Hi everyone, this is my first post here, I have been browsing this site for a little while, and I see that many of you deal or have dealt with what I'm dealing with now... and I could really use some advice coming from cat lovers.
My cat Fleur (14) has metastatic cancer, and the oncologist said that there is no point in doing surgery, the cancer would reoccur anyway soon. He said that the only thing he can do at this point is chemotherapy, 5 rounds, one every 3 weeks, not to cure, of course, but to slow down the progression of the disease and to make Fleur feel better. According to him, she has 1-3 months to live without treatment, and maybe 3-6 month with the chemo.
She has been eating poorly for a month now (she has other health problems - megacolon - so I didn't immediately think of cancer when I first noticed her lack of appetite), she's mostly sad and just not herself, but she doesn't seem to be in pain, she cuddles and purrs. She has days when she's more alert and eats better, and days when she's lethargic and barely eats. She drinks lots of water and yet she's dehydrated, yesterday she got a saline injection and she seemed happier.
Anyway, I know that this has been asked before, but in my particular case, with the (few) details I tried to give, should I go for the chemo? Is it worth it? They say most cats take it well, and their lives improve during the treatment and outlive the prognosis, but others don't. I really don't know what to decide, let her live her last days in peace, away from the doctor, or try the chemo and hope it works? I have also started giving her a homeopathic treatment called ES Clear, to boost her immunity. I cannot believe it got to this point, I have had this cat since she was a few hours old, and someone tried to dispose of her in a box, I raised her with milk in a syringe every 2 hours, I saw her open her eyes, take her first steps...I want to do the best for her, but I'm not sure what the best is! Any advice, experience with chemo in pets where surgery was out of the question, would be much appreciated... Thank you!
My cat Fleur (14) has metastatic cancer, and the oncologist said that there is no point in doing surgery, the cancer would reoccur anyway soon. He said that the only thing he can do at this point is chemotherapy, 5 rounds, one every 3 weeks, not to cure, of course, but to slow down the progression of the disease and to make Fleur feel better. According to him, she has 1-3 months to live without treatment, and maybe 3-6 month with the chemo.
She has been eating poorly for a month now (she has other health problems - megacolon - so I didn't immediately think of cancer when I first noticed her lack of appetite), she's mostly sad and just not herself, but she doesn't seem to be in pain, she cuddles and purrs. She has days when she's more alert and eats better, and days when she's lethargic and barely eats. She drinks lots of water and yet she's dehydrated, yesterday she got a saline injection and she seemed happier.
Anyway, I know that this has been asked before, but in my particular case, with the (few) details I tried to give, should I go for the chemo? Is it worth it? They say most cats take it well, and their lives improve during the treatment and outlive the prognosis, but others don't. I really don't know what to decide, let her live her last days in peace, away from the doctor, or try the chemo and hope it works? I have also started giving her a homeopathic treatment called ES Clear, to boost her immunity. I cannot believe it got to this point, I have had this cat since she was a few hours old, and someone tried to dispose of her in a box, I raised her with milk in a syringe every 2 hours, I saw her open her eyes, take her first steps...I want to do the best for her, but I'm not sure what the best is! Any advice, experience with chemo in pets where surgery was out of the question, would be much appreciated... Thank you!