up the stairs. . . .

She's a lovely cat and she's very lucky to have you.