My lovely 16 year old cat has a possible abdominal mass - is this is?

[peggotty]

I can't quite believe I'm having to even think it - we thought he would last til his 20's. He's been gradually losing weight over the last couple of months (I now realise) and last night didn't come in. I found him this morning sleeping under the neighbours car, and he seemed really groggy and out of it. He hasn't been eating as much in the last few weeks but I jut put it down to him being an older, more inactive cat.

I took him to the vets and she said he is dehydrated but she can't palpate his intestine properly, I think she said it felt like a mass (I can't remember, I don't think everything went in properly) which could be a few things - one of them cancer. I can't quite believe it. He's in the vets now on a drip - they will take blood and then potentially scan him this afternoon.

All I can think about are the times when I've been impatient with him because he's been meowing for food/attention - I feel awful. He's had nowhere near enough attention since the dc have been around. He's such a gentle, laid-back soul - he's been a fabulous pet. I don't know what to do if it is cancer - I don't want to put him through surgery etc but I don't want to just pts straight away. What happens?

Oh, poor you :( Have a hug and a from me x

I went through the same thing with my dog. He was a terrier, 17yo, and, to cut a fairly long story short, had either had a stroke or had a brain tumour. Either way, the vet felt that it was unreasonable to treat him due to his age and that the kindest thing to do was to put him to sleep.

You need to find out first, however, what is wrong with your cat. It isn't definitely cancer, so don't think about it until you know. I'm happy to talk you through what happened with my pet (it was all very peaceful for him but it was upsetting for me), but I think it's likely to upset you more before you even know what's wrong with your cat.

To be honest, I think you're letting guilty feelings get to you at the moment. Try not to allow that. He's 16 and he's been with you all this time; he's a family cat - and you'll do the right thing by him x

Horrible isn't it?

Wait and see what the vet says today. There's no point in thinking past any diagnosis and prognosis she'll be able to give you.

Thinking of you.

Oh you poor thing .

We recently lost our 18 year old cat to cancer and like you, I thought she would go on forever. She had overcome so much.

In our case we knew she had cancer within days of it starting and she lived another 10 months. A sample was taken and we knew within a day so hopefully you will know either way today.

If you have any questions I will be happy to try and help - if of course it is cancer. It might not be.

StrawberryCat1 and 2 have their paws crossed for you.

Thank you everyone. I am being a bit premature, but I have a feeling it is going to be cancer. I think I am worried about doing the best thing by him. I thought hoped that he would just go in his sleep when he was ancient and I wouldn't have to make any horrible decisions - he's always been such a healthy cat. But you're all right, I don't actually have any facts yet, so I will have to just wait and see I suppose not very good at waiting!

It's really not easy to wait - you find yourself pacing and drinking coffee or something.

Come back and let us know when you find out.

The longest I have had a cat with an abdominal live was 4 years so not necessarily a disaster. That cat was also a diabetic!

He's not perked up with the drip . They're going to scan him this afternoon. Bloods are also showing kidney function (something about enzymes) is affected. I went out and bought a litter tray as I'm determined to bring him home asap. I want him to come home whatever the outcome.

Sorry to read that, peg x

Do what you feel is right for your little cat. If its near the end for him, you don't have to have any treatment for him. You don't have to have him put to sleep. I'm sure that you can request pain killers and any other medicine to lessen his suffering and spend what time he has left together, with him as comfortable as possible.

I'm so sorry. I (and I'm sure the other posters here) are here for you. Is anyone with you now? Xx

Thanks Molotov. The vet has just called - he has an enlarged spleen and a bit of fluid in his abdomen. Could indicate cancer or other things - they're going to wait for the other blood tests to come back tomorrow to give a clearer picture but she was already talking about operating to find a definitive cause - dh and I have always said we wouldn't put our old pets through anaesthetics/operations, so I think that's unlikely from our perspective. She did also mention longer term pain killers as treatment. I wanted to bring him home tonight but the vet advised to leave him in as they can keep him on a drip and give him painkillers so went with her advice. Have had to explain to my dc (8 and 5) about him being ill - they've already lost a great-granny and granpa this year.

Ah, I feel for you and your family peg, I really do. Hopefully you will have him back tomorrow with a clearer idea of what's wrong with the little fella. He's in good hands tonight.

I'll keep checking 'Threads I'm On' to keep up with what's going on with you x

Thank you Molotov . Yes, we'll hopefully have him back tomorrow a bit brighter post drip and painkillers. He's a really dignified sort of cat - I couldn't bear to put him through too much - I hope I do the right thing. I have a friend who's nickname for him is 'Aslan' - that might give you an idea of what he's like!

My cat also had kidney disease so we decided not to operate as if it went wrong she would go into kidney failure and die within a week. As cozie said, you don't actually have to do anything. We chose not too and she had nearly another year.

Hey, just thought I'd update for Molotov and MissS - blood results for white and red blood cells are normal which they'd expect to be abnormal if it was inflammation or cancer! However, he's Hyperthyroid, which can be controlled with medication. The vet says she thinks something else is probably going on as well because of his enlarged spleen however. But I'm bringing him home tonight . He's still not eaten and perhaps being at home will encourage him to eat again hopefully. So good news and bad news in a way.. But I'm just so glad I get to bring him home for now.

Yay for him coming home!!

Enjoy enjoy enjoy.

That's great! Take care of him; fuss, love and enjoy :) x