"The Decision"

TheCuriousOne

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Awww she's beautiful! So glad to hear she's still with you xx
 

Myrealana

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More than a year later, Lady is still with us, cantankerous as ever.

Unfortunately, she has a tumor on her back. It started out about the size of a pimple or mosquito bite, but it didn't go away and over time, it grew.

Our vet said it's not a simple sebaceous cyst that can be easily drained. There are a number of possibilities, most of which involve some level of malignancy. The treatment starts with surgery to remove it.

However, Lady's liver levels are not good, and surgery could kill her.

We have decided against the surgery. Right now, she's eating and drinking. She doesn't act like the cyst is bothering her in any way. She's not chewing at it or trying to scratch at it, and she's giving no indication that she's in pain, but as it continues to grow, that will likely change. We will have to do something about it sooner rather than later, and I don't know what that will be. If she would die in surgery, would it be better to just let her go? If there's a chance she would survive surgery, how long does she have anyway and would putting her through that just make her last days more miserable?
 

juniper

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I'm sorry, Myrealana. These are tough decisions we make on their behalf. How old is she now?
 

Myrealana

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She's 16. Old, but not too old for a house cat. I've had cats live to 20, but they were sturdier than my frail old Lady.
 

Roxxsmom

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Can they do a biopsy on it to see if it's benign?

I was going to ask the same thing. Can they do a needle or punch biopsy under local?

I agree it makes for some hard decisions when you have a pet who is getting up there and you're not sure what's wrong with them. Wishing you and your elderly cat the best.
 

Myrealana

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Update -- My little Lady has gone to that big pile of clean laundry in the sky.

Her kidneys simply stopped functioning. She went downhill fast. We went from planning surgery to remove the cyst on her back to her lying on her side barely able to move within a week.

We did it last night. It was fast and painless. Everyone at the vet's office was great. My son and I held her until she stopped breathing and then some.

Seventeen years is a long time for a cat--even longer for one that was living on the streets when she adopted us.

And I miss her.